The Big Idea

Fiction in Conversation with the World

Fiction doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It lives in dialogue with every other human endeavor: psychology, science, philosophy, politics, music, and everything in between. The Big Idea pairs novelists with thought leaders from other fields for wide-ranging moderated conversations about the big ideas we all wrestle with in contemporary life. Their crackling, unpredictable exchanges will enlighten and entertain audiences and connect contemporary novels to the broader world.

How does music help us mourn?

For our inaugural entry into The Big Idea series, PEN/Faulkner is partnering with Goethe-Institut Washington to present novelist Martha Anne Toll, author of Duet for One, in dialogue with interdisciplinary artist Leigh Davis, the creator of Karaoke in the Cemetery. Moderated by Ann Meier Baker, former director of music and opera for the NEA, their conversation is scheduled for October 15, 2025 at 6 pm. The Big Idea will also include a short performance by violinist Robin Tozzie and a small pre-event wine reception.

Wednesday, October 15, 6:30-7:30 pm
Goethe-Institut
1377 R Street, NW  |  Third Floor

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The Goethe-Institut is the worldwide cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany. It supports German language teachers and students abroad and fosters international cultural exchange. Its space in the District of Columbia is a hub for ideas, education, and social discourse.  

Martha Anne Toll is a novelist and literary and cultural critic. Her second novel, Duet for One, a journey through grief and a musical love story, came out in spring 2025 to a generous welcome. Her debut novel, Three Muses, won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction and was shortlisted for the Gotham Book Prize. A graduate of Yale, Toll is a book critic for NPR, the Washington Post, Lilith Magazine, Pointe Magazine, and a range of other publications. She holds a B.A. Degree in Music, and her classical music training informs her artistic practice. She holds a J.D. Degree from Boston University School of Law, and comes to writing professionally after a career dedicated to social justice. Toll is a recipient of Fellowships from the Vashon Center for the Arts, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Virginia and the South of France, Monson Arts, and Dairy Hollow. Toll grew up in Philadelphia, and now lives with her climate activist husband in Washington, D.C. They are the lucky parents of two adult daughters.

Leigh Davis is an artist and cultural organizer. She creates interdisciplinary projects to explore themes of grief, memory, and storytelling, delving into how these shared human experiences shape our understanding of identity. Over the past decade, Davis has archived end-of-life experiences, shaping them into a diverse body of work spanning lecture-performances, video essays, installations, and sculptures which aim to illuminate the emotional complexities of grief and the construction of beliefs regarding human consciousness.

Her project Inquiry into the ELE (2019) featured at BRIC Contemporary Art (Brooklyn) and Vox Populi (Philadelphia). Her site-specific audio installation, Vigil (2020), and video installation, Feeling Tones (2023), showcased at Green-Wood Cemetery (Brooklyn). Davis has exhibited my work nationally/internationally including Open Source Gallery (Brooklyn), EFA Project Space (NY), Spectral Lines (Queens), Oliver Art Center (Oakland), and Traverse Film (Toulouse, FR). She has created performances for Dixon Place (NY), Sound Scene at the Hirshhorn Museum (DC) and Morbid Anatomy Museum (NY). A native of Pittsburgh, Davis currently serves as a Part-Time Associate Professor at Parsons the New School for Design, and divides her time between Brooklyn, NY, and Washington, DC. 

Ann Meier Baker retired from the National Endowment for the Arts in April 2025 after ten years of service as the director of music and opera, where she also oversaw the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowships. Including her tenure at the NEA, Ann’s career totals nearly 40 years in service to nonprofit music organizations, including leadership positions at Chorus America, the League of American Orchestras, and the National Association for Music Education, among others.

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