Elizabeth Strout discusses her latest book, *Olive Kitteridge*, a series of 13 interlocking tales that present a portrait of ordinary coastal Mainers. Strout creates a world that represents the entire human drama, the highs and lows of life.
Elizabeth Strout is the author of *Abide with Me*, a national bestseller and Book Sense pick, and *Amy and Isabelle*, which won* the Los Angeles Times* Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and *the Chicago Tribune* Heartland Prize. She has also been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in England. Her short stories have been published in a number of magazines, including *The New Yorker* and *O: The Oprah Magazine*. She is on the faculty of the MFA program at Queens University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and lives in New York City.