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
Veena Rao, "Purple Lotus" (She Writes Press, 2020)
Already in her late twenties, Tara is relieved when her parents arrange a marriage with a man who lives across the world in Atlanta. But she understands…
- New Books in Literature
Patrick Madden, "Disparates: Essays" (U of Nebraska Press, 2020)
Today I interview Patrick Madden, an essayist. Now, for most of us, an essay—that thing we were assigned to write in high school or maybe that thing we stayed…
- New Books in Literature
Michael P. F. Smith, "The Good Hand: A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown" (Viking, 2021)
Today I talked to Michael P. F. Smith about his book The Good Hand: A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown (Viking, 2021)…
- New Books in Literature
Wu Cheng'en, "Monkey King: Journey to the West," trans. Julia Lovell (Penguin, 2021)
Journey to the West, and especially the character of Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is beloved by readers across China, East Asia, and beyond. The story and its…
- New Books in Literature
Jennifer Anne Moses, "The Man Who Loved His Wife" (Mayapple Press, 2021)
In The Man Who Loved His Wife (Mayapple Press, 2021), Jennifer Anne Moses creates characters who grapple with the minutiae of their lives while considering…
- New Books in Literature
Seanan McGuire, "Across the Green Grass Fields" (Tor.com, 2021)
Seanan McGuire's Across the Green Grass Fields (Tor.com, 2021), a stand-alone novel in the Wayward Children series, a portal transports a horse-loving ten-year…
- New Books in Literature
Tawhida Tanya Evanson, "Book of Wings" (Esplanade Books, 2021)
Book of Wings (Véhicule Press, 2011) is a stunningly mesmerizing debut novel by Tawhida Tanya Evanson. It follows the journey of the protagonist Maya across…
- New Books in Literature
Miriam Udel, "Honey on the Page: A Treasury of Yiddish Children's Literature" (NYU Press, 2020)
While there has been a recent boom in Jewish literacy and learning within the US, few resources exist to enable American Jews to experience the rich primary…
- New Books in Literature
Bina Shah, "Weeds and Flowers" (Spring, 2020)
Bina Shah speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her short story “Weeds and Flowers,” which appears in Issue 19 of The Common magazine. In this…
- New Books in Literature
Chris Panatier, "The Phlebotomist" (Angry Robot, 2020)
Humans have found many ways to divide and stratify—by skin color, ancestry, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, health status, body type or…
- New Books in Literature
Heather Bell Adams, "The Good Luck Stone" (Haywire Books, 2020)
Heather Bell Adams’ first novel, Maranatha Road (West Virginia University Press 2017), won the gold medal for the Southeast region in the Independent Publisher…
- New Books in Literature
Dan Moller, "The Way of Bach: Three Years with the Man, the Music, and the Piano" (Simon and Schuster, 2020)
A tale of passion and obsession from a philosophy professor who learns to play Bach on the piano as an adult. Dan Moller grew up listening to heavy metal in…
- New Books in Literature
Max Gross, "The Lost Shtetl" (HarperCollins, 2020)
Today I spoke with Max Gross about his book The Lost Shtetl (HarperCollins, 2020). Imagine a Jewish village hidden in the forests of Poland that somehow…
- New Books in Literature
Jethro Soutar, "Translations from Portuguese" (Fall 2020)
Translator Jethro Soutar speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about three pieces he translated from Portuguese for Issue 20 of The Common magazine. These…
- New Books in Literature
Juliane Okot Bitek, "100 Days" (U Alberta Press, 2016)
Juliane Okot Bitek, of the Emily Carr University of Art and Design and writer-in-residence at Simon Fraser University, has written a terrific book of poetry on…
- New Books in Literature
Jason Lutes, "Berlin" (Drawn and Quarterly, 2018)
In his pathbreaking graphic novel, Berlin (Drawn and Quarterly, 2018), Jason Lutes creates a multifaceted exploration of urban life during the Weimar Republic…
- New Books in Literature
Kathleen Williams Renk, "Vindicated: A Novel of Mary Shelley" (Cuidono Press, 2020)
Mary Godwin Shelley had yet to reach her nineteenth birthday when she had the dream that gave rise to the classic Gothic horror tale Frankenstein. The daughter…
- New Books in Literature
Wade Davis, "Magdalena, River of Dreams: A Story of Colombia" (Knopf, 2020)
Travelers often become enchanted with the first country that captures their hearts and gives them license to be free. For Wade Davis, it was Colombia. In his…
- New Books in Literature
R. W. W. Greene, "The Light Years" (Angry Robot, 2020)
Arranged marriages have been around for centuries, and in The Light Years (Angry Robot, 2020), R.W.W. Greene imagines they’ll be around for centuries more…
- New Books in Literature
Sharon Olds, "Arias" (Knopf, 2019)
This episode covers a range of topics from Old’s use of line breaks (enjambment that runs contrary to the tedious, end-stopped rhyming lines of hymnals) to the…
- New Books in Literature
Jon Sealy, "The Merciful" (Haywire Books, 2021)
In The Merciful (Haywire Books, 2021) by Jon Sealy nineteen-year-old Samantha James is killed while riding her bike home from work in a small coastal town one…
- New Books in Literature
Tanya Coke, "Brother Love," The Common Magazine (Spring 2020)
Tanya Coke is a lawyer, writer, and philanthropy executive at the Ford Foundation. She speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about “Brother Love,” her essay…
- New Books in Literature
Chloe Gong, "These Violent Delights" (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020)
“These violent delights have violent ends. And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, which as they kiss, consume.” These Violent Delights (Margaret K…
- New Books in Literature
Alexs Thompson, "I'll Go: War, Religion, and Coming Home, from Cairo to Kansas City" (2020)
Today I interview Alexs Thompson about his new memoir, I'll Go: War, Religion, and Coming Home, from Cairo to Kansas City (2020). Let me begin with a moment of…
- New Books in Literature
Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau, "Memory's Eyes: A New York Oedipus Novel" (Ipbooks, 2020)
Cordelia Schmidt-Hellerau's Memory’s Eyes is a contemporary New York Oedipus novel. It is written for readers who enjoy playing with concepts and storylines…
- New Books in Literature
C. P. Lesley, "Song of the Sisters: Songs of Steppe and Forest 3" (Five Directions Press, 2021)
Everywhere young Russian noblewoman Darya Sheremeteva turns, someone in her circle of family and friends reminds her that she exists to serve a single purpose…
- New Books in Literature
Elisabeth Jaquette, "Stories from Sudan in Translation," The Common magazine (Spring, 2020)
Translator Elisabeth Jaquette speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about four stories she translated from Arabic for Issue 19 of The Common magazine. These…
- New Books in Literature
Rebecca Roanhorse, "Black Sun" (Gallery/Saga Press, 2020)
The first chapter of Rebecca Roanhorse’s new novel, Black Sun (Gallery/Saga Press, 2020), features a mother and child sharing a tender moment that takes an…
- New Books in Literature
Mike Anthony, "Life at Hamilton: Sometimes You Throw Away Your Shot, Only to Find Your Story" (Waterside, 2020)
When Mike Anthony moved to New York City to become an actor, he’d imagined being under the bright lights of Broadway, living a life full of fame and fortune…
- New Books in Literature
Andy Boyd, "The Trade Federation or Let's Explore Globalization Through the Star Wars Prequels" (NoPassport, 2020)
New Books in Performing Arts own Andy Boyd has written a new play about a young experimental playwright named Andy Boyd who pitches Georges Lucas his…
- New Books in Literature
Catherine Chung, "The Tenth Muse" (HarperCollins, 2019)
Katherine recalls being young and friendless. While growing up in the 40’ and 50’s, she remembers when her mother packed up and left, her father remarried, and…
- New Books in Literature
Lauren Russell, "Descent" (Tarpaulin Sky Press, 2017)
In 2013, poet Lauren Russell acquired a copy of the diary of her great-great-grandfather, Robert Wallace Hubert, a Captain in the Confederate Army. After his…
- New Books in Literature
Ilona Andrews, "Emerald Blaze: A Hidden Legacy Novel" (Avon Books, 2020)
Today I talked to Ilona Andrews about her book Emerald Blaze: A Hidden Legacy Novel (Avon Books, 2020). Catalina Baylor is the titular Prime of House Baylor…
- New Books in Literature
Yxta Maya Murray, "Art Is Everything: A Novel" (TriQuarterly Books, 2021)
In Art Is Everything (TriQuarterly Books, 2021), L.A. native Amanda Ruiz is a successful Chicana performance artist who is madly in love with her girlfriend…
- New Books in Literature
Molly Greeley, "The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh" (William Morrow, 2021)
The world created by Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice has established a place for itself in contemporary culture that few other novels can match, yet amid…
- New Books in Literature
Omer Friedlander, “Operation Tamar," The Common magazine (Spring, 2020)
Writer Omer Friedlander speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his story “Operation Tamar,” which appears in Issue 19 of The Common magazine. “Operation…
- New Books in Literature
Bethany Maile, "Anything Will Be Easy After This: A Western Identity Crisis" (U Nebraska Press, 2020)
There is something quintessentially American about the idea of the west. Though the time of western expansion has long since passed, stories about cowboys on…
- New Books in Literature
Elizabeth McCulloch, "Dreaming the Marsh" (Twisted Road, 2019)
Elizabeth McCulloch was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived in New England, the Midwest, Canada, and the South, before putting down roots in…
- New Books in Literature
Kim Stanley Robinson, "The Ministry for the Future" (Hachette, 2020)
The Ministry for the Future (Orbit, 2020) is a sweeping novel about climate change and how people of the near future start to slow, stop and reverse it. The…
- New Books in Literature
Ashon T. Crawley, "The Lonely Letters" (Duke UP, 2020)
In The Lonely Letters (Duke UP, 2020), A tells Moth: “Writing about and thinking with joy is what sustains me, daily. It nourishes me. I do not write about joy…
- New Books in Literature
Tara Skurtu, "Offering," The Common magazine (Spring, 2020)
Tara Skurtu is an American poet and writer, writing coach, and public speaker. She speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about “Offering,” her poem from…
- New Books in Literature
Susie Yang, "White Ivy" (Simon & Schuster, 2020)
"Ivy Lin was a thief but you would never know it to look at her” White Ivy (Simon & Schuster: 2020), the debut novel by Susie Yang, is the story of Ivy Lin, a…
- New Books in Literature
Joyce Ruth Yarrow, "Zahara and the Lost Books of Light" (Adelaide Books, 2020)
Seattle journalist Alienor Crespo flies to Spain to apply for citizenship as a descendant of Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the Inquisition…
- New Books in Literature
Paul Kingsnorth, "Alexandria" (Graywolf Press, 2020)
Over the last ten years, Paul Kingsnorth has become recognised as one of the most extraordinary of contemporary writers. After The Wake, which was listed for…
- New Books in Literature
Sunisa Manning, "A Good True Thai" (Epigram Books, 2020)
Det, Chang and Lek are young university students living in Thailand during the 1970s. It is a turbulent time for the country’s politics: student-led protests…
- New Books in Literature
Gila Green, "No Entry" (Stormbird Press, 2020)
No Entry (Stormbird Press, 2020) is Gila Green’s first young adult Eco-Fiction novel. It is the first in an environmental series focused on elephant poaching…
- New Books in Literature
David Moloney, “Counsel,” The Common magazine (Spring, 2020)
Writer David Moloney speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his story “Counsel,” which appears in Issue 19 of The Common magazine. “Counsel” is an…
- New Books in Literature
Finola Austin, "Bronte's Mistress" (Atria Books, 2020)
It seems likely that most of our listeners have at least heard of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and her sister Emily’s Wuthering Heights. Many also know that…
- New Books in Literature
Evan Winter, "The Fires of Vengeance" (Orbit Books, 2020)
In order to reclaim her throne and save her people, an ousted queen must join forces with a young warrior in the second book of this"relentlessly gripping…
- New Books in Literature
Roy G. Guzmán, "Catrachos" (Graywolf Press, 2020)
Roy G. Guzmán’s Catrachos (Graywolf Press, 2020) is a stunning debut collection of poetry that immerses the reader in rich, vibrant language. Described as…
- New Books in Literature
Jennifer Valenti, "The Maverick" (Broken Arrow Books, 2020)
In The Maverick (Broken Arrow Books, 2020), author Jennifer Valenti plugs into the current zeitgeist of young women who struggle to defy the casual sexism of…
- New Books in Literature
Mary Cappello, "Lecture" (Transit Books, 2020)
Today I interview Mary Cappello about her new book, Lecture (Transit Books, 2020). Although I almost hesitate to call it a book. It’s much more—like all great…
- New Books in Literature
Rachel Hall, "Heirlooms: Stories" (BkMk Press, 2016)
“It turns out there are things that cannot be left. The very nature of secrets, for instance, insists that they be kept.” On this episode of the New Books…
- New Books in Literature
David Adjmi, "Lot Six" (Harper, 2020)
Lot Six (Harper 2020) is a moving and hilarious memoir from playwright David Adjmi. The book traces Adjmi’s search for his identity, during which he becomes an…
- New Books in Literature
Tom Rastrelli, "Confessions of a Gay Priest: A Memoir of Sex, Love, Abuse, and Scandal in the Catholic Seminary" (U Iowa Press, 2020)
Tom Rastrelli is a survivor of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse who then became a priest in the early days of the Catholic Church’s ongoing scandals…
- New Books in Literature
Harvey Araton, "Our Last Season: A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship" (Penguin, 2020)
Harvey Araton’s new book Our Last Season: A Writer, a Fan, a Friendship (Penguin, 2020), reads like a mix between Tuesdays with Morrie and a sequel to his book…
- New Books in Literature
Alix E. Harrow, "The Once and Future Witches" (Redhook, 2020)
Alix E. Harrow’s The Once and Future Witches (Redhook, 2020) begins with the familiar phrase “Once upon a time” but the novel is anything but a traditional…
- New Books in Literature
Farzana Doctor, "Seven" (Dundurn Press, 2020)
Sharifa and her husband Murtuza are spending his sabbatical year in Mumbai with their seven-year-old daughter, Zeenat. While Murtuza teaches, Shari is planning…
- New Books in Literature
Finishing Your Book When Life Is A Disaster
Welcome to The Academic Life. You are smart and capable, but you aren’t an island, and neither are we. So we reached across our mentor network to bring you…
- New Books in Literature
Sunday Taylor, "The Anglophile's Notebook" (Spuyten Duyvil, 2020)
Californian Claire Easton, who writes a magazine column called “The Anglophile’s Notebook,” travels to England to do research for a book about Charlotte…