Aspen Words presents the 29th annual Winter Words speaker series with Susan Orlean at Paepcke Auditorium on January 28, 2026, from 6 to 7 p.m.
The 29th annual Winter Words speaker series lineup:
This year’s Winter Words will be held in memory of longtime Aspen Words supporter Wally Obermeyer.
January 28 @ Paepcke Auditorium: Susan Orlean, staff writer for The New Yorker and bestselling author of “The Orchid Thief” and “The Library Book.” Her most recent book is “Joyride: A Memoir.”
February 4 @ Paepcke Auditorium: Lily King, award-winning author of six novels including “Writers and Lovers” and “Euphoria.” Her most recent novel is “Heart the Lover.”
February 11 @ TACAW Tara Roberts, Award-winning National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and memoirist brings untold histories to the surface through her global work documenting slave shipwrecks in her book “Written in the Waters.”
We hope to see you for another incredible season of Winter Words!
Winter Words with Susan Orlean | Paepcke Auditorium in Aspen | January 28, 2026 | 6-7 p.m.
Bestselling author and beloved New Yorker writer Susan Orlean will discuss “Joyride,” a magic carpet ride through her life and career. The book is also a time machine to a bygone era of journalism, from Orlean’s bright start in the golden age of alt-weeklies to her career-making days working alongside icons such as Tina Brown, David Remnick, Anna Wintour and other forces who shaped the media industry as we know it today. “Joyride” is a must-read for anyone who hungers to start, build and sustain a creative life. Orlean inspires us to seek out daily inspiration and rediscover the marvels that surround us.
Moderated by Christine Benedetti
About the Author
Susan Orlean is the New York Times bestselling author of “Joyride,” “The Library Book,” “Rin Tin Tin,” “Saturday Night,” “The Orchid Thief,” which was made into the Academy Award–winning film “Adaptation,” and other books. She has been called “a national treasure” by The Washington Post and “a latter-day Tocqueville” by The New York Times. Her deeply moving explorations of American stories both familiar and obscure have earned her a reputation as one of America’s most distinctive journalistic voices. A staff writer for The New Yorker for over 30 years and a former contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Vogue, she has been praised as “an exceptional essayist” (Publishers Weekly) and a writer who “approaches her subjects with intense curiosity and fairness” (Bookmarks).