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Author Panel: Summer Reads

June 11, 2025, 12:30pm–1:30pm

Admired and best-selling authors offer advice and discuss their latest books. 

Summer Reads

Lorna Graham, Where You Once Belonged

Nicola Kraus, The Best We Could Hope For

Paul Vidich, The Poet's Game

Hosted by Ilana Levine, actress and podcaster, Little Known Facts with Ilana Levine

Lorna Graham is the author of The Ghost of Greenwich Village (Random House/Ballantine) and is a writer at Dateline NBC. She has written numerous documentaries, including Auschwitz, produced by Steven Spielberg and narrated by Meryl Streep, which competed at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. Across numerous films, PSAs, and speeches, she’s written for Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford, and Morgan Freeman. She graduated from Barnard College and lives in Greenwich Village.

Nicola Kraus has coauthored, with Emma McLaughlin, ten novels, including the international #1 bestseller The Nanny Diaries, Citizen Girl, Dedication, and The Real Real. Nicola has contributed to The Times (of London), The New York Times, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Town & Country, and Maxim, as well as two short story collections to benefit the War Child fund: "Big Night Out" and "Girls' Night Out". In 2015 she cofounded the creative consulting firm The Finished Thought, which helps the next generation of aspiring authors find their voice and audience. Through her work there, she has collaborated on several New York Times nonfiction bestsellers. 

Paul Vidich is the acclaimed author of The MatchmakerThe MercenaryThe Coldest WarriorAn Honorable Man, and The Good Assassin. His fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Wall Street JournalLitHubCrimeReadsFugueThe NationNarrative Magazine, and Wordriot. He lives in New York City.

As an actress, Ilana Levine has performed on stage and screen to critical acclaim. On Broadway, Ilana is best known to musical theater fans for her comedic turn as "Lucy Van Pelt" in the Broadway revival of, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown. Ilana also starred in the Broadway productions of Jake's WomenWrong Mountain and The Last Night Of Ballyhoo.  She has performed on the Tony Awards. Her ability to portray characters with raw honesty, humor, and pathos, has sustained her career as an actress for over 25 years.  She first appeared on the scene in the HBO series Tanner ’88 directed by Robert Altman and quickly was plucked by Vanity Fair journalist James Wolcott as an “up and comer to watch.”  Seinfeld fans recognize her from the infamous episode "The Contest."  She has appeared in many television shows and films including DivorceLaw and OrderTanner on TannerDamages, The JobCashmere MafiaConfessions of a ShopaholicKissing Jessica SteinGiganticIra and Abby, Failure to LaunchThe Nanny DiariesFriends With Kids and Five Flights Up. As a voice over artist she has done commercials and audio books. For the past three years Ilana has been cited as a “Twitter Influencer To Follow”.  She resides in Brooklyn, New York  with her husband, actor Dominic Fumusa, her two children, and their dog, Lola.