Podcast appearances and mentions of johanna skibsrud

Today’s choice of books: "Your English is so Good" short story extracted from a volume entitled Calypso by David Sedaris The Sentimentalists: novel by Johanna Skibsrud

What are the limits of our narrative? How can stories lead us into blank spaces and the unknown? I interview Giller Prize winner Johanna Skibsrud and celebrated east coast writers Carol Bruneau and Nicola Davison about the transformative potential of story and the challenges of writing what is unsaid and unknown.   Johanna Skibsrud is a Giller Prize-winning writer and professor at the University of Arizona. Her latest novel, Island, explores imperial and colonial histories via the modern existence of "black sites." The story follows two women over a single day on a small island that is about to burst into revolution.   Carol Bruneau is an acclaimed Nova Scotia writer and the author of eight books. While writing her latest novel, A Circle on the Surface, Carol mentored debut novelist, Nicola Davison through the writing of her first book, In the Wake under the Writer's Federation of Nova Scotia's Alistair MacLeod Writing Mentorship program. Both books would go on to win awards at the 2019 Atlantic Book Awards.   Be sure to listen to Part 1 of this Episode where I speak with best-selling writer and scholar Jesse Thistle, community organizer Masuma Khan, and fashion writer Musemo Handahu.   Get more details for each episode at www.hyacinthpodcast.com and follow @hyacinthpodcast on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

This episode explores LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS MEN, a Depression-era book by the great James Agee. Giller Prize-winning author Johanna Skibsrud joins us for the podcast, explaining how Agee's work influenced her novel, QUARTET FOR THE END OF TIME. This is a podcast created by Jason Boog, telling the stories of how a generation of men and women writers survived the Great Depression. Photograph by Walker Evans: "Laura Minnie Lee Tengle" http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2007675778/ "Odyssey" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ "Comfortable Mystery 2" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Schubert: Symphony in C Major, D.944, the Great Podcast image: “High Straw Hat” by Ernest A. Towers, Jr. From the Index of American Design

Inspired by and structured around the chamber piece of the same title by the French composer Olivier Messiaen, Quartet for the End of Time is a mesmerizing story of four lives irrevocably linked in a single act of betrayal. The novel takes us on an unforgettable journey beginning during the 1930s Bonus Army riots, when World War I veteran Arthur Sinclair is falsely accused of conspiracy and then disappears. His absence will haunt his son, Douglas, as well as Alden and Sutton Kelly, the children of a powerful U.S. congressman, as they experience—each in different ways—the dynamic political social changes that took place leading up to and during World War II. The Avid Reader show airs Monday's at 5PM EST on WCHE AM 1520. The show is sponsored by Wellington Square Bookshop in Chester County, PA. Please visit our website at www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com

Giller Prize-winning author Johanna Skibsrud discusses her new book of short stories and how parents can help encourage a love of reading in their children.

Giller Prize-winning author Johanna Skibsrud shares her experiences working with at-risk youth on a literacy project in the NWT.

Johanna Skibsrud's debut novel The Sentimentalists won the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize and the 2009 Alcuin Award for best designed work of prose fiction, the first book ever to achieve this double win. The Sentimentalists was first published by Gaspereau Press, a highly regarded small press based in Kentiville Nova Scotia, in a print run of 800 copies. The firm had difficulty filling demand for the book after it won the Giller. Chapters-Indigo, Canada's dominant bookstore chain, claimed not to have any of the books in stock anywhere in Canada during the week the Giller was announced. One result was a significant increase in ebook sales; the novel quickly became the top-selling title in the Kobo ebookstore. Within about two weeks Gaspereau announced that it had sold trade paperback rights to Douglas & McIntyre; at the same time it continued to print small runs of the novel in its original format. As if this weren't enough, Giller juror Ali Smith, a British writer, spoke to literary agent and friend Tracy Bohan about the book before it was long-listed. Just days before the long-list was announced, Bohan secured a deal for the rights to distribute the book internationally. She subsequently sold the book to her boyfriend, Jason Arthur, a director of Random House UK imprint William Heinemann. According to The National Post, Andrew Steeves, co-owner of Gaspereau Press, says he received an email from Skibsrud in which “She told me that Tracy Bohan had contacted her and that an author, Ali Smith, had recommended that Tracy read The Sentimentalists.” Before the long-list was revealed in September, “Tracy was very interested in making a deal with me that morning.” After the long-list was revealed, Steeves admitted, “it looked a little funny to me.” I met with Skibsrud in Ottawa. We talked about all of the events surrounding publication of The Sentimentalists (surly already, despite its short life, one of the most storied books in Canadian publishing history) and about the book itself as object.  Skibsrud has also published two books of poetry, including Late Nights with Wild Cowboys in 2008. The Sentimentalists was written for her Master's thesis at Concordia University. She lives in Tuscon Arizona.   

Gaspereau Press was established in February 1997 as a registered partnership by Andrew Steeves and Gary Dunfield. That year the Press published the first issue of its literary quarterly, The Gaspereau Review, and three trade titles. In 2000, Gaspereau relocated to Kentville, Nova Scotia, where a printing press and bindery equipment were installed enabling the firm to produce its own books. By 2004 the Press had nine full-time employees and was publishing ten titles annually. Gaspereau's core philosophy emphasizes a commitment to the importance of the book as a physical object, "reuniting publishing and the book arts". One of the few Canadian publishers that still prints and binds in-house, the firm's books usually sport letterpress-printed covers which feature original artwork, are printed on fine paper and are smyth-sewn. The result is "strong, flexible, attractive books" that are easy to read. I met with Andrew Steeves to talk about his approach to printing and publishing, about his experience with Johanna Skibsrud's The Sentimentalists, and about what he hopes to achieve with his work and in his life.