Name: In Conversation with David Grann
Start: 2025-04-16T20:00:00-07:00
Location: Segerstrom Center for the Arts

Grann’s first book, The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and has been translated into more than twenty-five languages. Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize, it was chosen as one of the best books of 2009 by the New York Times, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and other publications. Grann’s book was adapted into a critically acclaimed film directed by James Gray and starring Charlie Hunnam, Sienna Miller, Robert Pattinson, and Tom Holland.
His newest novel, The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder, tells the true saga of a company of British naval officers and crew that became stranded on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia and descended into murderous anarchy. With the twists and turns of a thriller, the book explores the nature of survival, duty, and leadership, and it examines how both people and nations tell—and manipulate—history. The Wager debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and has remained on the list ever since, often in the top spot. Rights to The Wager were acquired prior to the book’s release, with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio reuniting as director and leading man.
Join us as Grann explores his creative process— and reveals what initially inspires him to investigate a story, his painstaking research, and how he links the (often) forgotten histories to their relevance today.