Please enjoy Michael Imperioli and Ocean Vuong in this exclusive online conversation about their writing and the importance of literature in their lives.

Both Michael and Ocean published their debut novels in recent years, The Perfume Burned His Eyes and On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous respectively. They discussed the experience of writing and releasing novels when you’re known for other artforms, as well as the overlapping themes in both of their work, from coming-of-age stories, to mother figures, to violence, to vulnerability.