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
Brianna Jett, "Under a Carnivore Sky" (Page Street YA, 2026)
Under a Carnivore Sky (Page Street YA, 2026) is Brianna Jett's debut young adult novel in verse. Sixteen-year-old Lili is a hunter, which means she has one…
- New Books in Literature
Jinwoo Park, "Oxford Soju Club" (Dundurn, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Jinwoo Park about his novel, Oxford Soju Club (Dundurn Press, 2025). A SHELF AWARENESS BEST BOOK OF 2025 •…
- New Books in Literature
Kaie Kellough, "Interposition" (McClelland & Stewart, 2026)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks wit Griffin Prize winner Kaie Kellough about his new long poem, Interposition (McClelland & Steward, 2026)…
- New Books in Literature
Dawn Macdonald, "Northerny" (U Alberta Press, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Dawn MacDonald about her Griffin Prize winning collection, Northerny (University of Alberta Press, 2024)…
- New Books in Literature
Lauren J.A. Bear, "Aphrodite in Pieces" (Ace, 2026)
Aphrodite in Pieces gathers diverse myths featuring the goddess and unites them to create a comprehensive portrait. Beginning with her innocent days on the…
- New Books in Literature
Radha Lin Chaddah, "And the Ancestors Sing" (Rising Action, 2026)
Starting in the late 1970s, three women navigate post Cultural Revolution China: Lulu, who’s forced to become a prostitute in Shanghai to save her mother and…
- New Books in Literature
Sasha Senderovich and Harriet Murav, "In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union" (Stanford UP, 2026)
In their anthology, In the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union (Stanford University Press, 2026), Sasha Senderovitch…
- New Books in Literature
Sayantani DasGupta, "Theft of the Ruby Lotus" (Scholastic Press, 2026)
Sayantani DasGupta's latest middle grades novel, Theft of the Ruby Lotus (Scholastic, 2026) is an adventure heist. Ria Bailey finds herself in quite a fix, and…
- New Books in Literature
New Book Releases 2026 on Japan, Taiwan
This episode of the Books on Asia podcast introduces new fiction and non-fiction on Japan to be published this year, 2026, along with two upcoming books on…
- New Books in Literature
Jinwoo Park, "Oxford Soju Club" (Dundurn Press, 2025)
Doha, a North Korean spymaster, is found stabbed in an alley in Oxford. Doha tells his mentee–another North Korean spy named Yohan—to go to the Oxford Soju…
- New Books in Literature
Linda Hamilton, "The Fourth Wife" (Kensington, 2026)
There must be a shift in the Zeitgeist of the publishing world, because after a long drought in Gothic novels, this is the second one I’ve encountered in…
- New Books in Literature
Lisa Lee, "American Han" (Algonquin Books, 2026)
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980s, Jane Kim and her brother, Kevin, dutifully embodied the model minority myth as their parents demanded…
- New Books in Literature
Jason Reynolds, "Soundtrack: A Novel" (Random House, 2026)
The print adaptation of Jason Reynolds acclaimed, award-winning audiobook Soundtrack (Crown Books, 2026)—a stirring story of music, friendship, and finding…
- New Books in Literature
Casey Walker, "Islands" The Common Magazine (Fall, 2025)
Casey Walker speaks to Emily Everett about his story “Islands,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. Set at an old lake house rife with unresolved family…
- New Books in Literature
Danielle Girard, "Pinky Swear" (Simon and Schuster, 2026)
In Pinky Swear (Simon and Schuster, 2026) Lexi thought she knew everything about Mara Vannatta. Best friends since middle school, they drifted apart after a…
- New Books in Literature
Ed Simon, "Writing During the Apocalypse: Reflections on the Great Unraveling" (Bloomsbury, 2026)
Rising authoritarianism. Covid. Inflation. Wealth disparity. War. Climate change. While every time period is marked by apocalyptic fears, it certainly seems…
- New Books in Literature
Just Slightly Outside the Circle: Peter Orner and Sarah Wasserman (EH)
Chicago is the main character, the setting, the obsession, and the historical grist for the mill of Peter Orner’s most recent novel, The Gossip Columnist’s…
- New Books in Literature
Namwali Serpell, "On Morrison" (Hogarth, 2026)
Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate and one of our most beloved writers, has inspired generations of readers. But her artistic genius is often overshadowed by her…
- New Books in Literature
Dana Mele, "The Beast You Let In" (Sourcebooks, 2026)
Dana Mele talks about their latest book, The Beast You Let In (Sourcebooks, 2026). Everyone in the rural town of Ashling knows the tale of Veronica Green, a…
- New Books in Literature
Cameron Sullivan, "The Red Winter" (Tor Books, 2026)
Cameron Sullivan’s novel The Red Winter (Tor Books, 2026) follows Sebastian Grave, a centuries old monster hunter, recounting events that occurred in largely…
- New Books in Literature
Zhou Meisen, "Property of the People" (Sinoist, 2025)
"Honoured Investors, As Zhongfu Group enters its eighth decade, we are pleased to announce the acquisition of two famous coal mines. These assets further…
- New Books in Literature
Teddy Jones, "Far From Uncertain: One Woman’s Life of Crime and Other Righteous Deeds" (Stoney Creek, 2026)
When a young reporter comes to interview Margaret Kenyon, the oldest practicing nurse in the Texas panhandle, she tells him that he’ll have to listen to her…
- New Books in Literature
Alison Gadsby, "Breathing Is How Some People Stay Alive" (Guernica Editions, 2026)
n this NBN episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Alison Gadsby about her collection of short fiction, Breathing is How Some People Stay Alive (Guernica…
- New Books in Literature
Why Did Langston Hughes's "Troubled Lands" Go Unpublished for Nearly a Century?: A Conversation with Ricardo Wilson
Why did Langston Hughes's translations of Mexican and Cuban stories go unpublished for nearly a century? A landmark book—the first complete publication of…
- New Books in Literature
10.2 Beautiful Sentences Matter. Billy-Ray Belcourt and Matt Hooley (SW)
Can a novel with a singular voice also be a chorus? Can it reject the conventions of the novel and still be a novel? Poet, essayist, and novelist Billy-Ray…
- New Books in Literature
Daniel Poppick, "The Copywriter" (Scribner, 2026)
Daniel Poppick is a poet and novelist. He is the author of the poetry collections Fear of Description, selected for the National Poetry Series, and The Police…
- New Books in Literature
Esther Goldenberg, "Song of the Bluebird" (Row House, 2026)
Much of history has revolved around the journeys, challenges, and relationships, of men, but Serrah, daughter of Asher describes the teachings of her mother…
- New Books in Literature
Janice Hadlow, "Rules of the Heart" (Henry Holt and Company, 2026)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Janice Hadlow about her fascinating novel, Rules of the Heart (Henry Holt & Company, 2026). A beautifully…
- New Books in Literature
Sean Bedell, "Shoebox" (Now or Never, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with author and retired paramedic and fire captain, Sean Paul Bedell, about his novel, Shoebox (NoN Publishing…
- New Books in Literature
Alice Martin, "Westward Women" (St. Martins Press, 2026)
It starts with an itch.In homes across the country, women ages eighteen to thirty-five begin to slow down.Tired. Blank. Restless.Drawn to the Pacific Ocean…
- New Books in Literature
Mahesh Rao, "Half Light" (Penguin Random House India, 2025)
On Sep. 6, 2018, India’s Supreme Court ruled that Section 377, a law that criminalized consensual homosexual activity, was unconstitutional, reversing an…
- New Books in Literature
Meg Merriet Wahlberg, "Chivalry in the Shadows" (Parkwood Manor Press, 2024)
Medieval Brittany, with all its contradictions and complexities, comes alive in Meg Wahlberg’s Chivalry in the Shadows (Parkwood Manor Press, 2024). The author…
- New Books in Literature
Christine Estima, "Letters to Kafka" (House of Anansi, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Christine Estima about her novel, Letters to Kafka (House of Anansi, 2025). A sweeping, tragic romance and…
- New Books in Literature
E. and H. Heron, "Flaxman Low: Occult Detective" (MIT Press, 2026)
Flaxman Low, literature’s first professional, full-time “occult detective”—that is, an intrepid investigator who deploys the scientific method when tackling…
- New Books in Literature
10.1 "Extreme Circumstances, Extreme Reactions:” Aaron Gwyn and Sean McCann (JP)
Aaron Gwyn is the author of four novels: The World Beneath, Wynn’s War, and, most recently, two wonderfully linked historical novels, All God’s Children…
- New Books in Literature
An Evening with Philip Roth: A Conversation with Bernard Avishai, Igor Webb, and Steven Zipperstein
The YIVO Institute was pleased to present a special evening with acclaimed novelist Philip Roth. Roth read excerpts from his new novel, Nemesis (2010), which…
- New Books in Literature
April Reynolds, "The Shape of Dreams" (Random House, 2026)
In The Shape of Dreams (Random House, 2026) April Reynolds introduces readers to a trio of women bond in friendship as a neighborhood tries to seek justice…
- New Books in Literature
Joe Mungo Reed, "Terrestrial History" (Norton, 2025)
Joe Mungo Reed is the author of the novels Hammer and We Begin Our Ascent, one of the best novels about sport that I’ve ever read. He Teaches creative writing…
- New Books in Literature
K.R. Wilson, "Stan on Guard" (Guernica Editions, 2026)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with K.R. Wilson about his novel, Stan on Guard (Guernica Editions, 2026). Ishtanu (call him Stan) is a Hittite…
- New Books in Literature
Brit Griffin, "The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien" (Latitude 46, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Brit Griffin about her novel, The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien (Latitude 46, 2025). A gothic tale from deep…
- New Books in Literature
Nicole Glover, "The Starseekers: A Murder and Magic Novel" (Harper Voyager, 2026)
The Starseekers: A Murder and Magic Novel (Harper Voyager, 2026), the fourth offering in the Magic and Mystery series follows Dr. Cynthia Rhodes as she…
- New Books in Literature
Ann Packer, "Some Bright Nowhere" (Harper Books, 2026)
Eliot and his wife Claire have been happily married for nearly four decades. They’ve raised two children in their sleepy Connecticut town and have weathered…
- New Books in Literature
Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen, "The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom" (Akashic Books, 2026)
Rebekah Buchanan talks with Ani DiFranco about her latest collaborative work The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music and Freedom…
- New Books in Literature
Cynthia Leal Massey, "Well of Deception" (Stoney Creek Publishing, 2025)
Leta Becker was thirty-seven when she married Amos after a fifteen-year courtship, and they never had kids. Leta and Amos are related to lots of people, but…
- New Books in Literature
Lindsay Wong, "Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies" (Penguin Random House Canada, 2026)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with acclaimed author Lindsay Wong about her novel, Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies (Penguin Random…
- New Books in Literature
Iman Humaydan Yunis, "Songs for Darkness" (Interlink, 2026)
Only songs are able to comfort the soul in its darkness—but can anyone hear them? Iman Humaydan’s saga Songs for Darkness (Interlink, 2026) recalls the voices…
- New Books in Literature
Lauren Groff, "Brawler: Stories" (Riverhead, 2026)
Acclaimed TC contributor Lauren Groff speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her new story collection, Brawler, out this month from Riverhead, and her…
- New Books in Literature
Saleem Haddad, "Floodlines" (Europa, 2026)
In the summer of 2014, three long estranged Iraqi-British sisters are pulled back into each other’s orbit by the rediscovery of their late father’s long-lost…
- New Books in Literature
Howard Langer, "The Last Dekrepitzer" (Cresheim Press, 2025)
The Last Dekrepitzer follows the life and spiritual quest of Shmuel Meir Lichtbencher a/k/a Sam Lightup, from his isolated shtetl in the mountains of southern…
- New Books in Literature
Mohamed Mansi Qandil, "The Country Doctor's Tale" (Syracuse UP, 2026)
In a remote Egyptian village, a young doctor arrives to open a long-abandoned clinic. Recently released from prison for political dissent, he’s been exiled…
- New Books in Literature
Jo Nesbø, "Wolf Hour" (Random House, 2026)
Wolf Hour (Knopf, 2026) When a small-time criminal and gun dealer is shot down in the street, all signs point to Tomas Gomez, a quiet man with a mysterious…
- New Books in Literature
Gabriel Tallent, "Crux" (Riverhead Books, 2025)
In Crux (Riverhead Books, 2025), Dan and Tamma are two teenagers in their last year of high school in the southern Mojave Desert. One is a gifted golden…
- New Books in Literature
Yishay Ishi Ron, "Dog" (Soncata Press, 2025)
Told through the eyes of an Israeli combat officer who’s haunted by the trauma of fighting in Gaza, Dog (Soncata Press 2025) is a gritty story about PTSD, the…
- New Books in Literature
Shaunna J. Edwards and Alyson Richman, "The Thread Collectors" (Harper Collins, 2022)
The Thread Collectors (Harper Collins, 2022) by Shaunna J Edwards and Alyson Richman takes readers to 1863, where, in a small Creole cottage in New Orleans, an…
- New Books in Literature
K.J. Aiello "The Monster and the Mirror: Mental Illness, Magic, and the Stories We Tell" (ECW Press, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with author KJ Aiello about their book, The Monster and the Mirror: Mental Illness, Magic, and the Stories We…
- New Books in Literature
Sandra Freels, "Anneke Jans in the New World (She Writes Press, 2026)
With the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America fast approaching, a small flood of novels set in the early days of colonization and…
- New Books in Literature
Helen Garner Hacking Away at the Adverbs: A Novel Dialogue Crossover Conversation
In this RTB and Novel Dialogue episode from 2021, Helen Garner sits down with John and Elizabeth McMahon, a distinguished scholar of Australian literature…
- New Books in Literature
Tracee de Hahn, "Swiss Vendetta" (Minotaur Books, 2017)
Agnes Luthi is a police officer in Lausanne, Switzerland who transfers from financial to violent crimes just in time to investigate the death of a young art…
- New Books in Literature
Michael Mirolla, "How About This…?" (At Bay Press, 2026)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery interviews Michael Mirolla about his fascinating novel, How About This…? (At Bay Press, 2025). It’s a little after the…
- New Books in Literature
Jenny Mustard, "What a Time to Be Alive" (Pegasus Books, 2025)
Jenny Mustard is a writer and content creator, born in Sweden but living in London. Jenny and her work have featured in the Observer, the Independent, Vogue…