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
Reyna Marder Gentin, "Both Are True" (Moonshine Cove, 2021)
Today I talked to Reyna Marder Gentin about her novel Both Are True (Moonshine Cove, 2021). Judge Jackie Martin's job is to impose order on the most chaotic…
- New Books in Literature
Rin Chupeco, "Wicked As You Wish" (Sourcebooks Fire, 2020)
Rin Chupeco's Wicked As You Wish (Sourcebooks Fire, 2020) begins with our Filipina narrator, Tala, and her best friend, Alexei, who both attend high school in…
- New Books in Literature
Dina Greenberg, "Nermina's Chance" (Atmosphere Press, 2021)
Today I talked to Dina Greenberg about her new novel Nermina's Chance (Atmosphere Press, 2021). Nermina is a medical student in Sarajevo. She’s been raised in…
- New Books in Literature
Andrea Penrose, "Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens" (Kensington, 2021)
Great Britain’s Regency Era (1811–1820) has long been wildly popular as a subject of historical fiction yet overly focused on the romance genre. The towering…
- New Books in Literature
Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis, "2034: A Novel of the Next World War" (Penguin, 2021)
The next world war is 13 years away—that is, if you live in the world envisioned by Elliot Ackerman and James Stavridis, 2034: A Novel of the Next World War…
- New Books in Literature
Daniel Alexander Jones, "Love Like Light: Plays and Performance Texts" (53rd State Press, 2021)
Daniel Alexander Jones' Love Like Light: Plays and Performance Texts (53rd State Press, 2021) collects seven plays and performance texts from the past…
- New Books in Literature
Sara B. Fraser, "Just River" (Black Rose Writing, 2021)
Today I talked to Sara B. Fraser about her new novel Just River (Black Rose Writing, 2021). The Otis River flows through the once bustling city of Wattsville…
- New Books in Literature
Pola Oloixarac, "Mona" (Picador, 2021)
An interview with Pola Oloixarac, Mona (2021). Pola and I get to talking about the failure of the US university to live up to its massive influence, especially…
- New Books in Literature
Carin Clevidence, “Ghosts of the Southern Ocean” The Common magazine (Fall, 2021)
Carin Clevidence speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her essay “Ghosts of the Southern Ocean,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. In this…
- New Books in Literature
Juliette Fay, "Catch Us When We Fall: A Novel" (William Morrow, 2021)
On her own since the age of eighteen, Cass Macklin dated brilliant, troubled Ben McGreavy, convinced he was the smartest person she'd ever known. They partied…
- New Books in Literature
Lisa Marchiano, "Motherhood: Facing and Finding Yourself" (Sounds True, 2021)
Today I interview Lisa Marchiano. Marchiano is a mother of two children. She’s also a Jungian analyst and a host of the podcast called This Jungian Life. She…
- New Books in Literature
Susanna Calkins, "The Cry of the Hangman" (Severn House, 2021)
It’s December 1667 and London is still recovering both from the Plague and the Great Fire. Lucy Campion visits retired judge Master Hargrave and discovers that…
- New Books in Literature
Jordan Salama, "Every Day the River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena" (Catapult, 2021)
Jordan Salama’s Every Day the River Changes: Four Weeks Down the Magdalena (Catapult Press, 2021) is a travelogue for a new generation about a journey along…
- New Books in Literature
Annabel Abbs, "Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women" (Tin House Books, 2021)
Annabel Abbs’s Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women (Tin House Books, 2021) is a beautifully written meditation on connecting with the outdoors…
- New Books in Literature
Phil M. Cohen, "Nick Bones Underground" (Koehler Books, 2019)
Shmulie Shimmer is the inventor of LERBS, the most popular designer drug ever to be created. Turns out that it leaves people brain dead, and Shmulie should be…
- New Books in Literature
Hannah Kirshner, "Water, Wood, and Wild Things: Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town" (Viking, 2021)
Water, Wood, and Wild Things: Learning Craft and Cultivation in a Japanese Mountain Town (Viking, 2021) is memoir, ethnography, cookbook, and sketchbook rolled…
- New Books in Literature
Jennifer Marie Brissett, "Destroyer of Light" (Tor Books, 2021)
Destroyer of Light (Tor Books, 2021) is Jennifer Marie Brissett’s long-awaited follow up to her critically acclaimed debut Elysium, winner of a Philip K. Dick…
- New Books in Literature
Jessica Stilling, "The Weary God of Ancient Travelers" (D.X. Varos, 2021)
Lydia Stilling has a particular kind of amnesia. She vaguely recalls arriving in Santorini with a one-armed man whom she calls David Copperfield, who takes…
- New Books in Literature
Greta Kelly, "The Seventh Queen: A Novel" (HarperCollins, 2021)
The Seventh Queen (HarperCollins, 2021) is the second book in the Warrior Witch Duology, so the following review and questions for author Greta Kelly assume…
- New Books in Literature
Sherry Thomas, "Miss Moriarty, I Presume?" (Penguin, 2021)
Since Arthur Conan Doyle first created Sherlock Holmes, the great detective has gone through many permutations and been the subject of much study. As Sherry…
- New Books in Literature
Julian Zabalbeascoa, "Igerilaria" The Common magazine (Fall, 2021)
Julian Zabalbeascoa speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his story “Igerilara,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. In this conversation from…
- New Books in Literature
Clare Pooley, "The Authenticity Project" (Penguin, 2020)
Today I talked to Clare Pooley about her novel The Authenticity Project (Penguin, 2020). In this chatty, very British story, a few personal lines written in a…
- New Books in Literature
Ana Castillo, "My Book of the Dead: New Poems" (High Road Books, 2021)
“My poetry captures a moment,” remarked Dr. Castillo when asked about the process of writing her most recent collection of poems My Book of the Dead: New Poems…
- New Books in Literature
Nariman Youssef, "Arabic Translations from Morocco" (The Common magazine, Spring, 2021)
Nariman Youssef speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her work translating three short stories from Arabic for The Common’s portfolio of fiction from…
- New Books in Literature
Anuk Arudpragasam, "A Passage North" (Granta Books, 2021)
A Passage North (Granta, 2021) is a novel set in contemporary post-war Sri Lanka. A young, privileged Tamil man takes a train journey from the capital Colombo…
- New Books in Literature
Joanna Fitzpatrick, "The Artist Colony" (She Writes Press, 2021)
By 1924, Sarah Cunningham has spent years in France establishing her own artistic style, more contemporary than the landscapes that have made her older sister…
- New Books in Literature
Meredith Hall, "Beneficence" (Godine, 2020)
Today I talked to Meredith Hall about her new novel Beneficence (Godine, 2020). A beautiful family is torn apart by a shocking loss, and three of its members…
- New Books in Literature
J. W. Traphagan, "The Blood of Gutoku: A Jack Riddley Mystery in Japan" (Balestier Press, 2021)
Today I talked to anthropologist J. W. Traphagan's novel The Blood of Gutoku: A Jack Riddley Mystery in Japan (Balestier Press, 2021) Jack Riddley is an…
- New Books in Literature
Ryka Aoki, "Light From Uncommon Stars" (Tor Books, 2021)
Ryka Aoki’s new novel, Light from Uncommon Stars (Tor Books, 2021), is packed with as much variety as a box of lovingly prepared assorted donuts from your…
- New Books in Literature
J. L. Torres, "Migrations" (LA Review of Books, 2021)
Migrations (LA Review of Books, 2021) is a collection of short stories by the Puerto Rican born writer and now retired university professor J. L. Torres. Each…
- New Books in Literature
Jennifer Estep, "Capture the Crown" (HarperCollins, 2021)
Today I talked to Jennifer Estep about her new book Capture the Crown (HarperCollins, 2021). Princess Gemma Ripley is famous for her glittering outfits, in…
- New Books in Literature
Rhys Bowen, "God Rest Ye, Royal Gentlemen" (Penguin, 2021)
Back in the days when brick-and-mortar bookstores were common in suburban America, I was browsing the shelves at my local Borders when a title caught my eye…
- New Books in Literature
Ricardo Wilson, "nigrescence" (The Common magazine, Spring, 2021)
Ricardo Wilson speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his poem, “nigrescence,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. In this conversation, Ricardo…
- New Books in Literature
Sarah Minor, "Slim Confessions: The Universe as a Spider or Spit" (Noemi Press, 2021)
Today I interview Sarah Minor, a brilliant and exciting author and artist. Minor has written a new book that looks into—in fact, I might even say sinks us or…
- New Books in Literature
Beth Alvarado, "Jillian in the Borderlands" (Black Lawrence Press, 2020)
Today I talked to Beth Alvarado about her new novel Jillian in the Borderlands (Black Lawrence Press, 2020) We first meet Jillian Guzmán when she is nine…
- New Books in Literature
Dan Fox, "Limbo" (Fitzcarraldo, 2019)
In a world that demands faith in progress and growth, Limbo (Fitzcarraldo, 2019) is a companion for the stuck, the isolated, delayed, stranded and those in the…
- New Books in Literature
Vladislav Davidzon, "From Odessa with Love: Political and Literary Essays in Post-Soviet Ukraine" ( Academica Press, 2020)
The Tashkent-born Russian-American literary critic, editor, essayist, and journalist Vladislav Davidzon has been covering post-Soviet Ukraine for the past ten…
- New Books in Literature
Celeste Mohammed, “Home” The Common magazine (Spring, 2021)
Celeste Mohammed speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “Home,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. In this conversation, Celeste…
- New Books in Literature
Mark Baker, "Time of Changes" (Albatros Books, 2021)
Mark Baker is an American journalist and travel writer. In the 1980s, he lived in Vienna and reported on the former Eastern bloc for Business International and…
- New Books in Literature
Cadwell Turnbull, "No Gods, No Monsters" (Blackstone, 2021)
Cadwell Turnbull appeared on New Books in Science Fiction two years ago to discuss his debut novel, The Lesson, about an alien invasion and colonization of…
- New Books in Literature
Rawya Jarjoura Burbara, "On Wandering Beaches" (Pardes, 2020)
On Wandering Beaches (Pardes, 2020) is a novel of journeys, a novel of migration that conceals contradictions that summarize a whole world. Along the shores of…
- New Books in Literature
Shachar-Mario Mordechai, "Make Room for the Rain" (Pardes, 2019)
The poet Shachar-Mario Mordechai was born 1975 in Haifa and he currently lives in Tel Aviv. He has published four volumes of poetry, all of which attracted…
- New Books in Literature
Stephen Jenkinson, "A Generation's Worth: Spirit Work While the Crisis Reigns" (Orphan Wisdom, 2021)
Today I interview Stephen Jenkinson. Jenkinson has a new book. It's entitled A Generation's Worth: Spirit Work While the Crisis Reigns (Orphan Wisdom, 2021)…
- New Books in Literature
Laurie Frankel, "One Two Three: A Novel" (Henry Holt, 2021)
Today I talked to Laurie Frankel about her new novel One, Two, Three (Henry Holt, 2021). The little town of Bourne made national news seventeen years before…
- New Books in Literature
Danish Sheikh, "Love and Reparation: A Theatrical Response to the Section 377 Litigation in India" (Seagull Books, 2021)
Two plays about the legal battle to decriminalize homosexuality in India. On September 6, 2018, a decades-long battle to decriminalize queer intimacy in India…
- New Books in Literature
Franz Nicolay, "Someone Should Pay for Your Pain" (Gibson House Press, 2021)
Franz Nicolay's Someone Should Pay for Your Pain (Gibson House Press, 2021) is a moving, funny, and sometimes brutal novel about the life of a touring…
- New Books in Literature
Garrett Hutson, "No Accidental Death" (Warfleigh Publishing, 2021)
Despite the deluge of novels about World War II that has characterized the last few years, the period leading up to the war on the Pacific Front has received…
- New Books in Literature
Gill Paul, "The Collector's Daughter: A Novel of the Discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb" (William Morrow, 2021)
The discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings almost a century ago revolutionized the study of ancient Egypt and its pharaohs. The…
- New Books in Literature
Karen Hugg, "Harvesting the Sky" (Woodhall Press, 2021)
Botonist Andre Damazy undertakes a perilous exploration into the mountains of Kazakhstan to retrieve a sapling from a rare apple tree in the mountains of…
- New Books in Literature
S. Qiouyi Lu, "In the Watchful City" (Tordotcom, 2021)
It’s no coincidence that one of the main characters in S. Qiouyi Lu’s In the Watchful City carries with ser a qíjìtáng, or cabinet of curiosities. Lu’s novella…
- New Books in Literature
Trisha R. Thomas, "What Passes as Love" (Lake Union Publishing, 2021)
Today I talked to Trisha R. Thomas about her new novel What Passes as Love (Lake Union Publishing, 2021). In 1850, at age six, Dahlia Holt is taken from the…
- New Books in Literature
Jose Hernandez Diaz, “Ode to a California Neck Tattoo” The Common magazine (Spring 2021)
Jose Hernandez Diaz speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his poem “Ode to a California Neck Tattoo,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. In…
- New Books in Literature
Maria Stepanova, "The Voice Over: Poems and Essays" (Columbia UP, 2021)
Is it just a coincidence that three books by the major Russian writer Maria Stepanova have appeared in English in 2021? Why does Maria Stepanova deploy such a…
- New Books in Literature
Amy Wright, "Paper Concert: A Conversation in the Round" (Sarabande, 2021)
Today I interview Amy Wright. Wright is an essayist and artist, one who works across a dizzying and dazzling range of subjects and media. However, in her new…
- New Books in Literature
Association of Asian American Studies Book Awards 2021: Xuan Juliana Wang and Ricco Villanueva Siasoco
This is the third episode of a four-part series featuring the winners and honorable mentions of the 2021 Book Awards for the Association of Asian American…
- New Books in Literature
Joyce Yarrow, "Sandstorm" (D. X. Varos, 2021)
Today I talked to Joyce Yarrow about her new novel Sandstorm (D.X. Varos, 2021). The message essentially parentless Sandi Donovan learns after being dumped…
- New Books in Literature
Larry Kirwan, "Rockaway Blue" (Cornell UP, 2021)
Twenty years after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the novel Rockaway Blue (Cornell UP, 2021) probes the griefs, trauma and resilience of Irish…
- New Books in Literature
Gervais Hagerty, "In Polite Company" (William Morrow, 2021)
Today I talked to Gervais Hagerty about her novel In Polite Company (William Morrow, 2021). Simons Smythe was born into Charleston’s powerful elite and grew up…
- New Books in Literature
Grace M. Cho, "Tastes Like War: A Memoir" (Feminist Press, 2021)
The US military camptowns were established shortly after the Second World War in 1945, appropriating the Japanese comfort stations. The Korean government…
- New Books in Literature
Emma Sloley, “The Cassandras” The Common magazine (Spring 2021)
Emma Sloley speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “The Cassandras,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. In this conversation, Sloley…