Lydia Kiesling, a writer from Portland, will read from her best-selling book Mobility at Marmo Gallery at 2 p.m. Friday, November 13. Mobility, described as a coming-of-age story whose proponent navigates a world of corporate greed, was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates prize, and listed as a best book of 2023 by Powell’s Bookstore, Time Magazine, and Vulture. Writer Geraldine Brooks called it “a masterpiece of misdirection,” and other critics have called it both politically incisive and laugh-out-loud funny.

Lydia will also talk about some of the ins and outs of starting a book and seeing it through to publication. 

Lydia Kiesling is a novelist and culture writer. Her first novel, The Golden State, was a 2018 National Book Foundation “5 under 35” honoree and a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her second novel, Mobility, a national bestseller, was named a best book of 2023 by Vulture, Time, and NPR, among others. It was longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize and a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Lydia is the recipient of a 2025 Miller Foundation Spark Award. Her essays and nonfiction have been published in outlets including The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Nation, and The Cut.