V.E. Schwab, 'In Search of Doors,' Tolkien Lecture 2018

[@linkinsmommy7908]

She's one of my top 3 favorite authors. I absolutely love everything she's ever written.

[@sheyslibrary]

Two years later and Addie LaRue is about to be published. It makes me so happy to know she felt ready to write Addie. I’m so excited to read it!!

[@billyalarie929]

There's an excerpt she read from, now 3 months on. Her prose is absolutely astounding, and I want to buy everything of hers. All 47 of them 🤣

[@elmobert342739]

This is what I miss most about college. Hearing an author speak so in-depth and beautifully about writing and reading just inspires and motivates me so much.

[@billyalarie929]

I absolutely love the way Victoria articulates herself, and her candor is incredible.

[@joshualavender]

Great lecture! I related enormously to Schwab's story about, as a child, wanting the world to be magical and *more* than it is. I felt much the same way, and fantasies swirled around me, overlaying the real world, so it's not terribly surprising that eventually I became a writer too.

[@feistyowls]

She's so smart and well-spoken, I love her. *-*

[@anv3254]

That portal through the wall realisation gave me goosebumps

[@lizalove91]

I wish that I could hear the questions better, but wow her speech was incredible from start to finish. She is such an inspiration and an incredible writer. And her skirt has pockets!

[@CariLois]

This was a wonderful speech. The connection between doors and books is one that has and will continue to inspire me. As a reader and an aspiring writer, thank you. I will most definitely be visiting this speech again.

[@Spatan295]

My doorway was Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. I had watched some of the really old Greek Myth movies a year before I started reading them (Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts). Today, Riordan’s use of myths have influenced my own writing and how I approach the use of different cultures in it. This is such a wonderful lecture. Thank you for this!

[@trollking100]

I've never read any of her work, never really heard of her. For a writer, reading should inspire you to write. Listening to her makes me want to write.

[@sootygirl2991]

This is... everything I’ve been trying to say for years but haven’t been able to express. Thank you.

[@3868KIKI]

This

[@m1chaud]

@@3868KIKI This indeed

[@kaitlinr9735]

The fact that she got a signed copy of freaking HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE blows my mind and also makes me so freaking jealous omg

[@etbadaboum]

I have to admit that I've never heard of V. E. Schwab before listening to this talk. But there are many open doors... (My main door to literature was Richard Bachman and nothing to be ashamed of that, far from it).

[@joncarter2436]

i felt all my hair rising from her speech. it is so wonderful.

[@dex_totalus]

Jon Carter I wish I could get this in print.

[@billyalarie929]

She is an absolute miracle.

[@meebmabeeb]

I love how you start wearing a lazy and lovely Scottish accent as the questions go on.

[@HollowMoonReads]

I hear it!

[@bruadarach9758]

As a Scot... I think she sounds more Irish 😂

[@m1chaud]

This resonates so well with me, it's crazy. V.E. Schwab is, no doubt, extremely amazing. I rarely admire people, even if I enjoy their work, but listening to Schwab talk? Damn.

[@hpbruin]

Such a fantastic lecture! I wish I could have seen it in person. And I love that she openly admits that she has never read LOTR, and probably doesn’t want to read it either. I’m in the same boat.

[@MarcellineCazz]

Fabulous lecture. So glad I got to see it via KZbin. Love that each of your books is unique and new without all the old tropes but filled with fascinating people and places and magic realities. I also had to laugh as your accent would come and go. I guess that's what happens when you live in two different places.

[@dex_totalus]

My queen. I love Victoria Schwab.

[@aya129131]

Beautiful talk.

[@rosaiglesias904]

I love her.

[@135ellu246]

This is everything! Thank you for uploading this!

[@SarahAtHeart]

So beautiful! Such a fantastic job!

[@CEOWinter]

Beautiful and inspiring!

[@justvalnow6642]

This is exactly what I needed to hear. I adore Victoria’s books.

[@mcvaycastaway3523]

I've made a great discovery in Victoria. Addie Larue is a work to be savored. Miss Schwab reminds me of one of my favorite characters: Velma Dinkly, of scooby doo fame. I'm so happy to have a new favorite author.

[@satishvarshney8202]

"I grew wanting the world to be stranger than it was" - V.E. Schwab

[@the_bob_147]

I'm here because my door to books especially fantasy was a darker shade of magic

[@Mariak82]

really enjoyed watching. It was The Hobbit for me that started my love of reading and books when i was about 10 and i am now 38. 📚 Just finished reading The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue yesterday. I loved it and gave it 5 out of 5 stars.

[@katharineschwab2947]

you're an inspiration!

[@BookEnthusiast]

I found my door in c.s. Lewis and Harry Potter and I have yet to read tolken

[@myribstellmesheslying]

She even talks poetically.

[@ceridwenn26]

Such a powerful speech. I loved it

[@shannonwooldridge719]

this is incredible.

[@meebmabeeb]

YES MOM YESSSS

[@jyjryu22799]

Omg as she talks, she takes on a totally different accent 😮 humans are incredible

[@Runehammer1]

baller.

[@robertnewberry7799]

Hey VE, I was wondering if you were interested in a date. Perhaps I could read you The Lord of the Rings?

[@billyalarie929]

A cult leader or a novelist. I mean.... Yes?

[@carous7675]

Once again a writer complaining about stories about white, straight, nondisablem, skinny man and forgeting that a lot of stories goes around whiteness in general. And kind of feel like her: I want to see a female pirate. But not only that: a black female pirate. Maybe I should become a writer instead of waiting that writers will give a crap about representativity.

[@richadaiya6713]

P L E A S E give us a black female pirate, that would be FANTASTIC!!!

[@AvengeTheFallen]

In her book Conjuring of Light there is a fantastic character named Maris who is a black queen of what is essentially a pirate market. I'm really hoping she makes another appearance in the continuation series of that world!

[@Panamamacpc]

I read this on the Tor site. I do not disagree with her points of view in general. I do however think somebody ought to stipulate that the difference between Rowling's 'Harry Potter' and Tolkien is DIFFICULTY. If Hogwarts is what does it for her, fine. HOWEVER, to take a backhanded sort of pride in NOT reading Tolkien smacks of laziness and even a sniff of arrogance. Certainly The Hobbit wouldn't take her more than a long afternoon into a single evening. But then she could not elicit reactions.

[@Panamamacpc]

It is the difference between Star Trek and DUNE.

[@myribstellmesheslying]

But as she said, she'll eventually read it in her own time. She's not averse to reading it, just that it had been pushed to her far too many times that instead of persuading her, it did otherwise. I don't get why there should be something to read to validate being a reader. I've read Tolkien by the way.

[@sammie9088]

Her point is that she wants to read them for enjoyment not out of necessity so she is waiting until she really truly wants to read them. Don't tell me you always read everything you're told and appreciate its brilliance even when you aren't in the mood? Sure you can read that way but it is my experience that such a process greatly dampens the overall experience and impact of reading.