A midtown Manhattan pop-in: Oprah Winfrey delivers Tayari Jones’ ‘Kin’ news face-to-face

NEW YORK (AP) — Oprah Winfrey welcomed her latest book club author, Tayari Jones, in a personal way.

For decades, Winfrey has broken the news to her chosen authors by cold-calling them or popping up on video during Zoom meetings. For Jones and her novel “Kin,” she decided to communicate more directly, showing up at the Penguin Random House offices in midtown Manhattan while Jones was speaking with her publisher.

The two know each other well: Winfrey previously selected Jones’ acclaimed 2018 novel, “An American Marriage,” for her club.

“I’m a two-fer!” exclaimed Jones, who traded high-fives with Winfrey.

“Kin,” published Tuesday, is Jones’ fifth novel. With a narrative starting in the 1950s, it follows the lives of motherless girls from Honeysuckle, Louisiana, and how their stories diverge. In an announcement that included a video link to her visit, Winfrey likened “Kin” to “a trip back home, like a visit with my own ‘kin’ I hadn’t seen in a long while.”

“It is masterful and reminds us of the true bonds we share with family, whether biological or chosen,” Winfrey said.

Her interview with Jones can be seen on the Oprah YouTube channel and other podcast outlets.

“To be selected for Oprah’s Book Club is a writer’s dream, and to be chosen twice is a stunning gift,” Jones, who has called the “An American Marriage” endorsement a turning point in her career, said in a statement. “Oprah knows that our stories will heal us. For decades she has elevated the voices of the world — book by book. Like the old folks say, I’m honored to be one in that number.”

Tuesday’s announcement does not mention Winfrey’s partnership with Starbucks, its stores the setting for interviews since “Oprah’s Book Club: Presented by Starbucks” was launched in 2024. Spokespeople for Starbucks and Winfrey confirmed the partnership ended late in 2025, but declined comment on why. Winfrey previously had a multiyear deal with Apple TV+.