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Bill Goldstein: Welcome to our New York Times on AOL Author Event. My name is Bill Goldstein, editor of the Times Books web site, and I am host tonight, along with Elizabeth Cohen.

Bill Goldstein: Our guest tonight is the bestselling author Barbara Kingsolver, whose new book, The Poisonwood Bible, is a powerful drama told by the wife and four daughters of an evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. As that nation endures a tumultuous post-colonial era, the Price family itself is wrenchingly transformed.

Bill Goldstein: Kingsolver's famous novels include: "Pigs in Heaven" and "The Bean Trees." Thank you for joining us, Barbara Kingsolver.

Barbara Kingsolver: Thanks, Bill. Hi, glad to be here.

ABrvFan: How did you research for the book Poisonwood Bible?

Barbara Kingsolver: From beginning to end, I researched it. This novel required more research by far than anything I've written before. In fact, had I known how much research would be required, I doubt I would have begun it. It was fairly daunting. I'll just give you a few examples of the kinds of research I did. To gather authentic details of life in Central Africa, I made several trips to Africa over the last 10 years. I read mountains of books about the natural, political and social history of the Congo. I talked with many people from the region. In addition, I had to know the specifics of teenage language from the Southern U.S. in 1959, and since I was only four years old at that time, memory would hardly serve, so I prowled used bookstores and collected dozens of popular magazines from the late 50s. The advertisements were most useful.

Bill Goldstein: How long did it take you to research and write the book?

Barbara Kingsolver: I've been keeping a file which was affectionately known in my household as "the damn Africa book file" for about 15 years. Collecting information for that long, actually constructing plot, writing scenes and working on the voices of the narrators for about ten years. Actively writing nothing else but this book for about 3 years.

GTETONS: I love how Adah speaks in palindromes -- how did you come up with that?

Barbara Kingsolver: Palindromes are not easy. I got in the habit of reading backwards. Eventually my entire family got involved. When we would pull up to a Stop sign, my kids would shout "Pots!" Little by little, you find words and phrases that can be worked into palindromes. I do think that this was one of the most technically difficult parts of Adah's voice. But, I now realize that I didn't have it have so bad as my French and German and Swedish translators, who are now shrieking "What have you done!? You've ruined my life!"

Bill Goldstein: Have you seen Jon Agee's book So Many Dynamos, drawings of palindromes?

Barbara Kingsolver: No, I haven't! OH YES, now that I think of it. Someone sent it to me, as a matter of fact, about a week after I'd finished the book. Too late to go back and add extra palindromes into the galleys!

Bill Goldstein: On a more serious note, though, does the use of multiple narrators get confusing while writing?

Barbara Kingsolver: Confusing? No, not really. As the author, I always know in whose voice I'm attempting to write. My concern was that it not be confusing to the reader. It's a long and challenging book and the last thing I wanted was for you to be wondering "who the heck is talking to me now?" So, I spent several years really fine-tuning each narrative voice, so that when you read these narratives, each one would ring very differently in your ears.

Bill Goldstein: Do you prefer writing in first or third person? What are the different challenges?

Barbara Kingsolver: I seem to prefer first person, as I keep going back to it. My first novel was written in the first person, and after it was published, I read in a review that the first person is an immature point of view. So after that I was determined to write in the second or third or even omniscient point of view. My third novel "Pigs in Heaven" is actually written in the omniscient present tense. That was a struggle for me. The vantage point of God is not one that comes naturally to me. In "The Poisonwood Bible" I returned to my beloved first person point of view, but complicated it by having five "first people." I can only hope that will be deemed adequately mature.

Samikat834: I want you to know how much I loved "Bean Trees" series. I cried when it was over. Are any more books planned in that series?

Barbara Kingsolver: Sorry you cried. Hope you liked it anyway. No. I didn't even plan "Pigs in Heaven" as the second of a series. I had really worked out the theme and much of the plot of that novel before it dawned on me that I could use some of the characters that I had previously invented for "The Bean Trees" Still, in my mind, it's an entirely different novel from "The Bean Trees," different in style and about completely different things. Every time I begin a novel, I set out for entirely new terrain, thematically. I always want to stretch myself as a writer. And above all, never to write the same book twice.

QuAppelle: Do you ever think that reviewers over-analyze what you write, and sometimes find meanings that you never intended?

Barbara Kingsolver: I would say that the author should claim every meaning that anybody ever finds in her work. We work so hard to layer in all these subtle levels of metaphor and meaning, most of which many readers will never notice. So, if someone happens to find one in there that I don't recall layering in ... what the heck, I'm still delighted.

SUSSBOY: Did you begin writing "The Poisonwood Bible" after the Kabila rebellion had begun? If so, did it influence the way you wrote it?

Barbara Kingsolver: Ha ha! I only wish I could have written a novel of this size in 18 months. Eighteen years is closer to the mark. I will say, however, that after working for over a decade on a novel about an obscure place and a period of history about which I could only hope people could be induced to care, I was amazed to find the Congo suddenly in the news. I wrote a scene in "The Poisonwood Bible" in which Mobutu dies, and two months later, Mobutu died. I read the account of the actual death in the newspaper, went back and read my death scene, and discovered I didn't have to change a thing. It gave me a heady sense of power.

Bill Goldstein: So maybe you're not so uncomfortable with the omniscient narrator's voice of God after all

Barbara Kingsolver: LOL Maybe I'd better be careful with my death scenes.

Question: The Bellwether Prize that you are endowing will recognize books promoting social change. What are some example of books, either classics or recent releases, that exemplify the kind of work you want this Prize to reward?

Barbara Kingsolver: I can name quite a few. "Beloved," by Toni Morrison. "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, "The Color Purple," by Alice Walker "Snow Falling on Cedars," by David Guterson. "The Women's Room," by Marilyn French, "Bastard Out of Carolina," by Dorothy Allison. "The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck. And the great thing is, these are all North American writers. Do you see a pattern here?

Bill Goldstein: How are you finding prospective candidates for your prize?

Barbara Kingsolver: Manuscripts are being submitted through 20 literary agents whom we have selected as the official submitting agents for the prize. Anyone who has a manuscript they wish to be considered for this prize may contact one of these agents with a query letter. The list of agents and other information and other information can be obtained from the National Writers United Service Organization, and I don't have my address in my hotel room in Seattle, I'm sorry to say. But that address is posted on my web site, which is www.kingsolver.com. The submissions will be read and judged by a notable panel of judges I have just finished selecting and the winner will be announced May 1 of next year. The deadline for this year's submissions is only 2 weeks away, but please remember, this is an annual prize. So there's always next year.

Question: Do you feel the US has a responsibility to intervene in African politics when human rights are affected, or is it interference?

Bill Goldstein: And I suppose the question is international in scope -- affecting not just Africa.

Barbara Kingsolver: I believe that the legacy of US intervention in Africa is so ghastly, it would be an enormous relief to see it end altogether. In the Congo specifically, 35 years under the dictator Mobutu, who was installed and continuously supported by the US, has resulted in complete devastation. It probably would have been better for the Congolese if we had dropped an atomic bomb on that country in 1960 and walked away for good. I would love to see the people of the Congo allowed to arrive at genuine self-determination.

Bill Goldstein: I am confused -- why would the atom bomb have been a good thing?

Barbara Kingsolver: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. What I'm saying is what we did is even more horrific than that would have been. Hard to imagine, but, I think, true.

Bill Goldstein: Thanks for clarifying that!

PAWIBA: Is motivating social change one of your goals in writing?

Barbara Kingsolver: Motivating social change is a very blunt way to put it. But maybe, yes. I would put it another way. I would like to write literature that invites readers to examine their society, their prejudices, their relationships, and the balances or imbalances of power contained within our culture. If this illuminates a life, that's wonderful. If it motivates progress towards a more humane society even better.

Question: Your novels always have strong political themes, and yet tell a good story. Which comes first?

Barbara Kingsolver: They have to come together. Or it isn't a novel. In general, I begin with theme rather than character or incident. So I'm very clear from the beginning about what I intend to get across in a piece of writing. That is, what issues it will address, what questions it will ask, what answers it may suggest. Then, I devise a plot that will carry across this theme. That's a work of construction. Then, I create characters who will perform my plot. I invest in them emotionally, I light them up like Christmas trees, with details of personality and psyche and motivation. I invite you to care about them, and set them in motion in a way that invites you to care about my theme. That, I hope, is the work of art.

Bill Goldstein: What a wonderful image -- "light them up like Christmas trees" -- it makes the evening! A final question -- and it's not a trick question -- but are there novels you admire so much that you wish you had written them?

Barbara Kingsolver: It's funny you should say that. Because the rule I long ago set for myself as a reader is to read only writing that I wish I had written myself. That means I gravitate toward the great writers of our time and times past, and I steer way clear of the TV. I thank you for inviting me here tonight.

Bill Goldstein: Thank you Barbara Kingsolver for spending this time with us. The Poisonwood Bible is a wonderful book. Congratulations!

Barbara Kingsolver: I do want to reiterate, I didn't mean to advocate dropping the bomb on the Congo. It's a little odd to speak without seeing what I've written.

Bill Goldstein: I think your clarification of that sentence makes your point of view very clear.

Barbara Kingsolver: Nevertheless, it's been fun to participate in this chat. I thank my readers for reading, and bid you all good evening.

Bill Goldstein: Thank you all for joining us and thank you Barbara Kingsolver for answering our questions. Please join us for our next Author Event at The New York Times on AOL. And join us every Wednesday evening for Books chat, hosted by Elizabeth Cohen. On November 11, author Sandra Benitez will join the chat. Good night.