Podcasts about pen faulkner award

Host Jason Blitman talks to Patrick Ryan about his new novel, Buckeye, which is this month's Read with Jenna Book Club selection. They talk about writing inspirations, father-son relationships, and Ryan's love for pinball. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader, Rabih Alameddine (The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)) his perspective on dealing with trauma, devotion, and forgiveness. Patrick Ryan is the author of the novel Buckeye. He is also the author of the story collections The Dream Life of Astronauts (named one of the Best Books of the Year by the St. Louis Times-Dispatch, LitHub, Refinery 29, and Electric Literature, and longlisted for The Story Prize) and Send Me. His work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, the anthology Tales of Two Cities, and elsewhere. The former associate editor of Granta, he is the editor of the literary magazine One Story and lives in New York City.Rabih Alameddine is the author of the novels The Wrong End of the Telescope; Angel of History; An Unnecessary Woman; The Hakawati; I, the Divine; Koolaids; the story collection, The Perv; and one work of nonfiction, Comforting Myths. He has won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award. He received the Dos Passos Prize in 2019 and a Lannan Award in 2021.Support the showBOOK CLUB!Sign up for the Gays Reading Book Club HERE September Book: The Sunflower Boys by Sam Wachman SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ MERCH!http://gaysreading.printful.me WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanCONTACT!hello@gaysreading.com

National Book Award finalist and PEN/Faulkner Award winner Rabih Alameddine joins us to discuss The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (And His Mother) (Grove, September 2). Kirkus calls his latest novel “a sharp exploration of resilience in dark times.” Then our editors recommend their top picks in books for the week.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Notes and Links to Ruben Reyes, Jr.'s Work     Ruben Reyes Jr. is the son of two Salvadoran immigrants. He completed his MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is a graduate of Harvard College where he studied History and Literature and Latinx Studies. His writing has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, AGNI, BOMB Magazine, Lightspeed Magazine, LitHub, and other publications. His debut story collection, There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, was a finalist for The Story Prize, and longlisted for the the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the Carnegie Medal for Excellence, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the New American Voices Award. Archive of Unknown Universes is his first novel. Originally from Southern California, he lives in Queens.   Buy Archive of Unknown Universes   Ruben's Website   Book Review for Archive of Unknown Universes from Washington Post, by Bilal Qureshi   At about 1:45, Ruben describes the experience of having his first novel out in the world At about 3:30, Ruben talks about feedback he's received about the novel At about 4:35, Ruben shares publishing information and shouts out “local indies” and Bookshop.org as good places to buy the book, and he shares a story about his book tour for his story collection At about 6:10, Ruben talks about his writing timeline and how he wrote his novel and his story collection at around the same time, allowing him flexibility and variety  At about 9:00, Ruben responds to Pete's questions about how feedback and the writing community worked during the pandemic At about 11:00, Ruben reflects on seeds for his novel, particularly the “turning point” that was his 2018 research trip to El Salvador At about 12:30, Ruben talks about the importance of oral histories he did on this 2018 research trip At about 13:25, Pete asks Ruben about the book's dedication and how he viewed the specific and universal  At about 16:15, Pete shares the book's profound epigraphs, and shares the book's exposition; Ruben responds to Pete's questions about the book's structure and his rationale in starting the book with a letter At about 19:25, Ruben reflects on writers and their views on a “perfect novel” At about 20:45, Ruben and Pete describe the book's pivotal machine, The Defractor, and fun with different “Interlocutors” for the machine  At about 23:40, Pete provides background information on Ana and Luis, important characters in the books At about 25:20, Ruben and Pete discuss the importance of Archbishop Oscar Romero and his coverage in the novel At about 28:00, Ruben reflects on how the “What if?” question is so resonant in literature and outside At about 28:50, Ruben and Pete talk about setting the tone for the start of the relationship between Rafael and Neto and an early scene at Havana's Malecon  At about 30:40, Pete reflects on traumas so understatedly and profoundly rendered  At about 32:00, Ruben talks about Ana's and Luis' relationship  At about 33:40, Pete wonders about an important decision made by Neto, and Ruben expands on research he did that showed how youth was largely in control during the Salvadoran Civil War At about 35:50, Ruben expands on what demands and hopes the revolutionaries/guerrillas had in the Salvadoran Civil War At about 39:05, The two discuss the book's parallel storyline At about 41:55, Ruben and Pete reflect on the fiery passions of youth and what makes relationships works and connections At about 44:15, The two discuss similarities and differences between Neto and Rafael  At about 46:10, Ruben homes in on how queerness was seen/embraced in the 70s, as shown through Rafael and Neto At about 47:30, Pete highlights a profound quote as he and Ruben talk about “grasping the lost threads of history” and how Ruben's book connects to ideas of silences and traumas and "reclaiming history” At about 49:40, Ruben shouts out Leisy Abrego's “On Silences” and its argument about silences as “intergenerational” in the Salvadoran diaspora        You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave 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 Pete on IG, where he's @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he's @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and the podcast while you're checking out this episode.       Pete is 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. His conversation with Episode 286 guest Hannah Pittard is up on the website this week. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review.     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 Pete's one-man show, his DIY podcast and his extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This month's Patreon bonus episode will feature an exploration of noir, horror, and crime fiction, as some of the best ways to match the zeitgeist and crazy timeline that is 2025. Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.    This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting what he's 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 292 with Joan Silber, a novelist and short story writer. She won the 2017 National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction and the 2018 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her novel Improvement. Her latest novel, Mercy, is her 10th book of fiction. This episode drops today, September 2, Pub Day for Mercy. Please go to ceasefiretoday.org, and/or https://act.uscpr.org/a/letaidin to call your congresspeople and demand an end to the forced famine and destruction of Gaza and the Gazan people.

Notes and Links to Joan Silber's Work    Joan Silber was raised in New Jersey and received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied writing with Grace Paley. She moved to New York after college and has made it her home ever since. She holds an M.A. from New York University. She's written ten books of fiction--most recently, Mercy, out in fall 2025.  Secrets of Happiness was a Washington Post Best Book of the year and a Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of the Year.  Improvement won The National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction and the PEN/Faulkner Award.  She also received the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story.  Her other works of fiction include Fools, longlisted for the National Book Award and finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, The Size of the World, finalist for the Los Angeles Times Prize in Fiction, and Ideas of Heaven, finalist for the National Book Award and the Story Prize.  She's also written Lucky Us, In My Other Life, and In the City (to be reissued by Hagfish in 2026), and her first book, Household Words, won the PEN/Hemingway Award. She's the author of The Art of Time in Fiction, which looks at how fiction is shaped and determined by time, with examples from world writers.  Her short fiction has been chosen for the O. Henry Prize, Best American Short Stories, and the Pushcart Prize.  Stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Tin House, The Southern Review, Ploughshares, Zyzzyva, and other magazines. She's been the recipient of an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. For many years Joan taught fiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and in the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.  Joan lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, with Jolie, her rescued street dog from Taiwan, and she travels as often as she can, with a particular interest in Asia. Buy Mercy   Joan Silber's Website   Joan Silber's Wikipedia Page   Boston Globe Review of Mercy   At about 2:55, Joan talks about responses about her new novel and how uncertainty is always  At about 3:45, Joan talks about places to buy her new novel and upcoming book events At about 5:05, Joan traces her early relationship with reading and writing and talks about early inspirations like Louisa May Alcott At about 6:55, Joan responds to Pete's question about the catalysts for her writing career, and she references the wonderful Grace Paley and her generative teaching methods At about 8:35, Joan talks about contemporary writers and influences like Charles Baxter, Andrea Barrett, and Margo Livesy At about 9:50, Pete bumbles through a vague comparison in complimenting Joan on her depiction of New York in the 1970s and gives some exposition of the book, especially regarding the book's main protagonist, Ivan  At about 11:25, Joan reflects on Ivan and Eddie as “intellectuallizing” their drug adventures  At about 12:35, Joan responds to Pete asking about Eddie and his mindset and personality  At about 14:45, the two trace the book's inciting incident, involving Eddie and Ivan indulging in drugs to an extreme  At about 17:30, Joan expands on her initial thoughts for the book, and on the secret that Ivan keeps to himself, as well as how she views Ivan in a “complicated” way At about 18:45, Joan responds to Pete's question about whether or not she “sit[s] in judgment of [her] characters” At about 20:20, Pete highlights Ivan and asks Joan's about Eddie “hav[ing] his own kingdom” in Ivan's life, especially with regard to his atonement for Alcoholics Anonymous At about 21:50, Pete traces Astrid/Ginger's career arc, as Ivan sees her rise and connects to Eddie, and Joan expands on why her film being done in Malaysia is connected to real-life regulations in China At about 23:30, Pete asks Joan about how she gets into the mindset to write about “What if?” At about 24:50, Chapter Two is discussed, with a new narrator in Astrid, and her tragedies and triumphs At about 26:10, Joan talks about the movie that takes place in the book, with Astrid as a star; Joan expands upon the “circle” of heroin/opioids in the novel At about 28:30, Joan discusses the “echo in the title” about heroin as the “drug of mercy” At about 29:00, Joan gives background on her choice in including Cara as a character who is a “bystander” to Eddie's abandonment  At about 30:15, Joan and Pete discuss the whys of Cara leaving and getting on the road At about 31:40, Joan talks about Chapter Three as a previously-published chapter/standalone, and how she likes “getting her characters in trouble” At about 32:00, Joan explains how she “follows” Nini into the next chapter, based on a previous quote, and how Joan's own travels influenced her writing about the Iu Mien of Thailand and Laos At about 35:00, Joan describes how Nini's injury in Southeast Asia serves as a vessel for a description of opium's uses/the way it's viewed in a variety of ways around the world  At about 36:15, Pete and Joan discuss the roles of anthropologists and their roles At about 38:30, Cara's chapter is highlighted, with Cara's relationship with her previously-absent father discussed   At about 41:00, Pete asks Joan to discuss the book's title-its genesis and connections to the book's events and characters  At about 42:30, Joan differentiates between mercy and forgiveness  At about 43:00, Pete compliments Joan's work in tracing a long but coherent storyline and her depiction of New York At about 44:10, Joan discusses an exciting upcoming project  At about 45:20, Pete and Joan discuss youth and innocence and aging as key parts    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 Pete on IG, where he is @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where he is @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both the YouTube Channel and the podcast while you're checking out this episode.       Pete is 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. His conversation with Hannah Pittard, a recent guest, is up at Chicago Review.     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 Pete's one-man show, DIY podcast and extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content! This month's Patreon bonus episode features an exploration of flawed characters, protagonists who are too real in their actions, and horror and noir as being where so much good and realistic writing takes place. Pete has added a $1 a month tier for “Well-Wishers” and Cheerleaders of the Show.     This is a passion project, a DIY operation, and Pete would love for your help in promoting what he's 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 293 with Melissa Lozada-Oliva, a Guatemalan-Colombian-American writer. Her chapbook peluda explores the intersections of Latina identity and hair removal. In her novel-in-verse Dreaming of You (2021, Astra House), a poet brings Selena back to life through a seance and deals with disastrous consequences. Candelaria was named one of the best books of 2023 by VOGUE and USA Today. Her collection of short stories is BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT, JESUS IS ALIVE! The episode airs on September 2, today, Pub Day.    This episode airs today, September 2, Pub Day.    Please go to ceasefiretoday.org, and/or https://act.uscpr.org/a/letaidin to call your congresspeople and demand an end to the forced famine and destruction of Gaza and the Gazan people.

How do we live radiantly when the world seems bent on our erasure?Today we meet Caro De Robertis and we're talking about the queer book that saved their life: Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin, translated by Bonnie Huie.Caro's books best-selling books have Stonewall Book Awards and the Golden Poppy Octavia E. Butler Award; and, they have been finalists for the PEN/Faulkner Award, Lambda Literary Award, and the Kirkus Prize. These books include The Palace of Eros, The President and the Frog, Cantoras, The Gods of Tango, and Perla. Caro was the first openly nonbinary person to received the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature. A professor at San Francisco State University, Caro is co-curating Conjuring Power: the Roots & Futures of Queer & Trans Movements, for San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. It will open Spring 2026. Their newest book is So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color.Set in the post-martial-law era of late-1980s Taipei, Notes of a Crocodile is a coming-of-age story of queer misfits discovering love, friendship, and artistic affinity while hardly studying at Taiwan's most prestigious university. Told through the eyes of an anonymous lesbian narrator nicknamed Lazi, this cult classic is a postmodern pastiche of diaries, vignettes, mash notes, aphorisms, exegesis, and satire by an incisive prose stylist and major countercultural figure.Connect with Carowebsite: caroderobertis.cominstagram: @caro_derobertisOur BookshopVisit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbookBuy Notes of a Crocodile: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781681370767Buy So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781643756875Become an Associate Producer!Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbookCreditsHost/Founder: John ParkerExecutive Producer: Jim PoundsAssociate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean SmithPatreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, Sofia Nerman, and Gary Nygaard.Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy EricksonQuatrefoil LibraryQuatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can't buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1We're in Iceland for PRIDE, so we're taking this week off! We'll be back with a new episode on August 12th with guest Caro De Robertis talking about the queer book that saved their life: Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin, translated by Bonnie Huie.Support the show

Katie Kitamura joins Adam Biles to discuss her remarkable novel Audition. Centred on a middle-aged actress whose settled life is upended by a young man claiming to be her son, Audition blurs the lines between performance, identity, and narrative certainty. Kitamura reflects on the novel's dual structure—a “rabbit-duck” ambiguity—and her fascination with roles we perform in relationships, particularly within marriage and family. The conversation explores the mutability of identity, the ethical power of embracing contradiction, and the unique capacity of the novel to hold multiple truths simultaneously. Kitamura also discusses craft, genre, and the challenges of maintaining ambiguity without sacrificing narrative tension. An essential listen for readers drawn to fiction that resists easy answers and revels in complexity.Buy Audition: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/books/audition-3Katie Kitamura is the author of five novels, including Intimacies, named one of the 10 Best Books of 2021 by the New York Times. It was also one of Barack Obama's favourite books of the year, and was longlisted for a National Book Award and a PEN/Faulkner Award and was a finalist for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Kitamura's novel A Separation was a New York Times Notable Book. Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages and is being adapted for film and television. A recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature and other honours, she teaches in the creative writing programme at New York University.Adam Biles is Literary Director at Shakespeare and Company.Listen to Alex Freiman's latest EP, In The Beginning: https://open.spotify.com/album/5iZYPMCUnG7xiCtsFCBlVa?si=h5x3FK1URq6SwH9Kb_SO3w Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, JAMES by Percival Everett. Our book of the week is SMALL RAIN by Garth Greenwell. A poet is admitted to hospital with severe pain.  Bedridden, he reflects on his relationships, music and poetry and the small details of life. Winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction. We loved this one. Coming up: THE EMPUSIUM by Olga Tokarczuk translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. Follow us! Email: Booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Substack: Books On The Go Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz  

Katie Kitamura is the author of the novel Audition, available from Riverhead Books. Kitamura's other novels include A Separation and Intimacies, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award and was a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, a Lannan fellowship, and many other honors, and her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University. *** ⁠Otherppl with Brad Listi⁠ is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: ⁠Apple Podcasts⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠, ⁠YouTube⁠, etc. Subscribe to ⁠Brad Listi's email newsletter⁠. ⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠ ⁠Merch⁠ ⁠Twitter⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠  ⁠TikTok⁠ ⁠Bluesky⁠ Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a ⁠proud affiliate partner of Bookshop⁠, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Yiyun Li joins Deborah Treisman to read and discuss “The Piano Tuner's Wives,” by William Trevor, which was published in The New Yorker in 1995. Li has published eight books of fiction, including the novels “Must I Go” and “Book of Goose,” a winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, and the story collection “Wednesday's Child,” which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2024. A new nonfiction work, “Things in Nature Merely Grow,” will be published this month. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

The Author Events Series presents Katie Kitamura | Audition: A Novel REGISTER In Conversation with Adam Dalva One woman, the performance of a lifetime. Or two. An exhilarating, destabilizing Möbius strip of a novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love. Two people meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. She's an accomplished actress in rehearsals for an upcoming premiere. He's attractive, troubling, young-young enough to be her son. Who is he to her, and who is she to him? In this compulsively readable, brilliantly constructed novel, two competing narratives unspool, rewriting our understanding of the roles we play every day – partner, parent, creator, muse – and the truths every performance masks, especially from those who think they know us most intimately.  Taut and hypnotic, Audition is Katie Kitamura at her virtuosic best. Katie Kitamura is the author of four previous novels, most recently A Separation and Intimacies, which was longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award and was a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, a Lannan fellowship, and many other honors, and her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University. Adam Dalva's writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, and The New York Review of Books. He serves on the board of the National Book Critics Circle and is a Contributing Fiction Editor of The Yale Review. The 2024/25 Author Events Series is presented by Comcast. Because you love Author Events, please make a donation when you register for this event to ensure that this series continues to inspire Philadelphians. Books will be available for purchase at the library on event night! All tickets are non-refundable. (recorded 4/9/2025)

“This novel is the third in what I see as a little set of books that all feature unnamed female protagonists who have experienced varying degrees of passivity and agency in their lives. They're all women who speak the words of other people.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I'm really interested in the formal aspect of characters who are channeling language, who are speaking the words of other people, and in characters who are aware of how little agency they actually have, who have passivity forced upon them, who perhaps even embrace their passivity to a certain extent but eventually seek out where they can enact their agency.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

Host Jason Blitman talks to Katie Kitamura (Audition) about learned behaviors, the nature of intimacy, the art of performance, and her immersive process of writing. Perhaps most importantly, they talk at length about french fries. Jason is then joined by Guest Gay Reader Nathan Lee Graham, currently starring in Hulu's Mid-Century Modern to talk about what he's reading. Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Nathan Lee Graham is an American cabaret artist, actor, singer, writer, and director. He is known for roles in Zoolander and its sequel, Sweet Home Alabama, and Hitch, along with appearances in films like Confessions of an Action Star, Bad Actress, and Trophy Kids. On television, he originated the role of Peter in The Comeback and guest-starred on Scrubs, Absolutely Fabulous, and Law & Order SVU. Graham's stage credits include the original Broadway cast of The Wild Party and Miss Understanding in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. He received a Drama League nomination for his role in Wig Out! and won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award in 2006 for Best Featured Performer in The Wild Party (LA premiere). More recently, he played Carson in Hit the Wall at the Barrow Street Theatre. As a soloist, he earned a 2005 Grammy Award for Best Classical Album for Songs of Innocence and of Experience.SUBSTACK!https://gaysreading.substack.com/ BOOK CLUB!Use code GAYSREADING at checkout to get first book for only $4 + free shipping! Restrictions apply.http://aardvarkbookclub.com WATCH!https://youtube.com/@gaysreading FOLLOW!Instagram: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanBluesky: @gaysreading | @jasonblitmanCONTACT!hello@gaysreading.com

“This novel is the third in what I see as a little set of books that all feature unnamed female protagonists who have experienced varying degrees of passivity and agency in their lives. They're all women who speak the words of other people.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I'm really interested in the formal aspect of characters who are channeling language, who are speaking the words of other people, and in characters who are aware of how little agency they actually have, who have passivity forced upon them, who perhaps even embrace their passivity to a certain extent but eventually seek out where they can enact their agency.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“This novel is the third in what I see as a little set of books that all feature unnamed female protagonists who have experienced varying degrees of passivity and agency in their lives. They're all women who speak the words of other people.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I'm really interested in the formal aspect of characters who are channeling language, who are speaking the words of other people, and in characters who are aware of how little agency they actually have, who have passivity forced upon them, who perhaps even embrace their passivity to a certain extent but eventually seek out where they can enact their agency.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

" I think the narrative structure of those story ballets, which were some of the biggest stories of my childhood. I grew up watching Swan Lake. Giselle, La Bayadère, these were stories that were as present to me as anything that I read. Those story ballets are often split in two parts in a way. You have the White Swan and the Black Swan. In Giselle, you have the young girl and then you have the shade, the kind of ghost who comes to haunt her, her lover. Very similar in La Bayadère. And the structure of this novel is in two parts and it's two versions, in a way, of the same character. And now that you said it, I wonder if in some way, without realizing it, that narrative structure had really seeped into my brain."Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“This novel is the third in what I see as a little set of books that all feature unnamed female protagonists who have experienced varying degrees of passivity and agency in their lives. They're all women who speak the words of other people.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I'm really interested in the formal aspect of characters who are channeling language, who are speaking the words of other people, and in characters who are aware of how little agency they actually have, who have passivity forced upon them, who perhaps even embrace their passivity to a certain extent but eventually seek out where they can enact their agency.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“This novel is the third in what I see as a little set of books that all feature unnamed female protagonists who have experienced varying degrees of passivity and agency in their lives. They're all women who speak the words of other people.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“This novel is the third in what I see as a little set of books that all feature unnamed female protagonists who have experienced varying degrees of passivity and agency in their lives. They're all women who speak the words of other people.”Katie Kitamura is the author five novels, most recently Audition and Intimacies, which was named one of the New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and a finalist for a Joyce Carol Oates Prize. She is a recipient of the Rome Prize in Literature, fellowships from the Cullman Center and the Lannan Foundation, and many other honors. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. She teaches in the creative writing program at New York University.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

Jackson Howard is an editor and writer from Los Angeles who lives in Brooklyn. He's Senior Editor at Farrar, Straus and Giroux and its imprints MCD and AUWA (headed by Questlove), where he acquires and edits a broad range of fiction and nonfiction. Writers he has published include Judith Butler, Brontez Purnell, Catherine Lacey, Bryan Washington, Laura van den Berg, Sarah Schulman, Jonathan Escoffery, Fernando A. Flores, Susan Straight, Imogen Binnie, Shon Faye, Henry Hoke, Thomas Grattan, Venita Blackburn, Missouri Williams, and many others. Books he has edited have won or been nominated for the Booker Prize, the National Book Award, the Kirkus Prize, the Lambda Literary Award, the PEN Open Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the Los Angeles Times Award for First Fiction. A longtime Pitchfork contributor, his reviews, profiles, and essays have also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Cut, Rolling Stone, The Ringer, W., i-D, office, Document, and elsewhere. In 2023, he was featured in New York magazine's Power Issue and was named one of Harper's BAZAAR's 36 Voices of Now and part of Town & Country's Creative Aristocracy. In 2022, he was named a Star Watch Honoree by Publishers Weekly. _________________________________ The Critic and Her Publics Hosted by Merve Emre • Edited by Michele Moses • Music by Dani Lencioni • Art by Leanne Shapton • Sponsored by Alfred A. Knopf The Critic and Her Publics is a co-production between the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing and Criticism at Wesleyan University, New York Review of Books, and Lit Hub.

Joseph O'Neill reads his story “Keuka Lake,” from the March 3rd, 2025, issue of the magazine. O'Neill is the author of one story collection and five novels, including “Netherland,” which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 2009, “The Dog,” and “Godwin,” which was published last year. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Why are we filled with so many contradictions? How does writing help us make sense of the absurdity and of the absurdity and chaos of the world? T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End. “What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcastPhoto credit: Spencer Boyle in Santa Barbara, CA

“What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

Why are we filled with so many contradictions? How does writing help us make sense of the absurdity and of the absurdity and chaos of the world? T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End. “What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcastPhoto credit: Spencer Boyle in Santa Barbara, CA

Why are we filled with so many contradictions? How does writing help us make sense of the absurdity and of the absurdity and chaos of the world? T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End. “What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcastPhoto credit: Spencer Boyle in Santa Barbara, CA

“What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

Why are we filled with so many contradictions? How does writing help us make sense of the absurdity and of the absurdity and chaos of the world? T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End. “What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcastPhoto credit: Spencer Boyle in Santa Barbara, CA

“What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“What I have done in my career is just try to assess who we are, what we are, why we are here, and how come we, as animals, are able to walk around and wear pants and dresses and talk on the internet, while the other animals are not. It's been my obsession since I was young. I think if I hadn't become a novelist, I might have been happy to be a naturalist or a field biologist.There is some kind of magic in the creative process. I am reaching for things in my unconscious that surprise me. I don't know what it's going to be. I'd like to do many, many things. It's all my life's work. I don't want to just write the same book over and over again as some other authors do. I don't want to become formulaic.”T.C. Boyle is a novelist and short story writer based out of Santa Barbara, California. He has published 19 novels, such as The Road to Wellville and more than 150 short stories for publications like The New Yorker, as well as his many short story collections. His latest novel Blue Skies is a companion piece to A Friend of the Earth. His writing has earned numerous awards, including winning the PEN/Faulkner Award for Best Novel of the Year for World's End.Episode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

Eric Puchner is the author of two story collections — Music Through the Floor and Last Day on Earth. His first novel, Model Home, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction. His latest novel, Dream State, publishes February 18. He joins Marrie Stone to talk about it. They discuss controlling time in a novel, since the book takes place over generations and moves not linearly but fluidly through time. They also talk about anticipating the future, because the novel projects ahead in time. They discuss point of view, bringing real world issues like climate change and environmentalism into your work in non-moralizing ways, and what he advises his students about writer's block. They also discuss the current world of agents and editors and what he's learned in his decades of publishing, and so much more. As a bonus, Eric and his wife, novelist Katherine Noel, collaborated on an essay entitled I Married a Novelist, a fun, funny, and delightful read. For more information on Writers on Writing and to become a supporter, visit our Patreon page. For a one-time donation, visit Ko-fi. You can find hundreds upon hundreds of past interviews on our website. If you'd like to support the show and indie bookstores, consider buying books at our bookstore on bookshop.org. We've stocked it with titles from our guests, as well as some of our personal favorites. And on Spotify, you'll find to an album's worth of typewriter music like what you hear on the show. Look for the artist, Just My Type. Email the show at writersonwritingpodcast@gmail.com. We love to hear from our listeners! (Recorded on February 5, 2025) Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett Host: Marrie Stone Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)

Our job is to make Trump fail. That, at least, is the view of the writer Joseph O'Neill, whose essays in the New York Review of Books offer not just a powerful critique of Trump but also of the contemporary Democratic party which he describes as a “cancerous thing”. There's a desperate need, O'Neill believes, for the Democrats to reinvent themselves as an populist alternative to Trumpism. And that means, he says, addressing the problem of angry young men who, he says, have become “cannon fodder” for social media personalities like Joe Rogan. Joseph O'Neill is the author of the novels The Dog, Netherland (which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award), The Breezes, and This Is the Life. He has also written a family history, Blood-Dark Track. He lives in New York City and teaches at Bard College.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

This week, we bring you a live interview with Garth Greenwell, conducted in October 2024 at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Garth talks about growing up in Kentucky assuming that he would die young, the teacher who gave him a path toward being an artist, and the doggedness with which he has pursued his aesthetic practices (in both music and literature) ever since. Mentioned: Garth's new novel, Small Rain (FSG 2024)Frank BidartBenjamin BrittenCosì Fan TutteThe HIV/AIDS crisisGarth Greenwell is the author of What Belongs to You, which won the British Book Award for Debut of the Year, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and was a finalist for six other awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second book of fiction, Cleanness, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and Cleanness was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, a New York Times Critics Top 10 book of the year, and a Best Book of the year by the New Yorker, TIME, NPR, the BBC, and over thirty other publications. A new novel, Small Rain, is now out from FSG. He is the recipient of many honors for his work, including a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship and the 2021 Vursell Award for prose style from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has taught at the Iowa Writers Workshop, Grinnell College, the University of Mississippi, Princeton, and NYU. He writes regularly about literature, film, art and music for his Substack, To a Green Thought. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Strout is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy by the Sea; Oh William!, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Olive, Again; Anything Is Possible, winner of the Story Prize; My Name Is Lucy Barton; The Burgess Boys; Olive Kitteridge, winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Abide with Me; and Amy and Isabelle, winner of the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize. She has also been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in London. She lives in Maine. Her new novel is Tell Me Everything. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Garth Greenwell is the author of Cleanness. His novel What Belongs to You won the British Book Award for Debut of the Year, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and was a finalist for six other awards, including the James Tait Black Prize, the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, it was named a Best Book of 2016 by over fifty publications in nine countries, and is being translated into a dozen languages. His novella Mitko won the Miami University Press Novella Prize and was a finalist for the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction and a Lambda Literary Award. His fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, the Paris Review, A Public Space, and VICE, and he has written criticism for the New Yorker, the London Review of Books, and the New York Times Book Review, among others. On this episode of Little Atoms he talks to Neil Denny about his latest novel Small Rain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Elizabeth Strout is the author of the novel Tell Me Everything, available from Random House. Strout is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lucy by the Sea; Oh William!, which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; Olive, Again; Anything Is Possible, winner of the Story Prize; My Name Is Lucy Barton; The Burgess Boys; Olive Kitteridge, winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Abide with Me; and Amy and Isabelle, winner of the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize. She has also been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize in London. She lives in Maine. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch Twitter Instagram  TikTok Bluesky Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Excerpts from "A Reader's Manifesto", published by Arjun Panickssery on September 7, 2024 on LessWrong. "A Reader's Manifesto" is a July 2001 Atlantic piece by B.R. Myers that I've returned to many times. He complains about the inaccessible pretension of the highbrow literary fiction of his day. The article is mostly a long list of critiques of various quotes/passages from well-reviewed books by famous authors. It's hard to accuse him of cherry-picking since he only targets passages that reviewers singled out as unusually good. Some of his complaints are dumb but the general idea is useful: authors try to be "literary" by (1) avoiding a tightly-paced plot that could evoke "genre fiction" and (2) trying to shoot for individual standout sentences that reviewers can praise, using a shotgun approach where many of the sentences are banal or just don't make sense. Here are some excerpts of his complaints. Bolding is always mine. The "Writerly" Style He complains that critics now dismiss too much good literature as "genre" fiction. More than half a century ago popular storytellers like Christopher Isherwood and Somerset Maugham were ranked among the finest novelists of their time, and were considered no less literary, in their own way, than Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. Today any accessible, fast-moving story written in unaffected prose is deemed to be "genre fiction" - at best an excellent "read" or a "page turner," but never literature with a capital L. An author with a track record of blockbusters may find the publication of a new work treated like a pop-culture event, but most "genre" novels are lucky to get an inch in the back pages of The New York Times Book Review. The dualism of literary versus genre has all but routed the old trinity of highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow, which was always invoked tongue-in-cheek anyway. Writers who would once have been called middlebrow are now assigned, depending solely on their degree of verbal affectation, to either the literary or the genre camp. David Guterson is thus granted Serious Writer status for having buried a murder mystery under sonorous tautologies (Snow Falling on Cedars, 1994), while Stephen King, whose Bag of Bones (1998) is a more intellectual but less pretentious novel, is still considered to be just a very talented genre storyteller. Further, he complains that fiction is regarded as "literary" the more slow-paced, self-conscious, obscure, and "writerly" its style. The "literary" writer need not be an intellectual one. Jeering at status-conscious consumers, bandying about words like "ontological" and "nominalism," chanting Red River hokum as if it were from a lost book of the Old Testament: this is what passes for profundity in novels these days. Even the most obvious triteness is acceptable, provided it comes with a postmodern wink. What is not tolerated is a strong element of action - unless, of course, the idiom is obtrusive enough to keep suspense to a minimum. Conversely, a natural prose style can be pardoned if a novel's pace is slow enough, as was the case with Ha Jin's aptly titled Waiting, which won the National Book Award (1999) and the PEN/Faulkner Award (2000). If the new dispensation were to revive good "Mandarin" writing - to use the term coined by the British critic Cyril Connolly for the prose of writers like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce - then I would be the last to complain. But what we are getting today is a remarkably crude form of affectation: a prose so repetitive, so elementary in its syntax, and so numbing in its overuse of wordplay that it often demands less concentration than the average "genre" novel. 4 Types of Bad Prose Then he has five sections complaining about 4 different types of prose he doesn't like (in addition to the generic "literary" prose): "evocative" prose, "muscular"...

Today, we get to hear from Maurice Carlos Ruffin whose novel, THE AMERICAN DAUGHTERS, was released in February. We'll be talking about how to write politically charged topics. Watch a recording here. The audio/video version is available for one week. Missed it? Check out the podcast version above or on your favorite podcast platform.To find Ruffin's latest novel and many other books by our authors, visit our Bookshop page. Looking for a writing community? Join our Facebook page.Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the recipient of the 2023 Louisiana Writer Award and the Black Rock Senegal Residency. He also wrote The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You, which was published in August 2021. It was the 2023 One Book One New Orleans selection, a New York Times Editor's Choice, a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence and longlisted for the Story Prize. The book was also selected to represent Louisiana at the 2023 National Book Festival. His first book, We Cast a Shadow, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize. It was longlisted for the 2021 DUBLIN Literary Award, the Center for Fiction Prize, and the Aspen Words Literary Prize. A New Orleans native, Ruffin is a professor of Creative Writing at Louisiana State University, and the 2020-2021 John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. Ruffin is part of the Artist Network of Narrative 4, an organization dedicated to aiding the educational opportunities of young people. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit 7amnovelist.substack.com

The pod team is still on vacation! In the mountains! Without recording equipment! The Season 5 premiere will be in your feed soon. Until then, enjoy this conversation with Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author of three books and faculty member twice over. Maurice Carlos Ruffin, author and faculty member at two MFA programs, joins Jared for this special episode about Maurice's multi-year journey from corporate lawyer to professional writer (with plenty of rejection in between), the role of a creative writing professor in guiding students' work, and the criticality of retaining joy in our writing, despite the challenges of publication, deadlines, and stories that just aren't working. Finally, Maurice offers advice on what makes someone a successful MFA student, and where emerging writers should devote their energy. Maurice Carlos Ruffin is the author of The Ones Who Don't Say They Love You, which was published by One World Random House in August 2021. It was a New York Times Editor's Choice, a finalist for the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence, and longlisted for the Story Prize. His first book, We Cast a Shadow, was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the PEN America Open Book Prize, among others. A New Orleans native, Maurice is a professor of Creative Writing in the MFA program at Louisiana State University and a faculty member in Randolph College's low-residency M.F.A. program. Find him at his website, mauricecarlosruffin.com, and on Twitter @MauriceRuffin. MFA Writers is hosted by Jared McCormack and produced by Jared McCormack and Hanamori Skoblow. New episodes are released every two weeks. You can find more MFA Writers at MFAwriters.com. BE PART OF THE SHOW — Donate to the show at Buy Me a Coffee. — Leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. — Submit an episode request. If there's a program you'd like to learn more about, contact us and we'll do our very best to find a guest who can speak to their experience. — Apply to be a guest on the show by filling out our application. STAY CONNECTED Twitter: @MFAwriterspod Instagram: @MFAwriterspodcast Facebook: MFA Writers Email: mfawriterspodcast@gmail.com

The Euros start today and Copa America next week. So expect a slew of garbage about soccer/football as the “beautiful game” or, even more ludicrously, the “people's game”. But as Joseph O'Neill shows in his timely new novel, Godwin, today's trillion dollar football industry is a mirror of our globalized, neo-colonial economy. Think of Godwin as a chirpy Heart of Darkness for our celebrity age of Messi, Ronaldo and Mbappe. And O'Neill, an Turkish-Irish Manchester United fan based in Brooklyn, has the necessary globetrotting credentials to chart the rottenness of our beautiful game. One-nil to neo-liberalism. Own goal. Joseph O'Neill is the author of the novels The Dog, Netherland (which won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award), The Breezes, and This Is the Life. He has also written a family history, Blood-Dark Track. He lives in New York City and teaches at Bard College.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

In Episode 171, Rufi Thorpe she joins me to discuss her latest novel, Margo's Got Money Troubles, and her career arc in general. Rufi talks about her inspiration for Margo and the quirky elements she uses to explore deeper topics like loneliness, motherhood, untraditional family dynamics, money, and art — all with a great sense of humor. We also go behind-the-scenes of marketing the book, including cover design, titles, and comparison titles.  Plus, Rufi shares her book recommendations! This post contains affiliate links through which I make a small commission when you make a purchase (at no cost to you!). CLICK HERE for the full episode Show Notes on the blog. Highlights A spoiler-free overview of Margo's Got Money Troubles. Rufi talks about the inspiration for bringing together pro wrestling, OnlyFans, motherhood, a father-daughter story, and the challenges of making ends meet. How Wonder Woman (2017) played a role in creating Margo. Her thoughts on Margo's Got Money Troubles possibly being her breakout book. The challenges of marketing such a complex book, including designing the cover. Rufi's got title troubles: the working titles for a couple of her books! The big questions Rufi addresses in all her work. Some scenes that were cut from earlier versions book. A theme she's exploring in her next book is gossip (which also contains time-travel and thriller elements). The way Rufi and her publisher handles comps for her hard-to-pin-down books. What she learned from an unpublished book she wrote between Dear Fang, With Love and The Knockout Queen. Rufi's Book Recommendations [39:30] Two OLD Books She Loves Shadow Tag by Louise Erdrich | Amazon | Bookshop.org [39:45] Ordinary Love and Good Will by Jane Smiley | Amazon | Bookshop.org  [41:45] Two NEW Books She Loves Oye by Melissa Mogollon | Amazon | Bookshop.org [44:35] Devil Makes Three by Ben Fountain | Amazon | Bookshop.org [47:25] Other Books Mentioned: Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain [50:36] One Book She DIDN'T Love The Bee Sting by Paul Murray | Amazon | Bookshop.org [50:56] One NEW RELEASE She's Excited About Mad Woman by Chelsea Bieker (Sept 3, 2024) | Amazon | Bookshop.org [52:09] Other Books Mentioned: God Shot by Chelsea Bieker [52:23] Last 5-Star Book Rufi Read Come and Get It by Kiley Reid | Amazon | Bookshop.org [54:07] Other Books Mentioned: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid [54:24] Other Books Mentioned Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe [1:57] The Girls from Corona del Mar by Rufi Thorpe [2:12] The Knockout Queen by Rufi Thorpe [13:49] The Cider House Rules by John Irving [19:53] A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara [30:32] Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong [30:48] The Pisces by Melissa Broder [31:36] Milk Fed by Melissa Broder [31:38] Victim by Andrew Boryga [38:36] About Rufi Thorpe Website | Instagram | X | Facebook Rufi Thorpe received her MFA from the University of Virginia in 2009. Rufi is the author of The Knockout Queen, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, Dear Fang, With Love, and her first novel, The Girls from Corona del Mar, which was long-listed for the 2014 International Dylan Thomas Prize and for the 2014 Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize. A California native, she currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and sons.

In conversation with Laura McGrath, Assistant Professor of English at Temple University ''Among our greatest contemporary writers'' (The Miami Herald), Claire Messud is the author of The Emperor's Children, a cutting portrait of life among Manhattan's junior intelligentsia that was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Her other acclaimed and bestselling novels include When the World Was Steady, The Hunters, The Last Life, The Woman Upstairs, and The Burning Girl. A PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, the recipient of Guggenheim and Radcliffe fellowships, and the winner of the Strauss Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Messud teaches writing at Harvard University. Named one of the most anticipated books of 2024 by The Guardian, Oprah Daily, and New York magazine, This Strange Eventful History follows the seven-decade arc of an itinerant French Algerian colonial family born on the wrong side of history and forced to reckon with their interpersonal and larger political legacies. Because you love Author Events, please make a donation to keep our podcasts free for everyone. THANK YOU! (recorded 5/15/2024)

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 626, my conversation with author Garth Greenwell. The episode first aired on February 26, 2020. Greenwell is the author of What Belongs to You, which won the British Book Award for Debut of the Year, was longlisted for the National Book Award, and was a finalist for six other awards, including the PEN/Faulkner Award, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, it was named a Best Book of 2016 by over fifty publications in nine countries, and is being translated into fourteen languages. His second book of fiction, Cleanness, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize, the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, the L.D. and LaVerne Harrell Clark Fiction Prize, and France's Prix Sade (Deuxième sélection). Cleanness was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, a New York Times Critics Top 10 book of the year, and a Best Book of the year by the New Yorker, TIME, NPR, the BBC, and over thirty other publications. It is being translated into eight languages. A new novel, Small Rain, is forthcoming from FSG in 2024. Greenwell is also the co-editor, with R.O. Kwon, of the anthology KINK, which appeared in February 2021, was named a New York Times Notable Book, won the inaugural Joy Award from the #MarginsBookstore Collective, and became a national bestseller. His fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, A Public Space, and VICE, and he has written nonfiction for The New Yorker, the London Review of Books, and Harper's, among others. He writes regularly about literature, film, art and music for his Substack, To a Green Thought. He is the recipient of many honors for his work, including a 2020 Guggenheim Fellowship and the 2021 Vursell Award for prose style from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has taught at the Iowa Writers Workshop, Grinnell College, the University of Mississippi, and Princeton. Greenwell currently lives in New York, where he is a Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at NYU. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 331, my conversation with Atticus Lish. It first aired on November 19, 2014. Lish is the author of the novel The War for Gloria, published in 2022 by Vintage, and the debut novel Preparation for the Next Life, which won the 2015 Pen/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the 2016 Grand Prix de Littérature Américaine. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"Cookie Monster Shares" was performed by actor and comedian Baron Vaughn at SketchFest in San Francisco, CA. The story was written by James Hannaham, the PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author of sharp satires including Delicious Foods and Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta. (Which, an objectively great title that really paints a picture.) Hannaham's sharp satires take no prisoners—even in the seemingly innocuous context of a story narrated by the one and only Cookie Monster.  Episode host Aparna Nancherla talks to the author after the story. Too Hot For Radio is a bonus podcast from Selected Shorts featuring saucy and salacious tales that can't air on public radio.

In today's flashback, an outtake from Episode 507, my conversation with author Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi. This episode first aired on March 7, 2018. Azareen Van Der Vliet Oloomi is an American novelist and non-fiction writer. She is the author of Call Me Zebra, named a Best Book of the Year by over twenty publications and the winner of the 2019 PEN/Faulkner Award, the John Gardner Award, and long listed for the PEN/Open Book Award. Her other novels include Savage Tongues and Fra Keeler, for which she received a Whiting Writers' Award and a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" award. She is the 2023-2024 Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Foundation Fiction Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies at Harvard University. A recipient of fellowships from Fulbright, the Aspen Institute, MacDowell, and Art Omi, her work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories (Ed. by Min Jin Lee and Heidi Pitlor), The Sewanee Review, The Yale Review, The New York Times, and The Paris Review among other places. In 2020, she founded Literatures of Annihilation, Exile & Resistance, a conversation series focused on the intersection of the arts and transformational migrations. Born in Los Angeles, she spent her childhood in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, and Spain, and speaks Farsi, Italian, and Spanish. She is the Dorothy G. Griffin College Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. *** Otherppl with Brad Listi is a weekly literary podcast featuring in-depth interviews with today's leading writers. Available where podcasts are available: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, etc. Subscribe to Brad Listi's email newsletter. Support the show on Patreon Merch @otherppl Instagram  TikTok Email the show: letters [at] otherppl [dot] com The podcast is a proud affiliate partner of Bookshop, working to support local, independent bookstores. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices