Why Living Authors Club?

As swyx noted in Pick Up What They Put Down, addressing new work about which one is enthusiastic has three advantages:

1. Learning from the thinkers on the top of their niche and their inspirations.
2. Opening the possibility of feedback on reflection outcome by the author.
3. Healthy time pressure to react among the first while the work is still new.

If interested members set up a discussion group around the resource, they can gain a deeper and broader understanding, enjoy accountability, and build relationships. This set-up is consistent with Resnick's P's framework and models the inclusive Learning Webs in Ilych's Deschooling Society.

How to Set It Up?

You can comment with the author from below or add a new proposal. The time coordination and meeting platform are primarily up to self-organization. One option would be Doodle and free4talk. Another one could be the Scratch comment thread, in the case of youngsters. Alternatively, if you are a facilitator with thorough knowledge about the topic, you can add an Eventbrite invitation. If you are a native speaker and want to moderate the club as a language learning session, you can, too. If you meet and have outcomes you want to share from the sessions, please post the link to them in the comments for others to benefit from your journeys. Also, you can list the preparation prompts on the discussion you would have had for other groups to use.

Whose Work to Discuss?

Here is a curated list of people whose creative written work in English I consider suitable for discussion.

Allen, David - Getting Things Done methodology
Ariely, Dan - motivation and rationality researcher
Arye, Lane - process work, author of Unintentional Music
Atwood, Margaret - the author of The Handmaid's Tale
Babauta, Leo - the author of Zen Habits blog
Bansal, Seema - educational consultant leading an educational reform
Belák, Andrej - ethnographer, a specialist in Roma health
Boaler, Jo - math education researcher and teacher-trainer
Bornstein, David - journalist writing on successful social innovation
Bransford, John, et al. - authors of How People Learn book
Brown, Brené - vulnerability and trust researcher
Bryant, John - a financial literacy coach and banking innovator
Bryson, Bill - author of The Body, A Guide for Occupants
Buffet, Warren - an investor and philanthropist
Burke, Tarana, et al. - MeToo movement author, a racial justice activist
Cameron, Julia - author of the Artist's Way book
Case, Nicky - explorable explanations, learning, and systems author
Cloud, Henry, et al. - authors of book series on boundaries
Dawkins, Richard - an ethnologist and evolutionary biologist
Duckworth, Angela - grit and behavioral change researcher
Dweck, Carol - a psychologist, mindset researcher
Epstein, David - the author of a book on specialization and range
Ferris, Tim - entrepreneur, investor, author of lifestyle content
Francis, John - environmentalist, "planetwalker"
Gaiman, Neil - author of American Gods and other fantasy
Godin, Seth - a marketer, the author of altMBA program
Graham, Paul - computer scientist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist
Grün, Anselm - a Benedictine monk, author of books about spirituality
Haidt, Jonathan - professor, author of books on morality
Hayden, Torey - special education teacher, and university lecturer
Heracleous, Loizos, et al. - professor, author on paradoxical strategy
Heydorn, Wendy, et al. - Theory of Knowledge book author
hooks, bell - an author, professor, feminist, and social activist
Hosseini, Khaled - a novelist, author of A Thousand Splendid Suns
Howard, Jeremy - an ethical Machine Learning educator
Chi, Michelene, et al. - cognitive and learning scientist
Jamison, Kay - clinical psychologist, drawing from her own experience
Jemisin, Nora - a science fiction and fantasy writer
Kabat-Zinn, Jon - a doctor, meditation researcher, and teacher
Karsdorp, Folgert, et al. - author of Humanities Data Analysis book
Kast, Verena - psychotherapist author of books on conflict and attachment
Kingsolver, Barbara - novelist, essayist, social change author
Lockhart, Paul - a teacher, author of Mathematician's Lament
Mama, Raouf - African and multicultural storyteller, professor
Maté, Gabor - addiction, stress, childhood development researcher
Maturana, Humberto - a biologist, philosopher, cybernetician
Matuschak, Andy - a software engineer, designer, and researcher
Mayer, Dan - explorer of the future of math, technology, and learning
Mccrea, Peps - teacher educator, author of Mathagogy
Meade, Michael - mythology, anthropology, and psychology author
Miller, Chanel - artist, public speaker, author of Know My Name book
Muller, Derek - science communicator on Veritasium channel
Oakley, Barbara - author of the Learning How to Learn MOOC
Obama, Michelle - former first lady of the USA, author of Becoming
Payne, Ruby, et al. - the author of Bridges out of Poverty
Peschl, Markus - design for innovation researcher
Peter, Marc, et al. - author on Math for Machine Learning book
Pressfield, Steven - the author of the book War of Art
Priest, Graham - professor connecting Eastern and Western logic
Rees, Martin - the author of On the Future: Prospects for Humanity
Resnick, Mitchel - founder of Scratch and Computer Clubhouse
Saks, Elyn - professor, mental health and destigmatization advocate
Satrapi, Marjane - creator of Persepolis comic strip
Seligman, Martin - a positive psychology researcher
Shirow, Masamune - manga artist, author of the Ghost in the Shell
Scharmer, Otto - researcher on Presencing social change method
Schäfer, Susanne - author describing her experience with autism
Siegler, Robert - researcher in cognitive development and reasoning
Sinek, Simon - Start with Why and The Infinite Game author
Soros, George - a philanthropist, philosopher, and economist
Talbot, Bryan - a writer, artist, author of The Tale of One Bat Rat
Victor, Bret - computer scientist, future of technology visionary
Walker, Alice - activist, feminist, and author of The Color Purple
Wang, Shawn (swyx) - Learning in Public author
Winfrey, Oprah - talk show host, television producer, and philanthropist
Yalom, Irving - psychotherapist, the author of Matter Of Death and Life
Yousafzai, Malala - activist for female education, Nobel Prize laureate
Zimmer, Carl - science journalist on heredity and others

Plus:
Recommendations on books on the environment.
Open Up Resources - an open-source English and Math curriculum

Note 1: This is my spotlight of authors I would like to explore and see explored. I am aware they vary in their seniority, focus, background, and worldviews. Some authors I chose because I want to challenge myself, as I possess a different outlook. Some I do not know, but people I trust recommended them. Finally, I am aware my bubble skews the authors I know and like, despite some effort to even out the demographics. If you want to fix it, write your favorite resources in the comments.

Note 2: I would love to see this proposal transformed to an open ecosystem including a library of remixable learning resources beyond written ones, relevant prompts, (automated) scheduling, meeting calendar, meeting area, annotations technology, collaborative whiteboard, writing space, portfolio platform, review on resources and recommendations of conversation partners, and optional donations for facilitators. There are open source or free technologies that do each of these. However, they are not yet woven together, as far as I know. If you deem the offered vision inspirational, I encourage you to comment and connect, remix and build upon.

Photo by Susan Q Yin on Unsplash