Shows / New Books in Literature
New Books in Literature
This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/…
Episodes
- New Books in Literature
Fran Hawthorne, "I Meant to Tell You" (Stephen F. Austin State UP, 2022)
I Meant to Tell You, by Fran Hawthorne (Stephen F. Austin State University Press, 2022) opens during a conversation between Miranda Isaacs and her fiancé…
- New Books in Literature
Susan Stokes-Chapman, "Pandora" (Harper Perennial, 2023)
It is the very end of the eighteenth century, and Pandora Blake—known as Dora—lives at the edge of London society. Despite the opposition of her obnoxious…
- New Books in Literature
Dan Kois, "Vintage Contemporaries" (Harper, 2023)
Dan Kois is the author of three nonfiction books: How to Be A Family, a memoir; The World Only Spins Foward, an oral history of Tony Kushner's Angels in…
- New Books in Literature
Hadeer Elsbai, "The Daughters of Izdihar" (Harper Voyager, 2023)
The Daughters of Izdihar (Harper Voyager, 2023), like last year’s A Master of Djinn, is set in a world similar to Egypt, during the time of the suffragette…
- New Books in Literature
Gil Hovav, "Candies from Heaven" (Green Bean Books, 2023)
"Uncle Aron's compliments, which hadn't changed since the days of the Bible, didn't sound so great. One time, he told my mother that she was 'awesome like an…
- New Books in Literature
Afsar Mohammad, "An Evening with a Sufi" (Red River, 2022)
Afsar Mohammad's An Evening with a Sufi (Red River, 2022) is a collection of Afsar's Telugu poems translated into to English by Asfar and Shamala Gallagher…
- New Books in Literature
Annalee Newitz, "The Terraformers" (Little, Brown, 2023)
In their new novel, The Terraformers (Little, Brown, 2023), Annalee Newitz leaps 60,000 years into the future, redefining ideas of peoplehood, democracy and…
- New Books in Literature
Svetlana Lavochkina, "Carbon: Song of Crafts" (Lost Horse Press, 2020)
Donetsk, the black gem of Ukraine―Eden and Sodom in one, a stew steaming with coal fever, Manifest Destiny of Europe's east: Svetlana Lavochkina sends readers…
- New Books in Literature
Booksellers' Best of 2022
Lisa Swayze is the General Manager and Buyer at Buffalo Street Books, Ithaca’s cooperatively owned independent bookstore. You’ve heard me mention Buffalo…
- New Books in Literature
Anna Hogeland, "The Long Answer" (Riverhead Books, 2022)
Today I talked to Anna Hogeland about her new novel The Long Answer (Riverhead Books, 2022). Hogeland is a psychotherapist in private practice, with an MSW…
- New Books in Literature
Stephen Jenkinson and Kimberly Johnson, "Reckoning" (Iron God of Mercy, 2022)
Today I interview Kimberly Johnson and Stephen Jenkinson about their new book, Reckoning (Iron God of Mercy, 2022). Reckoning is an encounter, not only of two…
- New Books in Literature
Sandy Moffett, "The Ghost of Craven Snuggs: A Midwestern Murder Mystery" (Ice Cube Press, 2022)
Today I talked to the wonderful Sandy Moffett. Sandy joined the Grinnell faculty in 1971 and teaches Acting, Directing and American Theatre. Although now…
- New Books in Literature
Sarah Jane Butler, "Starling" (Fairlight Books, 2022)
Today I talked to Sarah Jane Butler about her novel Starling (Fairlight Books, 2022). Starling is 19 and was raised in a camper van by a strong-willed mother…
- New Books in Literature
95* Books in Dark Times: A Discussion with Kim Stanley Robinson
Kim Stanley Robinson, SF novelist of renown, has three marvelous trilogies: The Three Californias, Science in the Capital and Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue…
- New Books in Literature
Michael X. Wang, "Lost in the Long March" (Overlook Press, 2022)
In 1934, tens of thousands of Communist guerillas fled Jiangxi, in an extended retreat through hazardous terrain to Shaanxi in the north, while under fire from…
- New Books in Literature
Jemma Borg, "Wilder" (Liverpool UP, 2022)
What is still wild in us – and is it recoverable? The poems in Wilder (Liverpool UP, 2022), Jemma Borg’s second collection, are acts of excavation into the…
- New Books in Literature
Michelle R. Boyd, "Becoming the Writer You Already Are" (Sage, 2022)
Becoming the Writer You Already Are (Sage, 2022) helps scholars uncover their unique writing process and design a writing practice that fits how they work…
- New Books in Literature
Murray Lee, "Compass" (Publerati, 2022)
We can't all be heroes. Some try and succeed. Others posture and pretend. And a few--just a few--set off on their hero's quest only to discover that failure…
- New Books in Literature
Mitzi Szereto, "The Best New True Crime Stories: Unsolved Crimes and Mysteries" (Mango, 2022)
Crimes are meant to be solved. But what happens when they’re not? For the individuals involved—from the victims and their families to police investigators—this…
- New Books in Literature
Chrysta Bilton, "Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and How I Met My 35 Siblings" (Little, Brown, 2022)
Chrysta Bilton is an American writer who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children. Her first book, the memoir Normal Family: On Truth, Love, and…
- New Books in Literature
C. W. Gortner, "The American Adventuress" (William Morrow, 2022)
From Lucrezia Borgia to Marlene Dietrich, Empress Marie Fyodorovna of Russia, and most recently the actress Sarah Bernhardt, C. W. Gortner has made a career…
- New Books in Literature
Jamil Jan Kochai, "The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories" (Viking, 2022)
The first story in Jamil Jan Kochai’s newest collection has an interesting title and premise. “Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” leads The Haunting…
- New Books in Literature
Jonathan Escoffery, "If I Survive You" (MCD, 2022)
Jonathan Escoffery is the author of the linked story collection, If I Survive You, a New York Times Editor’s Choice and an Indie National Bestseller. If I…
- New Books in Literature
S. K. Waters, "The Dead Won't Tell" (Camcat Books, 2022)
In The Dead Won't Tell (Camcat Books, 2022), Abbie Adams is hired to write an article about an unsolved murder that took place in a small southern college town…
- New Books in Literature
Zaure Batayeva and Shelley Fairweather-Vega, "Amanat: Women's Writing from Kazakhstan" (Gaudy Boy, 2022)
A man is arrested for a single typo, a woman gets on buses at random, and two friends reunite in a changed world.... Diverse in form, scope and style, Amanat…
- New Books in Literature
Meg Howrey, "They're Going to Love You" (Doubleday Books, 2022)
Meg Howrey is the author of the novels They're Going to Love You, The Cranes Dance, and Blind Sight. She is also the coauthor, writing under the pen-name…
- New Books in Literature
Hiron Ennes, "Leech" (Tordotcom, 2022)
“Soft sci-fi, gothic body horror” is how Hiron Ennes describes their debut novel, Leech (Tordotcom, 2022). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Set in an…
- New Books in Literature
Richard Fulco, "We Are All Together" (Wampus Multimedia, 2022)
Today I talked to Richard Fulco about his novel We Are All Together (Wampus Multimedia, 2022). Stephen Cane is a guitarist – he’s already walked out on one…
- New Books in Literature
Cornelia Spelman, "Missing" (Jackleg Press, 2022)
In her new memoir, Missing (Jackleg Press, 2022), children's book author Cornelia Maude Spelman explores her family history and her mother's life. Spelman was…
- New Books in Literature
Ursula Villarreal-Moura, "Math for the Self-Crippling" (Gold Line Press, 2022)
Ursula Villarreal-Moura is the author of Math for the Self-Crippling (2022), selected by Zinzi Clemmons as the Gold Line Press fiction contest winner, and Like…
- New Books in Literature
Fida Jiryis, "The Cage" (Pardes, 2022)
Ha-Kluv (The Cage) is a Hebrew anthology of selected short stories by Fida Jiryis, which she originally published in Arabic. The stories speak of the life of…
- New Books in Literature
L. M. Weeks, "Bottled Lightning" (South Fork Publishers, 2022)
Today I talked to L. M. Weeks about his new book Bottled Lightning (South Fork Publishers, 2022) Top global technology lawyer Tornait "Torn" Sagara knows he…
- New Books in Literature
Elissa Bassist, "Hysterical: A Memoir" (Hachette, 2022)
Today I talked to Elissa Bassist about her memoir Hysterical: A Memoir (Hachette, 2022) For two years author Elissa Bassist saw over twenty medical specialists…
- New Books in Literature
Amy Fusselman, "The Means" (Mariner Books, 2022)
Amy Fusselman is the author of five books. Her latest, The Means (Mariner Books, 2022), is her first novel. Fusselman’s previous four books, all nonfiction…
- New Books in Literature
Grant Faulkner, "All the Comfort Sin Can Provide" (Black Lawrence Press, 2021)
Today I had the pleasure of talking to Grant Faulkner. We discuss National Novel Writing Month, of which Grant is the executive director, 100 Word Story, of…
- New Books in Literature
Nicola Cornick, "The Winter Garden" (Graydon House Books, 2022)
In her novels, Nicola Cornick blends a modern perspective with a historical mystery and a paranormal connection between the two. The Winter Garden (Graydon…
- New Books in Literature
Laura Jean McKay, "The Animals in that Country" (Scribe Us, 2022)
In this episode, I talk to Dr. Laura Jean McKay about her award-winning novel The Animals in that Country (Scribe, 2020). Hard-drinking, foul-mouthed, and…
- New Books in Literature
Lynn Steger Strong, "Flight" (Mariner Books, 2022)
Lynn Steger Strong is the author of the novels Hold Still, Want, and Flight (Mariner Books, 2022). Her non-fiction has appeared in The New York Times, Los…
- New Books in Literature
Sindya Bhanoo, “Tsunami Bride” The Common magazine (Fall, 2022)
Sindya Bhanoo speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “Tsunami Bride,” which appears in The Common’s new fall issue. Sindya talks about her…
- New Books in Literature
4.6 Translation is the Closest Way to Read: Ann Goldstein and Saskia Ziolkowski
In our season finale, Ann Goldstein, renowned translator of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels, gives a master class in the art and business of translation…
- New Books in Literature
Cristina LePort, "Dissection: A Medical Thriller" (Bancroft Press, 2022)
DC heart surgeon Dr. Steven Leeds is suddenly besieged by a handful of immensely complicated heart attack and stroke cases, all caused by a rare arterial…
- New Books in Literature
Mariah Fredericks, "The Lindbergh Nanny" (Minotaur Books, 2022)
Today I talked to Mariah Fredericks about her new novel The Lindbergh Nanny (Minotaur Books, 2022). The kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh, Jr in 1932 shocked the…
- New Books in Literature
Kayla Maiuri, "Mother In the Dark: A Novel" (Riverhead Books, 2022)
Kayla Maiuri holds an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University. Born in the greater Boston area, she now lives in Brooklyn. Mother in the Dark…
- New Books in Literature
Hua Hsu, "Stay True: A Memoir" (Doubleday, 2022)
Stay True (Doubleday: 2022), the new memoir from Hua Hsu, is a coming-of-age story about the writer’s time in the University of California in Berkeley, where…
- New Books in Literature
Kevin Wilson, "Now Is Not the Time to Panic" (Ecco Press, 2022)
Today I talked to Kevin Wilson about his new novel Now Is Not the Time to Panic (Ecco Press, 2022). Kevin Wilson is the author of two collections, Tunneling to…
- New Books in Literature
Christopher M. Hood, "The Revivalists" (Harper, 2022)
A road trip novel, The Revivalists (Harper, 2022) is intimate, funny, and at times, shocking. It has only the dystopian setting in common with Cormac…
- New Books in Literature
Lydia Millet, "Dinosaurs" (Norton, 2022)
Today I talked to Lydia Millet about her new novel Dinosaurs (Norton, 2022). Lydia Millet has written more than a dozen novels and story collections. Her novel…
- New Books in Literature
Karen Odden, "Under a Veiled Moon" (Crooked Lane Books, 2022)
Today I talked to Karen Odden about her new book Under a Veiled Moon (Crooked Lane Books, 2022). When the Princess Alice pleasure boat collides with a huge…
- New Books in Literature
Meera Nair, "The Desire Tree," The Common magazine (Fall, 2022)
Meera Nair speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her essay “The Desire Tree,” which appears in The Common’s new fall issue. Meera talks about the long…
- New Books in Literature
Alastair Reynolds, "Eversion" (Orbit, 2022)
In Alastair Reynolds’ Eversion (Orbit, 2022), the setting keep changing—the epoch, location, and technology—but the characters remain more or less the same as…
- New Books in Literature
Mark Vanhoenacker, "Imagine a City: A Pilot's Journey Across the Urban World" (Knopf, 2022)
How does a pilot see the cities of the world? Unlike residents, who live there full-time, or tourists, who travel once and perhaps never again, pilots are…
- New Books in Literature
Night of the Living Rez
How does identity and experience inform your writing? This episode explores: Professor Talty’s journey from community college student to college professor. The…
- New Books in Literature
Robert J. Lloyd, "The Poison Machine" (Melville House, 2022)
London, 1679. Combining the color and adventure of Alexandre Dumas and the thrills of Frederick Forsyth, early scientists Harry Hunt and Robert Hooke of the…
- New Books in Literature
Eileen Pollack, "Maybe It's Me: On Being the Wrong Kind of Woman" (Delphinium Books, 2022)
In her new essay collection, Maybe It’s Me: On Being the Wrong Kind of Woman (Delphinium Books 2022), Eileen Pollack covers her life in snippets or by delving…
- New Books in Literature
May-lee Chai, "Tomorrow in Shanghai and Other Stories" (Blair, 2022)
In a vibrant and illuminating follow-up to her award-winning story collection, Useful Phrases for Immigrants, May-lee Chai's latest collection Tomorrow in…
- New Books in Literature
Tess Gunty, "The Rabbit Hutch: A Novel" (Knopf, 2022)
Born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, Tess holds a B.A. in English with an Honor’s Concentration in Creative Writing from the University of Notre Dame. After…
- New Books in Literature
Kimberly Garrett Brown, "Cora's Kitchen" (Inanna Publications, 2022)
Cora’s Kitchen by Kimberly Garrett Brown (Inanna Publications 2022) is a striking novel told in letters, journal entries, and a series of stories written by an…
- New Books in Literature
Maaz Bin Bilal, "Temple Lamp: Verses on Banaras by Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan" (India Penguin Classics, 2022)
Today I talked to Maaz Bin Bilal about Temple Lamp: Verses on Banaras by Mirza Asadullah Beg Khan (India Penguin Classics, 2022). The poem ‘Chirag-e-Dair’ or…
- New Books in Literature
Andrea Barrett, "Natural History: Stories" (Norton, 2022)
Andrea Barrett began writing fiction seriously in her thirties and published her first novel, Lucid Stars, in 1988. She’s particularly well known as a writer…
- New Books in Literature
Colleen Cambridge, "A Trace of Poison" (Kensington Publishing, 2022)
Agatha Christie hardly needs an introduction. The Queen of Mystery has reigned since the 1920s, and the recent release of films based on her books shows that…