Veronica Roth’s (Weinberg ’10) famed start at Northwestern’s creative writing program is an oft-talked about legend within the University’s English department. 

Roth wrote “Divergent” during Winter Break of her senior year, discovered her agent by Googling “how to get published by a big publisher” and sold the generation-defining dystopian trilogy in a three-book deal with HarperCollins Publishers — along with the movie rights — all before graduation.

Since the conclusion of the “Divergent” trilogy 12-and-a-half years ago, the #1 New York Times bestselling author has published several epic science fiction and fantasy novels, including her adult debut “Chosen Ones” and novellas “When Among Crows” and “To Clutch a Razor.”

In recent years, she has eyed a new narrative. “Seek the Traitor’s Son” hit the shelves May 12 and is the first in a new romantic dystopian fantasy series, marking a pivotal stage in the internationally acclaimed author’s career.

A focus on fun

For Roth, writing “Seek the Traitor’s Son” was a lesson in experimentation and creativity. 

The book follows protagonist Elegy Ahn, who finds herself caught in a prophecy that will determine the fate of her world. A soldier tasked with defending her small country from the powerful nation of Talusar, Elegy must face off against the ruthless Talusar general Rava Vidar. Their battle will determine whose people prevail and whose cease to exist. At the center of the prophecy binding their fates is a man who Elegy is destined to love.

Roth began the novel in September 2019 alongside several other projects, including “Chosen Ones,” “Poster Girl” and “Arch-Conspirator.” With these books, Roth said she was meticulous about her writing process on a craft level, focusing on the mechanics of plot and world building. While she said she was satisfied with how those projects turned out, she couldn’t help but feel that something was missing.

Roth’s determination to rekindle the fun in her writing set “Seek the Traitor’s Son” apart from her other works. Throughout the process for her latest novel, she said she tried to focus on leading with the techniques and stories she loved the most.

“I had a longing for the kind of writer I was when I started, where I didn’t know enough to be embarrassed by anything,” Roth said.

World of her own

During the six years she spent working on “Seek the Traitor’s Son,” the project underwent many iterations of drafts, bouncing between protagonists and genres and spanning fantastical and real-world settings. 

Roth even wrote an alternate version of the story intended for a young adult audience, which involved aging down her characters, adjusting their timelines and grounding the story on Earth. While she ultimately decided to stick to an adult readership, she said this draft enabled her to answer key world-building questions that would later inform the foundation of her final iteration.

As Roth continued to experiment with different aspects of world building, the story’s genre also evolved, alternating between fantasy, science fiction and dystopian.

By the tenth draft, Roth had finalized her setting, characters and genre. That’s when she really began writing the book, she said.

Roth decided a “ruined Earth” was a fitting setting for her 12th book. Like “Divergent,” “Seek the Traitor’s Son” is set in a dystopian reinvention of a major U.S. city: Los Angeles.

“I really love the idea of wandering around in spaces that we currently occupy, but making them ruins,” Roth said.

Of the story’s many complexities, Roth said she was most excited about a world-building element called the Fever — a fatal virus that kills half of its victims, while imbuing the other half with special abilities. In the dystopian fantasy, citizens of Talusar worship the Fever like a god, while Elegy and the people of her nation, Cedre, view the virus for what it is — a devastating force with the power to wipe out populations. The nations’ diverging beliefs about the Fever are one of the main points of tension, Roth said.

From there, Roth said she homed in on the core values and beliefs driving her characters’ choices throughout the plot. The relationship between Elegy and Theren, the man whom she is prophesied to love, is at the crux of the novel, Roth said. She described Elegy and Theren not as enemies or friends, but rather two individuals that have “a deep wound between them that they have to reconcile.” Figuring out the source of tension between them was vital not only to the book’s romantic subplot, but also to creating a foundation for Elegy’s character arc.

“I really love a scene where the sci-fi, fantasy world-building elements can facilitate emotional vulnerability,” Roth said.

For the novel’s genre, Roth finally settled on a dystopian fantasy with a strong romantic storyline. With blended genres like “romantasy” rapidly gaining popularity in the publishing world, writers like Roth, who don’t necessarily want to write a romance book but are interested in introducing more romance to their work, have found encouragement, she said.

The novel’s central themes are grounded in reality, Roth said. Most explicitly, the book reflects on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social behaviors, particularly through the opposing factions of people who viewed loss of life either as a necessary step in achieving herd immunity or as unacceptable. These two perspectives informed the nations of Telusar and Cedre, she said.

“(Dystopian literature) is more of a deep observation of things that are currently happening, and that’s when it’s at its best,” Roth said.

A return to her roots

For more than a decade, Roth said she has attempted to distance herself from the “Divergent” series as much as possible. While she said she’s grateful for the way the trilogy launched her career, she’s also spent the time since absorbing the negative feedback that came with the success.

“I, as a young person with anxiety, internalized all of that,” Roth said. “I started to feel shame about the series, even though it built my career.”

The experimentation Roth used when writing “Seek the Traitor’s Son” allowed her to let that shame go and retroactively appreciate the “Divergent” books.

Now, she’s decided to return to the universe that launched her career. Roth announced a new companion duology that takes place in the world of “Divergent” at this year’s BookCon festival April 18-19.

She first floated the idea of an alternate universe “Divergent” in her newsletter in August 2024, when she published a few scenes from the new project. At this point, Roth knew she wanted to commit to the story, now titled “The Sixth Faction.” The book is set to be published Oct. 6, and will explore the question, “What if Tris never picked Dauntless?”

“It was so much fun,” Roth said. “(Writing those scenes) engaged different parts of my brighter brain, and I was like, ‘I think this is it.’”

Northwestern, then and now 

As part of her “Seek the Traitor’s Son” book tour, Roth will make a long-awaited return to campus on May 17 for the Chicago Humanities Festival.

Since graduating, Roth has sold more than 32 million copies of her career-launching trilogy worldwide, and the film adaptations grossed more than $750 million at the box office. Although 16 years out of college, her legacy remains fresh in the minds of NU’s English and creative writing students.

“Sometimes her name will come up in class, like somebody will say that they love her books, and I’ll say she took this class,” creative writing Prof. Shauna Seliy said. “Everybody gasps, that’s always amazing.”

Seliy taught Roth in three classes: English 207, English 208 and one quarter of the fiction sequence. Roth was always an ambitious and thoughtful writer, Seliy said. She thinks fondly of the day Roth visited her office to share that she had sold her first book.

“I was so happy for her and astonished,” Seliy said. “I remember (telling) her … ‘It’s a success just to finish the book. It’s an enormous success just to have sold a book.’ … And then the book comes out and it’s this giant smash hit.”

Seliy, whom Roth thanked in the acknowledgements of “Divergent,” recounted a full-circle moment when she gifted her son a copy of the book to read at summer camp. To his surprise, Seliy had left a Post-it in the back of the book, pointing out that she knew Roth. She added that she was proud to be able to share a former student’s work with her son, who loved the story.

With her visit approaching, Roth reflected on her time at NU, recalling her workshop experiences in the fiction sequence.

“I still think about some of the feedback I got from professors,” Roth said.

Among her most formative experiences in the program, Roth remembers when English Prof. Brian Bouldrey introduced her to the work of author Mary Gaitskill. Known for her sexually explicit writing, Gaitskill’s work made Roth blush with every story, Bouldrey said. He also served as Roth’s honors thesis adviser. 

“I felt really bad that I subjected her to naughtiness, essentially, but then she chose Gaitskill as her person to imitate (in writing), and she wrote a story that was the best in class,” he said.

Bouldrey added that Roth has always shown great skill across writing forms, from short stories to novels, a versatility that has propelled her through her career.

Despite the fame, Bouldrey said Roth has remained a humble and generous person. When the author visited the English department nearly a decade ago for a panel on young adult writing, he said she displayed genuine enthusiasm.

“She was the one who was asking (the students) questions,” Bouldrey said.

For other young writers, Roth said feedback is vital to improving one’s craft. The early criticism she received in the creative writing department’s workshops helped prepare her for a career as an author, she said.

“My biggest piece of advice is to appreciate those lessons,” Roth said. “Even though it’s hard to hear 14 of your peers tell you what you did wrong, it’s so valuable, and it’s really the only way that you grow as a writer.”

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