Center for the literary arts in New York State
A Grammy winner and feminist icon, she created her own record label, Righteous Babe Records, in 1990. Her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, was a New York Times bestseller, and she is the author of two children’s books, The Knowing and Show Up and Vote.
In 2024, she completed a five-month run on Broadway in the role of Persephone in "Hadestown."
Lauren Coyle Rosen is an award-winning author, artist, singer-songwriter, and cultural anthropologist. Her nonfiction books include Hannibal Lokumbe (2024, coauthored with jazz trumpeter Hannibal Lokumbe), Law in Light (2024), and Fires of Gold (2020).
She founded and writes for The Spiritual Muses journal and is a fellow at Harvard University. She was formerly a cultural anthropology professor at Princeton University, where she received the President’s Award in Distinguished Teaching. Coyle Rosen has also published eight volumes of poetry and art.
She is currently at work on her next nonfiction book on female spirituality, Goddess: A History. In 2025, she released her first four music albums, including, most recently, Athena Visions.
THE CREATIVE LIFE
Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen
7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203 See map.
Ani DiFranco, a pathbreaking and highly original artist, is one of the most influential singer-songwriters of her generation. Her newest book is The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom (2026), an intimate exploration of her personal journey, creative process, spirituality, activism, and evolving consciousness in conversation with coauthor Lauren Coyle Rosen.
The book includes previously unpublished photographs and journal entries, song-birth sheets, paintings, and the lyrics for some of her most treasured songs. The coauthors explore how Ani’s music and art are profoundly tied to her experiences of the interconnectedness of all consciousness and tuning in to receive creative inspiration. Ani’s striking openness produces a book that is both meditative and activating. This is a must-read for anyone intrigued by the dedication, intuition, and vision that drive Ani’s lifelong journey of creating art that not only reflects, but also empowers, transforms, and heals.
(Photo credit: Shervin Lainez)
Produced by the New York State Writers Institute in collaboration with WAMC Northeast Public Radio, The Creative Life series features leading figures from a variety of artistic disciplines in conversation with WAMC’s “Roundtable” host Joe Donahue about creative inspiration, craft, and career.