For poet Jericho Brown, ‘The Tradition’ was an unexpected obsession

Jericho Brown’s first book, “Please,” won the American Book Award. His second book, “The New Testament,” won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was named one of the best of the year by multiple organizations.

Advice from the poetic star would seem to be a prized commodity. Appropriately, while at the Festival of Books, Brown stressed that anyone wanting to write a book needs to read more.

“If you want to write a book, you should probably be in the midst of reading books. The more you read, the more you’re fueled with ideas, the more you think about the way people are getting their work done, and that inspires you to get your own work done.”

Also an associate professor and the director of the Creative Writing Program at Emory University in Atlanta, he joined us for a chat in the video above.

FULL COVERAGE: Los Angeles Times Festival of Books »