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4 episodes with fiction first novel prize
3 episodes with fiction first novel prize
3 episodes with fiction first novel prize
3 episodes with fiction first novel prize
2 episodes with fiction first novel prize
2 episodes with fiction first novel prize
3 episodes with fiction first novel prize
2 episodes with fiction first novel prize
2 episodes with fiction first novel prize
Diverse Voices Book Review host Hopeton Hay interviewed Fernando A. Flores, author of the novel Brother Brontë. Set in Texas in 2038, it is a dark tale of a future where books are burned, the libraries are closed, and your neighbor may turn you in for having books. In the interview, Flores said, "...for those of us who have traveled to the valley by car, we've been through Three Rivers many times. And it's frightening because you posit an authoritarian police city-state with people that are coopted by the city-state, with people that resist the city-state, and with people that are just trying to get by, like our protagonist, Naftali, who's just trying to get by. And I say it's, it's a little bit frightening because of, you know, if, if you look at where we are today and where we could be in 13 years...I'm hoping it's not...prescient..."Fernando A. Flores was born in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and grew up in South Texas. He is the author of the collections Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas and Valleyesque and the novel Tears of the Trufflepig, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and named a best book of 2019 by Tor.com. His fiction has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, American Short Fiction, Ploughshares, Frieze, Porter House Review, and elsewhere. He lives in Austin, Texas. Diverse Voices Book Review Social Media: Facebook - @diversevoicesbookreview Instagram - @diverse_voices_book_review Twitter - @diversebookshay Email: hbh@diversevoicesbookreview.com
PODCAST NOTESPage One, produced and hosted by author Holly Lynn Payne, celebrates the craft that goes into writing the first sentence, first paragraph and first page of your favorite books. The first page is often the most rewritten page of any book because it has to work so hard to do so much—hook the reader. We interview master storytellers on the struggles and stories behind the first page of their books.About the guest author:Callan Wink's latest and third book, Beartooth, is another propulsive story about two brothers in dire straits, living on the edge of Yellowstone, who agree to a desperate act of survival. Wink has been awarded fellowships by the National Endowment for the Arts and Stanford University, where he was a Wallace Stegner Fellow. He received his MFA from University of Wyoming and his stories and essays have been published in the New Yorker, Granta, Playboy, Men's Journal, and The Best American Short Stories. He debut novel, August, was longlisted for the center for Fiction First Novel Prize and a collection of short stories, Dog Run Moon. He lives in Livingston, Montana, where he is a fly-fishing guide on the Yellowstone River. About the host:Holly Lynn Payne is an award-winning novelist and writing coach, and the former CEO and founder of Booxby, a startup built to help authors succeed. She is an internationally published author of four historical fiction novels. Her debut, The Virgin's Knot, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book. As an author and writing coach, she knows that the first page of any book has to work so hard to do so much—hook the reader. So she thought to ask your favorite master storytellers how they do their magic to hook you. Holly lives in Marin County with her family and two Labrador retrievers, and enjoys mountain biking, hiking, swimming and pretending to surf. To learn more about her books and writing coaching services, please follow her on IG + X @hollylynnpayne or visit hollylynnpayne.com.Tune in and reach out:If you're an aspiring writer or a book lover, this episode of Page One offers a treasure trove of inspiration and practical advice. I offer these conversations as a testament to the magic that happens when master storytellers share their secrets and experiences. We hope you are inspired to tune into the full episode for more insights. Keep writing, keep reading, and remember—the world needs your stories. If I can help you tell your own story, or help improve your first page, please reach out @hollylynnpayne or visit hollylynnpayne.com.You can listen to Page One on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher and all your favorite podcast players. Hear past episodes.JOIN THE POP1 COMMUNITY ON SUBSTACK If you're interested in getting writing tips and the latest podcast episode updates with the world's beloved master storytellers, please consider subscribing to my free weekly newsletter on Substack: Power of Page One POP1 is a community of writers and book lovers passionate about the craft of storytelling—which begins with a compelling page one.
After a deployment in the Iraq War dually defined by threat and interminable mundanity, Joseph Thomas is fighting to find his footing. Now a doctoral student at The University, and an EMS worker at the hospital in North Philly, he encounters round the clock friends and family from his past life and would-be future at his job, including contemporaries of his estranged father, a man he knows little about, serving time at Holmesburg prison for the statutory rape of his then-teenage mother. Meanwhile, he and his best friend Ray, a fellow vet, are alternatingly bonding over and struggling with their shared experience and return to civilian life, locked in their own rhythms of lust, heartbreak, and responsibility. Balancing the joys and frustrations of single fatherhood, his studies, and ceaseless shifts at the hospital as he becomes closer than he ever imagined to his father, Joseph tries to articulate vernacular understandings of the sociopolitical struggles he recounts as participant-observer at home, against the assumptions of his friends and colleagues. GOD BLESS YOU, OTIS SPUNKMEYER is a powerful examination of every day black life—of health and sex, race and punishment, and the gaps between our desires and our politics Joseph Earl Thomas is the author of Sink, a memoir, longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and shortlisted for the Patrick Saroyan International Writing Prize; the novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Literary Excellence, winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize; and the forthcoming story collection Leviathan Beach. His prose and poetry has been published or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, Harper's, Virginia Quarterly Review, Vanity Fair, The Yale Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Dilettante Army. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame's MFA program in prose, he earned his PhD in English from The University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, and teaches courses in Black Studies, Poetics, Video Games, Queer Theory and more at The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. Recommended Books: Nell Irving Painter, Old in Art School Yoko Towada, Scattered All Over the Earth Alison Mills Newman, Francisco Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
After a deployment in the Iraq War dually defined by threat and interminable mundanity, Joseph Thomas is fighting to find his footing. Now a doctoral student at The University, and an EMS worker at the hospital in North Philly, he encounters round the clock friends and family from his past life and would-be future at his job, including contemporaries of his estranged father, a man he knows little about, serving time at Holmesburg prison for the statutory rape of his then-teenage mother. Meanwhile, he and his best friend Ray, a fellow vet, are alternatingly bonding over and struggling with their shared experience and return to civilian life, locked in their own rhythms of lust, heartbreak, and responsibility. Balancing the joys and frustrations of single fatherhood, his studies, and ceaseless shifts at the hospital as he becomes closer than he ever imagined to his father, Joseph tries to articulate vernacular understandings of the sociopolitical struggles he recounts as participant-observer at home, against the assumptions of his friends and colleagues. GOD BLESS YOU, OTIS SPUNKMEYER is a powerful examination of every day black life—of health and sex, race and punishment, and the gaps between our desires and our politics Joseph Earl Thomas is the author of Sink, a memoir, longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and shortlisted for the Patrick Saroyan International Writing Prize; the novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Literary Excellence, winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize; and the forthcoming story collection Leviathan Beach. His prose and poetry has been published or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, Harper's, Virginia Quarterly Review, Vanity Fair, The Yale Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Dilettante Army. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame's MFA program in prose, he earned his PhD in English from The University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, and teaches courses in Black Studies, Poetics, Video Games, Queer Theory and more at The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. Recommended Books: Nell Irving Painter, Old in Art School Yoko Towada, Scattered All Over the Earth Alison Mills Newman, Francisco Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
After a deployment in the Iraq War dually defined by threat and interminable mundanity, Joseph Thomas is fighting to find his footing. Now a doctoral student at The University, and an EMS worker at the hospital in North Philly, he encounters round the clock friends and family from his past life and would-be future at his job, including contemporaries of his estranged father, a man he knows little about, serving time at Holmesburg prison for the statutory rape of his then-teenage mother. Meanwhile, he and his best friend Ray, a fellow vet, are alternatingly bonding over and struggling with their shared experience and return to civilian life, locked in their own rhythms of lust, heartbreak, and responsibility. Balancing the joys and frustrations of single fatherhood, his studies, and ceaseless shifts at the hospital as he becomes closer than he ever imagined to his father, Joseph tries to articulate vernacular understandings of the sociopolitical struggles he recounts as participant-observer at home, against the assumptions of his friends and colleagues. GOD BLESS YOU, OTIS SPUNKMEYER is a powerful examination of every day black life—of health and sex, race and punishment, and the gaps between our desires and our politics Joseph Earl Thomas is the author of Sink, a memoir, longlisted for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and shortlisted for the Patrick Saroyan International Writing Prize; the novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Literary Excellence, winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize; and the forthcoming story collection Leviathan Beach. His prose and poetry has been published or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, Harper's, Virginia Quarterly Review, Vanity Fair, The Yale Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Dilettante Army. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame's MFA program in prose, he earned his PhD in English from The University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, and teaches courses in Black Studies, Poetics, Video Games, Queer Theory and more at The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. Recommended Books: Nell Irving Painter, Old in Art School Yoko Towada, Scattered All Over the Earth Alison Mills Newman, Francisco Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
Bestselling author and literary agent Betsy Lerner spoke with me about being a “late bloomer,” what 35 years in publishing has taught her, and portraying mental illness in her debut novel SHRED SISTERS. Betsy Lerner is the author of the popular advice book to writers, The Forest for the Trees, and the memoirs Food and Loathing and The Bridge Ladies. With Temple Grandin, she is the also co-author of the New York Times bestseller Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns and Abstractions. Her debut novel, Shred Sisters, is described as “... an intimate and bittersweet story exploring the fierce complexities of sisterhood, mental health, loss and love.” The book was longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a New York Times Notable Book of 2024, and a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and Best Book of the Year So Far, among many other accolades. Betsy received an MFA from Columbia University in Poetry and was selected as one of PEN's Emerging Writers. She also received the Tony Godwin Publishing Prize for Editors. After working as an editor for 15 years, she became an agent and is currently a partner with Dunow, Carlson and Lerner Literary Agency. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you're a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Betsy Lerner and I discussed: Getting kicked out of film school How "No Bad Dogs" inspired her to write The Forest for the Trees about writer personalities Working with punk rock icon Patti Smith The secrets behind her writing process Why she wants to have dinner with filmmaker Greta Gerwig And a lot more! Show Notes: betsylerner.com Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency Shred Sisters by Betsy Lerner (Amazon) The Forest for the Trees: An Editor's Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner (Amazon) Betsy Lerner Amazon Author Page Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Listen to journalist Erica Wagner in conversation with Mai Sennaar, writer of “They Dream in Gold”, her first novel published by Picador and SJP Lit in 2024 which explores the notion of identity and the sense of belonging through two protagonists from the African diaspora in the United States. As the conversation unfolds, the author evokes how music changed her life and the emancipatory power of language. The writer, playwright and filmmaker also reflects on the transformative experience of being published, read and understood as her first novel has been shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. As part of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon [Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon], the podcast "les Rencontres" highlights the birth of a writer in a series created by CHANEL and House ambassador and spokesperson Charlotte Casiraghi. (00:00) : Introduction (00:56) : Presentation of Mai Sennaar and her novel “They Dream in Gold” by Erica Wagner(04:21) : On the author's path to becoming a writer(06:34) : About cinema, theatre and literature(08:57) : The start of writing her novel(10:14) : On the influence of language on writing(12:07) : The publication process of her novel(14:27) : On Alfred Hitchcock's influence on the novel(16:17) : Reading an extract of “They Dream in Gold” by Mai Sennaar(17:51) : On the writing process of her novel(19:36) : The books which inspired her(22:24) : On the influence of music in the novel(24:49) : The research process behind the book(27:25) : On speaking about black identity(30:20) : On the reception of the book(33:20) : The ending questionnaire of “les Rencontres”They Dream In Gold © Mai Sennaar 2024. First published in the US in 2024 by SJP Lit, an imprint of Zando. First published in the UK in 2024 by Picador, an imprint of MacmillanJean Kwok, Book Review: 'They Dream in Gold,' by Mai Sennaar,From the New-York Times © 2024 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Used under licenseLucy Popescu, They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar review - love and identity on the 1960s music scene, 28 July 2024 © Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 2025May Sennaar © Wax Lovers Playlist, 2017Diana Wharton Sennaar and May Sennaar © Carry On, 2024Arthur Laurents, West Side Story. All rights reservedDavid Dodge, To Catch a Thief, published 1952 by Alfred A. KnopfAlfred Hitchcock, North by Northwest, © Warner Bros., 1959. All rights reservedTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Copyright © 1937 by Zora Neale Hurston. Renewed © 1965 by John C. Hurston and Joel Hurston. Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers
Listen to journalist Erica Wagner in conversation with Mai Sennaar, writer of “They Dream in Gold”, her first novel published by Picador and SJP Lit in 2024 which explores the notion of identity and the sense of belonging through two protagonists from the African diaspora in the United States. As the conversation unfolds, the author evokes how music changed her life and the emancipatory power of language. The writer, playwright and filmmaker also reflects on the transformative experience of being published, read and understood as her first novel has been shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. As part of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon [Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon], the podcast "les Rencontres" highlights the birth of a writer in a series created by CHANEL and House ambassador and spokesperson Charlotte Casiraghi. (00:00) : Introduction (00:56) : Presentation of Mai Sennaar and her novel “They Dream in Gold” by Erica Wagner(04:21) : On the author's path to becoming a writer(06:34) : About cinema, theatre and literature(08:57) : The start of writing her novel(10:14) : On the influence of language on writing(12:07) : The publication process of her novel(14:27) : On Alfred Hitchcock's influence on the novel(16:17) : Reading an extract of “They Dream in Gold” by Mai Sennaar(17:51) : On the writing process of her novel(19:36) : The books which inspired her(22:24) : On the influence of music in the novel(24:49) : The research process behind the book(27:25) : On speaking about black identity(30:20) : On the reception of the book(33:20) : The ending questionnaire of “les Rencontres”They Dream In Gold © Mai Sennaar 2024. First published in the US in 2024 by SJP Lit, an imprint of Zando. First published in the UK in 2024 by Picador, an imprint of MacmillanJean Kwok, Book Review: 'They Dream in Gold,' by Mai Sennaar,From the New-York Times © 2024 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Used under licenseLucy Popescu, They Dream in Gold by Mai Sennaar review - love and identity on the 1960s music scene, 28 July 2024 © Copyright Guardian News & Media Ltd 2025Mai Sennaar © Wax Lovers Playlist, 2017Diana Wharton Sennaar and Mai Sennaar © Carry On, 2024Jerome Robbins, Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story, 1957David Dodge, To Catch a Thief, published 1952 by Alfred A. KnopfAlfred Hitchcock, North by Northwest, © Warner Bros., 1959. All rights reservedTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Copyright © 1937 by Zora Neale Hurston. Renewed © 1965 by John C. Hurston and Joel Hurston. Courtesy of HarperCollins Publishers
Joseph Earl Thomas is the author of Sink, a memoir, and his debut novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Literary Excellence, and winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. On today's show, Annmarie and Joseph talk about working-class upbringings, how to write complicated families with sensitivity and grace, and whether or not to raise an alligator in the backyard. Episode Sponsors The Head & The Hand Books – A community-focused Philadelphia bookstore that provides curated fiction, local lit, and children's/middle grade books to the Fishtown neighborhood and beyond. We do readings, workshops, curated events, children's programming, and more. Stop by for a visit! Or shop online at theheadandthehand.com. Novelette Booksellers – Nashville's only queer-owned bookstore. We are a fun, vibey, safe space for book lovers of all ages. We boast a highly curated selection of both fiction and non-fiction books by diverse authors, and a great selection of graphic novels. With an eye toward inclusivity and the celebration of our differences, Novelette strives to welcome people of all backgrounds. Stop by or shop online at novelettebooksellers.com Authors and Titles Mentioned in This Episode: Sink, by Joseph Earl Thomas Leviathan Beach, by Joseph Earl Thomas (available for pre-order) God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer Zone One, by Colson Whitehead The Gilda Stories, by Jewelle Gomez Here's a trailer for the Japanese anime Attack on Titan. Follow Joseph Earl Thomas: Instagram: @jetvgc Substack: @birthworldproblems Twitter: @JETVGC josephearlthomas.com Photo Credit: Marcus Jackson **Writing Workshops and Wish Fulfillment: If you liked this conversation and are interested in writing abroad, consider joining Annmarie and co-leader Athena Dixon for a writing retreat in Italy in September, 2025. Or you can join Annmarie and co-leader Phyllis Biffle Elmore for a writing retreat in France. You can travel to a beautiful place, meet other wise women, and write your own stories. We'd love to help you make your wishes come true. As of this moment, we only have 2 spots left for France, but you can click this link for $900 off. Enter the password RetreatWriteRepeat and the coupon code is 25AK In 2025, Annmarie is teaching online Tuesday nights for Writing Workshops. Learn more and register HERE. For folks interested in an online Saturday morning writing class, message Annmarie to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Alka Joshi, the instant New York Times best-selling author of The Henna Artist is back on the podcast to discuss her most recent book, Six Days in Bombay, which will be out in 2025. She gives up an update on her Netflix series, her best writing tips for aspiring writers, and her advice on making the most out of life. Alka says it's important not to let age define you and to go for whatever dreams you have. Just do it! She shares how we can live more intentionally and with more joy and success. Alka became a published writer at 62 and has a lot of wisdom to share in this is an empowering interview that will leave you feeling inspired! Be sure to share this conversation with your friends. JOIN THE NEWSLETTER + Receive A List of 52-Selfcare Tips CONNECT WITH MICHELE ON IG Buy Michele's Book, Design a Life You Love Resources Mentioned: The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi Alka's Website Alka on IG Guest Bio: Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times Bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Pick and was LongListed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It has been translated into 29 languages and is currently in development at Netflix as a tv series. In 2023, Forbes selected Joshi as one of 50 over 50 women empowering other women. Joshi was born in India and came to the U.S. with her family at the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. She lives in California. Thank you for listening to the show! Please take a moment to leave a rating + review.
Tracy O'Neill is the author of the memoir Woman of Interest. Her novels include The Hopeful, one of Electric Literature's Best Novels of 2015; and Quotients, a New York Times New & Noteworthy Book, TOR Editor's Choice, & Literary Hub Favorite Book of 2020. In 2015, she was named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. In 2012, she was awarded the Center for Fiction's Emerging Writers Fellowship. She holds an MFA from the City College of New York; and an MA, an MPhil, and a PhD from Columbia University. She teaches at Vassar College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Lots of ambitious books announce themselves,” writes Lauren Christensen in The New York Times Book Review of podcast guest Betsy Lerner's debut novel Shred Sisters. “This one doesn't need to.” High praise for a first-time novelist, but that's not surprising considering Betsy's long and distinguished career as an editor and literary agent. A born storyteller (and, story-sharer), Betsy has helped to shape our literary landscape, as the guiding hand behind such cultural touchstones as Patti Smith's Just Kids and Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation. She's also earned her As Told To stripes as the co-author of The New York Times best-selling Visual Thinking, written in collaboration with Temple Grandin, in addition to writing several non-fiction books of her own, including the memoir The Bridge Ladies, and the writing guidebook The Forest for the Trees. A recovering poet, Betsy received an MFA in poetry from Columbia University, where she was selected as one of PEN's Emerging Writers, before trading her pen for a red pencil and embarking on a heralded career as an editor. With the publication of her first novel, longlisted prior to publication for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Betsy kick-starts an exciting new chapter in her writing life, offering a rich, bittersweet tale of sisterhood, mental health, love and loss, and reminding us that it's never too late to become the artist you were always meant to be. Learn more about Betsy Lerner: Website TikTok Facebook Twitter Please support the sponsors who support our show: Gotham Ghostwriters/ASJA “Andy Awards” Guidelines Ritani Jewelers Chelsea Devantez's I Shouldn't Be Telling You This Daniel Paisner's Balloon Dog Daniel Paisner's SHOW: The Making and Unmaking of a Network Television Pilot Unforgiving: Lessons from the Fall by Lindsey Jacobellis Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Libro.fm (ASTOLDTO) | 2 audiobooks for the price of 1 when you start your membership Film Freaks Forever! podcast, hosted by Mark Jordan Legan and Phoef Sutton Everyday Shakespeare podcast A Mighty Blaze podcast The Writer's Bone Podcast Network Misfits Market (WRITERSBONE) | $15 off your first order Film Movement Plus (PODCAST) | 30% discount Wizard Pins (WRITERSBONE) | 20% discount
Purchase on Bookshop: https://bit.ly/4erBgdYShare, rate, & review the podcast, and follow Zibby on Instagram @zibbyowens! Now there's more! Subscribe to Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books on Acast+ and get ad-free episodes. https://plus.acast.com/s/moms-dont-have-time-to-read-books. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
My guest today is Alka Joshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, and The Perfumist of Paris. The Henna Artist was a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick and is currently in development at Netflix as a series.Today we talk about:* beginning a writing career later in life* what it's like to work with Reese Witherspoon and her book club team* Alka's ideal writing schedule,* advice for getting started as a writer, and so much more.✍
Clare Beams is the author of the novel The Illness Lesson, which was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize,and the story collection We Show What We Have Learned, which won the Bard Fiction Prize and was a Kirkus Best Debut of 2016. She was a finalist for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. On this episode of Little Atoms she talks to Neil Denny about her latest novel The Garden. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
June 2024 Dante's Old South Marcella Prokop is a Colombian American writer and educator living in the northern Great Plains region of the US. Her work has appeared online or in print in the Brooklyn Review, Ploughshares, The Christian Science Monitor, PANK, and other publications. Blog: marcellaprokop.com TedX: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn63z6p30TQ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcella.prokop LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/marcella-prokop X: @MarcellaProkop Nick Kelsh is an author, photographer, and teacher living in upstate New York. He has written and/or photographed nine books including Siblings and Naked Babies with Pulitzer Prize winning author, Anna Quindlen. Kelsh has appeared on The Today Show and Oprah multiple times. www.howtophotographyourlife.com Devon Allman is an American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter, and record producer. He is the son of musician and singer-songwriter Gregg Allman and has appeared occasionally as a guest musician for Gregg Allman and The Allman Brothers Band. Allman was the founder and bandleader of Honeytribe, also known as Devon Allman's Honeytribe, with whom he released two albums and toured across North America and Europe. Prior to Honeytribe, Allman contributed to several other musical recordings, notably Vargas Blues Band and the A Song for My Father compilation album. He was one of the original members of Royal Southern Brotherhood and contributed to their first two studio albums and toured with them. In 2013, Allman launched his solo career as the Devon Allman Band, and has since released three albums. His latest tour, branded as the Devon Allman Project, features special guest Duane Betts. devonallmanproject.com Julie Stevenson is a literary agent with Massie & McQuilkin in New York. She represents literary and upmarket fiction, suspense, memoir, graphic novels, narrative nonfiction, young adult fiction and children's picture books. She is drawn to storytelling with unforgettable characters, an authorial command of voice, and a strong sense of narrative tension. She looks for work that both entertains and explores the depths of human experience. She's agented #1 New York Times bestsellers and books that have won the Pulitzer Prize, the MWA Edgar Award, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Caldecott Honor. Before she became an agent, Julie worked in the editorial departments of Tin House and Publishers Weekly. Julie grew up in Missoula, Montana and received her bachelor's degree in English Literature from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.F.A in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College in New York. www.mmqlit.com www.instagram.com/juliestevensonpfarr/ https://x.com/StevensonPfarr Additional Music Provided By: Larkin Poe: www.larkinpoe.com Special Thanks Goes to: Lucid House Press: www.lucidhousepublishing.com The Crown: www.thecrownbrasstown.com The Red Phone Booth: www.redphonebooth.com Bright Hill Press: brighthillpress.org UCLA Extension Writing Program: www.uclaextension.edu Mercer University Press: www.mupress.org Liberty Trust Hotel: www.libertytrusthotel.com NPR: https: www.npr.org WUTC: www.wutc.org Alain Johannes for the original score in this show: www.alainjohannes.com The host, Clifford Brooks', The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, and Old Gods are available everywhere books are sold. Find them all here: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-order Check out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com
If you liked Davy Chou's excellent 2022 movie, Return to Seoul, then Tracy O'Neill's new memoir, Woman of Interest, might be for you. Both movie and book are about an a female adoptee's return to South Korea in search of their mysterious birth mother. Chou's movie features a heartbreakingly lost Ji-Min Park wandering through life in the West and finally stumbling emptily onto the foggy truth of her Korean origins. O'Neill's non-fictional quest for her mother, in contrast, contains more agency and her quest eventually resulted in what her publisher describes as “the priceless power of self-knowledge.” There's is an awkwardness to my conversation with O'Neill which actually makes her appear more like the lost heroine in Return To Seoul than she might like to acknowledge. Or maybe, as some think, I'm just an aggressively insensitive interviewer. Tracy O'Neill is the author of the novels The Hopeful and Quotients. In 2015, she was named a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree, long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and was a Narrative Under 30 finalist. In 2012, she was named a Center for Fiction's Emerging Writers Fellow. O'Neill teaches at Vassar College, and her writing has appeared in Granta, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Bookforum, and other publications. She holds an MFA from the City College of New York and an MA, an MPhil, and a PhD from Columbia University.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe
On today's episode of The Lives of Writers, Drew Hawkins interviews Maurice Carlos Ruffin.Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author, most recently, of the historical novel, The American Daughters. He is also the author of The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You, which was longlisted for the Story Prize and was a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and We Cast a Shadow, which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the PEN Open Book Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and International Dublin Literary Award. A recipient of an Iowa Review Award in fiction, he has been published in the Virginia Quarterly Review, AGNI, the Kenyon Review, The Massachusetts Review, and Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas. Drew Hawkins is a writer and journalist in New Orleans. He's the producer and host of Micro, a podcast for short but powerful writing. You can find his work on NPR, The Guardian, Scalawag Magazine, HAD, and elsewhere.Today's episode is brought to you in part by the podcast Micro, where today you can hear Maurice read on the new episode, available wherever you listen to podcasts like this one.____________Full conversation topics include:-- book tour -- a previous life as a lawyer and restaurant-owner-- becoming a writer-- overcoming imposter syndrome-- paces of production and practice-- distraction as being useful-- the reading you do while writing-- approaching novels and/or stories-- New Orleans-- the new novel THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS-- research-- knowing who you are -- writing as a man about women -- jumping through time and sound-- POV-- freedom and loss-- a forthcoming book_______________Podcast theme music by Mike Nagel, author of Duplex and Culdesac. Here's his music project: Yeah Yeah Cool Cool.The Lives of Writers is edited and produced by Michael Wheaton, author of Home Movies.
Clare Beams (The Garden) discusses the fascinating medical history behind her new novel, writing a “ghost story,” crafting a sympathetic villain and an unlikable main character, finding inspiration and darkness by re-reading The Secret Garden as an adult, and more! Clare Beams's new novel, The Garden, will be published by Doubleday in April of 2024. It has been longlisted for the 2024 Joyce Carol Oates/New Literary Project Prize and featured on anticipated lists at LitHub and Bookshop.org. Her novel The Illness Lesson, published in February of 2020 by Doubleday, was a New York Times Editors' Choice and was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It was named a best book of 2020 by Esquire and Bustle and a best book of February by Time, O Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly. Her story collection, We Show What We Have Learned, was published by Lookout Books in 2016; it won the Bard Fiction Prize, was longlisted for the Story Prize, and was a Kirkus Best Debut of 2016, as well as a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, the New York Public Library's Young Lions Fiction Award, and the Shirley Jackson Award. Her short fiction appears in One Story, n+1, Ecotone, Conjunctions, The Common, Kenyon Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading, and has received special mention in The Pushcart Prize and twice in The Best American Short Stories. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, the Sewanee Writers' Conference, MacDowell, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation, and was a finalist for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates/New Literary Project Prize. Clare lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and two daughters and currently teaches in the Randolph MFA program. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Notes and Links to Gina Chung's Work For Episode 227, Pete welcomes Gina Chung, and the two discuss, among other topics, The Babysitters Club's lasting impact, her early relationship with words and bilingualism, finding great storytelling in her parents' example and in folktales and animal myths, her master touch with disparate stories and characters, and salient topics from the story collection like parental/child relationships and expectations, grief and memory, and one's connection with her forebears. Gina Chung is a Korean American writer from New Jersey currently living in New York City. She is the author of the novel SEA CHANGE (Vintage, March 28, 2023; Picador, April 13, 2023 in the Commonwealth and in the UK on August 10, 2023), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, an Asian/Pacific American Award for Adult Fiction Honor, a 2023 B&N Discover Pick, and a New York Times Most Anticipated Book, and the short story collection GREEN FROG (Vintage, March 12, 2024; out in the UK/Commonwealth from Picador on June 6, 2024). A recipient of the Pushcart Prize, she is a 2021-2022 Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow and holds an MFA in fiction from The New School's Creative Writing Program and a BA in literary studies from Williams College. Her work appears or is forthcoming in One Story, BOMB, The Kenyon Review, Literary Hub, Catapult, Electric Literature, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Idaho Review, The Rumpus, Pleiades, and F(r)iction, among others. Buy Green Frog Gina's Website Review of Green Frog-Kirkus At about 2:35, Gina shouts places to buy her book, Green Frog, and about her feelings a few weeks before the book's release At about 4:25, Gina recounts what she's heard from early readers of her collection At about 6:05, Gina responds to Pete's questions about storytellers in her life and her early language and reading life At about 10:10, Gina talks about her early reading delights At about 12:10, Babysitters Club love! At about 13:15, Gina talks about her writing journey and her confidence peaks and valleys At about 16:40, Gina shouts out “amazing” contemporary writers, such as Rebecca K. Riley and Jiaming Tang At about 18:40-21:25, Gina talks about seeds for her collection and gives background on the title story and the “Green Frog” folktale At about 21:25-22:40, Gina talks about daily and informal observation that inspired “Mantis” and other stories in the collection At about 24:40, Gina speaks to her rationale and the background in picking the Emily Jungmin Yoon-inspired epigraph At about 26:25, Pete and Gina discuss “How to Eat Your Own Heart,” the collection's first story, including profound quotes (27:10-30:20) At about 31:00, Gina speaks to ideas of regeneration in the above story and gives some background on how the story came from a Zoom “Knife Skills” course At about 34:25, The two further discuss the title story of the collection At about 36:20, Pete asks Gina about the meanings of “here” in the title story At about 39:30, Themes of community in “The Fruits of Sin” are discussed At about 40:35, Belief is discussed in conjunc At about 41:15, Grief and the importance of rabbits in Korean culture and beyond are discussed in connection to a moving story from the collection At about 43:40, Pete quotes an important and universal passage as he and Gina talk about memory's throughline in the collection; the two ruminate on connections to The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind At about 50:20, Gina reflects on a moving story that deals with memory and technology At about 54:00, The two talk about mother-daughter and parent-child relationships in the collection At about 57:40, Pete quotes a poignant and skillfully crafted passage At about 59:15, Gina gives a ballpark for how long of a range the stories were written in and throughlines that she has identified in her collection At about 1:03:00, Gina talks change in characters and its external and internal characteristics You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode. I am very excited that starting in February with Episode 220 with Neef Ekpoudom and this episode, I will have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review-I'm looking forward to the partnership! Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form. The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com. Please tune in for Episode 228 with Jazmina Barrera Velásquez, who is a fellow at the Foundation for Mexican Letters. Her book of essays, Cuerpo extraño, was awarded the Latin American Voices prize from Literal Publishing in 2013, and she is the editor and co-founder of Ediciones Antílope, and author of, most recently, Cross-Stitch. The episode will air on March 19. 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza
Notes and Links to Priscilla Gilman's Work For Episode 226, Pete welcomes Priscilla Gilman, and the two discuss, among other topics, her famous and accomplished parents, and the perks and drawbacks that came with running in circles with dynamic writers and creatives, her voracious appetite for art and media and books, formational and informative works of art, books and not, her father's wonderful work, belief in the sanctity of childhood, grief and its manifestations, the ways in which her relationships were nurturing and not, and how she managed to write lovingly and honestly about such a towering and beloved figure. Priscilla Gilman is the author of the memoir, The Anti-Romantic Child, and a former professor of English literature at Yale University and Vassar College. The Anti-Romantic Child received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist, was selected as one the Best Books of 2011 by the Leonard Lopate Show and The Chicago Tribune, and was one of five nominees for a Books for a Better Life Award for Best First Book. Gilman's writing has appeared in the New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City. Buy The Critic's Daughter: A Memoir Priscilla's Wikipedia Page WYNC Episode: "The Critic's Daughter' Explores the Marriage of Lynn Nesbit and Richard Gilman" New York Times Review of The Critic's Daughter At about 2:00, Priscilla shouts out bookstores at which to buy her book and book events At about 3:00, Pete and Priscilla fanboy and fangirl about Episode 42 guest Edoardo Ballerini At about 5:00, Priscila talks about early reading, texts, and authors who “enraptured” her At about 7:05, Priscilla and Pete talk about how her reading and writing life was shaped by her literary and artistic parents, Richard Gilman and Lynn Nesbit At about 10:50, Priscilla responds to Pete's questions about what it has been like to know some many literary and artistic giants on a personal level At about 15:30, Priscilla speaks to early writing and reading and her path to academia and literature, including the wonderful role played by Brearley High School At about 19:10, Priscilla references some of many contemporary writers like Sarah Watters, Ishiguro, Louise Erdrich, Strout, Leslie Jamison, Claire Keegan, Rachel Cusk, Lore Siegal, and Yaa Gaasi, who inspire and thrill her At about 22:55, Pete and Priscilla discuss the book's epigraphs and their significances At about 28:10, The two geek out about Priscilla's talented sister At about 28:40, Pete wonders about At about 32:20, Shaina Taub is shouted out, as Priscilla talks about a cool collaboration with her son and his high school drama At about 33:05, Pete points out an interesting opening excerpt that compares and contrasts Priscilla's father and the NYC oeuvre he lived in; Priscilla also discusses the book's universality At about 35:30, Priscilla discusses the old days of being able to live comfortably as an artist/critic and the book as a sort of lament for long-gone neighborhoods At about 37:45, Priscilla compliments Joan Didion as a wonderful, “kind, thoughtful sweetheart and incredible genius” At about 38:45, The two discuss ideas of public intellectuals and Wolff's Old School At about 40:20, Pete asks Priscilla about being true to her father and to herself in writing her book-the two refer to a memorable George Bernard Shaw quote At about 44:15, Priscilla alludes to an often-quoted line from her book that speaks to ideas of “moving on” and grief At about 45:10, The two further discuss Richard Gilman's public life and fame At about 48:00, Pete cites a disappointing workshop experience in connecting to a powerful and poignant story that Priscilla relates-her first memory-that is a microcosm of so much in her and her father's lives At about 50:40, The two discuss how Richard Gilman “believed in childhood” At about 54:30, Pete references excerpts about Priscilla's mindset after her parents' separation and her father's as well At about 55:30, Priscilla reference her father's vivaciousness and physical and mental frailties At about 58:30, The two discuss some wonderful years late in Richard's life with his wife Yasuko At about 59:40, Priscilla underscores ideas of universality in her writing and beyond At about 1:02:15, Priscilla talks about “tak[ing] the long view” and a wondrous and moving line about the grieving process and hope You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode. I am very excited that starting in February with Episode 220 with Neef Ekpoudom and Episode 222 with Andrew Leland, I will have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review-I'm looking forward to the partnership! Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. New as of this week is the opportunity to be a "Well-Wisher and Cheerleader"-which is just $1 per month. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form. The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com. Please tune in for Episode 227 with Gina Chung, author of the novel SEA CHANGE, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a 2023 B&N Discover Pick, and a New York Times Most Anticipated Book. The episode drops on March 12, Pub Day for her dynamic short story collection GREEN FROG.
As the leaves turn and the air grows crisp, we're reminded that change is the only constant, a truth Chloe Benjamin knows all too well. This week on The Bookshop Podcast, join me for a profound journey with the author of The Anatomy of Dreams and The Immortalists as we navigate the intertwining paths of creativity and self-care. Chloe opens up about the alchemy of storytelling sparked in her youth and the vigilant balancing act between the fervor of art and the necessity of wellness, a dance many of us know too well. Her insights provide a map for writers and dreamers to chart a course through the tumultuous waters of a freelance career, steering clear of the siren call of commercialized self-care and wellness.Venture further into the heart of Chloe's work as we discuss the rich tapestry of The Immortalists. Chloe's dedication to authenticity breathes life into historical narratives, and her exploration of mind-body techniques presents a beacon of hope for those seeking solace from their internal storms. This episode is a testament to the transformative power of literature, allowing us to reflect on the threads of our own lives which mirror the characters we come to cherish.Completing our literary odyssey, we lift the veil on the often enigmatic world of publishing, offering solace and guidance to emerging writers navigating this labyrinth. Chloe's experience demystifies the journey from penning the first word to holding a published book in hand. Our conversation expands to celebrate the written word's power to heal, inspire, and transport us to realms unknown, with recommendations that will ignite readers' imaginations and perhaps even inspire a few to embrace the meditative quietude that has touched Chloe's life. So, settle in with your favorite feline companion and prepare to be whisked away by one of my favorite contemporary authors as we converse about life, health, and writing on this episode of The Bookshop Podcast.Chloe BenjaminThe Anatomy of Dreams, Chloe BenjaminThe Immortalists, Chloe Benjamin#22 – Chloe Benjamin The Sewanee ReviewVita Nostra, Marina & Sergey DyachenkoAssassin of Realty, Marina & Sergey DyachenkoBraiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall KimmererLIN HealthThe Sparrow, Mary Doria-RussellFeedSpot 20 Best Bibliophile PodcastsSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links
De'Shawn Charles Winslow is the author of the novel Decent People, now available in trade paperback from Bloomsbury. Winslow's debut novel, In West Mills, won the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize winner, an American Book Award, and a Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction, and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book, Lambda Literary, and Publishing Triangle awards. He was born and raised in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Twitter Instagram TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An original and hilarious satire of both our political culture and those who rage against it, The Book of Ayn (Catapult, 2023) follows a writer from New York to Los Angeles to Lesbos as she searches for artistic and spiritual fulfillment in radical selfishness, altruism, and ego-death. After writing a satirical novel that The New York Times calls classist, Anna is shunned by the literary establishment and, in her hurt, radicalized by the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Determined to follow Rand's theory of rational selfishness, Anna alienates herself from the scene and eventually her friends and family. Finally, in true Randian style, she abandons everyone for the boundless horizons of Los Angeles, hoping to make a TV show about her beloved muse. Things look better in Hollywood--until the money starts running out, and with it Anna's faith in the virtue of selfishness. When a death in the family sends her running back to New York and then spiraling at her mother's house, Anna is offered a different kind of opportunity. A chance to kill the ego causing her pain at a mysterious commune on the island of Lesbos. The second half of Anna's odyssey finds her exploring a very different kind of freedom - communal love, communal toilets - and a new perspective on Ayn Rand that could bring Anna back home to herself. "A gimlet-eyed satirist of the cultural morasses and political impasses of our times" (Alexandra Kleeman), Lexi Freiman speaks in The Book of Ayn not only to a particular millennial loneliness, but also to a timeless existential predicament: the strangeness, absurdity, and hilarity of seeking meaning in the modern world. Lexi Freiman is the author of the novel Inappropriation, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Miles Franklin Award. She is a graduate of Columbia's MFA in fiction and worked as fiction editor at George Braziller for five years. She also writes for television. Recommended Books: Jordan Castro, The Novelist Herve Guibert, Crazy for Vincent Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
An original and hilarious satire of both our political culture and those who rage against it, The Book of Ayn (Catapult, 2023) follows a writer from New York to Los Angeles to Lesbos as she searches for artistic and spiritual fulfillment in radical selfishness, altruism, and ego-death. After writing a satirical novel that The New York Times calls classist, Anna is shunned by the literary establishment and, in her hurt, radicalized by the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Determined to follow Rand's theory of rational selfishness, Anna alienates herself from the scene and eventually her friends and family. Finally, in true Randian style, she abandons everyone for the boundless horizons of Los Angeles, hoping to make a TV show about her beloved muse. Things look better in Hollywood--until the money starts running out, and with it Anna's faith in the virtue of selfishness. When a death in the family sends her running back to New York and then spiraling at her mother's house, Anna is offered a different kind of opportunity. A chance to kill the ego causing her pain at a mysterious commune on the island of Lesbos. The second half of Anna's odyssey finds her exploring a very different kind of freedom - communal love, communal toilets - and a new perspective on Ayn Rand that could bring Anna back home to herself. "A gimlet-eyed satirist of the cultural morasses and political impasses of our times" (Alexandra Kleeman), Lexi Freiman speaks in The Book of Ayn not only to a particular millennial loneliness, but also to a timeless existential predicament: the strangeness, absurdity, and hilarity of seeking meaning in the modern world. Lexi Freiman is the author of the novel Inappropriation, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Miles Franklin Award. She is a graduate of Columbia's MFA in fiction and worked as fiction editor at George Braziller for five years. She also writes for television. Recommended Books: Jordan Castro, The Novelist Herve Guibert, Crazy for Vincent Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
An original and hilarious satire of both our political culture and those who rage against it, The Book of Ayn (Catapult, 2023) follows a writer from New York to Los Angeles to Lesbos as she searches for artistic and spiritual fulfillment in radical selfishness, altruism, and ego-death. After writing a satirical novel that The New York Times calls classist, Anna is shunned by the literary establishment and, in her hurt, radicalized by the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Determined to follow Rand's theory of rational selfishness, Anna alienates herself from the scene and eventually her friends and family. Finally, in true Randian style, she abandons everyone for the boundless horizons of Los Angeles, hoping to make a TV show about her beloved muse. Things look better in Hollywood--until the money starts running out, and with it Anna's faith in the virtue of selfishness. When a death in the family sends her running back to New York and then spiraling at her mother's house, Anna is offered a different kind of opportunity. A chance to kill the ego causing her pain at a mysterious commune on the island of Lesbos. The second half of Anna's odyssey finds her exploring a very different kind of freedom - communal love, communal toilets - and a new perspective on Ayn Rand that could bring Anna back home to herself. "A gimlet-eyed satirist of the cultural morasses and political impasses of our times" (Alexandra Kleeman), Lexi Freiman speaks in The Book of Ayn not only to a particular millennial loneliness, but also to a timeless existential predicament: the strangeness, absurdity, and hilarity of seeking meaning in the modern world. Lexi Freiman is the author of the novel Inappropriation, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Miles Franklin Award. She is a graduate of Columbia's MFA in fiction and worked as fiction editor at George Braziller for five years. She also writes for television. Recommended Books: Jordan Castro, The Novelist Herve Guibert, Crazy for Vincent Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
An original and hilarious satire of both our political culture and those who rage against it, The Book of Ayn (Catapult, 2023) follows a writer from New York to Los Angeles to Lesbos as she searches for artistic and spiritual fulfillment in radical selfishness, altruism, and ego-death. After writing a satirical novel that The New York Times calls classist, Anna is shunned by the literary establishment and, in her hurt, radicalized by the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Determined to follow Rand's theory of rational selfishness, Anna alienates herself from the scene and eventually her friends and family. Finally, in true Randian style, she abandons everyone for the boundless horizons of Los Angeles, hoping to make a TV show about her beloved muse. Things look better in Hollywood--until the money starts running out, and with it Anna's faith in the virtue of selfishness. When a death in the family sends her running back to New York and then spiraling at her mother's house, Anna is offered a different kind of opportunity. A chance to kill the ego causing her pain at a mysterious commune on the island of Lesbos. The second half of Anna's odyssey finds her exploring a very different kind of freedom - communal love, communal toilets - and a new perspective on Ayn Rand that could bring Anna back home to herself. "A gimlet-eyed satirist of the cultural morasses and political impasses of our times" (Alexandra Kleeman), Lexi Freiman speaks in The Book of Ayn not only to a particular millennial loneliness, but also to a timeless existential predicament: the strangeness, absurdity, and hilarity of seeking meaning in the modern world. Lexi Freiman is the author of the novel Inappropriation, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the Miles Franklin Award. She is a graduate of Columbia's MFA in fiction and worked as fiction editor at George Braziller for five years. She also writes for television. Recommended Books: Jordan Castro, The Novelist Herve Guibert, Crazy for Vincent Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
Tyriek White, the author of WE ARE A HUNTING, joined the podcast to discuss how his mother nurtured his reading and writing as a child, how moving to Mississippi for his MFA helped shape his novel, and the highs and lows of his debut novel year, which culminated in winning the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize! You can purchase a copy of his book here: https://bookshop.org/a/339/9781662601712 Tyriek White on the Internet: https://www.tyriekwhite.com Tyriek White on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nativemindstate Tyriek White on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nativemindstate Debutiful on the Internet: https://www.debutiful.net Debutiful on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debutiful Debutiful on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/nativemindstate
In the first episode of Season 1, co-hosts Annie Liontas and Lito Velázquez speak with LitFriends Angela Flournoy & Justin Torres about their enduring friendship, writing in a precarious world, and chosen family. Links https://sites.libsyn.com/494238 www.annieliontas.com www.litovelazquez.com https://linktr.ee/litfriendspodcast https://www.instagram.com/litfriendspodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553436475678 https://justin-torres.com/ https://www.angelaflournoy.com/ https://www.asalisolomon.com/ Transcript Annie & Lito (00:01) Welcome to LitFriends! Hey LitFriends! Annie: Welcome to the show. Lito: Today we're speaking with the great writers and LitFriends, Justin Torres and Angela Flournoy. Annie: About chosen family, the dreaded second novel, and failure and success. Lito: So grab your bestie and— Both: Get ready to get lit! Lito: That's so cute. Annie: It's cute. It's cute. We're cute! Lito: Cute, cute… So you had a question? Annie (00:29) I do. I have a question for you, Lito. Are you a cat or an ox? Lito: I mean, I would hope that the answer is so obvious that it almost bears not asking the question. I'm a cat. Annie: Okay, so Asali Solomon at The Claw asked us all, are you an ox or a cat? Lito: That's a great question. Annie: And as a writer... You know, the oxen are the people who work every day in the field, clock in, clock out, pay themselves a quarter an hour. I'm literally talking about me. The cats are people who are playful, exploratory, when the mood strikes them… Lito: Why are you looking at me when you say that? Annie Lito (01:26) So are you an ox or a cat? Lito: I'm a cat. I think anyone who's ever met me would say I'm a cat. Annie: How does that show up in your writing? Lito: Well, I mean, play is so important to me—she'll be on the podcast in a couple of episodes, but when I first...was studying with Lucy, that was one of the first things that she spoke about in our class, and it kind of blew up my whole world. I had been writing for a long time already, but I hadn't thought of it as play, or there was some permission I needed or something. So the idea of play is really central to what I do and love. You wouldn't necessarily know that from the novel that I'm writing, which is sort of a dark book. Um, but it did start out with a lot of play and, I'm also, as you could probably just hear, my cat is coming into the room. Annie: Your cat is like, yes, Lito is us. RiffRaff is like, "Lito is cat." Lito: My cat Riff Raff, yes. Smarty pants. Um, he needed to join in on this conversation. Anyways, I'm a cat. I, I'm fickle when it comes to my work. Um. I don't want to work on my novel all the time, which is great because life has found so many ways to prevent it from happening. So in the new year, in 2024, it will be 7 years since I've started writing this book, and it's still, it's going to take a few more months at least. And what about you? Annie: (03:09) I'm four oxen pulling a cart carrying all of my ancestors. I am very much the immigrant who says, get up, go do the work, come back, go do the work. And believe it or not, for me, there is a lot of joy in that. It's a... It allows, you know, it's Csikszentmihalyi's Flow, actually. So it doesn't feel like drudgery, usually. It does feel like joy. And I'm actually curious for all you LitFriends out there, if you're an ox or a cat. Lito: Yes, that's such a great idea. Please email us at litfriendspodcast@gmail.com, and tell us if you're a cat or an oxen or share on all your socials. Annie: Yeah, maybe we should poll them. That would be fun. Lito: That's a good idea. #LitFriendsPodcast. Annie: The reason I'm asking is because, of course, both Justin and Angela, who we speak with today in this episode, talk about what it's like to go for 10 years between books. "A banger a decade," is what Angela says. Lito: It's so funny. Annie: And you, you know, part of that, they have this very rich conversation about how, when you put everything into the first book, it takes a lot to get to the second book. But I think also there's a lot of play, right? And there's a lot of understanding that writing appears in different forms. And it might be the second novel, but it might be something else. Lito: For sure. I really like how they talk about— that the practice of writing is actually a practice of reading. And I think that any serious writer spends most of their time reading. And not just reading books, but texts of all kinds, in the world, at museums, as Justin points out, art, television, even the trashiest TV show has so much to offer. Annie: (05:12) And there's such a generosity to the way they think of themselves as artists, and also generosity in how they show up for one another as friends, and acknowledging when they fail one another as we as we see in this episode. And I remember my introduction to Justin when I was a grad student at Syracuse. I read We the Animals and fell in love with it, asked him to come do a reading at Syracuse, which was wonderful. And my wife who, at that time was my Bey-ancé, she was turning 30. We had no money. I couldn't buy her anything. Not in grad school. So I asked Justin if he would autograph his story, "Reverting to a Wild State," which is about a breakup in reverse, for Sara. Lito: Oh, I love that story. Annie: And he did, and he thought it was so beautiful, and I was like, "let me send it to you." He's like, "no, I've got it." He just shipped it to me. He didn't know me. We didn't know each other. Lito: He knew you because of books. He knew you because he loved literature. Annie: Yeah. And I remember that in it. I held on to it at a time when that act really mattered. Lito: One of the things I love about our interview with Justin and Angela is how much all of us talk about generosity, and how Justin and Angela display it in their conversation with each other and with us. And I'm just curious, how do you see that coming through also in Angela's work? Annie: (07:00) You know, I remember her talking about how the idea for the book began with this image of people moving around a house at night. This is The Turner House. And she says this image opens up a lot of questions. And one of the things that really stays with me about that book is how masterful she is at shifting perspective, particularly between siblings, which I find to be such a challenge for writers, right? Like your siblings are the people who are closest to you and sometimes also the farthest away. And she gets that so intimately on the page. And of course, in our conversation with Angela and Justin, one of the things they talk about is being family, essentially being siblings. And that's one of the most powerful echoes of the conversation. They talk about being a chosen family and having to choose again and again and again. And that spirit of consciousness and connection, I feel that very much in Angela's work, and of course in Justin's too. Lito: Oh Annie, I choose you again and again, I choose you. Annie: Oh, I choo-choo-choose you! Lito: So stupid. Annie: (08:05) After the break, we'll be back with Justin and Angela. Annie: (08:24) And we're back. Lito: I just wanted to mention, too, that we spoke with Angela and Justin in October during the writer's strike in Hollywood, and just before Justin's new book, Blackouts, was released. And just last week, as you're hearing this podcast. Annie: Just last week. Lito: Just last week! He won the National Book Award for a book that took him 10 years to write. Annie: Absolutely. Annie: Justin Torres is the author of Blackouts, a novel about queer histories that are hidden, erased and re-imagined. Blackouts won the 2023 National Book Award for fiction. His debut novel, We the Animals, has been translated into 15 languages and was adapted into a feature film. He was named National Book Foundation's Five Under 35. His work appears in the New Yorker, Harper's, Granta, Tin House, Best American Essays, and elsewhere. He lives in Los Angeles and teaches at UCLA. Lito: Angela Flournoy is the author of The Turner House, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, won the VCU-Cabel First Novel Prize, and was also a finalist for both the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an NAACP Image Award. Angela is a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine, and her nonfiction has appeared in The Nation, the Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. Angela is a faculty member in the low residency MFA program at Warren Wilson College. Lito: (10:36) I'm so grateful that you guys found time to meet with us today, and I've thought about you two as friends since I think this is like the first time you've done something like what you did in 2017, the "Proper Missive"—do you remember that—you published in Spook? And it stuck with me. I was like a big, nerding out, and I bought it and I have it still. And I thought about that. And Justin, you know that you're very personal— there's a personal connection with me because I found your book on my way to my first master's program. No one had said anything about it to me where I was coming from, and it was really great. And Angela, I first found your book. I was so amazed and moved by the talk you don't remember at Syracuse. Angela: I don't remember the lunch. I remember being at Syracuse, and there being a talk, yes. Lito: You inscribed your book, "Here's to Language," which I think is hilarious and also really sweet. And I think we must have said something about language at some point. But anyways, thank you so much both for being here. Justin: Thank you for having us. Angela: Very happy to be here. Lito: So let's start. Why don't you tell us about your friend in a few sentences? So Angela, you can go first. Tell us about Justin. Angela: (11:23) Justin is the first person that I met in Iowa City when I was visiting and deciding if I was going to go there, but was I really deciding no? I'll let you go there. But that I could like, deciding whether I would be miserable while I was there. And so Justin was the first person I met. And feel like Justin is five years older than me. It has to be said. Justin: Does it? Angela: When I think about people, and I think about like mentors, I have other like amazing mentors, but like, I think that there's really something special about somebody who some people might think is your peer, but like, in a lot of ways you've been like looking up to them and, um, that has been me with Justin. I think of him as like a person who is not only, he's a Capricorn, and he has big Capricorn energy. I am an Aquarius. I do not want to be perceived— Justin: I don't agree with any of this. But I don't know. I don't follow any of this. Angela: But Justin is in the business of perceiving me and also gathering me up and helping me do better. My life is just always getting better because of it. I'm grateful for it. Annie: That is beautiful, all of that is beautiful. Justin, tell us about Angela. Justin: I can't follow that, that is so... Angela: Acurate! Justin: You're so prepared! You're so sweet! I'm so touched! Angela: Only a Capricorn would be touched by somebody saying that you perceive them and gather them up and make them feel better. Ha ha ha! Justin: I like that, I do like that. Let's see, yeah. I mean, I think that when we met, I had already been in Iowa for a year, and within two seconds, I was like, oh, we're gonna be friends, and you don't know it yet. But I knew it intensely. And yeah, I think that one of the, I agree that I think we keep each other honest, I think. I think that one of the things that I just so appreciate about Angela is that, you know, yeah, you see my bullshit. You put up with it for like a certain amount of time, and then you're like, all right, we need to talk about the bullshit that you're pulling right now. And I love it, I love it, love it, love it, because I don't know, I think you really keep me grounded. I think that, yeah, it's been really (14:09) wonderful to have you in my life. And like, our lives really, really kind of pivoted towards one another. You know, like we've, it was not just like, oh, we were in grad school and then, you know, whatever, we have similar career paths, so we stayed friends or whatever. It's like, we became family. And, you know, every, every kind of major event in either of our lives is a major event, a shared major event, right? And that's like, yeah, I don't know. I can't imagine my life without you. I honestly can't. Angela: Likewise. I gave birth in Justin's home. Annie: Oh! Sweet! Justin: In my bathroom, over there. Right over there. Lito: Whoa, congratulations, and also scary(?)! Angela: It's in a book I'm writing, so I won't say so much about it, but it was a COVID home birth success story. And yeah, like family. Lito: Was that the plan or did that just happen? Angela: Well, It wasn't the plan and then it was the plan. Justin: Yeah, exactly. COVID wasn't the plan. Angela: No. Justin: The plan was Angela was gonna sublet my place with her husband and she was pregnant. And then, COVID happened Angela: There were a lot of pivots. But we did, it was like enough of a plan where we got his blessing to give birth in his home. Justin: It wasn't a surprise. Angela: It was a surprise that it was in the bathroom, but that's a different story. Annie: You blessed that bathroom is all I can say. Angela: Yeah. Lito: We'll be right back. Back to the show. Annie: (16:22) Well, I want to come back to what Lido was saying about proper missives. I love the intimacy. I mean, I know you weren't writing those to one another for kind of public consumption, but the intimacy and the connection, it's so moving. And I was thinking about, you know, Justin, you, you talk about Angela as kind of pointing the way to beauty and helping you see the world anew or differently. And Angela, you talked about how Justin encourages you to take up space as a political act. I'm just wondering what else you all have taught one another. What has your LitFriend taught you? Justin: Yeah, I mean, we did write that for public consumption. Angela: Yes, it was the editor-in-chief of Spook, Jason Parham. Spook is relaunching soon, so look out for it. He just told me that, like, the other day. And he's moving to L.A. So many things are happening. But he reached out to us and was really interested in—he's a big archives guy and like how—he thought it was valuable the way that writers of past generations, they have these documents of their letters to each other, to their editors, to their friends, to their enemies, and how this generation, because we're just texting through it, we don't really have that. And so that was really just the extent of the assignment, was to write letters to each other, which, of course, we still ended up using email to do. But we really tried to keep it in the spirit of a letter and not just something you kind of dash off. Justin: And we were not living in the same place at that time. Angela: No. Justin: So it was, it did feel kind of— Angela: I was in Provincetown, I think. Justin: Yeah, I remember I was on a train when I was, when I was doing— I can't remember where I was going or, but I remember a lot of it was— or a few of those correspondences— because it went over days, weeks. Lito: Yeah, you were going to Paris. Angela: Oh. Glamorous train. You were on the Eurostar. Justin: Wow. Annie: You basically said the same thing then, Angela. Call him out. Justin: (18:32) Yeah, and I think that what I was saying was that one of the things I loved about that was it really forced us to dive deeper, right? To kind of— Sometimes we can stay very much on the surface because we talk every day. And so it was really nice to see, not just what was kind of on your mind in the background, but also how you were processing it, how you kind of made language and meaning out of it. I was just like... I don't know, it's like, I know you're so deep, but then we also love to be shallow. And so it's so nice to be like, to connect from that deep place. Annie: One of the things that I'm so drawn to about both of your work is how you write about family, the way it shapes us, the way it wounds us, what it means to watch family members suffer. You talk about it as the question of the donut hole in "Proper Missive. Angela, I remember you were writing about your father. When you were writing about him, you talk about, "the assumption that a flawed person should be subject to anyone's definition." And Justin, I'm thinking quite broadly in terms of, you know, chosen or logical family. One of my favorite pieces that I teach in my creative non-fiction class is "Leashed," and you write there, "my friends, those tough women and queers were all too sharp and creative for their jobs. If I'm nostalgic, it's not because I was happy in those precarious years, but because I was deeply moved by our resourcefulness." I'm just wondering how you think about, you know, (20:09) family, logical family, and how your lit friendship fits into this? Justin: Who's going first? Angela: You. Justin: Let's see, I think that it's such a great question. I actually like, I use that little short kind of tiny little piece that you referenced. I use that in my book, in Blackouts, that's coming out. I think that, which is a book about chosen family as well, and lineages, and what do you do when you feel there's some kind of disruption, right? That like if you're estranged from your biological family or you know or you just need these connections, these kind of queer connections to and other ways of thinking about family that are not related to (21:06) bloodlines. Like we said earlier, we are family, and we've known that for quite a while. It was something that, I don't know. You know, it's like something that I don't think you ever really need to say. It's just you know who your people are. And I think that, and I think that it's a choice that you make and remake again and again and again. And that is something that is, I don't know, it's so exceptional, right? Compared to bloodlines and biological family, which can be hugely important and bring a lot of meaning to people. But that you're choosing this again and again. Like almost like the kind of past tense chosen family is like, it's like a little bit inaccurate, right? It's like the family you choose, and keep choosing, and you're choosing right now, you know? So I love that. Yeah. Angela: Just that the continuity of it, not in the sense that it's always going to be there, but that like you are, you're like an active, uh, engager like in it. In it, I just think about, I think about that, like, uh, at this point we know each other for 14 years. And the way that there's just necessarily we're not the same people but you have to keep, and you have to keep engaging, and you have to keep figuring out how to navigate different things and I think particularly as like LitFriends there's the huge thing you have to navigate which is especially if you're friends before that you're just like some kids who got into this program that people think are fancy, but you're just like, anything can happen, right? From there to being the capital— going from just like lowercase w, "writer," to capital A, "Author." And like what that, I mean, I've seen many a friendship where that is the rupture. And so particularly figuring out, like, how are you going to navigate that, and how are you going to still be in each other's lives. (23:16.33) Um, one thing I think about, as a person who thinks about family a lot is, with your family, sometimes you can like harm one another, and you'll just take some time off, or you'll just be like, that's how they are. But with the family that you continue to choose, you have to, ideally, you gotta do something about it. You have to actually have the engagement, and you have to figure out how to come out on the other side of it. And that is something that is harder and really in so many ways, all the more precious because of it. And it requires a kind of resilience and also just like a trust. And again, because Justin, you know, likes to gather me up, there's been a few times when I was like, "Oh, no, like, we've got beef, what's gonna happen?" And Justin is like, "we're family, what's gonna happen is we're gonna have to talk about this beef, and then move on." Justin: Yeah. And I think that I think that also you have, you're really good at reminding me to be responsible, right? That just because I've made this commitment, in my mind, right, Like we're committed forever. Like we're family. Like we can't, we can't break up, right? Like it's just like, that's just the way it is. It doesn't get me off the hook of showing up in other ways and being responsible and like, you know, that I can be quite flaky. Angela: I mean, that's just, you've been in L.A. long enough. It's just, you're just becoming native. Justin: I think I always don't, I don't wanna disappoint you. I don't want you ever to feel like you were looking around for support, and I wasn't there. Angela: Do people cry on this podcast? Annie: We time it. Right at the half hour. Justin: There's been a few moments when I feel it, when I've felt (25:21) maybe that wasn't there enough, you know? And, you know, and if, you know, and like, I don't know, that's when you know it's the real stuff because it like keeps me up at night. You know, I'm just like, wow, you know, what does she need? What can I give? How can I be there? And yeah. Angela: Wow. There you are. Justin: Here we are. Annie: Lito and I are also family, and it sort of feels never too late. But what you're saying about kind of the like renewing your vows, renewing your commitment over and over, it feels very, very true. Lito: Very true. Yeah yeah yeah. Annie: And life-saving, you know, like life affirming. Lito: It feels real. Justin: Yeah. Look at us. I'm proud of us. I'm proud of you guys too. Lito: It's a love fest over here. Angela: Thanks for having it. Annie: We'll be right back. Annie: (26:26) Welcome back. Angela: Also, particularly again, thinking about a lot of the friends that you have, they're not necessarily also sometimes colleagues. And I think that one thing that Justin really modeled, because I didn't have anything to be transparent about, was just transparency about things. Not just how much he's getting paid for things, but just like what was worth it, what's not worth it, like what is just the way something is and you can like take it or leave it. And I think that in the beginning it was more of me kind of taking that information because I didn't have anybody offering me anything. But now I feel like it's really an exchange of information. And I think that there are people who I love, like, in this industry, if you will, who that's just not our relationship. That doesn't mean we don't have great friendships, but like that is something that like if I'm broke, he knows I'm broke. I never feel the need to pretend and hide or like, you know, and likewise, like if he don't got it, I know he don't got it. It's not, it's just, it just, and I feel like that is something also that is a, it's, um, I think it's important. Especially because you write a book, you know, it does well. And then there are some years in between before you write another. Some of us in this room, maybe take a decade. All of us in this room, maybe take a decade. But yeah, so just really being able to be, to feel like you can still show up at any point in whatever you're doing creatively. Justin: (28:16) Because this is about literary friendships, I think that it's, yeah, there's those two sides, right? There's the business side, which can cause a lot of friction, especially if, you know, things go differently for different books and people have different trajectories. I mean, you're like, you know: you've surpassed. Angela: I don't know if that's true. Justin: But there's that like business side of it. And then there's the literary side as well. And I think that sometimes if it just slides too much into talking about—it's like we could both be selling sprockets, right? There's so much minutiae. It's like we could talk about contracts and whatever and like gigs and da-da-da ad nauseam. And we have to remember to talk about literary side, the literature, the work, the sentences, what we're reading in order to kind of sustain the literary quality of a literary friendship, right? Angela: One thing I remember you told me, I don't know, ages ago that I thought at the time like oh he's gassing me he's practicing things that he says his students tell me—but now I realize that it is also one of the reasons why our friendship has sustained is you were like ,you know, we can talk about whether a book is successful in 800 ways, but we have to try to remember to just be fans, to be fans of books, of literature, of people writing. And I think that is something that I not only try to practice, but that's something that I think is really foundational to relationship. Everyone can be a hater, and it can be fun sometimes, but like… (30:08) We really do like want to put each other on to the books that we're like excited about. Like I remember when you read or reread Seasons of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, and I hadn't read it before. I mean, it's like a, it's a seminal or really a really famous African text, but I had never read it. Or like Maryse Condé, like I hadn't read it as like a real adult and being able to just like talk about that and know that there's a person who's, you know, you could be in polite conversation with somebody who you think is really smart and then you're like you know what I decided I wanted to reread—I don't know—something a person might wanna reread and they're like, Oh, what are you gonna do next? You gonna read a Moby Dick? And you're like, Oh damn, they just shamed me. You know, they just shamed me for being a nerd. But that's not gonna happen here. Yeah, beautiful. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Annie: I do wanna go back to something you were alluding to. Angela, you were talking quite openly about it, too, which is shifting from writer to capital A author and the pressure that comes with that. For the two of you, you had incredible well-deserved success early in your career, but I imagine that doesn't come without a lot of sleepless nights, right? I'm thinking about an interview I heard with Ta-Nehisi Coates where he talks about his friends not reaching out thinking, like, He's good, like, You blew up, you're good. And talking about actually what a lonely position that can be. I'm just wondering, you know, how you've both managed to take care of one another through those highs and lows, or being on that track alongside one another. And even, you know, competition between lit friends. Justin: (32:13) Yeah, I mean, I think that we're just kind of, like our dispositions: we're very lucky in that I think we, before we met, it wasn't something that we like decided on. It was just before we met, I think we're just boosters, right. We're like, The people we love, their success is our success, right? And I think that's one of the reasons to where we are such good friends, it's because we share that, right? So that I think makes it slightly easier as far as like the competition side of things goes. I think that if it really does feel like you're a family and you're community and like you understand that this is a kind of shared win. I don't know, it's hard to talk about though because we both got really lucky. Angela: Yeah. Justin: You know, I mean, who wants to hear from people who got really lucky with their first books talking about how hard it is? You know what I mean? We just, we didn't have, we didn't have any kind of that disparity between— Angela: Yeah, I'm sure, but—I would say even so—if we had different dispositions, we might be trying to split hairs about who got what. But I think for me—and Justin and I grew up very differently in some ways, but I think we grew up from a class background similarly, and we're both like, We're not supposed to be here, like, what can we get? Like, what can we get? And like, who has the information to help us get it? And so I've never been like, why is he in that room when I'm not in that room? I'm like, give me the intel about the room. That might be the closest I ever get to being in there, but I need to know like what's going on in there. And that has, I think, been the way that I just view any success of anybody that I know. that I feel like I can ask those questions to is like, not necessarily like, oh, can you put me on? Like now that you have something, can I have some of it? But just like, just information, just like, what's it like? And that to me is really useful. But also I think that one thing, when you have people, not just Justin, but like other friends and mentors of mine, when you have people who are honest and upfront about whatever kind of success they've had, you… you just realize that there's a lot of different ways to feel successful, right? Because I have friends who, to me, I'm like, they made it, but they're not convinced they have. And I have other friends that, like, to the outside world, they'd be like, wow, they have a little book, nobody cares. But they feel like they did it, you know? And so I realized it's so much about disposition also. Lito: Do you feel that a lot about being each other's boosters? I mean, obviously it's about your personalities and who you are as people. I'm also curious how much of that, like Angela, you said you were a gatecrasher. You feel like a gatecrasher a lot. I don't know. What are your thoughts on intersectionality? How does it inform your work and your friendship? How does it affect how you boost each other? I'm also curious if there's something particular about lit friendships that intersect with intersectionality and those categories, especially for people who form intimate relationships with men. Justin: Wait, say more. Like how do blowjobs come in? Angela: (36:01.171). I was like one thing we have in common is— Lito: More like, less blow jobs, more like having to deal with men and the various ways they, you know, respond to patriarchy. Justin: Yeah, I think you kind of said it, right? I think that there's something about hustling and figuring out, like, how am I gonna find some stability in this world. And I mean we have nominated each other for every single thing that there is. If either one of us gets a chance. Angela: Till the end of time. Justin: Till the end of time, right? And it's just, and I think that, and we've shared all information about everything. There's no, and I think that that's kind of like that quote that you read before, right, about this nostalgia and feeling nostalgic, not for the precarity, but for the way that it bonds people, right? The way that the precarity, like you pull, you share resources, you pull resources, you come together and you talk shit and you don't let people get too down in the dumps and depressed. And you're like, no, we're going to do this. We're going to get ourselves out of this hole and we're going to pull each other up. And, and that I think is like, that's, that's the secret, I think. Angela: Are you answering the question about men? Justin: Oh, men! Angela: And dealing with men. Justin: I love that I was just like, oh, you're talking about blow jobs. But no, you were talking about patriarchy. Lito: Same thing, really. Annie: In the room I'm in, we do not think there's a difference. Justin: It's fascinating, right? Because when we were at Iowa together, I remember some of the critiques I got from some of the men, some of the straight men, some of the white straight men, was about a kind of provincialism to my writing, right? That what I was writing about was small and minor and just about particularities of identity and that it wasn't broad and expansive and it wasn't universal. That was expected. That was the kind of critique that was expected. The world has changed so much and so quickly in the last 15 years. It's hard for me to kind of wrap my mind around because that kind of thing, I wasn't, I didn't feel indignant. Maybe I felt a little. Angela: Yeah, you just, but you just like knew you were going to ignore them. Like, you know, like, but no, but you didn't feel like you were going to, like it was worth, except there were some instances we're not going to get into details, but like, it didn't feel like it was worth spending, like unpacking it or trying to call them out. You just were like, Oh, boop, you're over here. Like, you're not. Justin: Yeah, yeah. Like, I've been hearing this shit my whole life. Like, it wasn't like, there's no space for this kind of thing in the workshop. I was like, this is the world. This is unexpected. But now I don't think that would fly, right? Angela: No. I think maybe in like 70% of workshop spaces that I have been in. Well, I guess I've been running them. But like, I just don't, but like also just the disposition of the students is that they assume that somebody is going to like say something or push back on that. But also I guess maybe more broadly the idea of when you say intersectionality, what do you mean exactly? Lito: I think I wanted to keep it open on purpose. But I think I mean the ways that all of these different identities that we take up and that are imposed upon us, how they intersect with one another, race, class, et cetera. Yeah. Angela: I think one of the reasons why Justin and I gravitated toward each other probably in the beginning and why we ended up in Spook is because I think that—which maybe is also not happening 15 years from then—there is a way that back then, there was a way that even your identity could be flattened, right? Like you're Puerto Rican, which means that you are like a lot of things, right? One of those things like, one of it's like we're both diasporic people, right? But that's one of the things that I think a lot of people would not necessarily think is like a kinship between us, but like I've seen pictures of Justin's cousins. I know I'm giving Primo over here. Like I know what I'm doing. And like that's one way that I think that our relationship feels like, like we just felt like kin when we first met because of that. I think that there's just a lot of ways that in a lot of spaces in this country, you're just not allowed to like have all of those parts of you in the room because people just don't understand it or they do, but they just don't want you to be that also. Justin: It's not convenient. Angela: Right. Which is why I was like, of course, Jason would ask you and I to be in Spook, which is a magazine that's a black literary magazine. Cause Jason gets it. Shout out to Jason again. Justin: I can't believe he's moving to L.A., that's so exciting. Angela: Supposedly like any day now, he's just gonna arrive. There's just ways that when you find your people, you don't have to always separate these parts of you and you don't always have to keep reminding them also, they sort of understand. But also parts of you change obviously and the way that you feel about your identity changes and your people will embrace that and keep, you know, keep making space for that too. Justin: Making space. Annie: We'll be back in a moment with Angela and Justin. Lito: (42:22) Hey Lit Fam, we hope you're enjoying our conversation with Justin and Angela. We are quite awed by their thoughtful discussion and moved by their deep love for each other and their art. If you love what we're doing, please take a moment now to follow, subscribe, rate, and review the LitFriends Podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts. Just a few moments of your time will help us so much to continue bringing you great conversations like this week, after week. Thank you for listening. Annie: (42:59.178) Back to our interview with Justin Torres and Angela Flournoy. Lito: Justin, you have your sophomore book. How do you feel about it? Are you going to write a sequel for We the Animals like you talked about at one point? Angela, same question. Are there sequels coming forth for you, Angela, to Turner House, or are you moving on to something else? Or you sort of briefly mentioned another book about, uh, I remember you mentioning at some point a book about friends, four female friends, if I remember correctly. Anyways, what's coming next? Annie: Yeah, and I wanna know about the dreaded second novel because I feel like that's where I'm at. I feel like that's where a lot of writers get stuck. Jutin: Second novel's awful. I mean, you think the first one's bad. You think it takes everything that you have inside of you and then you're like, oh, I've gotta do it again. And yeah, I don't know. I really had a very hard time with it. And I mean, nobody knows better than Angela. I really, really didn't feel like I was up to the task. I knew that I wanted to do something different. I knew I wanted to kind of change the way I write and be a different kind of writer, but I just felt like I was falling on my face. Even after it was done and out until like last week, I was just, I just felt anxiety about it, and I felt really neurotic and I was being really neurotic. And I remember the other night we were hanging out and drinking and maybe there was some mushroom chocolate involved. I was just, like I was just on my bullshit and Angela was just like stopped and she was just like, What is it gonna take to make you happy? Like what is it gonna take? Like look around. And it was like, it was a really good intervention. But then it also led to this conversation about happiness, right? And about like whether that is the goal, right? Like feeling kind of tortured and, and feeling like this gap between what you want for your book and your own capabilities. And that never goes away. You just live in this, in this torturous phase. And like, maybe it's about just coming to acceptance with that, rather than striving for happiness. I don't know. But it's still ringing in my ear. What is it gonna take? Lito: It's a great question. Angela: Maybe some projection, I don't know, on my part. I am still working on that novel. It's due at the end or at the beginning of next year. It's gonna come out in 2025. You know, God willing. And... similarly the second novel, I think it depends on your disposition, but I think both of us are very interested in and task ourselves with having real skin in the game with what we right. That means sometimes you got to figure out where you get that skin from. Lito: There's only so much. Angela: Like, if you played yourself for the first book, then it's gonna take a while. And when I think about, like, when I try to count for the years, I don't know I could have done it any quicker. Like, I just don't know. And I don't think that's gonna be the case for every book, but I do think between that first and that second, especially, were you 30? Where were you? I was 30, yeah. And then I was 30, too. I was 30 also when my book came out. You're just a baby. You're just a baby. Lito: Do you fall into the trap of comparing yourself to other people? Well, they wrote a book in two years and I— Justin: (47:07) Yeah, sure. I mean, I also like compare myself to people who took longer like that feels good. That feels good. Angela: Listen, I'm like Deborah Eisenberg. Just a banger every decade. That's it. That's all I owe the world. A banger a decade. Lito: A banger a decade. I like that. I like comparing myself to Amy Clampitt, who wrote her first collection of poetry, like in her 70s or something and had some success. Justin: I generally wish people would slow down. I mean, I get that sometimes there's just like an economic imperative, right? But if you're lucky enough that, I don't know, you get a teaching job and you can slow down, why not slow down, right? Like, I don't know, sometimes I feel like there are a lot of books in this world. And the books that somebody spent a lot of time over, whether or not they are my tastes—I'm just so appreciative of the thoughtfulness that went in. You can feel it, right? That somebody was really considering what they're building versus dashing it off. They should slow down, if they can. Angela: But I also feel like we need both kinds. There are people who I appreciate their books, their kind of time capsules of just like, this is the two years, this is where I was. I think of Yiyun. We need an Yiyun Li and we need an Edward P. Jones. Edward P. Jones, you're gonna get those books when you get the books. And Yiyun Li, every couple years, you're gonna get something that, to me, I still, they still feel like really good books, but they're also just like, this is where she is right here, and I respect it and I appreciate it. Everybody can't be one or the other, you know? Justin: You're right, you're right, you're right. It's much fairer. Annie: She's someone who, I mean, you know, seems to have changed so much even within that time period. And we had her on a couple of episodes ago and yeah, she's just on fire. She's amazing. Justin: (49:06) And people speed up as well, right? Because her first couple of books, there were big gaps. And then same thing with like Marilynne Robinson, right? She had massive gaps between books. And then suddenly it starts to speed up. And they're coming out every year, every two years. Yeah. Annie: It's the mortality. Lito: Well, and life, well, I think lifestyle too, right? Like what you do, how busy you are and what you do out in the world. Like going out and meeting people and being gay in the world, that takes up time. Annie: And your work has had other lives too. I mean, I'm thinking about how We the Animals was adapted to film in that beautiful, intimate portrait. And I know, you know, Angela, you've been working with HBO and some projects as well. I'm just, just wondering if you want to talk about your work in these other media, how it's been, and even thinking about the strikes, right? Like the WGA-SAG strikes and how that has been on the ground too. Angela: Very happy that the strike is over. Solidarity to our SAG-AFTRA brothers and sisters still out there. I passed them on the way here on Sunset. I did honk, wish I was out there today. But I think that for me, it's just like a bonus. Like I, especially now, there's a way that right now writers will say things that are a little snobby like, Oh, I could never be in a writer's room, the group project, man. But like when now that I know so many TV writers living here and I've met so many over the past 146 days on the line, I realized that it is, you just have to be so nimble and agile and you have to also be so not precious about story. But no less smart. A lot of things might end up on TV dumb, but I don't want to blame the writers for that. Now that I really have a real understanding of just how the sausage is made and just how big of like a game of telephone it is—and how much you have to relinquish control because at the end of the day it's like you're making this text, it's literary, but it's also like an instruction manual. It's a completely different way to think about writing. And I don't know how long I live in LA or how many like of those kind of projects I will do but I'm really grateful. And one reason I'm really grateful is because doing those projects and having those years where people thought I wasn't doing anything, but I was actually writing so much and like doing so many revisions. It helped me realize that there is a way that I blame MFAs for making us like feel very siloed. And like, if you're supposed to be a fiction writer, that's the only thing that you do that's like an output that anyone cares about. But it's so new—like, how many screenplays did Joan Didion write? Like James Baldwin wrote screenplays. Before, it was just like, you're writing, you're writing. Like it's all, it all is the job. And I think every time a poet friend of mine like puts out a novel, sends it to me, read, sends it for me to read—first off, they usually are very good. But then also I'm just like, yes, fiction writers, I think, I don't know who did it. I blame graduate programs, but they have put themselves in this small box. Justin: But yeah, I mean, it's like the MFA, a lot of them feel like teacher training programs and that the next step is teaching. But if you don't want to teach the old models, definitely like you just write for TV. Angela: You write for film, you write for magazines, newspapers, you just do the thing. And that has felt very freeing to me, to just see meet more people who are doing that and also to allow myself to do that. Justin (52:49) Yeah, I mean, I really enjoyed the process of having my film—the book made into a film. I think I had an unusual experience with that. Like a lot of times the author is cut out or, you know, is not deferred to in any way, or nobody's inviting you in. I think because it was such a low budget film, and the director is just a really wonderful person who is incredibly collaborative. He wanted me involved in every single part of it, and so I loved that. I think, I don't know, I think I might wanna adapt Blackouts for a play. I've been thinking about it lately. Angela: You should. I mean, in so many ways, it is kind of like a two-hander. Yeah. I could see it. Yeah. Justin: A two-hander. Look at you ready to lingo. No, that's some biz lingo. Lito: That's going to be the title of this podcast. It's a two-hander. How has art shaped your friendship? And I mean, art, like other genres, we've talked about getting out of the box of fiction, but what movies or art or music do you love to talk about or do you just talk about everything or anything that you're watching and how have other genres affected your work? Like, do you listen to music? Are you influenced by visual art? Angela: You wanna talk about things you watch on television? You ready to come out in that manner? Justin: No. Lito: You watch lots of TV? No. Are you a Housewives person? You're a Housewives watcher, aren't you? Justin: Housewives is too highbrow for me. I have like a…I have a secret fetish that is mine. Angela: You have to keep some things for yourself. Justin: Yes. But it's just like, that's how I turn my brain off when my brain needs to be turned off. Annie: I will wait another decade for that story. Justin: I also like culture and high art as well. You write about art a lot. You do profiles. Angela: I do. I wish I did it more. It's just everything, you know, takes time. I think for me, like when I think about—I just am learning different ways to make a life out of, you know, out of your mind and out of art. And one thing that I've learned when I talk to, like visual artists, particularly, is this idea—I think poets also have this—but fiction writers, a friend of mine actually, a poet, recently asked me, like, how does a fiction writer get a practice, like a practice of writing? Practicing their craft in a way that like a visual artist, you know, they go to the studio practice or poet might have a practice. And I don't believe necessarily that sitting down to write every, you know, three hours every day is the same thing. Because like if you don't know what you're writing, but I really do think that practice is more grounded in reading. Justin: And reading, I think reading literature for sure, but also reading the world, right? And that's what you do when you go to an exhibit or you go to a museum or you go to a concert or whatever, right, you're like reading, you know, and you're reading the experience, you're reading for other things. Lito: Is there anything you're both fans of that you both talk about a lot? Any artists or musicians or movies? Justin (56:26) You know, I think that we have some lowbrow sharing tastes. But I think that our highbrow, I don't know. We don't talk a lot about our pursuant— I think I'm into a lot of, like when I was looking at, when I was putting together Blackouts, I was looking at a lot of archival photos and like the photos of Carl Van Vechten, I just, I'm obsessed with… I've been spending a lot of time with them, thinking about him and his practice. I think that, you know, I like all kinds of stuff. I'm like a whatever, what's that horrible term? Culture vulture? Angela: I don't think that's what you wanna say. But I know what you mean, yeah. Justin: Yeah, I am democratic in my tastes. I'm just like, I like everything. We don't have a lot of shared tastes, I don't think. Angela: Um... No? Justine: No. Annie: I sort of love that. I mean, it, um, the friendship, belies, that, you know, it's only a bonus in that way. I think Lito and I also have very different tastes. There's something kind of lovely about that. Lito: I remember Annie making fun of me for not being hardcore enough in my taste in hip-hop. Annie: I guess we're putting our dirt out there too. Lito: We'll be right back with the Lightning Round. Annie: Ooh, Lightning Round. Annie: (58:12) Thank you both for talking with us today. This was really wonderful. We really feel the honesty and warmth in your friendship and we're so appreciative that you're sharing that with us today and with all of our LitFriends. We're excited for both your books and we're so grateful you spent the last hour with us. Angela: That was a pleasure. Justin: Thank you. Lito: All right, we're gonna we— wrap up the podcast with a Lightning Round, just a few questions. We will ask the question and then I guess we'll do it this way. When I ask the question, Angela, you can answer. And when Annie asks the question, Justin, you answer first. Sorry, first answer first. You're both going to answer the question. What is your first memory? Angela: My sister roller skating through sprinklers and falling and hitting her head. Justin: I literally have no idea. I, yeah, I don't know. It's a blackout. Angela: How many times have you said that? Lito: Very on brand. Angela: You've had a long book tour. Justin: I'm practicing. Annie: Who or what broke your heart first? Angela: Is it too deep to say my daddy? I know. Justin: I was going to say my daddy. Angela: That's why we're friends. Justin: I know. It's so sad. Angela: (59:37) Daddy issues. Lito: Who would you want to be lit friends with from any time in history? Angela: Toni Morrison. Justin: Yeah, maybe Manuel Puig. He seemed really cap and hilarious. And also a brilliant genius. Angela: I need Toni Morrison to tell me how to raise my child. And to still write books. Someone help me. Annie: What would you like to see your lit friend make or create next, maybe something collaborative or something different or a story they haven't told yet? Justin: I mean, I think I would love to see you actually write something kind of ekphrastic. Like I'd love to see you write about art. I love when you write about art. I love your thoughts about art and art makers. So maybe, like, a collection of essays about culture. I'd love that. Angela: Besides this two-handed, this play, which I would love for you to write. Maybe there's more, I mean, there's more voices in the book than two, though. So it doesn't have to be. Justin is a poet. I have said this since the beginning. I'm ready for this collection. Justin: Never occurred to me in my life. Angela: That is not true. Justin: Well, writing a collection. Angela: Okay, well, I would love for you to write a collection of poetry. Justin: Maybe I will. Maybe you just gave me permission, as the children say. Angela: Mm-hmm. I know. Lito: If you could give any gift to your LitFriend without limitations, what would you give them? Angela: I would give him a house with a yard and a pool. Justin: That's what I want. Angela: In a city he wants to live in. That's the key. Lito: That's the hard part. Justin: (01:01:35) Um, I would give Angela time to be with her thoughts and her craft. I guess what does that involve? Angela: This is because I call myself a busy mom all the time. Justin: You are a busy mom. Angela: (01:02:08) Thank you, that's a nice gift. Time is the best. Justin: I mean, it's not as good as a house with a pool. Angela: I know, because I can use my time as wisely as possible and yet—no pool. Lito: Well, that's our show. Annie & Lito: Happy Friendsgiving! Annie: Thanks for joining us, Lit Fam. Lito: We'll be back next week with our guests, Lucy Corin and Deb Olin Unferth. Annie: Find us on all your socials @LitFriendsPodcast. Annie: I'm Annie Liontas. Lito: And I'm Lito Velázquez. Annie: Thank you to our production squad. Our show is edited by Justin Hamilton. Lito: Our logo was designed by Sam Schlenker. Annie: Lizette Saldaña is our marketing director. Lito: Our theme song was written and produced by Robert Maresca. Annie: And special thanks to our show producer, Toula Nuñez. This was LitFriends, Episode One.
This week on The Maris Review, K-Ming Chang joins Maris Kreizman to discuss Organ Meats, out now from One World. K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman Fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the novel Bestiary, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Her new novel is called Organ Meats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
City Lights LIVE celebrates the publication of “The Unsettled” by Ayana Mathis, published by Alfred A Knopf, with a discussion between Ayana and Angela Flournoy. From the best-selling author of “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie,” a searing multi-generational novel—set in the 1980s in racially and politically turbulent Philadelphia and in the tiny town of Bonaparte, Alabama. This is a story about a mother fighting for her sanity and survival. From the moment Ava Carson and her ten-year-old son, Toussaint, arrive at the Glenn Avenue family shelter in Philadelphia in 1985, Ava is already plotting a way out. She is repulsed by the shelter's squalid conditions: their cockroach-infested room, the barely edible food, and the shifty night security guard. She is determined to rescue her son from the perils and indignities of that place, and to save herself from the complicated past that led them there. A brilliant, explosive, vitally important new work from one of America's most fiercely talented storytellers. Ayana Mathis' first novel, “The Twelve Tribes of Hattie” was a New York Times bestseller, an NPR Best Book of 2013, the second selection for Oprah's Book Club 2.0. and has been translated into sixteen languages. Her nonfiction has been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Guernica and Rolling Stone. Mathis is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop. She was born in Philadelphia, and currently lives in New York City, where she teaches writing in Hunter College's MFA Program. Angela Flournoy is the author of “The Turner House,” which was a finalist for the National Book Award. The novel won the VCU Cabell First Novel Prize and was also a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an NAACP Image Award. She is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine, and her nonfiction has appeared in many publications, including The Nation, The Los Angeles Times and The New Yorker. You can purchase copies of “The Unsettled” at https://citylights.com/unsettled-2/. This event is made possible with the support of the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/.
Melissa Broder is the author of Milk Fed, the ''sensuous and delightfully delirious tale'' (O, The Oprah Magazine) of a calorie-obsessed lapsed Jewish woman who falls under the spell of a zaftig Orthodox frozen yogurt store employee. Her other work includes the novel The Pisces, an essay collection titled So Sad Today, and four collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in a multitude of publications, including Tin House and Guernica, and she is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize. In Death Valley, Broder weaves the tale of a woman who finds refuge from her sorrows through a mystical cactus in the high California desert. Hilary Leichter's novel Temporary, longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award and a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Prize, tells the tale of a young woman who fills increasingly bizarre temp job positions. It was named one of 2020's best books by NPR, Vulture, and Elle, and was a New York Times Editors' Choice. A creative writing professor at Columbia University, Leichter has earned fellowships from Yaddo, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, n+1, The New York Times, and Harper's Magazine, among other places. Her latest novel, Terrace Story, tells the story of a family living in a cramped apartment who finds a miraculous and inexplicable terrace in their closet. Because you love Author Events, please make a donation to keep our podcasts free for everyone. THANK YOU! (recorded 10/25/2023)
Annie, Edward, and their young daughter, Rose, live in a cramped apartment. One night, without warning, they find a beautiful terrace hidden in their closet. It wasn't there before, and it seems to only appear when their friend Stephanie visits. A city dweller's dream come true! But every extra bit of space has a hidden cost, and the terrace sets off a seismic chain of events, forever changing the shape of their tiny home, and the shape of the world. Terrace Story follows the characters who suffer these repercussions and reverberations: the little family of three, their future now deeply uncertain, and those who orbit their fragile universe. The distance and love between these characters expands limitlessly, across generations. How far can the mind travel when it's looking for something that is gone? Where do we put our loneliness, longing, and desire? What do we do with the emotions that seem to stretch beyond the body, beyond the boundaries of life and death? Based on the National Magazine Award-winning story, Hilary Leichter's profound second novel asks how we nurture love when death looms over every moment. From one of our most innovative and daring writers, Terrace Story (Ecco, 2023) is an astounding meditation on loss, a reverie about extinction, and a map for where to go next. Hilary Leichter is the author of the novel Temporary, which was a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Prize, and was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Hilary's other writings have appeared in The New Yorker, n+1, The New York Times, Conjunctions and Harper's Magazine. She has been awarded fellowships from Yaddo, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She teaches at Columbia University where she is the Undergraduate Creative Writing Adviser in Fiction. Recommendations: Alexandra Chang, Tomb Sweeping Yuri Herrara, Ten Planets Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Annie, Edward, and their young daughter, Rose, live in a cramped apartment. One night, without warning, they find a beautiful terrace hidden in their closet. It wasn't there before, and it seems to only appear when their friend Stephanie visits. A city dweller's dream come true! But every extra bit of space has a hidden cost, and the terrace sets off a seismic chain of events, forever changing the shape of their tiny home, and the shape of the world. Terrace Story follows the characters who suffer these repercussions and reverberations: the little family of three, their future now deeply uncertain, and those who orbit their fragile universe. The distance and love between these characters expands limitlessly, across generations. How far can the mind travel when it's looking for something that is gone? Where do we put our loneliness, longing, and desire? What do we do with the emotions that seem to stretch beyond the body, beyond the boundaries of life and death? Based on the National Magazine Award-winning story, Hilary Leichter's profound second novel asks how we nurture love when death looms over every moment. From one of our most innovative and daring writers, Terrace Story (Ecco, 2023) is an astounding meditation on loss, a reverie about extinction, and a map for where to go next. Hilary Leichter is the author of the novel Temporary, which was a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Prize, and was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Hilary's other writings have appeared in The New Yorker, n+1, The New York Times, Conjunctions and Harper's Magazine. She has been awarded fellowships from Yaddo, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She teaches at Columbia University where she is the Undergraduate Creative Writing Adviser in Fiction. Recommendations: Alexandra Chang, Tomb Sweeping Yuri Herrara, Ten Planets Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
Annie, Edward, and their young daughter, Rose, live in a cramped apartment. One night, without warning, they find a beautiful terrace hidden in their closet. It wasn't there before, and it seems to only appear when their friend Stephanie visits. A city dweller's dream come true! But every extra bit of space has a hidden cost, and the terrace sets off a seismic chain of events, forever changing the shape of their tiny home, and the shape of the world. Terrace Story follows the characters who suffer these repercussions and reverberations: the little family of three, their future now deeply uncertain, and those who orbit their fragile universe. The distance and love between these characters expands limitlessly, across generations. How far can the mind travel when it's looking for something that is gone? Where do we put our loneliness, longing, and desire? What do we do with the emotions that seem to stretch beyond the body, beyond the boundaries of life and death? Based on the National Magazine Award-winning story, Hilary Leichter's profound second novel asks how we nurture love when death looms over every moment. From one of our most innovative and daring writers, Terrace Story (Ecco, 2023) is an astounding meditation on loss, a reverie about extinction, and a map for where to go next. Hilary Leichter is the author of the novel Temporary, which was a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Prize, and was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Hilary's other writings have appeared in The New Yorker, n+1, The New York Times, Conjunctions and Harper's Magazine. She has been awarded fellowships from Yaddo, the Folger Shakespeare Library, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She teaches at Columbia University where she is the Undergraduate Creative Writing Adviser in Fiction. Recommendations: Alexandra Chang, Tomb Sweeping Yuri Herrara, Ten Planets Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
This week on The Maris Review, Hilary Leichter joins Maris to talk about her new novel Terrace Story, out now from Ecco. Hilary Leichter is the author of Temporary, which was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, and was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her writing has appeared in Harper's, the New Yorker, and the New York Times. She teaches at Columbia University and lives in Brooklyn, New York. Her new novel is called Terrace Story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lydia Kiesling is the author of the novel Mobility, available from Crooked Media Reads. Kiesling is the author of The Golden State, a 2018 National Book Foundation 5 under 35 honoree, a finalist for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker online, and The Cut, among other outlets. She lives in Portland, Oregon. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram YouTube TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
Critically acclaimed author, Hilary Leichter, spoke to me about why she thinks of herself as a realist, how her life imitates art, finding a novel hidden in her closet, and her latest, TERRACE STORY. Hilary Leichter is an award-winning short story writer, and author of the novel Temporary, which was a finalist for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and an NYPL Young Lions Fiction Prize, that was also longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award, was named a New York Times Editors' Choice as well as a Best Book of 2020 by NPR, Elle, Vulture, and Publishers Weekly. Her latest novel, Terrace Story (Ecco; on sale: August 29, 2023), is described as “... an intimate exploration of time, a fable about love,[and] an epic daydream for a broken-hearted world.” Booklist said of the book, “Terrace Story is fun and profound, fickle and erudite. It is an irresistibly cool book.” Hernan Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Trust, said of the author, ”Hilary Leichter, [is] one of our most original novelists, [and] amazes us again with a beautifully unclassifiable novel. Step out onto the terrace, where space and time, cause and effect, and fiction and reality have been redefined and gorgeously subverted. Terrace Story isn't a novel you merely read; it's a book you inhabit.” Hilary teaches at Columbia University where she is the Undergraduate Creative Writing Adviser in Fiction. Her writing has appeared in The New Yorker, n+1, The New York Times, Conjunctions, and elsewhere. Her work in Harper's Magazine won the 2021 National Magazine Award in Fiction. [Discover The Writer Files Extra: Get 'The Writer Files' Podcast Delivered Straight to Your Inbox at writerfiles.fm] [If you're a fan of The Writer Files, please click FOLLOW to automatically see new interviews. And drop us a rating or a review wherever you listen] In this file Hilary Leichter and I discussed: Why it never seems to get easier Sling-shotting from rejection to literary darling Why her first book was about a woman with many jobs set in the gig economy The writing habits she fears are unhealthy Revisiting The Poetics of Space The definition of “reverse research” And a lot more! Show Notes: hilaryleichter.com Terrace Story: A Novel By Hilary Leichter (Amazon) Andrea Bartz Amazon Author Page How Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author Hernan Diaz Writes: Redux Hilary Leichter on Instagram Hilary Leichter on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Maya Shanbhag Lang discusses the first pages of her bestselling memoir, What We Carry, how her prologue hooks the reader by ensuring that what we're reading matters, how she navigated narrative intrusion, and how she discovered where to begin (again) with some prompting from her editor and her own insight into what her book was really about.Lang's first pages can be found here.Help local bookstores and our authors by buying this book on Bookshop.Click here for the audio/video version of this interview.The above link will be available for 48 hours. Missed it? The podcast version is always available, both here and on your favorite podcast platform.Maya Shanbhag Lang is the author of What We Carry, named a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a “Best Of 2020” by Amazon. She is also the author of The Sixteenth of June, a modern reinterpretation of Ulysses that was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Lang's essays have been widely published and anthologized. The American Civil Rights Museum named her a “Woman You Should Know.” Winner of the Neil Shepard Prize in Fiction, she serves as President of the Authors Guild. After graduating magna cum laude from Swarthmore College, Lang earned her M.A. from NYU and her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from SUNY Stony Brook. Her dissertation, “The Hypochondriac: Bodies in Protest from Herman Melville to Toni Morrison,” won the Mildred and Herbert Weisinger Award. She is the newly-elected president of the author's guild. A passionate teacher, editor, and author advocate, she enjoys working with established and aspiring writers alike. Lang is the daughter of South Asian immigrants and lives outside of New York City with her daughter. She is also a competitive-class weightlifter.Thank you for reading The 7am Novelist. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com
We talked with:Jackie Polzin lives in West St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband and two children. Her first novel, "Brood," won the Sue Kaufman First Fiction Prize and the L.A. Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her writing has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, Literary Hub and The Idaho Review.Kate White, M.D., M.P.H., is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Boston University School of Medicine and the vice chair of academics in the OB-GYN department at Boston Medical Center. A board-certified OB-GYN, Dr. Kate has been caring for women for more than 20 years, helping them navigate periods, childbirth, pregnancy loss and every other stage leading up to menopause. She's the author of the Mayo Clinic Press books "Your Sexual Health" and "Your Guide to Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss."We talked about:Silence. Though miscarriage is incredibly common, we don't talk about it much as a society. Sometimes people don't talk about miscarriage because they don't want to make others uncomfortable. Sometimes friends and family are afraid of saying the wrong thing. This makes grief lonely and means many people don't get the support they need.Slowness. Trying to rush through grief and "get it over with" probably won't work. Dr. Kate and Jackie talk about sitting with the loss, as well as how to remember and honor their losses — plus, how you can support someone who has experienced a loss.Guilt. Many people who experience a miscarriage need to know: It's not your fault. Dr. Kate wants you to know that there's no place for guilt — and it makes grief worse.Can't get enough?Purchase Kate's books, "Your Sexual Health" or "Your Guide to Miscarriage and Pregnancy Loss."Purchase Jackie's book "Brood."From Bookshop.orgFrom AmazonFrom Barnes & Noble Other books on miscarriage mentioned in this episode include:"Dept. of Speculation" by Jenny Offill "Swimming Back to Trout River" by Linda Rui Feng. "Motherhood" by Shelia Heti "The White Book" by Han Kang"I Had a Miscarriage" by Jessica Zucker"An Exact Replica Of A Figment Of My Imagination" by Elizabeth McCrackenWant to read more on the topic? Check out our blog:What does — and doesn't — cause a miscarriageAfter miscarriage: How to tell your child about pregnancy lossHow to handle 5 common concerns after a miscarriageGot feedback?If you've got ideas or book suggestions, email us at readtalkgrow@mayo.edu. We invite you to complete the following survey as part of a research study at Mayo Clinic. Your responses are anonymous. Your participation in this survey as well as its completion are voluntary.
First pages are impossible… so we're hearing from authors about how they got them right. In this episode, Nathaniel Ian Miller discusses the first pages of his debut novel, The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven, and how his discoveries about the character's inner life allowed him to go back to his book's beginning again and offer readers a fuller, more nuanced sense of Sven. We also discuss the power of distance in a reminiscent narrator, what writers might borrow from memoir in terms of voice and complexity, and how world building can be a very physical experience more than anything else.Miller's first pages can be found here (click the link beneath the book description).Help local bookstores and our authors by buying this book on Bookshop.Click here for the audio/video version of this interview.The above link will be available for 48 hours. Missed it? The podcast version is always available, both here and on your favorite podcast platform.Nathaniel Ian Miller's debut novel, The Memoirs of Stockholm Sven, a #1 Indie Next Pick published in 2021 by Little, Brown & Co., was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and has been translated into multiple languages. He has written for newspapers in Wisconsin, New Mexico, Montana, and Colorado, for which he received multiple Associated Press Awards. He is also a former resident in the Arctic Circle Expeditionary Program. He lives with his family on a farm in Vermont.Thank you for reading The 7am Novelist. This post is public so feel free to share it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com
Page One, produced and hosted by author Holly Lynn Payne, celebrates the craft that goes into writing the first sentence, first paragraph and first page of your favorite books. The first page is often the most rewritten page of any book because it has to work so hard to do so much—hook the reader. We interview master storytellers on the struggles and stories behind the first page of their books.About the guest author:Alka Joshi the bestselling author of The Henna Artist and The Secret Keeper of Jaipur. Her most recent book, The Perfumist of Paris, completes The Jaipur Series which launched her writing career and immediately endeared her to the world. Alka's debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and was acquired by Netflix for a series starring Freida Pinto which is due in 2023. Alka Joshi was born in India and raised in the US since she was nine, having spent her formidable years assimilating into American culture in Iowa before she came west and earned her BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband. You can find her at alkajoshi.com and on Instagram: @thealkajoshi Facebook: alkajoshi2019 Twitter: @alkajoshi and LINKEDIN: thealkajoshi. About the host:Holly Lynn Payne is an award-winning novelist and writing coach, and the former CEO and founder of Booxby, a startup built to help authors succeed. She is an internationally published author of four historical fiction novels. Her debut, The Virgin's Knot, was a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book. She recently finished her first YA crossover novel inspired by her nephew with Down syndrome. She lives in Marin County with her daughter and enjoys mountain biking, surfing and hiking with her dog. To learn more about her books and private writing coaching services, please visit hollylynnpayne.com or find her at Instagram and Twitter @hollylynnpayne.If you have a first page you'd like to submit to the Page One Podcast, please do so here.As an author and writing coach, I know that the first page of any book has to work so hard to do so much—hook the reader. So I thought to ask your favorite master storytellers how they do their magic to hook YOU. After the first few episodes, it occurred to me that maybe someone listening might be curious how their first page sits with an audience, so I'm opening up Page One to any writer who wants to submit the first page of a book they're currently writing. If your page is chosen, you'll be invited onto the show to read it and get live feedback from one of Page One's master storytellers. Page One exists to inspire, celebrate and promote the work of both well-known and unknown creative talent. You can listen to Page One on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher and all your favorite podcast players. Hear past episodes.To get updates and writing tips from master storytellers, follow me onFacebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Instagram.Until then, be well and keep reading!In service with love,Holly
[This interview was conducted online so there may be some audio variation.] Jenn speaks with debut novelist Namrata Poddar about her book Border Less (longlisted for the 2022 Center of Fiction First Novel Prize), pursuing publication with an small press versus a Big 5 publisher, the "classic" question of marketability versus craft that BIPOC writers especially face when publishing their work, and one's intentionality in not only their writing but what their expectations are when it comes to publication. (We also mention Book Coaching and the Unicorn Authors Club that you can learn more about at their website.) [Transcript of this episode can be found on the Episodes page of the podcast Tumblr. You can sign up for the MiP monthly newsletter with job listings, guest news, and new eps here.]
“I'm still trying to make sense of a culture of caregiving that ‘good mothers' are good caregivers…A ‘good mother' is someone who doesn't question or resist caregiving, whereas men are never socialized into that narrative.”Namrata Poddar Namrata Poddar writes fiction and non-fiction, is an editor for Kweli journal and teaches literature and writing at UCLA. Her work has appeared in several publications including Poets & Writers, Literary Hub, Longreads, The Kenyon Review, and The Best Asian Short Stories. Her debut novel, Border Less, was a finalist for Feminist Press's Louise Meriwether Prize, and is longlisted for The Center of Fiction First Novel Prize. Namrata joined Kaitlin in this episode to talk about: Her book, Border Less - a novel about the migratory journal of Dia Mittal,an airline call center agent in Mumbai who is searching for a better life. Becoming a Mother-Writer: Notes on Reconciling the Personal, the Professional, and the Political - an essay she wrote for Poets & Writers. How she experiences her mothering identity as a feminist living in a patriarchal society. More about Namrata Poddar: Website:http://www.namratapoddar.com/ (http://www.namratapoddar.com/) Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/writerpoddar/ (https://www.instagram.com/writerpoddar/) Related Resources: Find out more about Border Less -https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9781736176788 (https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9781736176788) Namrata's essay, Becoming a Mother-Writer | Poets & Writers: https://www.pw.org/content/becoming_a_motherwriter_notes_on_reconciling_the_personal_the_professional_and_the_political (https://www.pw.org/content/becoming_a_motherwriter_notes_on_reconciling_the_personal_the_professional_and_the_political) Camille T. Dungy's 2017 nonfiction book, Guidebook to Relative Strangers: Journeys Into Race, Motherhood, and History - https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9780393356083 (https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9780393356083) Angela Garbes new book, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change - https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9780062937360 (https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9780062937360) Sylvia Federici, Revolution at Point Zero: https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9781629637976 (https://bookshop.org/a/86159/9781629637976) Please subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and give us a rating. This will help us reach more listeners like you who are navigating the joys and pitfalls of artistic and parenting identities. For regular updates: Visit our website:http://postpartumproduction.com/ ( postpartumproduction.com) Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/postpartumproductionpodcast/ (@postpartumproductionpodcast) Subscribe to our podcast newsletter on Substack:https://postpartumproduction.substack.com/ ( https://postpartumproduction.substack.com)
First person may grant you intimacy with your character and the reader as well as help you establish the voice of your book, but it can also limit the experience you put on the page. We're looking at the pleasures and pitfalls of this popular point-of-view choice today with authors Maya Shanbhag Lang and Lauren Acampora.Maya Shanbhag Lang is the author of What We Carry, named a New York Times Editors' Choice and a Best Book of 2020 by Amazon, Parade, Times of India, Bookshop.Org, and others. She is also the author of The Sixteenth of June, long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and hailed a "Must Read Novel" by CBS and In Style. She holds a PhD in Comparative Literature and lives with her daughter in New York.Lauren Acampora is the author of The Wonder Garden, winner of the GLCA New Writers Award and a finalist for the New England Book Award; and The Paper Wasp, longlisted for the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize. Her most recent novel, The Hundred Waters, was named a Best Book of 2022 by Vogue. Lauren is a 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Fiction from The New York Foundation for the Arts. Her writing has appeared Paris Review, Guernica, The New York Times Book Review, and LitHub, among other places. She lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband and daughter. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com
Jamil Jan Kochai in conversation with Brandon Taylor, celebrating the publication of "The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories," by Jamil Jan Kochai, published by Viking Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis. You can purchase copies of "The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/haunting-of-hajji-hotak-other-storie/ Jamil Jan Kochai is the author of "99 Nights in Logar," a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. He was born in an Afghan refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan, but he originally hails from Logar, Afghanistan. His short stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Ploughshares, and The O. Henry Prize Stories 2018. Currently, he is a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Brandon Taylor is the author of "Filthy Animals," a national bestseller, and "Real Life," which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and named a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice. He holds graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Iowa, where he was an Iowa Arts Fellow at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in fiction. This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
What does it take to design a meaningful life? I believe that is why we are here and yet, it can feel out of reach. Alka Joshi, the New York Times best-selling author of The Henna Artist and her most recent book The Secret Keeper of Jaipur is on to share her journey from successful entrepreneur to full time author. Alka believes that the energy we put out into the world is what we attract back in. She shares how we can live more intentionally and with more joy and success. She also shares her writing practice and much more! This is a beautiful interview that will leave you feeling inspired! Tune in now and access the show notes at thegoodlifecoach.com/139. Alka Joshi was born in India and raised in the U.S. since the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. At age 62, Joshi published her debut novel, The Henna Artist, which immediately became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and is being developed into an episodic series by Miramax TV. The sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, premieres June 2021, and will be followed by the third book in the trilogy in 2022. Are you enjoying the podcast? If so, I would love your review on Apple Podcasts. It only takes a minute. 1. Click on this link 2. Click “View in iTunes” button 3. Click “Subscribe” button 4. Click “Ratings and Reviews” text 5. Click to rate and leave short review and you're done! Thank you for listening to the show! WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: How Alka went from full time entrepreneur to full time writer. Why she wrote “The Henna Artist” and why she called it a love letter to her mother. Why the energy we put out into the world is important. What Alka remembers about living in India and what she wanted people to understand about India and it's rich culture and heritage. Why we need to keep learning every day. Go back and reignite passions from the past. Why need to live our lives from a place of clear intention. How her book became a Reese Witherspoon pick and what Reese said to her. How Alka's book is being turned into a TV series. Why you should have friends of all ages. Her advice to women who want more out of life and much more! ALKA'S 3 BEST TIPS FOR LIVING A MEANINGFUL LIFE Don't let life happen to you. Have an intention for what you want to happen. Ask yourself, “What kind of life do I want to create?” You have to clarify the intention and have it inside your brain all of the time. Always try to have joy in your life every day. Learn something new every single day. Always be learning. RESOURCES MENTIONED The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi The Secret Keeper of Jaipur by Alka Joshi Alka's Website Alka on IG Michele on Instagram Thank you for listening to the show!
Today, Chantal V. Johnson talks to us about capturing the traumatized mind of a brilliant woman, her unique writing process, her use of dialogue and argument, going to auction, retiring from the law, and more! Chantal V. Johnson is the author of the debut novel Post-Traumatic, published by Little, Brown in April of 2022. Post-Traumatic has been longlisted for the 2022 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, named a Best Debut Novel of 2022 by Debutiful, and hailed as a "sharp psychological novel" by The New Yorker. Chantal graduated from Stanford Law School and worked as a tenant lawyer for over seven years. She lives in New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Join us online for a discussion and reading of Gods of Want: Stories, with author K-Ming Chang. Chang's new book features fictional short stories of a Taiwanese American family exploring displacement, queerness and more. Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is also the author of the novel Bestiary, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the PEN/Faulker Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Chang has taught classes for Kundiman, Catapult, Lambda Literary Writers' Retreat, Miami Book Fair, Pacific Northwest College of the Arts' Low-Residency MFA Program, Kweli International Literary Festival, Literary Arts at Featherstone, Sevilla Writers House, Flash Fiction Festival (Literary Cleveland), Ellipses Writing, Vassar College Critical Ethnic Studies Conference, Youth Empowerment Program at MinKwon, and elsewhere. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS K-Ming Chang Author, Gods of Want: Stories and Bestiary Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on August 25th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
On this special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Lindsay Wright are joined by K-Ming Chang to discuss her collection of stories, Gods of Want. Chang made her debut with the 2018 poetry chapbook Past Lives, Future Bodies, which she followed up in 2020 with the novel Bestiary. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award, Bestiary is a strikingly imaginative, fable-like tale of three generations of women who immigrate to the United States from Taiwan. Some of Bestiary's motifs — hauntings, queer desire, violence, and unexpected transformations — recur in Chang's 2021 chapbook Bone House, a phantasmagoric spin on Wuthering Heights, and also in Gods of Want. Shifting between genres, modes, and degrees of gravity, the collection displays the young Taiwanese American author's striking inventiveness, both at the level of imagery and of language, as well as her cutting humor.
On this special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Lindsay Wright are joined by K-Ming Chang to discuss her collection of stories, Gods of Want. Chang made her debut with the 2018 poetry chapbook Past Lives, Future Bodies, which she followed up in 2020 with the novel Bestiary. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award, Bestiary is a strikingly imaginative, fable-like tale of three generations of women who immigrate to the United States from Taiwan. Some of Bestiary's motifs — hauntings, queer desire, violence, and unexpected transformations — recur in Chang's 2021 chapbook Bone House, a phantasmagoric spin on Wuthering Heights, and also in Gods of Want. Shifting between genres, modes, and degrees of gravity, the collection displays the young Taiwanese American author's striking inventiveness, both at the level of imagery and of language, as well as her cutting humor.
Chinelo Okparanta was born and raised in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Her debut short story collection, Happiness, Like Water, was nominated for the Nigerian Writers Award, long-listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, and was a finalist for the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, as well as the Etisalat Prize for Literature. Her first novel, Under the Udala Trees, was nominated for numerous awards, including the Kirkus Prize and Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice. Her new novel is Harry Sylvester Bird. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
City Lights in conjunction with the Asian American Writers' Workshop present K-Ming Chang in conversation with Lily Philpott, celebrating her new collection "Gods of Want: Stories," published by One World Books. This event was originally broadcast via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis. You can purchase copies of "Gods of Want: Stories" directly from City Lights here: https://citylights.com/new-fiction-in-hardcover/gods-of-want-stories/ K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the novel "Bestiary," which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. Lily Philpott runs and manages AAWW events, fellowships, and workshops. She has many years of experience curating literary programs in New York City. Previously, she served as the Public Programs Manager at PEN America, where she launched the PEN Out Loud event series with the Strand Book Store, co-curated a summer event series with the Brooklyn Museum, and coordinated Lit Crawl NYC. She has also worked on public programs and development events at the Guggenheim Museum and the New York Public Library, respectively, and is a member of the Brooklyn Book Festival's International Literature Committee and an Advisory Board Member of the U.K. based publisher And Other Stories. The Asian American Writers' Workshop (AAWW) is a national literary nonprofit dedicated to publishing and incubating work by Asian and Asian diasporic writers, poets, and artists. Since their founding in 1991, they have provided a countercultural literary arts space at the intersection of migration, race, and social justice. Find out more at: https://aaww.org This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation
In this episode, writer K-Ming Chang talks with Resort founder Catherine LaSota about birding, writing's relationship to oral storytelling, and the audience she's writing for. We also hear a story of magic and dog poop. This episode is amazing, trust. K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice novel BESTIARY(One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. In 2021, her chapbook BONE HOUSE was published by Bull City Press. Her short story collection, GODS OF WANT, is forthcoming from One World, as well as a novel titled ORGAN MEATS. She lives in California. Find out more about K-Ming Chang here: https://www.kmingchang.com Pre-order/purchase Gods of Want here: https://bookshop.org/a/83344/9780593241585 Support the Resort in our May 2022 fundraiser!: https://www.freefunder.com/campaign/support-writers Join our free Resort community, full of resources and support for writers, here: https://community.theresortlic.com/ More information about The Resort can be found here: https://www.theresortlic.com/ You can find books for purchase by all of our Cabana Chats guests here: https://bookshop.org/lists/cabana-chats-podcast Cabana Chats is hosted by Resort founder Catherine LaSota. Our podcast editor is Jade Iseri-Ramos, and our music is by Pat Irwin. Special thanks to Resort assistant Nadine Santoro. FULL TRANSCRIPTS for Cabana Chats podcast episodes are available in the free Resort network: https://community.theresortlic.com/ Follow us on social media! @TheResortLIC
In this episode, Annar and Joe had the chance to sit down with Fernando A. Flores, author of Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas, the short story collection that revived Host Publications as we know it after taking a brief hiatus. We always like to say that Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas is a psychedelic romp through the Rio Grande Valley music scene. It is collection of 10 punk rock fairy-tales about artists and misfits trying to make noise and live forever in the unforgiving landscape of the Rio Grande Valley. Fernando A. Flores is a writer who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, near McAllen, Texas. In addition to Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas, he is the author of Tears of the Truffle Pig, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the forthcoming short story collection, Velleyesque, out May 3rd, 2022.
Sarah Story talks with Maurice Carlos Ruffin, an author and the 2020-2021 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at The University of Mississippi. He is the author of "We Cast a Shadow," which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the PEN/Open Book Award, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and International Dublin Literary Award. His latest book “The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You” is a collection of stories set in New Orleans. He and Sarah talk about his residency, new book, and life as an attorney turned writer. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
BONUS EPISODE!Before we begin our fall interviews in September, we wanted to post some of our favorite chats from this past year for the next 5 days. Next in line for our "highlight" series is my interview with author, Alka Joshi.Alka Joshi was born in India and raised in the U.S. since the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. At the age of 62, Joshi published her debut novel, The Henna Artist, which immediately became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and is being developed into an episodic series by Miramax TV starring Frieda Pinto. The sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, premieres June 2021, and will be followed by the third book in the trilogy in 2022. We talk about what it was like growing up in India and the transition to Iowa, how her family viewed dating and relationships, why she decided to break the glass ceiling on her own terms, and how she became an "accidental writer". She talks about the origins of The Henna Artist and how the main character, Laxmi, is an ode to her mother, her mother's own journey finding herself, why she believes women are better leaders, and how she hopes these books will be her legacy. www.alkajoshi.com
How have your family roots and ethnic culture influenced your life? Embracing your culture and where you came from will lead you to a higher self-awareness and may even bring you inspiration to share your culture with the world. Today, I'm joined by the incredible author, Alka Joshi. She was born in India and raised in the US from the age of 9. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from the College of Arts. At the age of 62, Alka Joshi left her corporate advertising career to become an author. She published her debut novel, The Henna Artist, and it soon rose to the top of the bestselling lists and was featured in the Reese Witherspoon book club. The Henna Artist was shortlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and is being developed into an episodic series of TV. The sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, continues the incredible storyline from The Henna Artist that caught the world's attention. Alka's story is about embracing your cultural identity and sharing it with the world, which is something all of us Amigas should feel empowered to do. Throughout this episode, Alka explains her background growing up in an Indian family, the familial inspiration for her books, why she believes in arming yourself with information, and so much more. Tune in to Episode 44 of Amiga, Handle Your Shit, to learn about Alka's amazing wisdom and how she is sharing her profound messages within her books! Some Questions I Ask:How did you go from a career in advertising to writing? (18:24)What is your advice for amigas to handle their shit? (42:17) In This Episode, You Will Learn: Alka's background (6:34)About Alka's first book, The Henna Artist (21:55)How Alka learned the ropes of the film industry (27:15)A story from when Alka traveled to India (34:25)About the evolution of The Henna Artist (37:51) Connect with Alka WebsiteBooksLet's Connect!FREE Masterclass - How to Handle Your Shit Amiga & Live A Better Life!WebsiteFacebookInstagramLinkedInJackie Tapia Arbonne website See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Listen to K-Ming Chang read her fiction piece "Keeper" from Exposition Review's Vol. VI: “Hunger” and as she talks about hoarding words, inventing lineages, and of course, a lot of shit talking. Read the full piece free online at: http://expositionreview.com/issues/vol-vi-hunger/keeper/ About the Reader: K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a two-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of The New York Times Editors' Choice novel Bestiary (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Her short story collection, Resident Aliens, is forthcoming from One World. More of her work can be found at kmingchang.com. Links from the Podcast: K-Ming Chang - https://www.kmingchang.com/ Ghost Forest Book Release with the Asian American Writers' Workshop July 13, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ghost-forest-pik-shuen-fung-and-k-ming-chang-tickets-158749272347 The Offing literary journal - https://theoffingmag.com/ Book: Bestiary from One World Publishing/Random House - https://www.oneworldlit.com/books/bestiary-hc Bone House Chap Book (new!) from Bull City Press - https://bullcitypress.com/product/bone-house-by-k-ming-chang-inch-47/ Thank you to Mitchell Evenson for intro and outro music, and the generous donations from our supporters that allow us to pay our authors. Exposition Review is a fiscally sponsored project of Fractured Atlas. Help us spread the word! Please download, review, and subscribe to Transposition. Associate Producer: Mitchell Evenson Intro Music by Mitchell Evenson Hosted by Laura Rensing --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/exposition-review/support
K-Ming Chang is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice novel Bestiary, which was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Told from the point of view of Daughter, a Taiwanese American early-adolescence girl, Bestiary threads together three generations of women with each other, land, water, trauma, violence, and love. Podcast host Matthew Felix asked K-Ming about her interest in inter-generational bonds, including the trauma that can sometimes come with them. K-Ming shared the unique way in which Bestiary—the writing process for which was initially very fragmented—came together as a cohesive whole. Matthew and K-Ming discussed language, from the influences of knowing other languages when writing in English to not shying away from possibly unpleasant physiological terms to how writing poetry can influence prose. Matthew asked K-Ming about how she accesses her imagination and her apparent ability to surrender to it. K-Ming discussed some of the key themes in Bestiary, including the cost of having a body and the tiger tail that the protagonist grows. K-Ming explained her inclusion of multiple queer love stories in Bestiary, and she shared some of the queer writers that have influenced her and her writing. Bestiary is now out in paperback. Listen here or on: iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Google | TuneIn | Amazon | Player FM | Deezer Watch on YouTube Links https://www.kmingchang.com/ https://twitter.com/k_mingchang
Hilary Leichter is the author of the novel Temporary, which was shortlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her writing has appeared in n+1, The New Yorker, Harper's, The New York Times, and New York Magazine's The Cut. She teaches fiction at Columbia University and has been awarded fellowships from the Folger Shakespeare Library and the New York Foundation for the Arts. For more Thresholds, visit www.thisisthresholds.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In conversation with Salamishah Tillet, the Henry Rutgers Professor of African American Studies and Creative Writing and author of In Search of The Color Purple: The Story of an American Masterpiece Kaitlyn Greenidge is the author of We Love You, Charlie Freeman, a ''wonderfully audacious debut novel'' (Essence) that examines the nuances of race, gender, and history through the story of a family teaching sign language to a young chimpanzee. Greenidge was a finalist for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the 2017 Young Lions Fiction Award, and has earned fellowships from the Whiting Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. A contributor to the New York Times, Greenidge has also written for Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Vogue, among other publications. Named one of 2021's most anticipated books by many publications, Libertie follows the journey of a Reconstruction–era Black doctor searching for equality in place, profession, and her family. Books available through the Joseph Fox Bookshop (recorded 5/24/2021)
Hilary Leichter is the author of the novel Temporary, which was shortlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. Her writing has appeared in n+1, The New Yorker, Harper's, The New York Times, and New York Magazine's The Cut. She teaches fiction at Columbia University and has been awarded fellowships from the Folger Shakespeare Library and the New York Foundation for the Arts.
Alka Joshi was born in India and raised in the U.S. since the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. At the age of 62, Joshi published her debut novel, The Henna Artist, which immediately became a New York Times bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Bookclub pick, was long listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and is being developed into an episodic series by Miramax TV starring Frieda Pinto.The sequel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, premieres June 2021, and will be followed by the third book in the trilogy in 2022.We talk about what it was like growing up in India and the transition to Iowa, how her family viewed dating and relationships, why she decided to break the glass ceiling on her own terms, and how she became an "accidental writer".She talks about the origins of The Henna Artist and how the main character, Laxmi, is an ode to her mother, her mother's own journey finding herself, why she believes women are better leaders, and how she hopes these books will be her legacy.www.alkajoshi.com
Douglas Stuart was born and raised in Glasgow. After graduating from the Royal College of Art, he moved to New York, where he began a career in design. Shuggie Bain is his debut novel. It is shortlisted for the Booker Prize, the National Book Award for Fiction, the Kirkus Prize and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. His short stories have appeared in the New Yorker and his essay on ‘Gender, Anxiety and Class’ was published by Lit Hub. Shuggie Bain is to be published in over 25 territories (so far) and tv adaptation rights have been acquired by A24 and Scott Rudin Productions. 5x15 brings together outstanding individuals to tell of their lives, passions and inspirations. There are only two rules - no scripts and only 15 minutes each. Learn more about 5x15 events: 5x15stories.com Twitter: www.twitter.com/5x15stories Facebook: www.facebook.com/5x15stories Instagram: www.instagram.com/5x15stories
Raven Leilani's debut novel, Luster, was released in August 2020 and won the Kirkus Prize and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her work has been published in Granta, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Yale Review, Conjunctions, The Cut, and New England Review, among other publications. She completed her MFA at NYU. Thank you to The House of Chanel for sponsoring this episode. Find out more at inside.Chanel.com. Find more from Thresholds at www.thisisthresholds.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This encore podcast was originally posted on April 4, 2019. Tommy Orange, author of the novel “There There,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. “There There” is set in and around Fruitvale and the Coliseum areas in Oakland, and looks at the lives of several Native Americans, young and old, as they converge for a giant pow-wow. The novel stretches back in time to the takeover of Alcatraz and forward to the present day, shattering stereotypes and delving into the real lives of the urban Native American. Tommy Orange was born and raised in Oakland, and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma. The post Tommy Orange: “There There” appeared first on KPFA.
To kick off a series of interviews in partnership with the Miami Book Fair, Kendra talks to K-Ming Chang, the author of Bestiary, which is out now from One World. Sign up for the Miami Book Fair! Grab one of our totes for 20% off by heading over to our Etsy Store! Check out our Patreon page to learn more about our book club and other Patreon-exclusive goodies. Follow along over on Instagram, join the discussion in our Goodreads group, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more new books and extra book reviews! Books Mentioned Bestiary by K-Ming Chang K-Ming Recommends Ghost Forrest by Pik-Shuen Fung The Black Cathedral by Marcial Gala, Translated by Anna Kiushner Revenge of the Mooncake Vixen by Marilyn Chin The White Book by Han King Author Bio K-Ming Chang / 張欣明 is a Kundiman fellow, a Lambda Literary Award finalist, and a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. She is the author of the debut novel BESTIARY (One World/Random House, 2020), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her micro-chapbook BONE HOUSE, a queer retelling of Wuthering Heights, is forthcoming from Bull City Press’ INCH series in 2021, and she is currently working on a collection of short stories. Website | Twitter Buy the Book CONTACT Questions? Comments? Email us hello@readingwomenpodcast.com. SOCIAL MEDIA Reading Women Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website Music by Isaac Greene Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Krys Lee is the author of the short story collection Drifting House and the recent debut novel How I Became a North Korean, both published by Viking, Penguin Random House. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize and the Story Prize Spotlight Award, the Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature from the Asian/Pacific American Libraries Association, and finalist for Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the BBC International Story Prize. Her fiction, journalism, and literary translations have appeared inGranta, The Kenyon Review, Narrative, San Francisco Chronicle, Corriere della Sera, and The Guardian, among others. She is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Yonsei University, Underwood International College, in South Korea.
Krys Lee is the author of the short story collection Drifting House and the recent debut novel How I Became a North Korean, both published by Viking, Penguin Random House. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize and the Story Prize Spotlight Award, the Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature from the Asian/Pacific American Libraries Association, and finalist for Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the BBC International Story Prize. Her fiction, journalism, and literary translations have appeared in Granta, The Kenyon Review, Narrative, San Francisco Chronicle, Corriere della Sera, and The Guardian, among others. She is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Yonsei University, Underwood International College, in South Korea.
A decrepit house in Greendale, Mississippi once belonged to Billie James’s father, a renowned black poet who died unexpectedly when she was four years old. Her mother dies of cancer. Then years later, her paternal grandmother dies and leaves Billie the old Mississippi Delta house. At age 34, Billie returns to the house, encounters the locals, and learns that on the day her father died, she went missing. She doesn’t want to leave Mississippi until she finds out what happened, but someone doesn’t want Billie to know the truth. Told from several perspectives, The Gone Dead (Ecco, 2019) is a story about family and memory, justice for those who were never given a chance, and some of the wounds caused by racism in America. Chanelle Benz has published work in Guernica, Granta.com, The New York Times, Electric Literature, The American Reader, Fence and others, and is the recipient of an O. Henry Prize. Her story collection The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead was named a Best Book of 2017 by The San Francisco Chronicle and one of Electric Literature’s 15 Best Short Story Collections of 2017. It was also shortlisted for the 2018 Saroyan Prize and longlisted for the 2018 PEN/Robert Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the 2017 Story Prize. The Gone Dead was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and a Tonight Show Summer Reads Finalist. It was long-listed for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It was also named a best new book of the summer by O, The Oprah Magazine, Time, Southern Living, and Nylon. Benz currently lives in Memphis where she teaches at Rhodes College. Whenever possible, she loves to listen to true crime and history podcasts. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to discuss it further with me and other New Books network listeners, please join us on Shuffle. Shuffle is an ad-free, invite-only network focused on the creativity community. As NBN listeners, you can get special access to conversations with a dynamic community of writers and literary enthusiasts. Sign up by going to www.shuffle.do/NBN/join G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries. Please contact her through her website (GPGottlieb.com) if you wish to recommend an author (of a beautifully-written new novel) to interview, to listen to her previous podcast interviews, to read her mystery book reviews, or to check out some of her awesome recipes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A decrepit house in Greendale, Mississippi once belonged to Billie James’s father, a renowned black poet who died unexpectedly when she was four years old. Her mother dies of cancer. Then years later, her paternal grandmother dies and leaves Billie the old Mississippi Delta house. At age 34, Billie returns to the house, encounters the locals, and learns that on the day her father died, she went missing. She doesn’t want to leave Mississippi until she finds out what happened, but someone doesn’t want Billie to know the truth. Told from several perspectives, The Gone Dead (Ecco, 2019) is a story about family and memory, justice for those who were never given a chance, and some of the wounds caused by racism in America. Chanelle Benz has published work in Guernica, Granta.com, The New York Times, Electric Literature, The American Reader, Fence and others, and is the recipient of an O. Henry Prize. Her story collection The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead was named a Best Book of 2017 by The San Francisco Chronicle and one of Electric Literature’s 15 Best Short Story Collections of 2017. It was also shortlisted for the 2018 Saroyan Prize and longlisted for the 2018 PEN/Robert Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction and the 2017 Story Prize. The Gone Dead was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice and a Tonight Show Summer Reads Finalist. It was long-listed for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel and the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. It was also named a best new book of the summer by O, The Oprah Magazine, Time, Southern Living, and Nylon. Benz currently lives in Memphis where she teaches at Rhodes College. Whenever possible, she loves to listen to true crime and history podcasts. If you enjoyed today’s podcast and would like to discuss it further with me and other New Books network listeners, please join us on Shuffle. Shuffle is an ad-free, invite-only network focused on the creativity community. As NBN listeners, you can get special access to conversations with a dynamic community of writers and literary enthusiasts. Sign up by going to www.shuffle.do/NBN/join G.P. Gottlieb is the author of the Whipped and Sipped Mystery Series and a prolific baker of healthful breads and pastries. Please contact her through her website (GPGottlieb.com) if you wish to recommend an author (of a beautifully-written new novel) to interview, to listen to her previous podcast interviews, to read her mystery book reviews, or to check out some of her awesome recipes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Krys Lee is the author of the short story collection Drifting House and the recent debut novel How I Became a North Korean, both published by Viking, Penguin Random House. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize and the Story Prize Spotlight Award, the Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature from the Asian/Pacific American Libraries Association, and finalist for Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the BBC International Story Prize. Her fiction, journalism, and literary translations have appeared in Granta, The Kenyon Review, Narrative, San Francisco Chronicle, Corriere della Sera, and The Guardian, among others. She is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Yonsei University, Underwood International College, in South Korea.
Krys Lee is the author of the short story collection Drifting House and the recent debut novel How I Became a North Korean, both published by Viking, Penguin Random House. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize and the Story Prize Spotlight Award, the Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature from the Asian/Pacific American Libraries Association, and finalist for Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the BBC International Story Prize. Her fiction, journalism, and literary translations have appeared inGranta, The Kenyon Review, Narrative, San Francisco Chronicle, Corriere della Sera, and The Guardian, among others. She is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Yonsei University, Underwood International College, in South Korea.· www.creativeprocess.info
Simultaneously parenting her daughter while caring for a mom who was vanishing into dementia, Maya Shanbhag Lang, found herself reexamining nearly every part of her life, and reimagining how she wanted to tell her own story to her daughter. May's writing has been featured in The Washington Post, In Style, The Millions, and The Rumpus, among others. Her book, The Sixteenth of June was long-listed for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, was an Audie Award Finalist for Best Audio Book. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. A passionate teacher, she loves working with aspiring writers. Her new memoir is What We Carry. (https://amzn.to/3fqyo2Q)You can find Maya Shanbhag Lang at: Website : http://www.mayalang.com/Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/mayaslang/Check out our offerings & partners: Grove: Go to Grove.co/goodlife to get a free five piece Cleaning Set from Mrs. Meyer and Grove - a $30 value
Where is all of the literary love for Queens? It’s right here at LIC Reading Series. Join them each week for stories, readings, and discussions with acclaimed writers, recorded with a live audience in the cozy carriage house of a classic pub in Long Island City, Queens, New York, and hosted by founder Catherine LaSota. This week, the podcast features the reading and panel discussion from the LIC Reading Series two-year anniversary event on November 15, 2016, with Elisa Albert (After Birth), Tanais (Bright Lines), and Robin Wasserman (Girls on Fire). Listen to the readings in the last episode! About the Readers: Elisa Albert is the author of After Birth (2015), The Book of Dahlia (2008), How This Night is Different (2006), and the editor of the anthology Freud’s Blind Spot (2010). Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Tin House, The New York Times, Post Road, The Guardian, Gulf Coast, Commentary, Salon, Tablet, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Believer, The Rumpus, Time Magazine, on NPR, and in many anthologies. Albert grew up in Los Angeles and received an MFA from Columbia University, where she was a Lini Mazumdar Fellow. A recipient of the Moment magazine emerging writer award and a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize, she has received fellowships from The Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Djerassi, Vermont Studio Center, The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in Holland, the HWK in Germany, and the Amsterdam Writer's Residency. She has taught at Columbia's School of the Arts, The College of Saint Rose, and is currently Visiting Writer at Bennington College. She lives in upstate New York with her family. Tanaïs (née Tanwi Nandini Islam) is the New York based author of the critically-acclaimed novel Bright Lines (Penguin 2015), which was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Edmund White Debut Fiction Award, the Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize, and was the inaugural selection of the First Lady of NYC's Gracie Book Club, as well as Bustle's American Woman Book Club. Their work is multi-disciplinary, dynamic, intersectional and feminist. Over the course of their career, they’ve worked as a community organizer, a domestic violence court advocate, a probations intake officer, and youth arts educator. While researching their debut novel, Bright Lines, Tanaïs studied perfumery, amassing a library of 500 fragrant raw materials, which led to the creation of Hi Wildflower, independent beauty & fragrance house. Currently, Tanaïs is working on In Sensorium, an essay collection exploring scent, sensuality, South Asian and Muslim perfume cultures, colonization and its aftermath: the environmental and border crises around the world, as well as a second novel, Stellar Smoke. Their podcast and perfume anthology project, MALA, features interviews with survivors of violence, who reimagine their memories as scents. Season 1, featured five formerly incarcerated women in the NYS Penal System. Robin Wasserman is a graduate of Harvard University and the author of several successful novels for young adults. A recent recipient of a MacDowell fellowship, she lives in Brooklyn, New York. Girls on Fire is her first novel for adults. * This event was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Where is all of the literary love for Queens? It’s right here at LIC Reading Series. Join them each week for stories, readings, and discussions with acclaimed writers, recorded with a live audience in the cozy carriage house of a classic pub in Long Island City, Queens, New York, and hosted by founder Catherine LaSota. This week, the podcast features the reading and panel discussion from the LIC Reading Series two-year anniversary event on November 15, 2016, with Elisa Albert (After Birth), Tanais (Bright Lines), and Robin Wasserman (Girls on Fire). Check back Thursday for the discussion! About the Readers: Elisa Albert is the author of After Birth (2015), The Book of Dahlia (2008), How This Night is Different (2006), and the editor of the anthology Freud’s Blind Spot (2010). Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in Tin House, The New York Times, Post Road, The Guardian, Gulf Coast, Commentary, Salon, Tablet, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Believer, The Rumpus, Time Magazine, on NPR, and in many anthologies. Albert grew up in Los Angeles and received an MFA from Columbia University, where she was a Lini Mazumdar Fellow. A recipient of the Moment magazine emerging writer award and a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize, she has received fellowships from The Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Djerassi, Vermont Studio Center, The Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in Holland, the HWK in Germany, and the Amsterdam Writer's Residency. She has taught at Columbia's School of the Arts, The College of Saint Rose, and is currently Visiting Writer at Bennington College. She lives in upstate New York with her family. Tanaïs (née Tanwi Nandini Islam) is the New York based author of the critically-acclaimed novel Bright Lines (Penguin 2015), which was a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, Edmund White Debut Fiction Award, the Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize, and was the inaugural selection of the First Lady of NYC's Gracie Book Club, as well as Bustle's American Woman Book Club. Their work is multi-disciplinary, dynamic, intersectional and feminist. Over the course of their career, they’ve worked as a community organizer, a domestic violence court advocate, a probations intake officer, and youth arts educator. While researching their debut novel, Bright Lines, Tanaïs studied perfumery, amassing a library of 500 fragrant raw materials, which led to the creation of Hi Wildflower, independent beauty & fragrance house. Currently, Tanaïs is working on In Sensorium, an essay collection exploring scent, sensuality, South Asian and Muslim perfume cultures, colonization and its aftermath: the environmental and border crises around the world, as well as a second novel, Stellar Smoke. Their podcast and perfume anthology project, MALA, features interviews with survivors of violence, who reimagine their memories as scents. Season 1, featured five formerly incarcerated women in the NYS Penal System. Robin Wasserman is a graduate of Harvard University and the author of several successful novels for young adults. A recent recipient of a MacDowell fellowship, she lives in Brooklyn, New York. Girls on Fire is her first novel for adults. * This event was made possible in part by the Queens Council on the Arts, with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
ZYZZYVA celebrates their 117th issue, the Bay Area Issue with an all-star lineup (in order of appearance): Paul Wilner, Meg Hurtado Bloom, Rita Bullwinkel, Kevin Simmonds, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, and Chia-Chia Lin. Hosted by ZYZZYVA managing editor Oscar Villalon. Paul Wilner is a poet, critic, freelance journalist, and member of the National Book Critics Circle, and a frequent contributor to ZYZZYVA. Meg Hurtado Bloom received her MFA in Creative Writing from St Mary's College of California. Her writing has appeared in Calamity, Lumen, Split Lip, Yellow Chair Review, The Volta, the Columbia Poetry Review, and elsewhere. Rita Bullwinkel is the author of the story collection Belly Up, which won the 2018 Believer Book Award, and is currently being translated into Italian and Greek. Bullwinkel’s writing has been published in Tin House, Conjunctions, BOMB, Vice, NOON, and Guernica. Kevin Simmonds’s books include the poetry collection Bend to It (Salmon Poetry) and Mad for Meat (Salmon Poetry). His work has been published in American Scholar, FIELD, Poetry, and elsewhere. Ingrid Rojas Contreras’s first novel, Fruit of the Drunken Tree (Doubleday), is an Indie Next selection, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and a New York Times editor's choice. Her essays and short stories have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Buzzfeed, Nylon, and Guernica, among others. Chia-Chia Lin is the author of The Unpassing (FSG), a finalist for the 2019 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her short stories and essays have appeared in The Paris Review, NewYorker.com, The New York Times, and elsewhere. ZYZZYVA was founded in 1985 in San Francisco with the goal of publishing a superb literary journal featuring West Coast poets, writers, and artists from a wide range of backgrounds. Since then, the journal has evolved into a nationally distributed, widely acclaimed publication also showcasing contributors from across the country and even from around the world. 2020 marks ZYZZYVA’s 35th anniversary.
Nicole Dennis-Benn is a Lambda Literary Award winner and New York Foundation for the Arts Artist Fellowship recipient. She's also a finalist for the 2016 John Leonard Prize National Book Critics Circle Award, the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the 2017 Young Lions Fiction Award for her debut novel, Here Comes the Sun— a New York Times Notable Book of the year, an NPR, Amazon, Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2016. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Elle, Electric Literature, Ebony, and the Feminist Wire. She was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and lives with her wife in Brooklyn, New York. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tommy Orange, author of the novel “There There,” in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award, the National Book Critics Circle John Leonard Prize, and the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. “There There” is set in and around Fruitvale and the Coliseum areas in Oakland, and looks at the lives of several Native Americans, young and old, as they converge for a giant pow-wow. The novel stretches back in time to the takeover of Alcatraz and forward to the present day, shattering stereotypes and delving into the real lives of the urban Native American. Tommy Orange was born and raised in Oakland, and is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma. The post Tommy Orange: “There There” appeared first on KPFA.
The Creative Process · Seasons 1 2 3 · Arts, Culture & Society
Krys Lee is the author of the short story collection Drifting House and the recent debut novel How I Became a North Korean, both published by Viking, Penguin Random House. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize and the Story Prize Spotlight Award, the Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature from the Asian/Pacific American Libraries Association, and finalist for Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the BBC International Story Prize. Her fiction, journalism, and literary translations have appeared in Granta, The Kenyon Review, Narrative, San Francisco Chronicle, Corriere della Sera, and The Guardian, among others. She is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Yonsei University, Underwood International College, in South Korea.
Krys Lee is the author of the short story collection Drifting House and the recent debut novel How I Became a North Korean, both published by Viking, Penguin Random House. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize and the Story Prize Spotlight Award, the Honor Title in Adult Fiction Literature from the Asian/Pacific American Libraries Association, and finalist for Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and the BBC International Story Prize. Her fiction, journalism, and literary translations have appeared inGranta, The Kenyon Review, Narrative, San Francisco Chronicle, Corriere della Sera, and The Guardian, among others. She is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature at Yonsei University, Underwood International College, in South Korea.· www.creativeprocess.info
Editor-in-Chief Omaria Pratt talks with Leesa Cross-Smith about her book "Whiskey & Ribbons," life as a writer without a MFA, and her short fiction literary journal Whiskey Paper. Leesa Cross-Smith is a homemaker and writer from Kentucky. She is the author of Whiskey & Ribbons (Hub City Press, 2018) and Every Kiss a War (Mojave River Press, 2014) and the forthcoming short story collection So We Can Glow (Grand Central Publishing, 2020) and the forthcoming novel This Close To Okay (Grand Central Publishing, 2021.) Every Kiss a War was a finalist for both the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction (2012) and the Iowa Short Fiction Award (2012). Her short story “Whiskey & Ribbons” won Editor’s Choice in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest (2011) and was listed as a notable story for storySouth‘s Million Writers Award. The novel Whiskey & Ribbons was longlisted for the 2018 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and listed among Oprah Magazine’s “Top Books of Summer.” She was a consulting editor for Best Small Fictions 2017. Her work has appeared in Oxford American, Best Small Fictions 2015, NYLON, Alaska Quarterly Review, Poets & Writers, The Rumpus, SmokeLong Quarterly, Little Fiction, Wigleaf Top 50, Longform Fiction, Carve Magazine, Synaesthesia Magazine, Paper Darts, Hobart, Pithead Chapel, Gigantic Sequins, Folio, American Short Fiction (online), Midwestern Gothic, Juked, Word Riot and many others. She and her husband Loran run a literary magazine called WhiskeyPaper. Find more @ LeesaCrossSmith.com and WhiskeyPaper.com.
We talk with Leesa Cross-Smith, author of the Whiskey & Ribbons, which is out now from Hub City Press! You can find the full show notes to this episode over on our website. Some links are affiliate links. Find more details here. Books Mentioned Whiskey and Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith Author Bio Leesa Cross-Smith is a homemaker and the author of Whiskey & Ribbons (Hub City Press, 2018), Every Kiss A War (Mojave River Press, 2014), and the forthcoming So We Can Glow (Grand Central Publishing, 2020) and This Close To Okay (Grand Central Publishing, 2021). Her debut novel Whiskey & Ribbons was longlisted for the 2018 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Every Kiss A War was a finalist for both the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction (2012) and the Iowa Short Fiction Award (2012). Her work has appeared in Poets & Writers, Oxford American, Best Small Fictions, and many others. Find more @ LeesaCrossSmith.com. Website | Twitter | Instagram | Buy the Book Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be sure you don’t miss the latest news, reviews, and furchild photos. Support us on Patreon and get insider goodies! CONTACT Questions? Comments? Email us hello@readingwomenpodcast.com SOCIAL MEDIA Reading WomenTwitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website Music “Reading Women” Composed and Recorded by Isaac and Sarah Greene Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Matthew Thomas's New York Times-bestselling novel We Are Not Ourselves was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and the John Gardner Fiction Book Award; longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Guardian First Book Award, and the Folio Prize; named a Notable Book of the year by the New York Times; named one of the best books of the year by the Washington Post, Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Apple, and others; and named one of Janet Maslin's ten favorite books of the year in the New York Times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chloe Benjamin is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Immortalists, a #1 Indie Next Pick, #1 Library Reads pick, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, Amazon Best Book of the Month, and an iBooks Favorite. Her first novel, The Anatomy of Dreams, received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was long listed for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Originally from San Francisco, CA, Chloe is a graduate of Vassar College and the M.F.A. in fiction at the University of Wisconsin. She lives with her husband in Madison, WI.
Center for Fiction Executive Director Noreen Tomassi talks to Julie Lekstrom Himes about her debut novel, Mikhail and Margarita, winner of the 2017 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.
Hey there word nerds! Today I am delighted to have author Chloe Benjamin on the show! Chloe received an MFA in fiction from the University of Wisconsin, and her first novel, The Anatomy of Dreams, received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was longlisted for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her latest novel, The Immortalists, received extraordinary pre-publication excitement and has already been optioned for a major U.S. television series. I myself have been buzzing about this book since May 2017 where it was featured in the BookExpo America Adult Buzz Panel. Listen in as we chat about Chloe’s awesome new book, and crafting an overarching narrative in a story with shifting points of view. In this episode Chloe and I discuss: The art of the prologue, when to use one and how to do it right. Combining shifting character perspectives with a continuous narrative thread. Crafting a multiple protagonist story. Doing justice to your secondary characters while keeping them in a supporting role. How to hit the right emotional notes in your readers. Plus, Chloe’s #1 tip for writers. For more info and show notes: DIYMFA.com/190
we speak with with Chloe Benjamin about her new novel The Immortalists, which has been receiving high praise. She is also the author of The Anatomy of Dreams, which received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was longlisted for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. We also talk with Breezy, a young writer who lives in Minnesota and attends college, about what it's like starting out in the field – the challenges faced and the hopes for success.
Autumn and Kendra chat with Chloe Benjamin about her latest novel, The Immortalists. They discuss the inspiration for The Immortalists, living life vs. merely surviving, and the nature of fate. Author Bio Chloe Benjamin is the author of the novel The Anatomy of Dreams, which received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was longlisted for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. A San Francisco native, Benjamin is a graduate of Vassar College and of the University of Wisconsin, where she received her MFA in fiction. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have been published in The Millions, PANK, Ninth Letter, and elsewhere. She lives with her husband in Madison, Wisconsin and is twenty-eight years old. Buy the Book | Chloe's Website Twitter | Instagram ---------------------- Don't you just love our new theme music? Many thanks to our talented friends Isaac and Sarah Greene for composing and recording it for us. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to be sure you don’t miss the latest news, reviews, and fur child photos. Support us on Patreon and get insider goodies! A special thanks to our patrons, Carley T. and Stephanie W. CONTACT Questions? Comments? Email us hello@readingwomenpodcast.com. SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website Music "Reading Women" Composed and Recorded by Isaac and Sarah Greene Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Refugees (Grove Press) Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer was one of the most widely and highly praised novels of 2015, the winner not only of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction but also the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and the California Book Award for First Fiction. Nguyen’s next fiction book, The Refugees, is a collection of perfectly formed stories written over a period of twenty years, exploring questions of immigration, identity, love, and family. With the coruscating gaze of The Sympathizer, in The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen gives voice to lives led between two worlds, the adopted homeland and the country of birth. From a young Vietnamese refugee who suffers profound culture shock when he comes to live with two gay men in San Francisco, to a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia and starts to confuse her for a former lover, to a girl living in Ho Chi Minh City whose older half sister comes back from America having seemingly accomplished everything she never will, the stories are a captivating testament to the dreams and hardships of immigration. The second piece of fiction by a major new voice in American letters, The Refugees is a beautifully written and sharply observed book about the aspirations of those who leave one country for another, and the relationships and desires for self-fulfillment that define our lives. Praise for The Refugees “Precise without being clinical, archly humorous without being condescending, and full of understanding; many of the stories might have been written by a modern Flaubert, if that master had spent time in San Jose or Ho Chi Minh City . . . [Nguyen’s] stories, excellent from start to finish, transcend ethnic boundaries to speak to human universals.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Each searing tale in Nguyen’s follow-up to the Pulitzer-winning The Sympathizer is a pressure cooker of unease, simmering with unresolved issues of memory and identity for the Vietnamese whose lives were disrupted by the “American War.” …Nguyen is not here to sympathize…but to challenge the experience of white America as the invisible norm. .” –Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Nguyen…presents a collection of fluidly modulated yet bracing stories about Vietnamese refugees in the U.S., powerful tales of rupture and loss that detonate successive shock waves. . . . Each intimate, supple, and heartrending story is unique in its particulars even as all are works of piercing clarity, poignant emotional nuance, and searing insights into the trauma of war and the long chill of exile, the assault on identity and the resilience of the self, and the fragility and preciousness of memories.”–Booklist (starred review) “For Nguyen groupies desperate for future titles (including a Sympathizer sequel), [The] Refugees is a highly gratifying interlude. For short fiction fans of other extraordinary, between-culture collections such as Daniyal Mueenuddin’s In Other Rooms, Other Wonders and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth, Nguyen won’t disappoint.” –Library Journal (starred review) “A delight . . . The short story is a beautiful affirmation of the supreme importance of art in our daily lives. And Viet Thanh Nguyen drives that point home brilliantly.”—Mekong Review Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in America. His novel The Sympathizer won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as five other awards. He is also the author of the nonfiction books Nothing Ever Dies and Race and Resistance. The Aerol Arnold Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, he lives in Los Angeles.
The Refugees (Grove Press) Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Sympathizer was one of the most widely and highly praised novels of 2015, the winner not only of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction but also the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Edgar Award for Best First Novel, the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and the California Book Award for First Fiction. Nguyen’s next fiction book, The Refugees, is a collection of perfectly formed stories written over a period of twenty years, exploring questions of immigration, identity, love, and family. With the coruscating gaze of The Sympathizer, in The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen gives voice to lives led between two worlds, the adopted homeland and the country of birth. From a young Vietnamese refugee who suffers profound culture shock when he comes to live with two gay men in San Francisco, to a woman whose husband is suffering from dementia and starts to confuse her for a former lover, to a girl living in Ho Chi Minh City whose older half sister comes back from America having seemingly accomplished everything she never will, the stories are a captivating testament to the dreams and hardships of immigration. The second piece of fiction by a major new voice in American letters, The Refugees is a beautifully written and sharply observed book about the aspirations of those who leave one country for another, and the relationships and desires for self-fulfillment that define our lives. NOTE: As with all Skylight Books in-store events, this reading is free and open to the public (first come, first served). But because we're expecting a large crowd at this event, we'll be giving out numbered tickets to the signing line to keep things organized: To get a ticket to the signing line, you must purchase a copy of The Refugees here at Skylight Books. Tickets will be available beginning February 7, 2017, the book's publication date. For all website orders for this event, be sure to leave a note in the Order Comments field that you would like a ticket and plan to attend the event. Can't attend? If you would like a signed book but will not be able to attend, click Signed Copy after adding the book to your cart and we'll do our best to get it signed for you. You may pick up this book in the store after the event, or have it shipped to you. Skylight's Friends with Benefits members get priority signing line tickets (and 20% off this and all other event books each month), so be sure to mention your membership (or join) when you order the book. Praise for The Refugees “Precise without being clinical, archly humorous without being condescending, and full of understanding; many of the stories might have been written by a modern Flaubert, if that master had spent time in San Jose or Ho Chi Minh City . . . [Nguyen’s] stories, excellent from start to finish, transcend ethnic boundaries to speak to human universals.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Each searing tale in Nguyen’s follow-up to the Pulitzer-winning The Sympathizer is a pressure cooker of unease, simmering with unresolved issues of memory and identity for the Vietnamese whose lives were disrupted by the “American War.” …Nguyen is not here to sympathize…but to challenge the experience of white America as the invisible norm. .” –Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Nguyen…presents a collection of fluidly modulated yet bracing stories about Vietnamese refugees in the U.S., powerful tales of rupture and loss that detonate successive shock waves. . . . Each intimate, supple, and heartrending story is unique in its particulars even as all are works of piercing clarity, poignant emotional nuance, and searing insights into the trauma of war and the long chill of exile, the assault on identity and the resilience of the self, and the fragility and preciousness of memories.”–Booklist (starred review) “For Nguyen groupies desperate for future titles (including a Sympathizer sequel), [The] Refugees is a highly gratifying interlude. For short fiction fans of other extraordinary, between-culture collections such as Daniyal Mueenuddin’s In Other Rooms, Other Wonders and Jhumpa Lahiri’s Unaccustomed Earth, Nguyen won’t disappoint.” –Library Journal (starred review) “A delight . . . The short story is a beautiful affirmation of the supreme importance of art in our daily lives. And Viet Thanh Nguyen drives that point home brilliantly.”—Mekong Review Viet Thanh Nguyen was born in Vietnam and raised in America. His novel The Sympathizer won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, as well as five other awards. He is also the author of the nonfiction books Nothing Ever Dies and Race and Resistance. The Aerol Arnold Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California, he lives in Los Angeles.
Nicole Dennis-Benn is the author of the highly acclaimed debut novel, Here Comes the Sun, a New York Times Editors' Choice, which has received a starred Kirkus Review and is deemed one of the best books to read this summer and beyond by New York Times, NPR, BBC, BuzzFeed, Book Riot, Bookish, Miami Herald, Elle, O Magazine, Marie Claire, Entertainment Weekly, Flavorwire, After Ellen, BookPage, Cosmopolitan, Brooklyn Magazine, among others. Dennis-Benn has also been shortlisted for the 2016 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tanwi Nandini Islam, author of Bright Lines, a finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, speaks to Writers Who Don't Write about running a retail business while maintaining a writing career, putting herself out there on the Internet as a Bangladeshi woman, body image struggles, and the time she wrote about a very intimate and awful event only to have it read by her mother. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Viet Thanh Nguyen is a Vietnamese-American novelist. He is the Aerol Arnold Chair of English and Professor of English and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.Nguyen's debut novel, The Sympathizer, won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and many other accolades. He was awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017.Nguyen is a regular contributor, op-ed columnist for The New York Times, covering immigration, refugees, politics, culture and SouthEast Asia. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-vietnamese-with-kenneth-nguyen/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
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