Lauren Groff, a three-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author, will discuss and sign her new short story collection, “Brawler: Stories,” at a ticketed Vroman’s Bookstore event Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. The book, published February 24 by Riverhead Books, has received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist.
Groff will be joined in conversation by Danzy Senna, a novelist, essayist, and professor of English at the University of Southern California. Senna is the author of six books, including the 2024 novel “Colored Television,” which was a Good Morning America Book Club pick. The pairing brings two acclaimed voices in American literary fiction to Southern California’s oldest independent bookstore, according to Vroman’s.
“Brawler” collects nine stories spanning decades and regions — from New England to Florida to California — exploring family, struggle, and the conflict between compassion and violence. The collection is Groff’s eighth book and her third story collection, following “Florida,” which won The Story Prize and was a National Book Award finalist. Groff has also won the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, and in 2024 was named to the TIME 100 list of most influential people, according to her publisher, Penguin Random House.
The New York Times called Groff “one of this country’s most successful and versatile literary figures.” The LA Times called the collection “required reading.” The Boston Globe said the book strikes its reader “with ferocious honesty and searing emotional force,” according to Penguin Random House.
In a recent interview with the Pasadena Star-News and San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Groff described her outlook on writing and the world. “I’m the opposite of a fatalist. I am a utopianist; I actually believe in the goodness of people,” she said.
Groff lives in Gainesville, Florida, where she and her husband own an independent bookstore called The Lynx. She told the paper that the store, which opened in 2024, gives away banned books to Floridians. “A strong community has to have a strong bookstore,” she said.
Senna, who lives near Los Angeles, is known for fiction and nonfiction exploring race, identity, and family. Her debut novel, “Caucasia,” won the Book of the Month Award for First Fiction and has been translated into 12 languages. She is married to novelist Percival Everett.
The event takes place at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd. It is ticketed, and each ticket includes one entry and one copy of “Brawler: Stories,” handed out at check-in. Tickets and information are available at vromansbookstore.com/event/2026-03-03/ticketed-lauren-groff. For questions, email promo@vromansbookstore.com or call (626) 449-5320.
Vroman’s, founded in 1894, hosts more than 400 community events a year, according to the bookstore. “Our longevity is because of the people,” Julia Cowlishaw, the bookstore’s CEO, said in November at the store’s 130th anniversary. “Our dedicated customers and our dedicated team of employees are the reason we are still here.”
