Author: Kashana Cauley in conversation with Audrey T. Willams

Experience an engaging conversation with Kashana Cauley and Audrey T. Williams as they discuss Cauley's novel The Survivalists.

The Survivalists by Kashana Cauley is a sharp, darkly funny novel that explores ambition, friendship, and the uneasy pursuit of security in uncertain times. The story follows Aretha, a driven lawyer whose carefully planned life veers off course when she moves in with her gun-dealing boyfriend and his doomsday-prepping roommates in Brooklyn. Blending satire with social insight, the book examines race, class, and the modern hustle with wit and heart—raising timely questions about what we sacrifice to feel safe and successful. 

Kashana Cauley is the author of the new novel The Payback, a NYT Editor's Choice, and the novel The Survivalists, which was named a best book of 2023 by the BBC, the Today Show, Vogue and many other outlets. She’s also a TV writer who has written for The Great North, Pod Save America on HBO and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and a former contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She has also written for The Atlantic, Esquire, The New Yorker, Pitchfork and Rolling Stone, among other publications. 

Audrey T. Williams, MFA is a Southern Black Poet and Writer with Indo-Burmese heritage who writes across all genres. She is Co-Chair for the 2026 World Fantasy Convention to be held at the Oakland Marriott. Audrey is a freelance correspondent for The East Bay Times and she teaches workshops on “Poetry for Wellness.” She is currently working on a mixed-race memoir, Of Chutney & Chitlins: My Hybrid Journey to Identity. Her first poetry book, Attending Sorrow: Poems & Writing Prompts for Living with Grief is forthcoming in early 2026.

This program is sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.