Podcast appearances and mentions of Kate Zambreno

Sofia Samatar speaks with Kate Wolf about her new book Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life. Opacities is addressed to a fellow writer, Samatar's close friend Kate Zambreno, and considers both the process of composing a book—the wellspring of inspiration, wishes and anxieties that accompany it— as well as the distance between a work and its author. Samatar explores how to stay alive as a writer through things such as community, extensive reading, and research alongside the dissonant ways writers are often asked to codify their identities and constantly promote themselves. Drawing on the words of writers like Eduard Glissant, Maurice Blanchot, Clarice Lispector, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Opacities is at heart a book about the furnace of creativity, and the fuel that keeps it burning despite its many trials, risks, and disappointments. Also, Eugene Lim, author of Fog and Car, returns to recommend Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal.

Sofia Samatar speaks with Kate Wolf about her new book Opacities: On Writing and the Writing Life. Opacities is addressed to a fellow writer, Samatar's close friend Kate Zambreno, and considers both the process of composing a book—the wellspring of inspiration, wishes and anxieties that accompany it— as well as the distance between a work and its author. Samatar explores how to stay alive as a writer through things such as community, extensive reading, and research alongside the dissonant ways writers are often asked to codify their identities and constantly promote themselves. Drawing on the words of writers like Eduard Glissant, Maurice Blanchot, Clarice Lispector, and Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Opacities is at heart a book about the furnace of creativity, and the fuel that keeps it burning despite its many trials, risks, and disappointments. Also, Eugene Lim, author of Fog and Car, returns to recommend Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal.

This third bonus episode of the podcast is a conversation that Rebecca and Frances recently had with writer and podcaster, David Naimon, while Dorian recharges his depleted battery in the wilds of Canada. We are devoted listeners to David's fine work on Between the Covers, and as you listen in here, we feel confident that you will appreciate the intelligence, the generosity, and the empathy that makes his work irresistible to us. You might also be interested in: David's Crafting With Ursula series: https://tinhouse.com/th_podcast_cat/crafting-with-ursula/ These five recent episodes of Between the Covers that are favorites of Frances and Rebecca: Naomi Klein - Part 1 https://tinhouse.com/podcast/naomi-klein-doppelganger/ and Part 2 https://tinhouse.com/podcast/naomi-klein-doppelganger-part-two/ Kate Zambreno and Sofia Samatar - https://tinhouse.com/podcast/kate-zambreno-sofia-samatar-tone/ Anne de Marcken - https://tinhouse.com/podcast/anne-de-marcken-it-lasts-forever-and-then-its-over/ Mathias Énard - https://tinhouse.com/podcast/mathias-enard-the-annual-banquet-of-the-gravediggers-guild/ Kate Briggs - https://tinhouse.com/podcast/kate-briggs-the-long-form/ We mention this new podcast Hey, It's Me, hosted by Rachel Zucker and Mike Sakasegawa: https://www.heyitsmepodcast.com/about And finally, we think you also might enjoy reading David's book, Ursula K Le Guin: Conversations on Writing. https://www.ursulakleguin.com/conversations-on-writing   Further resources and links are available on our website at onebrightbook.com. Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org. Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail Find us on Twitter at @pod_bright Frances: @nonsuchbook Dorian: @ds228 Rebecca: @ofbooksandbikes Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/ Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/ Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Notes and Links to Nina St. Pierre's Work      For Episode 238, Pete talks live with Nina St. Pierre at Sacramento's Capital Books about her deeply personal, timely, and resonant memoir, Love is a Burning Thing.      Whether telling her own stories or reporting on the lives of others, Nina St. Pierre is drawn to boundary breakers and in-between places. Her debut memoir, LOVE IS A BURNING THING, came out May 7 from Dutton Books, and is available to order now. Set at the foot of a cosmic mountain, it's a story about fire, family, and what it means to believe; about the boundaries between mysticism and mental illness.     As a culture writer and essayist, she makes unexpected connections; whether profiling the sole woman in the Ruff Ryders street-bike crew or exploring the prophecy of the mystical udumbara flower. Read her work in GQ, Harper's Bazaar, Gossamer, Outside, Bitch, and more. Nina holds an MFA from Rutgers, was a 2023 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Nonfiction Literature, and a RESP Fellow. She lives in New York City.     Buy Love is a Burning Thing   Nina St. Pierre: Website   Article in Los Angeles Times, 2024: “Opinion: My mother set herself on fire. Why do people choose to self-immolate?” At about 1:10: Railroad Museum Talk!   At about 2:45, Pete asks Nina about connections to a Kate Zambreno quote about writing as “repair”   At about 5:30, Nina talks about the book's formation at times as “meta” in the act of creation    At about 6:40-7:40, Nina responds to Pete's asking if the writing of the book was “cathartic”    At about 8:05, Nina responds to audience question and talks about the “meta-ness” and inspiration from/connections to the movie Synecdoche, New York   At about 10:10, Nina responds to Pete's questions about any hesitance in writing so personally about herself and others   At about 13:05, Nina talks about idealizing the past and or its opposite in writing the book   At about 14:55, Nina gives a summary of the book through a thematic description    At about 18:00, Transcendental Meditation and an important quote about obsession is discussed in terms of Nina's mother   At about 23:10, Nina responds to Pete's questions about her Midwest family and ideas of rebellion   At about 28:30, Nina and Pete discuss her family's moving to Dunsmuir, CA, and her mother's motivations in moving there, close to Mount Shasta   At about 30:50, Nina replies to Pete's questions about things she took for granted that others didn't know about, due to her constant moving and living in/visiting so many disparate places   At about 33:40-Shout out to Nina's cool Love is a Burning Thing-themed nails, done by Claws by Joy!    At about 34:00, Nina describes the split between “Anita I” and “Anita II” (“walking in”) that her mother described so nonchalantly   At about 39:35, Nina homes in on her mother's self-immolation and images    At about 42:15, Nina expands on different ideas in the West and East, specifically in Buddhist areas, of self-immolation    At about 46:40, Pete and Nina talk about a resonant scene that involves an adolescent Nina at a religious revival and she expounds upon her feelings during and after the “fervent religious experience”   At about 52:15, Nina reads from page 117, a scene involving the issues described above   At about 56:15, Pete asks Nina about the times she and her mother were not living together and worries Nina had   At about 58:30, Nina reflects on her perspective in looking back at her mother's words in emails from a different time and place    At about 1:05:00, Nina gives her thoughts on connections between her mother and the archetypal “perfect female victim”   At about 1:11:20, Pete reflects on youth and obsession and compliments the book   At about 1:13:00, Niña gives out social media and contact info and book purchasing information, including a shoutout to Taylor & Co Books in New York        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.        I am very excited to 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 enjoying the partnership! Look out for my interview with Ghassan Zeineddine around the middle of June.     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! I have added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.    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 239 with Ben Purkert. He is a poet, novelist, and creative writing instructor, as well as the author of the 2018 poetry collection, For the Love of Endings. His latest is the critically-acclaimed 2023 novel, The Men Can't Be Saved.    The episode will go live on June 21.     Please go to ceasefiretoday.com, which features 10+ actions to help bring about Ceasefire in Gaza.

At the heart of the three-day exhibition Manchestermodern: past present future, curated by Factory International and CHAOS SixtyNine with the support of CHANEL, a special edition of the Rendez-vous littéraires rue Cambon [Literary Rendezvous at Rue Cambon] was held at the Victoria Baths in Manchester.In conversation with writer and critic Erica Wagner, author Jeanette Winterson, CHANEL ambassador and spokesperson Charlotte Casiraghi along with actress and CHANEL ambassador Kristen Stewart reveal what constitutes, according to them, the powers of literature. Together, they also talk about the books that are dear to them and the female literary figures who inspire them.© 2023 by Cities of Literature. All rights reserved.© 2023 Manchester Literature Festival. All rights reserved.© Jeanette Winterson. All rights reserved.Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, © Grove Press, 1997.Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Vintage, 1997.Jeanette Winterson, The Passion, © Grove Press, 1997. Jeanette Winterson, The Passion, Vintage, 1997.Jeanette Winterson, Frankissstein: A Love Story, © Grove Press, 2019. Jeanette Winterson, Frankissstein: A Love Story, Vintage, 2019.Jeanette Winterson, 12 Bytes, © Grove Press, 2021. Jeanette Winterson, 12 Bytes, Vintage, 2021.Jeanette Winterson, Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories, © Grove Press, 2023.Jeanette Winterson, Night Side of the River: Ghost Stories, Vintage, 2023.© UK Honours System.© University of Oxford. All rights reserved.© The University of Manchester.© Toronto International Film Festival. All rights reserved.Into the Wild, © Paramount, 2007. Courtesy of River Road Entertainment, LLC.PANIC ROOM © 2002 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Courtesy of Columbia PicturesCatherine Hardwicke, Bill Condon, Chris Weitz, David Slade, Twilight, © Summit Entertainment, 2008-2012. All rights reserved.Pablo Larrain, Spencer, © Shoebox Films, 2021. A Fabula, Komplizen, Shoebox Films Production, 2021.© Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. All rights reserved.© Académie des Césars. All rights reserved.Olivier Assayas, Clouds of Sils Maria, © CG Cinéma, 2014.Kristen Stewart, The Chronology of Water, © Scott Free Productions. All rights reserved. Jeanette Winterson, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, Vintage, 2012.Jeanette Winterson, Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, © Grove Press, 2012. Kate Zambreno, Heroines, © Semiotext(e), 2012.© Theatre Royal Stratford East.© ITN / Getty images.Shelagh Delaney, A Taste of Honey, © Grove Press, 1994. Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own, 1929.Virginia Woolf, Orlando, 1928.

This week we're joined by author Kate Zambreno for an in-depth discussion of their book The Light Room. Topics include: the eye-opening nature of her book, the way it explores the intimacy of family and nature. why reading is so important, especially for writers. whether or not there's an after life. contending with the climate crisis while raising children. finding beauty in mourning. the role of privacy in her work. And much more! The Sarah Lawrence Student Life Preservation Project is accepting contributions at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://slcstudentlifeproject.omeka.net/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow The SLC Library on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @SLCLibrary. Visit the Library's website at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.sarahlawrence.edu/library⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Subscribe to this podcast and give it a 5-star rating and review while you're at it!

Sielmann, Larawww.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Lesart

Sielmann, Larawww.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Lesart

Sielmann, Larawww.deutschlandfunkkultur.de, Lesart

In Kate Zambreno & Sofia Samatar's Tone they construct a shared voice, that of the “Committee to Investigate the Atmosphere.” Yes, they do this to investigate tone, in the writings of everyone from Nella Larsen to Clarice Lispector, W.G. Sebald to Franz Kafka, Renee Gladman to Bhanu Kapil. But in chasing the ever-elusive notion of tone, […] The post Kate Zambreno & Sofia Samatar : Tone appeared first on Tin House.

Wie reagiert man auf einen Verlust - und wie lässt er sich sprachlich ermessen, fassen, in eine Form bringen? Die amerikanische Autorin Kate Zambreno hat dreizehn Jahre lang an einem Buch über ihre eigene früh verstorbene Mutter geschrieben. "Mutter" ist "Ein Gemurmel" über den Tod, das Erinnern, die Kunst und das Leben. Aus dem Englischen von Dorothee Elmiger Aki Verlag, 224 Seiten, 26 Euro ISBN 978-3-311-35012-5

Join our hosts Rebecca, Frances, and Dorian as they discuss MRS. S by K Patrick, and chat about their current reading. For our next episode, we will discuss MAP: COLLECTED AND LAST POEMS by Wislawa Szymborska, translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak. We would love to have you read along with us, and join us for our conversation coming to you in September. We have had to reschedule this chat a few times, but we really think that we can deliver this time. Want to support the show? Visit us at Bookshop.org or click on the links below and buy some books! Books mentioned: Mrs. S by K. Patrick Bear by Marian Engel A Month in the Country by J. L. Carr Blood Wedding and Other Plays by Federico García Lorca Loving by Henry Green Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville The steamy novels of Alberto Moravia Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated from the German by Michael Hoffman Out of the Sugar Factory by Dorothee Elmiger, translated from the Swiss German by Megan Ewing April in Spain by John Banville Book of Mutter by Kate Zambreno Sleepless by Marie Darrieussecq, translated from the French by Penny Hueston Being Here is Everything by Marie Darrieussecq, translated from the French by Penny Hueston Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay Bad Cree by Jessica Johns Map: Collected and Last Poems by Wislawa Szymborska, translated from the Polish by Clare Cavanagh and Stanislaw Baranczak Also mentioned in the podcast… Dorothee Elmiger and Kate Zambreno in conversation – “A Meditation on Being a Daughter.” https://vimeo.com/819544960 Visit us online at onebrightbook.com. Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org. Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail Find us on Twitter at @pod_bright Frances: @nonsuchbook Dorian: @ds228 Rebecca: @ofbooksandbikes Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/ Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/ Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss TO WRITE AS IF ALREADY DEAD by Kate Zambreno, and chat about their recent reading. For our next episode, we will discuss DUCKS by Kate Beaton.  Books mentioned:  To Write As If Already Dead by Kate Zambreno To the Friend Who Did Not Save My Life by Herve Guibert Drifts by Kate Zambreno Illness As Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter, translated from the French by Frank Wynne A Barthes Reader edited by Susan Sontag The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer All the Lovers in the Night by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett, David Boyd Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett, David Boyd Written Lives by Javier Marías, translated from the Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa The English Understand Wool by Helen DeWitt A Horse at Night: On Writing by Amina Cain Indelicacy by Amina Cain The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt 3 Streets by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani Streets of Laredo by Larry McMurtry Cold Enough for Snow by Jessica Au Stranger Faces by Namwali Serpell One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World by Michael Frank The Air We Breathe by Andrea Barrett Ducks by Kate Beaton Check out other relevant links in our blogpost. Visit us online at onebrightbook.com. Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org. Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail Find us on Twitter at @pod_bright Frances: @nonsuchbook Dorian: @ds228 Rebecca: @ofbooksandbikes Dorian's blog: https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/ Rebecca's newsletter: https://readingindie.substack.com/ Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

Join our hosts Frances, Dorian, and Rebecca as they discuss THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer, and chat about their recent reading. For our next episode, we will discuss Kate Zambreno's TO WRITE AS IF ALREADY DEAD. Read along with us if you like! Click here for a full list of books discussed. Visit us online at onebrightbook.com. Browse our bookshelves at Bookshop.org. Comments? Write us at onebrightmail at gmail Find us on Twitter at @pod_bright Frances: @nonsuchbook Dorian: @ds228 Rebecca: @ofbooksandbikes Dorian blogs at https://eigermonchjungfrau.blog/ Rebecca writes a newsletter at https://readingindie.substack.com/ Our theme music was composed and performed by Owen Maitzen. You can find more of his music here: https://soundcloud.com/omaitzen.

You're listening to From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy, a food and culture podcast. I'm Alicia Kennedy, a food writer based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Every week on Wednesdays, I'll be talking to different people in food and culture, about their lives, careers, and how it all fits together and where food comes in.Today, I'm talking to Angela Garbes, the author of Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy, and the new Essential Labor: Mothering As Social Change. We discussed how her past as a food writer continues to inform her work, what mothers who are creative workers need to thrive—spoiler, it's basically what all workers need to thrive—informal knowledge building, and the significance of having an unapologetic appetite as a woman. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or adjust your settings to receive an email when podcasts are published.Alicia: Hi, Angela. Thank you so much for being here.Angela: Thank you so much for having me, Alicia.Alicia: Can you tell me about where you grew up and what you ate?Angela: Sure. I grew up in rural Central Pennsylvania. So—people can't see this—but this is roughly the shape of Pennsylvania, my hand. And I grew up here in what I call the ass crack of Pennsylvania. And it was a very small town, about 4,000 people. And I was one of very few people of color. And my parents are immigrants from the Philippines. You know, I would say that from a very young age, I was, like, born different. But, you know, we have a fairly typical…like, my parents are both medical professionals. So we had a pretty typical, I would say, fairly typical as you could get, middle class upbringing. And as far as what we ate, I look back on it now and I think of it as like a perfect combination of like 50 percent American, quote unquote, American convenience food, like a lot of Hamburger Helper, a lot of Old El Paso soft shell tacos, a lot of Little Caesars Pizza, a lot of Philly cheesesteaks. And then the other half we ate Filipino food: sinigang, adobo, arroz caldo, tinola... and, you know, I remember my dad, like, hacking up pig's feet, you know, I would come downstairs and he'd be cooking up things like that. And so when I look back on it now, I think it was—I mean, I love Filipino food so much. But I also, I mean, I love all kinds of food. And I kind of eat anything. And it's partly, I think, because I was just exposed to a lot of things. But my parents, you know, we lived in this really small town, and they couldn't get all of the ingredients that they wanted to make traditional dishes. But they kind of improvised with what they had. And because they were so committed to cooking Filipino food, sort of against the odds, I would say, you know, we did a lot of…there were not vegetables that [were] available, like you couldn't get okra or green papaya. So we would use zucchini, and, you know, frozen okra to make sinigang. But it was such a way for them to stay connected to their cultures and I feel so grateful to them because what they did was really pass that down to me, from an early age. I was like, Oh, yeah, this is—this is my food, like, this is who I am. And I've never lost that. And I've always loved [it] and, yeah, so it was sort of this wonderful, healthy mix, I think. Alicia: For sure, and, you know, it was so interesting to realize, because I don't think I'd realized it before, that you were a food writer. [Laughs] Until I got into your books, I was like, Wait…And Like a Mother, your first book, starts out like, so…like, such a rich piece of food writing. And I'm like, Wow, now I understand. And then I realized, I'm like, Oh, she is a food writer. So you know, you've come to write your two books about motherhood, but you know, you're also a food writer, and you're writing about food in these books as well. How did you become a food writer?Angela: First of all, thank you for saying this now because I miss food writing. And I think at heart, I am a food writer. And I think it informs, you know, the way I portray sensory detail and physical experiences. But yeah, so the way I became a food writer was sort of, it was really my entry into writing. But it happened…the year was 2005, I think. And you know, I had gone to college and studied creative writing, but like a lot of things, I just thought just because I liked doing something doesn't mean I get to do [it], right?And I think that's a lesson that a lot of writers could learn... [laughs] So I didn't work in these like writing-adjacent dying industries, you know; I worked as an independent bookseller. I worked for a nonprofit poetry press—which is still going, actually I should say, and then I worked as an ad sales rep at an alt-weekly. And, you know, I obviously wish that I was a writer there, but I had no designs on writing. I was, you know, I partying a lot with the ad salespeople, and we were just— I mean, alt-weeklies are— I'm so proud to have started all my writing in my career and adult life there. It was a good time. So I was working in ad sales. And at the time, David Spader and Dan Savage, who are the editorial people, they said, “Hey, do you want to write?” I was leaving to take another job. And they were like, “Hey do you want to submit a sample food writing piece?” And I was like, Me? And they were like, “Yeah,” and I was like, why? And yes, and why. And they both said, “Well, we know you write, we know that you have a writing background” because I was friends with a lot of writers. And they were like, “But you're just always walking around the office, talking about where you went to dinner, talking about what you cooked, talking about what you ate, and like, everyone in the office wants to go out to lunch with you. Everyone wants you to invite them over for dinner.” And I was like, Oh, okay! And so then I just did it as a one-off. And something clicked, where you know, I had been writing fiction, I had been writing bad poetry, but when I started writing about food, I was like, Here's everything that I was thinking about, like food to me—and this is what I think it has in common really with motherhood, and mothering really—is a lens to see the world. And it's a lens into—I mean, the sky's the limit about what you can talk about, right, or what you want to talk about. And so, I mean, when I started, it was like, here write a review of this place, that’s doing mini burgers at happy hour, right? And I started doing restaurant reviews, which was very service-y, which, in some ways I hated, but in some ways I'm grateful for, right—meeting a weekly deadline, and like thinking about your audience and being of use, that's something that I think about all the time still. But um, yeah, I mean, when I started doing it, too, I felt really—I came into it, absolutely, with a chip on my shoulder. I was like, Okay, so I'm Filipina. I never hear about Filipino food. Why do we call places holes in the wall? Right, like, that's racist. Why are we willing to pay $24 for a plate of pasta but people get up in arms when someone wants to charge $14 for pho? You know, I feel like this is where I was coming from. And there wasn't really a lot of space for that, I will say. So there was—I felt a little limited. You know, I think about sometimes, what it would be like to start my career now. I feel like people have created a lot of space. It's not like just the space has opened up. But the scene has changed. I took a forced hiatus from food writing, because of the Great Recession, where they were like, We don't need freelancers anymore. I came back to it, though—what year was this? It would have been 2012; 2013 and 2014, I was pregnant. And I had actually decided, you know, just because I'm good at writing doesn't mean I get to do it. I need to figure out something more practical to do with my life. So I had applied to go to graduate school, actually to get a master's in public health and nutrition. And I wanted to work with immigrant communities to help them have culturally appropriate diets. You know, like, not everyone was just gonna eat kale, which is what people—or shop at the farmers’ market. So yeah, I mean, I took classes at the local community college. I took biology, chemistry, all the s**t that I didn't take as an English major in the mid ’90s. And, yeah, I got accepted, but then when I was pregnant, The Stranger, the alt-weekly, called me and they were like, Hey, we're hiring a food writer, and are you interested in applying? And I was like—this chance is never going to come around. And so I was like, Yeah, I'll take it. And so this was, this is a really long answer, sorry, [this was in] 2014, and I started back, and it was restaurant reviews. But it was also when $15 an hour was going really strong here in Seattle. And I really wanted to explore the labor aspect of that, and what was that like for workers…and then my secret goal, I had a great editor who was Korean-American. And she and I were like, yes, like, every two weeks, there will be a picture of a Brown or Black person to go with the restaurant review. And so it was all this stuff. Like, I felt like I finally got a chance to do what I really wanted to be doing. It was like, moving towards that. And then I wrote this piece about breastfeeding, which, at the time, they asked me to pitch a feature. They're like, You've been here on staff long enough, like what do you want to write about? And I was like, I definitely need to write about breast milk. No one in the editorial room was like, it was just like, it landed like a dead bird and I was like, Well, I kind of want to do this for myself. I felt it was very much an extension of my beat. Because I was like, here I am. I'm thinking about food. I'm producing food. I am food. I'm eating food. And so I wrote this piece and ended up going viral, which is how I got the opportunity to write my first book and I wanted to take a leave of absence because I really wanted to come back to my job. And they said, No, we're not going to hold a job for you. We're just going to piece it out on contract. And so then I kind of had to figure out what I was going to do afterwards. And so then I was like, maybe I'll just try writing books. And that's my very long answer into how I got into food writing, it was like, the right place at the right time talking about it. Because yeah, that was just like, it felt very— It was just my life.Alicia: No, I think that that's such a common—obviously, I talk to a lot of people. Like, why food, how food, how did that happen. And then, a lot of the time, especially with women who wanted to be writers, myself included, we didn't see it as an option necessarily, but when we came to it, everything kind of fell into place, which is what happened for me too. Like, once I started to focus my life on food, everything made sense, because I was doing like, copyediting and working for like, tiny literary magazines, and just thought I was gonna have like, a weird literary career, hopefully. And then I just started cooking one day and just never stopped. And like that, it just changed everything. I'm writing about this right now, actually, like how gender plays into this and whether, you know, the idea of being allowed to love to cook when you're a woman and that sort of thing, which actually, I wanted to ask you about, because there is a fabulous chapter in your new book, Essential Labor, called “Mothering as Encouraging Appetites” and it's so much about our gendered relationship to having an appetite, you know, like whether whether a woman, whether a girl is allowed to have an appetite and how you are actively encouraging your daughters to be okay with their appetites. And it reminded me of when I was a kid and like, I had this friend, who I took dance classes with, and our moms would be like, Oh, you're gonna have to like, date a rich man or something because you eat so much. And then this was like a joke about how like… when I recalled this memory, it's not a joke my mother would make. So I'm assuming it was the other mother, but um, it was just this whole thing.Angela: But it's definitely like an ambient joke, right?Alicia: It’s an ambient joke, yeah. And this chapter certainly reminded me of that. And I, you know, I was really lucky to grow up without anyone ever questioning my appetite in a real way. It was always something to be proud of a little bit, to be a girl who ate a lot. Like it was okay, in my world, at least. And so, yeah, I just wanted to ask, what was what was your inspiration for putting this piece in this book, specifically, and how that worked, because it is about the labor of feeding, but it's also about the labor of, like, self-acceptance and and excavating ourselves from these societal expectations. Angela: I mean, I want to back up a little bit to what you're saying about how when I started writing about food, and when you started writing about food, a lot of things started to make sense, right? And I felt that way, very strongly, like, inside of myself, but it felt like there wasn't quite an audience that was keyed into what I was trying to say. And I will say, at the time that I started writing about food it was very, like, you can have an appetite, and you can write about loving food. And you can be—there was a lot of, you know, like, I think people use the phrase like the, quote, golden era of food blogging. And to me, it was never really that; I didn't feel like those things. I didn't feel represented in that. It was a lot of, you can have a tremendous appetite for baguette. Right? But, um, no diss to baguette, right? But it was very Francophilic. And it was very, like, be fit and be white. So I don't, I just don't really understand. I didn't, I couldn't square having the sort of appetite and having the body that I had with, you know, quote, unquote, mainstream food writing by women.  I want to say that because I think that that's true for a lot of women of color. And I think that that space is thankfully growing. But I think it's because it's an insistence on taking up space, and an insistence on not being pushed to the margins, which is really what the motivation of that chapter was. I felt like there's so many things I have been thinking about in terms of food and that like, I mean, that chapter to me is very much food writing. I was real jazzed when I was writing; I loved being able to describe the flavors, and the Filipino food that I grew up with. And yeah, like, I wish that I could explain, and I write about this, and I was like, I don't know why I never—diet culture never got to me, you know, and I think for a lot of girls, who are lucky enough to come from a family where it is a beautiful thing to have an appetite, the thing that often happens, though, is around like when you're 12 or 13 or 14, then suddenly it's not great to have an appetite, right? Like or it's a thing to be managed, because everything's changing, everything's expanding, right? Everything's growing. Before, when you're eating a lot, you're chubby and you're healthy, and suddenly you become fat. And so I was sort of wrestling with that. And also this feeling that my body just never really fit into the culture, into that small town where I grew up in. And then my body is just larger than my mother's who's a very, very small, Filipina woman. And, you know, Filipina elders are the first people to be like, Eat, eat food, eat so much food, come in here, eat food. And then they'll also be the first people to be like, Wow, you got really fat. [Laughs] It's an interesting thing. So, you know, this chapter was me sort of working out a lot of those feelings and how I did it at a young age, I had just decided, well, I guess—I've never been interested in taming my appetites. And that's not just for food, it's like, for pleasure, for like, you know, I've always wanted another round of drinks, you know, I think I always just decided, like, being a little bit too much, being a little bit fat, that was okay with me, because I don't know how to control my appetite. And I didn't want to; I don't want to say no to that. And then I think there's something really powerful about, you know, again, like my love of Filipino food helped me take up space. And it helped me clarify who I was and how I wanted to take up space in this world. Like, I did not want to quiet that part of my identity to write about food, which also meant that for a while, I didn't write about food, or figured something else out that I would do. And so when I think about that, I just think about—it is about encouraging appetite in my daughter, but it's really, to me this book is—I hope it's relevant to everyone, you know, for me, a lot of this is like how I mothered myself, into the place where I am now and seeing the way I was mothered and the things that I kind of wish I could have had, and I don't fault my mother for this, but she just wasn't, she just wasn't able to do that. But the things that I had to mother myself into were acceptance. And that's like, work that I'm still doing every day. But I think you know, we don't write as—I don't hear as much about people who are trying to manage that, and who are trying to take up space, but who still struggle with feeling like, I wish I looked a certain way, even though I'm so proud of being who I am. It's really complicated. So yeah, I mean, appetite and identity and food. And all of that has, it's a very tangled web, in my mind. So this was kind of my attempt to, you know, just sort of unpack and understand.Alicia: Right, no, and I loved it, because I do think…as women, especially when we're writing about appetite, we're writing about diet culture, and you very rarely hear from someone who makes the decision to just not ever decide to tame the appetite, you know, and what that means and what that looks like, and that's why I thought this chapter was really important, because of that, because for me, you know, yeah, I was like, Oh, I see myself, I recognize myself in this because, yeah, I love to eat, I've always loved to eat, and I'm never not going to eat a lot…[Laughs]Angela: No, and that's one of the things that I love about your work is that I feel like you are unapologetic in your appetite and in your consumption. But you also are deeply thoughtful about it, like these things are like–they are nuanced. Do you know what I mean? And you'd never, I just feel like we're not allowed—we're supposed to not have an appetite. We're supposed to have an appetite, but somehow pretend that we don't have an appetite, or, I don't know, like, really, I mean, I think also like, when I am indulging my appetite, I feel like an animal. I feel I'm no different than an animal. I'm a human animal. And I just think like, we're not encouraged to do that as women, we're not encouraged to just fully inhabit ourselves. I mean, I think all people but especially women. And so I mean, I love seeing people out there doing [it], we are out here, you know. [Laughs] And this is my like, you know, a little bit of my stake in the ground, I'm planting a flag, you know, there would be no mistake—Alicia: Well, to talk about the animal aspect of food and appetite and also being a mother, which is that you wrote, obviously, the piece that went viral is about breastfeeding. My only experience in thinking about this, of course, because I'm not a mother, is the way vegans or vegetarians write about the ways in which breastfeeding changes their relationship to dairy, like that's a really common thing. But I wanted to ask how that topic and writing about that topic and that topic changing the trajectory of your work, how did that change your relationship to food or food production, if it did?Angela: Yeah, totally. First of all, I wish that you had been asking me these questions when my first book came out because like, I love how you're like, “It's really common for vegans to talk about, you know, dairy and how breastfeeding changed their relationship to it.” And I was like, I'm not aware of that, like, literature…[Laughter] And so I think it's kind of, just that question is really exciting to me. And I wish that there was more conversation around that. Part of writing, you know, this article about breastfeeding was me being like, why do we drink the milk of a cow? Right? Why is that? Like, that's strange, right? Like, it's strange. And why have we created an entire industry around this? And like, Why do, when we look at a food plate, dairy has a very large section? And that's because of the dairy lobby, right? That's not because of our innate biological needs as human beings, right? So, yeah, I mean, how I thought about food production, 100%. This, you know, sort of lays the path for so many things that I'm thinking about. It’s work, you know, this is what your body—this is what female bodies are built to do, right? That's just true. This is what sets us apart as mammalians, you know, like, we produce milk to feed our young, but I just went into it so naive, like, it was a job. You know, I was spending the eight plus hours feeding—eight plus hours that I was like, am I supposed to be being productive? Like I'm being productive, like I'm keeping, I'm doing nothing less than keeping a human alive. I'm not being paid to do this. I'm not being given time. I'm like, in a weird office with a noisy radiator, you know, with another woman—our breasts out, just like pumping. Right? So it made me think about time and how we value time. And it also like, again, like this was all happening when I was writing about food. And there was the fight for a minimum wage of $15 an hour. And my God, how that was so polarizing, and how people just showed their whole asses about how they don't think the workers are valuable or deserving of this thing. And so I think, you know, there was the labor aspect of it that really came into play for me, that made me think about—I grew up saying grace, because I grew up Catholic, right? And when we remember to say grace, my girls do it with my parents. So when we remember to say grace at our house, we say, you know, thank you to the people who grew this food, who picked the food, who you know transported the food, who prepared the food. So I think now this sort of supply chain of food and how it is produced is something that's always top of mind and like, how do you negotiate having like an ethical relationship to that? I know this is stuff that you have thought about. This is stuff that really came to the forefront, right? And then also balancing that economically because, you know, breastfeeding is, in a country that does not give paid leave, it’s an economic privilege to be able to do that. And then people who cannot breastfeed, there's very little money put into understanding that and seeing is that, oftentimes people feel like that's a failure on their part, not as opposed to like, is it a signal about something about the health of the mother, right? Could we be—this is sort of going off a little tangent, but I think that there's a lot of that kind of stuff, like in the labor of it, and how we value women's bodies. And also just like the general chain of food production, for sure. It 100% made me think of all of those things. And so now I'm always thinking about, someone made this food, right? Someone produced this food in some way, a being—a living thing, whether it is a plant or an animal, or a person. Yeah, it’s just, I mean mothering and becoming a mother really reframed everything for me. You know, it is that care that my body couldn't help but do, you know, like my body did. And then suddenly, I felt like, it's a very beautiful thing to be able to do this. It's a very important thing. It was very meaningful to me. It was also that I was chained to a chair and chained to a person. And so yeah, I mean, that's what—that's where I'll leave it. That’s another long answer. [Laughter]Alicia: No, no…have you read the book To Write As If Already Dead by Kate Zambreno? It came out last year, I think you'll like it. She writes a lot about the body and like, I think it has a lot of parallels to your work. But it's also, you know, just more personal I guess, but she writes about having her first kid and then getting pregnant and then and like, amidst the pandemic, not being treated like a human being but a vessel and seeing the labor of the people bringing…anyway, I think you'll like the book. [Laughs] But you know, and there are so many parallels in both Like a Mother and Essential Labor to what I've been thinking about in food: formal versus informal knowledge, institutions versus communities, individual versus systemic, the political role of care…And so I wanted to ask how the understanding of the significance of something like informal knowledge building when it comes to motherhood affected your perspective on, you know, other subjects as you've said. Motherhood changed your whole lens on the world, but specifically figuring out where, how to learn from community and informal knowledge rather than constantly just taking the word of the institutions.Angela: Yeah, you know I mean, motherhood was a big part of that. But I would say that it was all, I don't know, I just feel like my whole life is learning. And I love that. And that's one of the things that I love about my life. I definitely feel like when I arrived at college—so again, I came from a very, very small town in Pennsylvania. And I didn't know about a lot of things in the world, you know, and I was like, I'm gonna go to New York City. I went to Barnard College, right? Like, I arrived there. And everyone there was like, I went to Milton Academy. I went to, you know, I went to Stuyvesant High, and I was like, like, Googling like, “what are the regents exams,” right? Like, I was like that. And I felt so out of place. Y’know what I mean, like, I felt unprepared. And I felt very self-conscious in a way about that. And I also feel like I came into, like a formal racial consciousness, right, and class consciousness. Like, I mean, when I was at Barnard was when I was like, Oh, this is how we re-create a ruling class, right? Like, what I'm saying is that I had a lot of informal knowledge. And a lot of wisdom growing up, you know, that I kind of trusted and knew. I was always like, why are we Catholic? So, is colonialism…like, what would we have been if we weren't Catholic? And my parents were like, God will provide…like, what are you talking about? Why are we asking these questions, right? And so I've always had it in me to like, question the institution, right, unfortunately, for my parents, and then our family institution for many years. So I came to college, and then I was like, Oh, it's also reckoning with for many, many years, my definition of success was, you know, grammar, spelling, right? Like, all of that s**t, which is like, those are just rules that some guy made up, right? Like coming into this and wanting to succeed on terms, you know, set by white people, being legible to white people, and being legible to institutions, which I will not deny, like, that has served me well. And this sort of like, ability to kind of code-switch in a way that I sometimes can't even tell the difference. Like, that's just been a part of my life, right? And one of the things, though, that happened is coming into consciousness as an adult, and just realizing like, Oh, no, like, I was privileged enough to, like, be educated in these institutions to figure out how to slip into these places. And then to realize, like, no, this doesn't, this doesn't speak to me. It's actually not my vibe, right? Like, but what is your vibe, then? So you have to kind of go and like, figure it out. And I felt sort of free in that, you know, when I always felt really drawn to creative people, but I was never encouraged to, you know, pursue the arts or to pursue creativite work, or my parents were supportive, but they don't really understand what I do. I think to this day, still, it's a little bit confusing to them. All of this to say that one of the other, before motherhood, one of the big things, and I really need to shout out is my spouse Will, who [when] I met, he was a community organizer. He's now a labor organizer. And there was just something about, we are so different, but when we met, there was a shared values. There was a belief in, everyone's story is important. You know, he was all about, his thing was, people come up, and they speak their truth to power. And that's when I realized, like, Oh, yes, like our lived experiences, our informal knowledge, when collected, just because it's not in a book, just because it's not what's reported, like, it is so real, and it is so powerful. And he really, like his work helped me see that. And I feel like that was kind of the start for me of being like, I want to take what I'm doing, and I want to put it in service of something else. And I want it to be a harnessing of collective energy and community knowledge. And then mothering with the whole sort of like, ask your doctor even though no one has, no one's done any studies on this and everything that's going on was something someone said in 1890, right, no one’s challenged this wisdom. Meanwhile, the greatest wisdom that came from birthing and mothering came from midwives and female elders. And that's informal knowledge that was never put in a book, y'know, doctors, when we created medicine, when people invented—when white men invented medicine, they discredited the experience of midwives. And at the turn of the 20th century in America, 50% of babies were born with midwives, who are mostly immigrants and Black women, right? This was very much a working class woman's job. So I mean, this is just my way of saying I feel like my whole life has been leading to this moment, and motherhood, sort of refined that lens, a place to put all of these things, but it's been multiple steps along the way, and it's been sort of painful. You know what I mean? Like feeling like, Oh, I wish I had known this earlier. But then realizing like, Oh, like, but I know this now. And I think there are many people who share these values and who want to put their faith in more informal knowledge, and who don't trust institutions, but don't really know how, you know what I mean? And I feel like that's a journey, like we're all learning. And I feel like, I don't know…I'm old enough to remember when we weren't supposed to know everything. I feel like now there's this pressure to have some sort of expertise in everything. And I'm like, I still don't know what the f**k I'm doing. Like, everything I'm doing is learning, and that's what's fun. That's part of why I like being a writer is just doing homework or whatever.Alicia: That's so interesting. Yeah, I feel like this is something I've been thinking about a lot, is there is this kind of—you're not supposed to ask questions. You're not supposed to say “I don't know,” you're supposed to, we're all supposed to have sort of absorbed some sort of bastion of knowledge that we might not even know exists about things that we've never thought about before. But like, you're just not allowed to not know things anymore, you're not allowed to be learning. I don't know. It's very weird. I mean, that's more social media than anything else. But, because I'm always interested in this. So you went to college in New York? How did you come to live in Seattle?Angela: So when I was in college, my parents—long story short, they had a midlife crisis. And my dad became very disillusioned by managed healthcare. This was 1997, by the way. And so they just decided to make a huge change. Like, my dad was miserable, and my mom was miserable; they're miserable together. And so they decided to start over, and they moved to Washington State. And I was in college, and I was just like, I need to get out of New York. So I was like, okay, and now they seem to be doing better, so I'm gonna go spend a summer with them. And the Pacific Northwest in the summer is heaven, it's so beautiful. And I was like, oh, I’ll like, come out here after I graduate, and I'll stay for a couple months, and then I'll go back and get a job in publishing as an editorial assistant. And that was 1999. And then I just never left. You know, I spent many years comparing it to the East Coast. And then I just was like, it's easier here. And I used to feel some sort of shame around that. But um, I don't know, it's just more laid back. I feel really—I've written about this—I just don't, I don't want to say that I'm not ambitious. But it's just like, there's ladders that you climb, there's like places you could try to put yourself into institutions, I guess. And I'm just really not about the hustle. I feel like I work really hard and I'm really not trying to work harder. Like, I like my little life. Before I had a chance to, you know, publish books, having a job as a staff writer at an alt-weekly, it was like—that was great. Like, you know, I feel like it's easier to do, I don't know, community building can be—I don't want to generalize too much. I just like being in a city. It's a young city. It's a weird city, in some ways. It's changing. But um, yeah, but I like the West Coast. I think I'm—Alicia: I'm always interested in how people leave New York, because obviously, I'm from Long Island, but I spent a lot of time in New York City. And so then, because I left in 2019, but like, didn't really think about it, about what I was doing. So I'm always like, What was the choice? What were the choices that led you away from New York? [Laughter]Angela: I think it was the thought that I would come back. And I think there's always a little bit of like—I couldn't go back. You know, like, it's all the same, like things are there. They're not going away. But New York also still has the same ugly, modern, new high rise weird, like townhome architecture that we get here in Seattle. It's not, you know, not to be I mean. I went to college in New York from ‘95 to ‘99. And, you know, I go back now and I'm like, This is so different. I was like, you know, it wasn't even like dirty New York, y'know. But yeah, I think I just like being a little bit outside things. How was it for you? Like, do you feel like returning or do you feel like you're home? Or do you kind of feel like it's all open?Alicia: I would prefer to stay here in San Juan ’cause it's an easier life, like you're saying, and I talked to Jami Attenberg about moving from New York to New Orleans. And same thing. It's like, it's just easier, and for me, especially as a food writer, I feel like it gives me a lot more to talk about and I don't feel like I have to go to the same restaurants as everybody. And like, obviously, I don't even think I could move back until everything goes differently with the housing situation. Like it's just such—I mean, it's happening everywhere. But I'm just like watching on Twitter, and everyone is like, my landlord just raised my rent $700, $1,200. And I'm like, I'm never going back. I can never go back. But I mean, we have that problem here, too, because it's become like a tax haven. So there's like, all the real estate is absolutely mind-boggling. And like the daughter-in-law of the governor is sort of instrumental in it, which seems like a problem, so— [Laughter]But, yeah, so everywhere has its challenges. But yeah, I feel really good. You know, having gotten sort of away from New York. You know, when I left New York, I was bartending and writing. And here, now I just have a newsletter. So, I'm working a lot less hard. [Laughs]Angela: I mean, I think there's something to be said to of space—physical space. I have a house, you know what I mean, to have physical space, which is also, it's not necessary, but it does lead to mental space. You know what I mean, things feel more expansive here in a way that like, I can go on a long walk, the mountains are 45 minutes that way—wait, sorry, going West. Sorry, the East actually—But I think there's just something there where I feel. I don't know. I just—there's something here where I just feel like I can be myself in a way that—I'm less like, thinking about myself in the context of other people and other things, like I could just sort of be in an easy—Alicia: Exactly, no, no. And that's really key. Obviously, like I'm homesick a lot. But I, then I just go back, you know. And then I'm like, I'm sick of this. Goodbye. [Laughter]But also, to get back to your book, in Essential Labor, you talk about the flattening of creative identity that came through being a mother in the pandemic, do you think that it is possible to change how work and caregiving are structured and perceived in the U.S.? And specifically, what do you think mothers who are creative workers, thus doing work that's kind of already devalued in our society, what is really needed to thrive?Angela: That's a great question. I do think it's possible. I have to think it's possible, because—I'm glad that your question wasn't, do you, like, do you hope that this is, you know, like, I find it hard to be, I find it hard to be hopeful about it in this moment. But I mean, I wouldn't have written this book if I didn't think it was possible. And, you know, maybe it will take a very long time. But I think we are due for, I mean, the United States has never reckoned with all of its original sins, right. But one of them, you know, one of the biggest ones at this point, that's like a foundation to it is that care work doesn't matter and has no financial value. So I think, you know, we had these moments, there was the advanced check, tax child credit. And then also, when we were doing direct stimulus payments, that was not specifically like, here's pay for mothering and care work. But, here's pay for keeping yourself alive and keeping people alive, which is what care work is. So I think that people are—that conversation is happening, I think, you know, part of writing this book was, there were all these, there were so many people who were suddenly awake to, like the child care crisis is a pre-pandemic problem, right? Like that childcare workers are three times more likely to live in poverty. The fact that until your child is age 6, in the United States, like you're on your own, to figure all of that out, and suddenly a lot of white affluent women, to generalize, were realizing that, you know, when care structures fall apart, when your nanny and childcare and babysitters go away — they are left to do all of this work. And that to be a woman in America is to be defined by a condition of servitude. And that was a hard f*****g lesson. And people reacted in a way that they were rightfully so, really angry. And part of writing this book was, I was like, this is going to go away, right? Like when schools reopen, people are gonna think we solved the childcare crisis, right? When things are not inconvenient, when people can start outsourcing that care, and we're gonna lose that momentum. And so to a certain extent, like, why I also believe it's possible is because I know that for myself, and for other people, like, I will never shut up about this. This is something that is foundational and essential to our country and how it functions and until we properly value that, we're going to have an inhumane and dysfunctional society. So yes, I think it's possible. In this particular moment, I feel that it's a much longer fight, and then it's going to be a much harder fight. I don't want it to be a fight, but that's that's where I am on that. You know, and in terms of mothers who are doing creative work, I mean, I just think of all people doing creative work again, like, care is an issue that, obviously, yes, I'm writing about mothering but like, care is the work of being a human being, you know, needfulness is the state of being a human being. And so, you know, if I'm just like, allowed to say what I would like to do is like, we should just give people money. We live in a very rich country, there is enough money to do this. If we gave people a universal basic income, a guaranteed adequate income, which is not a new idea—you know, people were working on this, the National Welfare Rights Organization was doing this; they came close to getting it under Nixon. If we paid people money, if we gave people money and guaranteed a floor of what a decent life is in America, people could be creative. You know, people could do their creative work, people could mother, people could still be really f*****g ambitious and try to get a six-figure job, like six-figure salary job, like, they could still do that. You know, and I think that that's, you know, we made up money. [Laughter] We can, like, if we can make up a new system, you know, that, that gives people—you know, I did this interview for this the future of things, it was like the future of work. And I was talking about this, and the producer was like, So in your world, when you like, meet for drinks with your friends on Friday, and someone asks you how work is doing and you're like, well, Tommy's like, struggling with potty training. And I was like, No, dude, like, in my world, you meet your friends for drinks on Friday, and they're like, how are you? Like we don’t talk about work—we just talk about like, what are you doin’? Right? And so I think that, yeah, like, I think so what we need to do is like, guarantee—I mean maybe it's not just an adequate income or guaranteed income, maybe it's just like, health care, where you like, leave, like, they need people need to, like be able to live a dignified life, that doesn't involve work, you know, that is like, not defined by work that just that allows them to exist. That's what people need. And that's not just mothers, and not just mothers who do creative work that we need that. We need that. I mean, I think it's really like for me; it's for everyone.Alicia: Yeah, yeah, no, no, I mean, these are all the same answers I give when people are like, How do we fix the food system? And it's like, you have to make sure people have a good life. And then, that they don't have to work two or three jobs just to eat crap, and that they get to cook with, I mean, if they want to [they can] eat whatever they want, but like, you know, you get the option to cook, you know. Right now, it's like, so much of that moment, I guess when you started writing about food, that moment of like, go to the farmers’ market and eat kale and everything will be fine. It really stopped short of talking about poverty, it stopped short of talking about the systemic, obviously, disadvantages. It's like, some people won't be able to do this—sad for them. And then like, moving on—Angela: Yeah, look, we don't talk about how poverty is a condition we have created —it's an unnatural condition. We made this, right? And there's so much, I mean, also like the farmers’ market thing. Like, what is it, maybe now it's higher, but it's something like 6 or 12 percent of people get their produce from a farmers’ market here. I mean, so not even like, forget, like how much money you can spend. It's just such a small—you're not tackling the system. And that's not to say they're not great and you should keep money in local economies. Like I think it's all of those things. But yeah, we're not even getting to that. And we're not talking about the profound way that we assign morality to food, like people who are poor make bad choices about food. Those are choices created by poverty and scarcity. Like, anyway, this is not like a…I think you and I are on the same page about this. I think it's like the conversations that we have about food are so not the conversations we need to read. Right, like we spend a lot of time on that. And I think the same is true for care and mothering, right? It is an issue that affects everyone. And it is an issue, it is systemic, like we're talking about, I think we're both talking about giving people a decent life, which doesn't—we've come so far from that, that it seems really radical to be like, let's just, you know, take it back a step. You know, like, it'd be like—money is made up, are you with me? Like, that seems really destabilizing to people, but it's just a truth. And I think like we just drifted so far from it, that it's really, it's discouraging.Alicia: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely. I'm hopeful, I think that now people are more, even if it's just jokes or memes on social media, people are more willing to say— people are more willing to say that the all of this is bizarre. Like, even if it's just—today, we're talking on Tax Day, which is—I feel like vomiting because I still haven't done mine. But the idea that people are now talking about, why does the government let it be so difficult and complicated when they know how much we owe because they have the documentation and, you know, what are we actually even paying for? Like, I think it's important that we have a forum now for those like people to have that conversation, even if it's a joke, most of the time.Angela: One of my favorite things that I've seen recently is like, I mean, I saw it on Instagram, but it was a tweet, you know, that whole thing. But it was like, you know, humans really could have had stargazing and like pottery making and drumming, and now we have credit scores, and like, you know, but this idea that, like, we could just be f*****g living. Now it's like, we need money we need like, I just, ugh—Alicia: Yeah, we do need a general strike, and to not pay anything, not pay our taxes, not pay our student loans, not pay rent, just like let's stop and get this s**t sorted out before we keep moving.Angela: Yeah, I mean it’s really…we shouldn't be privatizing human rights. We could have this conversation, like in a circle for like, a few days, and it would be great but we should probably move on… [Laughter]Alicia: No, no, no, of course. No, well I just wanted to ask you what are the other things you're thinking about that you want to write about? I do love that you characterize being a writer is ongoing learning, you know? So what are you learning about these days?Angela: I'm learning about—so again, since I started as a food writer, the fact that I've now written two books on motherhood and mothering seems like a great surprise in my life. I mean, I think it's very—it's been great for me. But I mean, this is really just one aspect of my identity. But right now, the things that I'm really drawn to are not privileging one kind of care. I mean, I think care is a conversation we need to continue to have. And so I want to explore care. Like, so I've been thinking about it in terms of, you know, raising young children, but what is it like to have everything from like, you know, how do we encourage people who are not parents to have meaningful relationships with the youth and the elders? Right, like elder care, disability care. And then also, how do we build, one of the things that we lack, our institutions don't care about people; care is not a value that's at the center of institutions. And so I'm interested in exploring, how might we make that happen? And so care in general, an expansive and inclusive and surprising view of care, is one of the things that I'm thinking a lot about.I'm thinking a lot about the concept of service. Service, to me, is very clarifying. I think my work as a writer is about learning. But what gives me meaning is that it is definitely of service to people. And that's one of the things that I cherish about the feedback that I've gotten from people. And so this idea of service, and how we can encourage that, and people are exploring that.And then the other thing that I'm really into is middle age. You know, I'm about to be 45. I never—and I don't mean this in a fatalistic way, but I just never really imagined myself at this age, and realizing that my imagination really was pretty short. And I feel like I have to believe and I do believe that, you know, some of my most interesting transformations are still ahead of me. And so there's really not a literature of middle age for women, there's like some menopause-y stuff. But the choices that we make, and I don't know, there's like in the pandemic, too, I've done a lot of self work and therapy. But I've also, like—I haven't been able to escape myself, even though I've tried very hard through various attempts and substances. But I feel like, I don't know, if I'm about to be 45, like I said, I just feel like I don't feel confused about who I am. And I really like that. And I'm kind of curious, like, where that goes. Yeah, so those are the things I'm thinking.Alicia: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking the time today. Angela: Yeah, of course. Thank you.Alicia: Thanks so much to everyone for listening to this week's edition of From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy. Read more at www.aliciakennedy.news. Or follow me on Instagram, @aliciadkennedy, or on Twitter at @aliciakennedy. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.aliciakennedy.news/subscribe

Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by author Claire Fuller to discuss her new novel, Unsettled Ground, this season's selection for the LARB Book Club. Born in Oxfordshire, Claire Fuller is the author of four novels: her Desmond Elliot Prize-winning debut Our Endless Numbered Days, as well as Swimming Lessons, Bitter Orange, and her latest, the griping, intensely evocative, and often unsettling Unsettled Ground, a finalist for the Women's Prize for Fiction. The book begins with the death of a woman, which sets her 51-year-old twin children on a difficult journey of survival and discovery.  Also, Kate Zambreno, author of To Write As If Already Dead, returns to recommend Bhanu Kapil's book of poetry How to Wash a Heart.

Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by author Claire Fuller to discuss her new novel, Unsettled Ground, this season's selection for the LARB Book Club. Born in Oxfordshire, Claire Fuller is the author of four novels: her Desmond Elliot Prize-winning debut Our Endless Numbered Days, as well as Swimming Lessons, Bitter Orange, and her latest, the griping, intensely evocative, and often unsettling Unsettled Ground, a finalist for the Women's Prize for Fiction. The book begins with the death of a woman, which sets her 51-year-old twin children on a difficult journey of survival and discovery. Also, Kate Zambreno, author of To Write As If Already Dead, returns to recommend Bhanu Kapil's book of poetry How to Wash a Heart.

On this week's show we're joined by two authors, Kate Zambreno and Susan Bernofsky, who have both written a magisterial work about a past literary master. First, Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf talk with Kate Zambreno about To Write as if Already Dead, a study of the writing and photography of Herve Guibert (1955-1991); and, in particular, his work To The Friend Who Did Not Save My Life, which documents Guibert's diagnosis and disintegration from HIV, and portrays a character based upon his close friend, philosopher Michel Foucault. Then, Kate is joined by Susan Bernofsky to discuss Clairvoyant of the Small, her biography of Swiss author Robert Walser (1878-1956), one of the most influential modernist writers in the German language.  Susan's biography portrays Walser not just as the eccentric outsider figure he's often made out to be, but as a fully formed artist, with serious creative aspirations, proliferate charms, and many complications. Clairvoyant of the Small offers a nuanced picture of his turbulent life—much of its drama stemming from financial precarity, family legacy, and the sweeping pendulums of early twentieth century European history—as it also illuminates the complexity and beauty of his writing.

On this week's show we're joined by two authors, Kate Zambreno and Susan Bernofsky, who have both written a magisterial work about a past literary master. First, Medaya Ocher and Kate Wolf talk with Kate Zambreno about To Write as if Already Dead, a study of the writing and photography of Herve Guibert (1955-1991); and, in particular, his work To The Friend Who Did Not Save My Life, which documents Guibert's diagnosis and disintegration from HIV, and portrays a character based upon his close friend, philosopher Michel Foucault. Then, Kate is joined by Susan Bernofsky to discuss Clairvoyant of the Small, her biography of Swiss author Robert Walser (1878-1956), one of the most influential modernist writers in the German language.  Susan's biography portrays Walser not just as the eccentric outsider figure he's often made out to be, but as a fully formed artist, with serious creative aspirations, proliferate charms, and many complications. Clairvoyant of the Small offers a nuanced picture of his turbulent life—much of its drama stemming from financial precarity, family legacy, and the sweeping pendulums of early twentieth century European history—as it also illuminates the complexity and beauty of his writing.

How does an artwork change as the person looking at it does? Kate Zambreno, a 2021 Guggenheim Fellow in Nonfiction and the author of the acclaimed 2020 novel Drifts, details the pleasures and discovery of returning to an artist or artwork over and over again—in her case, the likes of Sarah Charlesworth, Chantal Akerman, and Albrecht Durer. She speaks and writes about their lives and work with humor and personal insight born of longtime obsession.  Drifts: A Novel, named a Best Book of the Year by The Paris Review, is out now on paperback. Zambreno's latest book, To Write as if Already Dead, was published in June 2021.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2021 is: categorical • kat-uh-GOR-ih-kul • adjective 1 : absolute, unqualified 2 a : of, relating to, or constituting a category b : involving, according with, or considered with respect to specific categories Examples: "The Fair School Funding Plan … offers … categorical funding to determine the actual costs of safety and mental health programs and educations for disadvantaged and gifted students and those with disabilities or the need to learn English. — David J. Coehrs, The Swanton (Ohio) Enterprise, 8 Dec. 2020 "In the strongest story, 'Guericke’s Unicorn,' the narrator visits the Alps, hoping to write a categorical guide to monsters and feeling haunted by her studies. It's a study of mood and strangeness that brings to mind Del and Sofia Samatar's illustrated bestiary 'Monster Portraits.'" — Kate Zambreno, The New York Times, 8 Dec. 2020 Did you know? The ancestor of categorical and category has been important in logic and philosophy since the days of Aristotle. Both English words derive from Greek katēgoria, which Aristotle used to name the 10 fundamental classes (also called "predications" or "assertions") of terms, things, or ideas into which he felt human knowledge could be organized. Ironically, although those categories and things categorical are supposed to be absolute and fundamental, philosophers have long argued about the number and type of categories that exist and their role in understanding the world. High-level philosophical disputes aside, the word categorical continues to sometimes describe an absolute assertion, one that involves no conditions or hypotheses—for example, the statement "all humans are mortal."

Kate Zambreno is the author of several acclaimed books including Screen Tests, Heroines, and Green Girl. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, The Virginia Quartlerly Review, and elsewhere. She teaches in the writing programs at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marion and I talk about the rich possibilities of exploring author backlists and catch up on recent reads.Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 203: Backlist Subscribe to the podcast via this link: FeedburnerOr subscribe via Apple Podcasts by clicking: SubscribeOr listen through TuneIn Or listen on Google Play Or listen via StitcherOr listen through Spotify New! Listen through Google Podcasts Books discussed: White Pages by Ran WalkerCertain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-GarciaFace of an Angel by Denise ChavezThe Writer's Library by Nancy Pearl and Jeff SchwangerAlburguerque by Rudolfo AnayaOther mentions:Fahrenheit 451 by Ray BradburyParable of the Sower by Octavia ButlerGods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-GarciaMexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-GarciaSignal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-GarciaLoving Pedro Infante by Denise ChavezMaybe Esther by Katja PetrowskajaPain by Zerula ShalevBook of Mutter by Kate ZambrenoBless Me Ultima by Rudolfo AnayaDona Flor and her Two Husbands by Jorge AmadoGabriela, Clove and Cinnamon by Jorge AmadoCaptains of the Sands by Jordge AmadoNorth American Lake Monsters by Nathan BallingrudMonsterland (tv show on Hulu)Empire of Wild by Cherie DimalineRelated episodes:Episode 041 - Grotesque Beauty with Nathan BallingrudEpisode 175 - Reading on Impulse with Marion HillEpisode 202 - Jacket Flap with Chris and Emily  Stalk us online: Marion Hill's websiteMarion on GoodreadsMarion on Instagram Jenny at GoodreadsJenny on TwitterJenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy All links to books are through Bookshop.org, where I am an affiliate. I wanted more money to go to the actual publishers and authors, and less to Jeff Bezos. I only link to Amazon in cases where Bookshop.org does not carry a backlist title, which took place a few times for this list.

Kate Zambreno is the author of several acclaimed books including Screen Tests, Heroines, and Green Girl. Her latest novel, Drifts, was released in May 2020. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, VQR, and elsewhere. She teaches in the writing programs at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College. This episode is brought to you by: Betterhelp. Get 10% off your first month by visiting betterhelp.com/thresholds; What Happens at Night by Peter Cameron, now available wherever you get books from Catapult; and, Luster by Raven Leilani, now available from FSG. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brooklyn-based novelist and essayist, Kate Zambreno delivers her selection of the best to read, watch, hear, taste and smell right now

This week on sale in the marketplace of ideas we ghost dogs (with Kate Zambreno) the sensation of a hand sweating inside a hygienic rubber glove (with Jennifer Walshe) bingo mass (with Marise Gaughan) and why Irishness is not defined by whiteness (with Zelie Asava). Which, let's face it is a lot.

New York-based writer and critic, Kate Zambreno on her latest, the novel-cum-diary-cum-notebook, Drifts

Welcome back to Papercuts, our monthly books podcast hosted by Louisa Kasza, Jenna Todd and Kiran Dass.Book newsWomen’s Prize for Fiction shortlist -- the Prize’s 25th year. The shortlist was announced on the Women’s Prize for Fiction social channels:Dominicana by Angie CruzGirl, Woman, Other by Bernardine EvaristoA Thousand Ships by Natalie HaynesThe Mirror and the Light by Hilary MantelHamnet by Maggie O’ FarrellWeather by Jenny Offill#BookshopsAreBack!!Newsroom has a list of retailers around the country.Ockhams Out LoudThe 2020 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards was to be the first event of Festival week and will now be broadcast via the #theockhams YouTube channel.In the lead up over the next few weeks, you can listen to each of the finalists reading from their shortlisted work, with one added each day until the winners are announced at the online ceremony on the evening of Tuesday 12 May. Take a look, and subscribe for updates.Auckland Writers Festival 2020 Winter Online SeriesIncludes Bernardine Evaristo, Lisa Taddeo, Amy McDaid, Anthony Byrt and more.9am on May 3rd and running live once a week for 13 weeks.Three writers including at least two from the 2020 programme will chat with series host Paula Morris, read from their work and answer audience questions.Watch via live the Festival’s YouTube and Facebook channels, and then on their website.BookBound 2020An 'antiviral' online literary festival, already in progress until 3 May 2020.Includes a number of New Zealand authors, including Freya Daly Sadgrove, Pip Adam Becky Manawatu & Renée, who join literary talent such as Max Porter and Emma Glass from around the world.The festival is raising money for a number of charities, and events are free on the BookBound 2020 YouTube channelVerb CommunityVerb Community members will ensure artists are paid for their work, help create content and experiences and lots of other good stuff. In return, they'll get access to the Verb Community hui where you can feed your ideas into what they do, discounts on ticketed events and festival sessions, and again lots of other good stuff!They launch alongside three new pieces of writing by Sinead Overbye (a reading list on love in isolation), Victor Rodger (love and quite a bit of sex), and essa may ranapiri (gender and language).Book reviewsKD: White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World by Geoff DyerLK: Torpor by Chris KrausJT: Aue by Becky ManawatuNot booksKD: Record shops!LK: Home Cooking: a podcast from Samin Nosrat and Hrishikesh Hirway to help you figure out what to cook (and keep you company) during the quarantine. Thanks to Papercuts listener David for the recommendation!Circus of Books on Netflix -- the charming and sometimes heartbreaking story of a middle-class Jewish family who ran a hardcore gay porn bookstore from the eighties up till the time of filming.JT: Brideshead Revisited (1981 TV series)The TBR PileKD: In the Fold and The Temporary by Rachel Cusk, Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency by Olivia LaingLK: You'll enjoy it when you get there: the stories of Elizabeth Taylor, I'm working on a building by Pip Adam, Screen Tests by Kate Zambreno, Fake Baby by Amy McDaid (out June)JT: Ripiro Beach by Caroline Barron (Bateman), Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino (4th Estate). Tennis Lessons by Susannah Dickey (DD)Also mentioned:Green Girl by Kate... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This talk examined the forms that grief can take, in the work of Zoe Leonard, Peter Hujar, David Wojnarowicz, and John Constable. Kate Zambreno is the author of several acclaimed books, including Screen Tests, Heroines, and Green Girl. She has recently published a collection of talks and essays, Appendix Project, in the shadow of Book of Mutter, her meditation on grief. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, VQR, and elsewhere. A novel, Drifts, is forthcoming in May 2020. She teaches in the writing programs at Columbia University and Sarah Lawrence College. Video and full transcript here: https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/2020/02/10/video-forms-grief Learn more about Harvard Divinity School and its mission to illuminate, engage, and serve at hds.harvard.edu/.

Welcome to The Cluttered Desk Podcast! In the Season 9 premiere, Colin and Andrew discuss the newest (and final?) entry in the X-Men film franchise, Dark Phoenix.  The Coda:Green Man Rambler by Green Man Brewery Andrew's recommendation: Merry X-Men Holiday Special (2018) Colin's recommendation: Fleabag Season 2, starring Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Green Girl by Kate Zambreno  *** Please contact us at any of these locations: Website: www.thecdpodcast.com Email: thecluttereddeskpodcast@gmail.com Twitter: @TheCDPodcast  Facebook: www.facebook.com/thecdpodcast Andrew is on Twitter @AndrewPatrickH1 Colin is on Twitter @ColinAshleyCox  *** We would like to thank Test Dream for supplying The Cluttered Desk Podcast's theme music. You can find Test Dream at any of these locations: Website: testdream.bandcamp.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/testdream Twitter: @testdream *** Our entire catalogue is available through iTunes, Stitcher, and Google Play.

Att översätta lyric essays - ett samtal mellan Mara Lee, författare & översättare till bland annat Anne Carsons verk, Helena Fagertun, författare, redaktör & översättare av Kate Zambreno och Ulrika Dahl, docent i genusvetenskap vid Södertörns universitet. Samtalet hölls på Världskulturmuseet i Göteborg under Scener & Samtal den 30 september 2017. Det senaste året har det givits ut flera feministiska ”lyric essays” av amerikanska författare på svenska, exempelvis Hjältinnor av Kate Zambreno, I love Dick av Chris Kraus & Argonauterna av Maggie Nelson. Det är texter som handlar om skrivande & varande, ofta med ett koncentrerat språk men i fragmentarisk form & ett lekfullt förhållande till autofiktion. Texterna rör sig dessutom i ett gränsland mellan prosa, poesi & facklitteratur – hur är de att översätta? Finns det ett svenskt språk för denna form av skrivande eller måste översättaren uppfinna det?

The Invaders (Regan Arts)  Please welcome back to Skylight one of our favorite local authors, Karolina Waclawiak!   A searing follow-up to Karolina Waclawiak's critically acclaimed debut novel, How to Get Into the Twin Palms, The Invaders casts a harsh light on the glossy sheen of even the most “perfect” lives in America's exclusive beach communities. The novel centers around Cheryl who has never been the right kind of country-club wife and has always felt like an outsider. Now in her mid-forties—facing the harsh realities of aging and a disintegrating marriage—she feels cast adrift by the sparkling seaside community of Little Neck Cove, Connecticut. When her troubled stepson Teddy moves back home after being kicked out of college, she joins him in an epic downward spiral, just as a storm brewing off the coast threatens to destroy the precarious safe haven crashing down around them. With sharp wit and dark humor, The Invaders exposes the lies and insecurities that run like fault lines through our culture, threatening to pitch bored housewives, pill-popping children, and suspicious neighbors headlong into the suburban abyss. Praise for The Invaders “The Invaders, by the glorious Karolina Waclawiak, is an elegant, ominous book. It's a sharp, witty novel of manners of the most sinister kind. In Waclawiak's expert hands, this novel will have you holding your breath and your heart until the very last word.” —Roxanne Gay, Bad Feminist and An Untamed State “Karolina Waclawiak's The Invaders is the stiffest of literary drinks—it'll jolt your system, and make the world around you glow a little differently when you're done with it. Witty, dark, and honest, this novel tells the hard—but hilarious—truths about aging in America, dysfunctional relationships, and suburban vices.” —Jami Attenberg, The Middlesteins “The Invaders is as crisp as they come, hilarious and alarming in equal measure. This book is a time bomb in madras shorts, ready for golf, sex, and natural disasters.” —Emma Straub, The Vacationers and Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures “Karolina Waclawiak's The Invaders is a blazing wonder of a novel. So long limited to satire and parody, the pristine world of the American suburbs become, in Waclawiak's skillful hands, places of tumult, hunger, loneliness and menace. Her heroes are outsiders-on-the-inside and we watch them struggle amid the confinements of their environment and their own complicated histories. As whip-smart and cunning as it is poignant and mysterious The Invaders demonstrates that Waclawiak's masterful debut novel, How to Get into the Twin Palms, was just the beginning.” —Megan Abbott, author ofDare Me “The Invaders is a gut punch of a novel—a scathing look at privileged people trapped by their own choices, but unable to imagine an alternative to their misery. Karolina Waclawiak is a remarkable writer, able to channel the unflinching clarity of Richard Yates, the off-kilter tenderness of Cheever, and taut narrative energy of crime fiction in a voice that is all her own.” —Tom Perrotta, author of The Leftovers and Little Children “Seamlessly blending literary and genre traditions, Karolina Waclawiak never fails to surprise, delight, and reveal secrets that lesser writers keep hidden. I love her work, and I'm already waiting for the next book.” —Sara Gran, author of Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead “Karolina Waclawiak's The Invaders is a thrilling meditation on the explosive complexities of marriage, identity, and class—all set against the picturesque yet stultifying landscape of small-town Connecticut. Waclawiak is a master at illuminating the secret selves these characters long to keep hidden, and The Invaders is a wonderfully fierce novel, from a brilliant and essential talent.” —Laura van den Berg, author of The Isle of Youth and Find Me “A witty, vicious, and entirely moving portrait of privilege, alienation, and sexual invisibility set in a Connecticut beach community.” —Kate Zambreno, author of Green Girl “How To Get Into The Twin Palms was a mini-masterpiece of atmosphere and mood; a new book is a cause for celebration.” —Emily Gould, author of Friendship Karolina Waclawiak received her BFA in Screenwriting from USC School of Cinematic Arts and her MFA in Fiction from Columbia University. Her first novel, How To Get Into The Twin Palms, was published by Two Dollar Radio in 2012. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Rumpus, and The Believer (where she is also an editor). She lives in Los Angeles. Antonia Crane is a writer, teacher and Moth Story Slam Winner in Los Angeles. She is the author of the memoir Spent(Barnacle Books/Rare Bird Lit March, 2014). She was featured on Lisa Ling's documentary, “This is Life” recently on CNN. Her other work can be found in Playboy, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Rumpus, Dame Magazine, Salon, PANK magazine, Black Clock, The Weeklings, The Believer, Frequencies, Slake, The Los Angeles Review, The New Black, The Heroin Chronicles and lots of other places. She the CNF editor at Word Riot. She is at work on another memoir about running wild in Bombay, India as a teenager.

Mark Gluth is the guest. His new novel No Other is available now from Sator Press. Kate Zambreno says "In Mark Gluth's beautiful family gothic No Other, the reader encounters a landscape of mood and mystery, burning with a stripped-down pain. Gluth's sentences devastate in their raw economy, attempting to penetrate the everyday, tracing abbreviated existences struggling to survive through bare seasons." And Blake Butler says "In clipped, incantatory verse shined from whorls somewhere between Gummo and As I Lay Dying, Mark Gluth's No Other invents new ambient psychological terraforma of rare form, a world by turns humid and eerie, nowhere and now, like a blacklight in a locked room." Monologue topics:  the holidays, Santa, mail, answering questions with questions.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dawn O'Porter and Graham Fellows, AKA John Shuttleworth, talk with Harriett Gilbert about their favourite books, including two tales of alienation, Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse and Green Girl by Kate Zambreno, and Nancy Mitford's gossipy tale of adultery and a scheming child in post war France and England.

Sarah Gerard is the guest. Her debut novel, Binary Star, is due out from Two Dollar Radio in January 2015. Kate Zambreno says "I felt a breathless intensity the whole time I read Sarah Gerard's brilliant Binary Star. I sped through it, dizzy, devastated, loving all of it." And Jenny Offill calls it "A bold, beautiful novel about wanting to disappear and almost succeeding. Sarah Gerard writes about love and loneliness in a new and brilliantly visceral way." Monologue topics: Legoland, fear, masks, chaos, exhaustion, fire alarms, meth, cops, neighbors, pandemonium. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate Zambreno is the guest. She is the author of two novels, O Fallen Angel and Green Girl, and her latest book is a critical memoir called Heroines, now available from Semiotext(e).  The Paris Review raves "It should come as no surprise that her provocative new work, Heroines, published by Semiotext(e)'s Active Agents imprint... challenges easy categorization, this time by poetically swerving in and out of memoir, diary, fiction, literary history, criticism, and theory. With equal parts unabashed pathos and exceptional intelligence, Heroines foregrounds female subjectivity to produce an impressive and original work that examines the suppression of various female modernists in relation to Zambreno's own complicated position as a writer and a wife." And Bitch magazine calls it "A brave, enlightening, and brutally honest historical inquiry that will leave readers with an urgent desire to tell their own stories." Also in this episode:  A conversation with Ron Currie, Jr., whose new novel, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles (Viking | February 2013) is the January selection of the TNB Book Club. Monologue topics:  petroleum-based cows, Ron Currie Jr., TNB Book Club. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. On November 7, 2012, author Kate Zambreno, AM'02, read from her new critical memoir, Heroines.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. On November 7, 2012, author Kate Zambreno, AM'02, read from her new critical memoir, Heroines.

Green Girl (Emergency Press) by Zambreno; E! Entertianment (Insert Press) by Durbin Kate Zambreno and Kate Durbin join forces for an event launching Zambreno's new novel Green Girl and Durbin's new chapbook, E! Entertainment. Kate Zambreno's novel O Fallen Angel won Chiasmus Press' "Undoing the Novel" contest. Her novel Green Girl was published by Emergency Press in October 2011. A book of essays called Heroines, revolving around and obsessing over the wives and mistresses of modernism, will be published by Semiotext(e)'s Active Agents series in Fall 2012. She is an editor at Nightboat Books. Kate Durbin is a Los Angeles-based writer and artist. She is author of The Ravenous Audience (Akashic Books, 2009), E! Entertainment (Blanc Press, diamond edition, forthcoming), ABRA (Zg Press, forthcoming w/ Amarant Borsuk), as well as the conceptual fashion magazine The Fashion Issue (Zg Press, forthcoming), and five chapbooks: Fragments Found in a 1937 Aviator's Boot (Dancing Girl Press, 2009), FASHIONWHORE (Legacy Pictures, 2010), The Polished You, as part of Vanessa Place's Factory Series (oodpress, 2010), and Kept Women (Insert Press, forthcoming). She is founding editor of Gaga Stigmata, which will be published as a book from Zg Press in 2012. THIS EVENT WAS RECORDED LIVE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS NOVEMBER 5, 2011.