Kiva Bank, Contributing Photographer

Fantasy author Leigh Bardugo ’97 searches for magic all around her and captures it in her novels.

Known for multiple bestselling young adult, or YA, fantasy series, including “Shadow and Bone,” “Six of Crows” and “Ninth House,” Bardugo returned to her alma mater to conduct research for the third book of the “Ninth House” trilogy, which takes place at Yale. While on campus, Pauli Murray College hosted Bardugo for tea on March 5.

Speaking to a packed room, Bardugo offered advice for aspiring writers and shared insights into her creative process and the setbacks that have shaped her personal growth. 

“Especially when it comes to making art, you have to fail at it. You have to sit with the discomfort of that everyday,” Bardugo said.

Bardugo admitted that she did not publish her first book until 15 years after she graduated, and she spent much of that time “trying to write a book and failing.” Yet Bardugo believes this experience of failing is essential to the creative journey.

Bardugo emphasized the process of writing rather than the result. She saw failure as “a sign that I was trying to do something big and difficult and exciting.”

Although Bardugo admitted she wasn’t the best student at Yale — often cramming the night before exams — she said that her process as a writer differs. Writing, she said, is a process that cannot be rushed.

“I think that anything worth doing, you can’t do it the night before it’s due,” Bardugo said.

Bardugo’s time at Yale allowed her to build the foundations for her future expertise, she told students. According to Bardugo, the learning process for artists — years of practice, false starts and mistakes — is less talked about than the final product.

During her time at Yale, Bardugo was involved in the performing arts. A self-dubbed “theater nerd,” Bardugo acted in various plays and participated in a campus improv group, which “brought me out of my shell.”

“I had been a really outgoing kid, and then junior high and high school beat that out of me,” said Bardugo. “I became much more nervous, and I feel like being in that improv group gave my audacity back to me, and it really turned out to be an amazing skill for being an author.”

Her time at Yale influenced the plot of “Ninth House,” a dark fantasy novel that takes readers on an occult journey through Yale’s secret societies. Bardugo did not know about the existence of societies until she was a student at Yale, where she was a member of the secret society, Wolf’s Head.

As someone “obsessed with magic,” she said, Bardugo had a gut feeling about attending Yale. Throughout her time at Yale, she was fascinated by the secrets of the institution that reveal themselves “if you’re willing to dig a little bit deeper.” 

“I visited Yale in the dead of winter when I was figuring out where to go to school, and it was cold and miserable, and I absolutely loved it,” Bardugo said.

Bardugo fondly remembers that everyone she met was “full of passion.” Being in a secret society allowed her to meet people from various backgrounds, she said. 

Apart from the “fancy dinners and fancy house,” Bardugo cherishes the friends she has made through society, some of whom she is still in close contact with.

This process of forming a community through telling stories is deeply important to Bardugo.

“We live in a world that is largely devoid of ritual and these sort of shared communal moments where we come together and we celebrate together,” reflected Bardugo.

Yet Bardugo does not solely depict a rose-tinted image of Yale. Bardugo’s novel “Ninth House” grapples with the elitism, class division and injustices that undergird Yale’s institutional privilege.

Describing feelings of “class anxiety,” Bardugo remembered being overwhelmed by the extent of wealth and power that she encountered.

“When I came here, I really felt like there was a language that everyone else spoke that I didn’t, and I still feel the echoes of that today,” said Bardugo.

Bardugo seeks to capture both the positive and negative sides of Yale’s “history, lore, and enchantment” in her novels, so she regularly returns to campus to conduct research.

Bardugo had been an associate fellow of Pauli Murray since 2021. Bardugo was researching for the “Ninth House” series during the pandemic, and the staff of Pauli Murray aided her through restrictions that were in place due to COVID-19, said Suzette Courtmanche, senior administrative assistant of Pauli Murray College.

Professor Tina Lu, head of Pauli Murray College and a fan of Bardugo’s works, praised Bardugo for her creativity.

“There’s a constant stream of amazing things falling out of her pen from her brain,” Lu said.

Many attendees were also long-time fans of Bardugo’s works. Julia Levy ’25, a staff reporter at the News, said that she first read Bardugo’s novel “Six of Crows” when it was published in 2015.

“‘Six of Crows’ was on the list for my city’s Troybery program for middle school students. It’s lovely seeing her now that I go to Yale and knowing that she went here too,” Levy said. 

According to Levy, the genre of young adult fantasy started to receive more mainstream attention when she was in middle school. Young adult novels published at this time marked a shift in stories and themes presented to younger audiences. 

“Six of Crows” was “fundamental in redefining the [young adult] genre,” said Levy.

Theresa Fu ’28, who grew up reading Bardugo’s books and watching the Netflix adaptations, said that it was “invigorating” for her to see the creative force behind these works.

“Learning about her timeline as a writer was inspiring because she’s felt like such a constant throughout my childhood, but she also faced setbacks and had to persevere for her craft,” Fu said.

Currently, Bardugo is working on the third and final installment of the “Ninth House” series.

“We’re going to be pivoting back to the societies and to a new location that is tied deeply to the history of this place,” said Bardugo, about her upcoming book. “It’s going to be a big book, and it’s gonna have a pretty, I guess the Hollywood term would be explosive.

Pauli Murray College is located on 130 Prospect St.