If Lauren Groff wasn’t a writer, she says she’d be a landscape architect. For the three-time National Book Award finalist, making a work of fiction malleable is much like planting a garden or shaping the land. From our Spring 2026 issue, Groff offers insight into her creative process with fellow writer Rumaan Alam.
Groff’s short story collection, “Brawler” (Riverhead, 2026), examines the influences of cultural violence reflected in the family unit.
BOMB members receive immediate access to the Spring 2026 issue in print and online. Follow our link in bio to subscribe and join today.
Such joy at the @onestorymag Debutante Ball last night. I love everyone involved with the small and mighty magazine. Thank you, @hannahtinti and @mbatcha for your brilliant leadership. Kudos, Debs! (With Michael Cunningham, @lauramvandenberg@lelliottholt and I got to spend the day with @jynnne and what a day of magic it was).
Just like that, with a make-up date for a blizzard, the tour is over. Thanks to all the mighty mutual aid organizations that partnered with us on nearly every stop on the road—we raised lots of money and awareness for these radically necessary groups across the country. Thanks @booksaremagicbk and @heyitsfranklin2 for last night’s event at the gorgeous St. Ann’s church. Thanks @smcgth and @clegg77 (to whom this book is dedicated), and thanks @jynnne for the photo. Thanks @glory_anne for your wild organizational skills. A few more trips then I get to cry in the bathtub while watching Italian movies, which is what my boys think I do all day (they’re not wrong).
Hiking in Joshua Tree and Sedona, the last high school Spring Break with my giant, sweet boy. The wild profusion of the desert, driving through a cloud of butterflies in the astonishing endless roll of cactuses and spiny dry shrubs from California to Arizona, hours of uphill climbs to end up at a vista so beautiful it was nearly unbearable. Later, on a hike, a vortex so powerful that Clay, a true skeptic, found himself weeping. Amethysts and aliens and a shooting star in the pitch dark Joshua Tree sky; Jacuzzis and pickleball and javelinas and leaping from cliffs into icy water after dusty four-hour hikes and, at home again, cooking huge meals together. One of the best vacations we’ve had as a family and with our excellent friends, the Deans. I’m having anticipatory nostalgia for this trip that’s even now ending. Thank you, desert. I’ll take your lessons to heart.
Lauren Groff (@legroff ) joins this week's #LARBRadioHour to talk about her new short story collection "Brawler;" her approach to writing stories, from the inception of a gossamer idea or mood through to the editorial grunt work of arranging and sharpening characters and sentences; and Flannery O'Connor. Listen now at our #linkinprofile, or wherever you get your podcasts.
/av/lauren-groffs-brawler-interview-podcast/
Scenes from The Lynx’s BRAWLER book launch with @legroff , @thewirebirds_gnv , and @rwhporg , courtesy of the mind-bogglingly talented and generous @whitneyleighmorris .
Thank you, Gainesville, for showing up in SPADES for this incredible book. Your support helps us flourish! 🕊️
Clay took this photo of me setting off on book tour, and I think it’s hilarious because it captures my whole vibe right now. I’ve got the snacks, the travel yoga mat, the hand sanitizer that doubles as emergency room spray (hotels can be iffy), the soap to handwash my workout clothes, the unread New Yorkers that I like to scatter like Johnny Appleseed in airports around the country. I’m sad that Brooklyn had to be postponed until April but LOVED my launch on Monday at @thelynxbooks (God, I love my community, thank you GNV, you’re genuinely the best) and am so excited for the 11 other cities. Please come see me! Bring me news of the way you are resisting our slide into fascism. Keep me sane!
I just signed 10,000 copies of BRAWLER at the PRH Maryland warehouse. The company was magnificent but I’m still floating outside of my body somewhere in the clouds above the Chesapeake Bay.
I’m so thrilled to announce the BRAWLER tour! So many events, so many magical interlocutors!
Start with The Lynx in GNV on 2/23 (Come for the party! No need to buy the book).
BROOKLYN, WASHINGTON DC, NASHVILLE, BOSTON, SOUTH HADLEY, SEATTLE, PORTLAND, LA, SAN DIEGO, SAN FRANCISCO, NEW ORLEANS, MIAMI
A trip through Tamil Nadu to celebrate the wedding of these two people touched with gold. Dazzled by the colors, the spice, the flowers, the gentleness, the cows casually loitering in the highway, the constant music, the temples, the incense, the bursting life of this place. Banyan trees and peacocks. And the company of the most extraordinary artists and musicians I’ve ever known. I don’t know how to integrate the immensity of what I felt and saw, but it’s in there, and I’m changed. @ganavya , your friendship is a great gift.
I LOVE INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES! I’m delighted to announce that a whole bevy of indie bookstores across the country are participating in offering a special limited edition with these SPECTACULAR endpapers, only for preorders. Please see the list of bookstores through which these will be available. /brawler-preorder (And clickable link in bio)
