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
Jessamine Chan, "The School for Good Mothers: A Novel" (Simon and Schuster, 2022)
An interview with Jessamine Chan, author of The School for Good Mothers (Simon and Schuster, 2022), a debut novel about the current and future terrors of…
- New Books in Literature
3.2 Promises Unkept: Damon Galgut with Andrew van der Vlies
Guest host Chris Holmes sits down with Booker Prize winning novelist Damon Galgut and Andrew van der Vlies, distinguished scholar of South African literature…
- New Books in Literature
75* Sean Hill Talks about Bodies in Space and Time with Elizabeth Bradfield
This conversation, first aired in July 2021, features Brandeis poet Elizabeth Bradfield, and the poet Sean Hill, author of Blood Ties and Brown Liquor (2008)…
- New Books in Literature
Tochi Onyebuchi, "Goliath" (Tordotcom, 2022)
Tochi Onyebuchi’s new novel Goliath (Tordotcom, 2022) features a phenomenon familiar to those of us who live in cities—gentrification. Like the gentrifiers of…
- New Books in Literature
Manuel Padilla Jr., "Coconut: Brown on the Outside, White on the Inside" (Xlibris, 2020)
Manuel Padilla Jr. spoke to me today in his very accessible yet historically conscious novel Coconut: Brown on the Outside, White on the Inside (Xlibris…
- New Books in Literature
Teri M. Brown, "Sunflowers Beneath the Snow" (Atmosphere Press, 2021)
Teri M. Brown's novel Sunflowers Beneath the Snow (Atmosphere Press 2022) opens in 1973 with a Ukrainian man being spirited out of the USSR. He’s part of the…
- New Books in Literature
Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, "Anonymous Sex" (Simon and Schuster, 2022)
An interview with Hillary Jordan and Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, editors of Anonymous Sex, a collection of 27 explicit sex stories unattributed to the 27 writers…
- New Books in Literature
Andrew Lipstein, "Last Resort" (FSG, 2022)
An interview with Andrew Lipstein, author of the debut novel, Last Resort. Andrew and I discuss ownership over stories, the blurring of the commercial and the…
- New Books in Literature
Deanna Raybourn, "An Impossible Impostor" (Berkley Books, 2022)
Starting a new historical mystery series is always fun, but summarizing one at book 7 creates a certain conundrum: how to convey the essence of a character and…
- New Books in Literature
Mona Kareem, "Mapping Exile," The Common magazine (Fall 2021)
Mona Kareem speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her essay “Mapping Exile: A Writer’s Story of Growing Up Stateless in Post-Gulf War Kuwait,” which…
- New Books in Literature
Corinne Fowler, "Green Unpleasant Land: Creative Responses to Rural England's Colonial Connections" (Peepal Tree Press, 2021)
In Green Unpleasant Land: Creative Responses to Rural England's Colonial Connections (PeePal Tree Press, 2021), Dr. Corinne Fowler explores the repressed…
- New Books in Literature
Patrick Hicks, "In the Shadow of Dora: A Novel of the Holocaust and the Apollo Program" (Stephen F. Austin UP, 2020)
In the Shadow of Dora by Patrick Hicks (Stephen F. Austin University Press 2020) explores the space program’s path from the Dora Mittelbau concentration camp…
- New Books in Literature
Xochitl Gonzalez, "Olga Dies Dreaming" (Flatiron Books, 2022)
An interview with Xochitl Gonzalez, author of the debut novel, Olga Dies Dreaming (Flatiron Books, 2022). Xochitl and I discuss the unique narrative…
- New Books in Literature
Julia Ridley Smith, "The Sum of Trifles" (U Georgia Press, 2021)
We all live surrounded by objects: some practical, some personal, some handed down from family generations past. But though we interact with material things…
- New Books in Literature
Olive Senior, "Pandemic Poems: First Wave" (2021)
Early in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Olive Senior began posting her series of Pandemic Poems on social media. The project was a way of bearing…
- New Books in Literature
3.1 On Being Unmoored: Chang-rae Lee Charts Fiction with Anne Anlin Cheng
Season three of Novel Dialogue launches in partnership with Public Books and introduces some fresh new voices into the mix. John and Aarthi welcome Chris…
- New Books in Literature
74 George Kalogeris on Words and Places
John and Elizabeth had the marvelous fortune to talk with George Kalogeris about his new book Winthropos (LSU Press, 2021). The title comes from the…
- New Books in Literature
Colin Thubron, "The Amur River: Between Russia and China" (Harper, 2021)
It’s a great pleasure to welcome Colin Thubron to the Asian Review of Books podcast. Travel writer and novelist, Colin has written countless books that bring…
- New Books in Literature
Simon Critchley, "Bald: 35 Philosophical Short Cuts" (Yale UP, 2021)
Bald: 35 Philosophical Short Cuts (Yale UP, 2021) brings together thirty-five essays, originally published in the Times, on a wide range of topics, from the…
- New Books in Literature
David R. Slayton, "Trailer Park Trickster" (Blackstone, 2021)
Did you ever hear the one about the elf, druid, and warlock that walk into—no, not a bar—but a trailer? Trailer Park Trickster (Blackstone, 2021), David…
- New Books in Literature
Lyndsey Ellis, "Bone Broth" (Hidden Timber Books, 2021)
Lyndsey Ellis’s debut novel, Bone Broth (Hidden Timber Books 2021) tells the story of Justine Holmes, who is mourning her husband’s death and grappling with…
- New Books in Literature
Bron Williams, "I Have Seen the Moon: Reflections on Nauru" (2017)
Today I talked to Bron Williams about her book I Have Seen the Moon: Reflections on Nauru (2017). Mary Anne Radmacher wrote, "I am not the same having seen the…
- New Books in Literature
Erin Jessee et al., "Nyiragitwa: Daughter of Sacyega" (Mudacumura, 2021)
Erin Jessee of the University of Glasgow, with her Rwandan co-author Jerome Irankunda, and illustrator Christian Mugarura, and translator Sylvere Mwizerwa have…
- New Books in Literature
Joanna Rakoff, "My Salinger Year" (Vintage, 2014)
An interview with Joanna Rakoff, author of the memoir My Salinger Year (Vintage, 2014). Joanna and I discuss the power of a novelistic memoir, breaking open…
- New Books in Literature
Andy Choi, "Slow Hot" (Schism Press, 2021)
Today I talked to Andy Choi about his novel Slow Hot (Schism Press, 2021). "The principal narratives of Slow Hot (Schism Press, 2021) intersect, contrast, and…
- New Books in Literature
Steven Tagle, “Notes on Looking Back” The Common magazine (Fall, 2021)
Steven Tagle speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his essay “Notes on Looking Back,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. Steven talks about…
- New Books in Literature
Ron Walters, "Deep Dive" (Angry Robot, 2022)
“Why not just torture this main character and make his children completely disappear?” That’s the terrifying premise behind Deep Dive (Angry Robot, 2022), the…
- New Books in Literature
Judith McCormack, "The Singing Forest" (Biblioasis, 2021)
Two children stumble upon a mass grave in the forest outside of Minsk in Belarus where the NKVD, Stalin’s secret police, buried tens of thousands of innocent…
- New Books in Literature
Howard Chiang, "Queer Taiwanese Literature: A Reader" (Cambria Press, 2021)
As the first state to legalize same-sex marriage in Asia and host the first annual gay pride in the Sinophone Pacific, Taiwan is a historic center of lesbian…
- New Books in Literature
Mary Soon Lee, "The Sign of the Dragon" (Jaberwocky, 2020)
First place winner of the 2021 Elgin Award, The Sign of the Dragon by Mary Soon Lee (Jaberwocky, 2020) is an epic fantasy about a young king who must defend…
- New Books in Literature
72 Caryl Phillips Speaks with Corina Stan
Our second January Novel Dialogue conversation is with Caryl Phillips, professor of English at Yale and world-renowned for novels ranging from The Final…
- New Books in Literature
Matthew C. Kruger, "What The Living Know: A Novel of Suicide and Philosophy" (Nfb Publishing, 2020)
Now that science has granted eternal life and youth to all, the world is a place of endless opportunity to live out one's dreams and fulfill one's desires…
- New Books in Literature
Myriam J. A. Chancy, "What Storm, What Thunder: A Novel" (Tin House Books, 2021)
At the end of a long, sweltering day, as markets and businesses begin to close for the evening, an earthquake of 7.0 magnitude shakes the capital of Haiti…
- New Books in Literature
Julia Fine, "The Upstairs House: A Novel" (Harper Collins, 2021)
Today I had the pleasure of talking to Julia Fine about her new book The Upstairs House: A Novel (Harper Collins, 2021). We talked about a lot of things…
- New Books in Literature
Percival Everett, "The Trees: A Novel" (Graywolf Press, 2021)
If there is such a thing as the American literary canon, then Percival Everett (The Trees, 2021) is at the center of it. The author of over 30 novels, books of…
- New Books in Literature
Noor Naga, “Who Writes the Arabian Gulf?” The Common magazine (Fall, 2021)
Noor Naga speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about co-editing The Common’s first-of-its-kind portfolio of writing from the Arabian Gulf, which appeared in…
- New Books in Literature
Karen Odden, "Down a Dark River" (Crooked Lane Books, 2021)
In Karen Odden’s latest mystery (Down a Dark River, Crooked Lane Books 2021) it’s 1878 in London, and Scotland Yard inspector Michael Corravan, a former thief…
- New Books in Literature
Sue Lynn Tan, "Daughter of the Moon Goddess" (Harper Voyager, 2022)
Today I talked to Sue Lynn Tan about her new book Daughter of the Moon Goddess (Harper Voyager, 2022). The immortal Xinyin lives a quiet life on the moon with…
- New Books in Literature
Cara Blue Adams, "You Never Get It Back" (U Iowa Press, 2021)
An interview with Cara Blue Adams, author of You Never Get It Back (University of Iowa Press, 2021). Cara and I discuss the joys of linked short story…
- New Books in Literature
Julie Hedlund on Writing Children's Books
Today I talked to Julie Hedlund. Julie is an award-winning children’s book author, founder of the 12 x 12 Picture Book Writing Challenge, co-founder of Picture…
- New Books in Literature
71 Jennifer Egan with Ivan Kreilkamp: Fiction as Streaming, Genre as Portal (Novel Dialogue crossover, JP)
This week on Recall this Book, another delightful crossover episode from our sister podcast Novel Dialogue, which puts scholars and writers together to discuss…
- New Books in Literature
Dan Hanks, "Swashbucklers" (Angry Robot, 2021)
Most people believe that when they grow up, they need to “put away childish things”—a wise strategy for holding a job, paying the rent and raising a family…
- New Books in Literature
Harold Underdown on Writing and Publishing Books for Children
A wonderful conversation with renowned editor Harold Underdown who founded and runs The Purple Crayon, a respected website with information about the…
- New Books in Literature
Catherine Gentile, "Sunday's Orphan" (Booklocker.com, 2021)
Even for someone trained from birth to manage a farm, stepping into an inheritance at the age of twenty is not easy. Yet this is the situation facing Promise…
- New Books in Literature
Kalani Pickhart, "I Will Die in a Foreign Land" (Two Dollar Radio, 2021)
An interview with Kalani Pickhart, I Will Die in a Foreign Land (2021), a New York Public Library Best Book of 2021. Russia is again amassing troops on the…
- New Books in Literature
Saumya Roy, "Mountain Tales: Love and Loss in the Municipality of Castaway Belongings" (Profile Books, 2021)
In 2016, the city of Mumbai was blanketed in toxic smog. The source? Fires at the nearby dumping ground of Deonar: the country’s oldest. The Deonar fire became…
- New Books in Literature
Takashi Saitō, "Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya Kaidan" (Chisokudo, 2020)
Ghastly Tales from the Yotsuya Kaidan (Chisokudo, 2020) is a newly revised and corrected translation of what is perhaps the most famous and oft told tales of…
- New Books in Literature
Albert Samaha, "Concepcion: An Immigrant Family's Fortunes" (Penguin, 2021)
One of the first members of Albert Samaha’s family introduced in his memoir Concepcion: An Immigrant Family’s Fortunes (Riverhead Books, 2021) is his uncle…
- New Books in Literature
C. K. McDonough, "Stoking Hope" (D. X. Varos, 2021)
Stoking Hope (D.X. Varos, 2021), C.K. McDonough’s debut novel, opens in an early 1900’s southwest Pennsylvania coal town. Nineteen-year-old Martha gets…
- New Books in Literature
Simon Van Booy, "Night Came With Many Stars" (Godine, 2021)
Night Came With Many Stars (Godine 2021) ebbs and flows with people who only take or destroy, balanced by those who give or heal. And everything centers on a…
- New Books in Literature
Best Books of the Year 2021, Booksellers Edition
A conversation with booksellers from three of the most dynamic, exciting, and community-oriented independent bookstores in the country. Lisa Swayze of Buffalo…
- New Books in Literature
Jinny Webber, "Bedtrick" (Cuidono Press, 2021)
As Jinny Webber explains in this interview, a “bedtrick” is a literary device through which a character is deceived into spending the night with someone…
- New Books in Literature
Mary O’Donoghue, "Safety Advice for Staying Indoors” Common magazine (Fall, 2021)
Mary O’Donoghue speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “Safety Advice for Staying Indoors,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. Mary…
- New Books in Literature
Patricia A. Jackson, "Forging a Nightmare" (Angry Robot, 2021)
Patricia A. Jackson’s debut novel Forging a Nightmare immerses the reader in a world of menace-—fallen angels and demigods whose history of alliances and…
- New Books in Literature
Cassandra Lane, "We Are Bridges: A Memoir" (Feminist Press, 2021)
When Cassandra Lane finds herself pregnant at thirty-five, the knowledge sends her on a poignant exploration of memory to prepare for her entry into…
- New Books in Literature
Marianne Worthington, "The Girl Singer" (Fireside Industries, 2021)
In The Girl Singer (Fireside Industries, 2021), her latest collection of poems, Marianne Worthington weaves together nature writing, feminism, and country…
- New Books in Literature
Benjamin Labatut, "When We Cease to Understand the World" (NYRB, 2021)
An interview with Benjamín Labatut, author of When We Cease to Understand the World (2021), a New York Times Top Ten Book of the Year. Benjamin and I cover an…
- New Books in Literature
Karla FC Holloway, "Gone Missing in Harlem: A Novel" (Northwestern UP, 2021)
Gone Missing in Harlem by Karla FC Holloway (TriQuarterly 2021) tells the story of an African American family trying to survive the early decades of the…
- New Books in Literature
Priyanka Sacheti, “Oman is Mars: An Alien All Along” The Common magazine (Fall 2021)
Priyanka Sacheti speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her essay “Oman is Mars: An Alien All Along,” which appears in a portfolio of writing from the…
- New Books in Literature
2.6 Dreaming or Thinking: Cristina Rivera Garza with Kate Marshall and Dominique Vargas
ND stages a trialogue this week with MacArthur "Genius" Cristina Rivera Garza and Notre Dame critics Kate Marshall and Dominique Vargas. Professor Rivera Garza…