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
Taylor Byas, "Resting Bitch Face: Poems" (Catapult, 2025)
The author of the award-winning national bestseller I Done Clicked My Heels Three Times returns with a poetry collection that transforms the Black female…
- New Books in Literature
Virginia Woolf, "The Life of Violet: Three Early Stories" (Princeton UP, 2025)
In 1907, eight years before she published her first novel, a twenty-five-year-old Virginia Woolf drafted three interconnected comic stories chronicling the…
- New Books in Literature
Barbara Stark-Nemon, "Isabela's Way: A Novel" (She Writes Press, 2025)
In early-seventeenth-century Portugal, Spain, France, and Germany, dangers are plentiful—especially for those of Jewish heritage. Non-Catholics have been…
- New Books in Literature
Olivia Wolfgang-Smith, "Mutual Interest" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Olivia Wolfgang-Smith is the author of the novels Mutual Interest (2025) and Glassworks, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and…
- New Books in Literature
Zilla Jones, "The World So Wide" (Cormorant Books, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Zilla Jones about her debut novel, The World So Wide (Cormorant Books, 2025). Felicity Alexander should be…
- New Books in Literature
Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, "The Creation of Half-Broken People" (House of Anansi, 2025)
In this NBN episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu about her phenomenal novel, The Creation of Half-Broken People. (House of Anansi…
- New Books in Literature
Lucy Black, "A Quilting of Scars" (Now or Never Publishing, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery interviews historical fiction legend Lucy E.M Black about her phenomenal new novel, A Quilting of Scars (Now or Never…
- New Books in Literature
Karen Smythe, "A Town with No Noise" (Palimpsest Press, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Guelph, Ontario author Karen Smythe about Karen's novel, A Town With No Noise (Palimpsest Press, 2025)…
- New Books in Literature
Yiming Ma, "These Memories Do Not Belong To Us" (Mariner Books, 2025)
Yiming Ma holds an MBA from Stanford and an MFA from Warren Wilson College, where he was the Carol Houck Smith Scholar. His stories and essays appear in the…
- New Books in Literature
Nadia Ragbar, "The Pugilist and the Sailor" (Invisible Publishing, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery interview debut Toronto author, Nadia Ragbar, about her novel, The Pugilist and the Sailor (Invisible Publishing…
- New Books in Literature
Susan Gregg Gilmore, "The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush" (Blair, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Susan Glimore about her wonderful novel, The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush (Blair, 2025). Young Leonard…
- New Books in Literature
Emily Adrian, "Seduction Theory" (Little, Brown, 2025)
Emily Adrian is the author of Seduction Theory (Little, Brown, 2025) Daughterhood, The Second Season, and Everything Here Is Under Control, as well as two…
- New Books in Literature
Ham’s Heaven with Ori Gersht
Listen to Ori Gersht speak about his novel Ham’s Heaven (Warbler Press, 2025). Inspired by the true story of the first great ape in space, it explores the…
- New Books in Literature
Thomas Schlesser, "Mona's Eyes" (Europa Editions, 2025)
Mona’s Eyes (Europa Editions, 2025) is an enchanting debut novel written by art historian Thomas Schlesser. It tells the story of a 10-year-old girl living in…
- New Books in Literature
Maria Dadouch, "I Want Golden Eyes" (U Texas Press, 2025)
This interview is with one of the translators, M. Lynx Qualey. A girl must save herself and her family after discovering her society's secrets in this sci-fi…
- New Books in Literature
Meghana V. Nayak, "Tilt: A Novel on Intergenerational Trauma" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2024)
Kavya is an Indian-American professor and single mother struggling with debilitating panic attacks. Bombarded by flashbacks of cruelty and violence that…
- New Books in Literature
Jeremy Gordon, "See Friendship: A Novel" (Harper Perennial, 2025)
Ahead of looming layoffs within the ongoing decimation of media, Jacob Goldberg, a culture writer in New York, knows what will save him: a podcast. Not just…
- New Books in Literature
Jonas Hassen Khemiri, "The Sisters" (FSG, 2025)
Jonas Hassen Khemiri is the author of six novels, seven plays, and a collection of short stories and essays. His work has been translated into more than…
- New Books in Literature
Lynda Williams, "The Beauty and the Hell of It and Other Stories" (Guernica, 2025)
The Beauty and the Hell of It and Other Stories (Guernica, 2025) conjures up images of women who struggle through difficult transitions, unpleasant encounters…
- New Books in Literature
Catherine Merridale, "Moscow Underground" (HarperColins, 2025)
Moscow Underground (HarperCollins, 2025) by Dr. Catherine Merridale is a sweeping novel of life, death and politics in the quicksand world of Stalin's tyranny…
- New Books in Literature
Lily Lloyd Burkhalter, "Raffia Memory," The Common Magazine (Spring, 2025)
Lily Lloyd Burkhalter speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her essay “Raffia Memory,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. Lily talks about…
- New Books in Literature
Alina Adams, "Go On Pretending" (History Through Fiction, 2025)
In Go On Pretending (History Through Fiction, 2025) Rose Janowitz is surprised to get a production job with a radio soap opera and stunned to fall in love…
- New Books in Literature
Alejandro Puyana, "Freedom Is a Feast" (Little, Brown, 2024)
In 1964, Stanislavo, a zealous young man devoted to his ideals, turns his back on his privilege to join the leftist movement in the jungles of Venezuela…
- New Books in Literature
Nan Z. Da, The Chinese Tragedy of King Lear (Princeton UP, 2025)
I’m Nicholas Gordon, host of the Asian Review of Books podcast, done in partnership with the New Books Network. On this show, we interview authors writing in…
- New Books in Literature
Harriet Jacobs, "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" (Norton, 2025)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is the stirring autobiography of Harriet Jacobs, a mother and fugitive, detailing her harrowing escape from enslavement…
- New Books in Literature
Nell Stevens, "The Original" (Norton, 2025)
Nell Stevens is an award-winning author of memoir and fiction. Her work has been awarded the Somerset Maugham Award, longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and…
- New Books in Literature
Joyce Hinnefeld, "The Dime Museum" (Unbridled Books, 2025)
The Dime Museum (Unbridled Books, 2025) is a novel spanning several generations, told in stories that begin in the early 1900s and end during the 2020…
- New Books in Literature
Kathleen Waites, "The Faithful Ones" (Invictus, 2025)
The Faithful Ones (Invictus Press, 2025) chronicles a rarely explored intersection in World War II history—the entanglement of the U.S. military, conscientious…
- New Books in Literature
Megan Cummins, "Atomic Hearts" (Ballentine Books, 2025)
Sixteen and living in a small Michigan town, Gertie is harboring a secret heavy enough to fracture her closest friendship. She and Cindy have been bonded since…
- New Books in Literature
Michelle De Kretser, "Theory & Practice" (Catapult, 2025)
Michelle de Kretser was born in Sri Lanka and lives in Australia on unceded Gadigal land. She writes fiction but has also published a short book about Shirley…
- New Books in Literature
Jan Dost, "Safe Corridor" (DarArab, 2025)
A bold, unforgettable novel of war, imagination, and survival. Thirteen-year-old Kamiran is fleeing the collapse of Syria when his body begins to harden…
- New Books in Literature
Mark Vernon, "Awake!: William Blake and the Power of the Imagination" (Hurst & Co., 2025)
In the 200 years since Blake's death, the visionary artist, poet and writer has become a household name, often beloved. Yet many struggle to comprehend his…
- New Books in Literature
Aatish Taseer, "A Return to Self: Excursions in Exile" (Catapult, 2025)
In 2019, famed journalist and writer Aatish Taseer was thrown out of India. Soon after he wrote a cover article for Time calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi…
- New Books in Literature
Rehearsals for Dying
Deena stepped out of the shower and opened her towel in the steam. “Does my breast look weird?” These words irrevocably change the lives of writer Ariel Gore…
- New Books in Literature
Therí Alyce Pickens, "What Had Happened Was" (Duke UP, 2025)
In her debut poetry collection, What Had Happened Was, Therí Alyce Pickens investigates the complex structures of Black storytelling. Addressing topics ranging…
- New Books in Literature
Benoit Berthelier and Immanuel Kim, "Hidden Heros: Anthology of North Korean FIction" (Anthem, 2025)
Hidden Heroes (Anthem Press, 2025) offers a rare and intimate glimpse into the lives of ordinary North Koreans through a collection of short stories by…
- New Books in Literature
Saad Omar Khan, "Drinking the Ocean" (Buckrider Books, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery chats with the wonderful Saad Omar Khan about his debut novel, Drinking the Ocean (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). The day after…
- New Books in Literature
Cynthia Blakeley, "The Innermost House: A Memoir" (Bright Leaf, 2024)
The Innermost House: A Memoir (Bright Leaf, 2024) is a stunning account of year-round life on the windswept shores of Cape Cod, threaded with meditations on…
- New Books in Literature
Mariah Rigg, "Target Island," The Common (Spring, 2025)
Mariah Rigg speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “Target Island,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. “Target Island” is a story…
- New Books in Literature
Sanjena Sathian, "Goddess Complex" (Penguin Press, 2025)
Sanjana Satyananda, the main character of Sanjena Sathian’s novel, Goddess Complex (Penguin Press, 2025), is a bit of a mess. She’s back in the States after a…
- New Books in Literature
James Cairns, "In Crisis, on Crisis: Essays in Troubled Times" (Wolsak and Wynn, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery interviews author and academic James Cairns about his collection of essays, In Crisis, On Crisis: Essays in Troubled…
- New Books in Literature
Greg Rhyno, "Who by Water" (Cormorant Books, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with author Greg Rhyno about his new mystery novel, Who By Water (Cormorant Books, 2025). After barely…
- New Books in Literature
Gabriel Ertsgaard, "A Fiction Writer’s Guide to Peace: Crafting Nonviolent Heroism" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Superhero violence and graphic action sequences are prevalent on the screen and on the page, but this book takes an alternative route with practical guidance…
- New Books in Literature
Lorna Graham, "Where You Once Belonged: A Novel" (She Writes Press, 2025)
A writer at Dateline NBC tries her hand at a different kind of mystery, perfect for fans of Chandler Baker’s Whisper Network, where a cynical TV news producer…
- New Books in Literature
Wendy Holden, "The Teacher of Auschwitz: A Novel" (Harper, 2025)
From the bestselling author of Born Survivors, a novel inspired by the powerful true story of a man who risked everything to protect children in Auschwitz…
- New Books in Literature
Gary Baum, "In Pursuit of Beauty" (Blackstone, 2025)
From the mind of acclaimed reporter Gary Baum comes In Pursuit of Beauty (Blackstone, 2025), a striking debut novel that examines the nature of truth and…
- New Books in Literature
Fadi Zaghmout, "The Man of Middling Height" (Syracuse UP, 2025)
What if our society’s deepest prejudices weren’t about race, gender, or sexuality—but height? In his groundbreaking allegorical novel, acclaimed Jordanian…
- New Books in Literature
Alexis Von Konigslow, "The Exclusion Zone" (Buckrider Books, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Alexis von Koniglow about her new novel, The Exclusion Zone (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). About The Exclusion…
- New Books in Literature
Lacy Fewer, "Yankeeland" (Koehler Books, 2025)
It’s the early 1900s and Brigid is restricted by straightlaced Irish society and a difficult stepmother, but her father is loving and supportive. She and her…
- New Books in Literature
Alpha Nkuranga, "Born to Walk: My Journey of Trials and Resilience" (Goose Lane, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Alpha Nkuranga about her deeply powerful and unforgettable memoir, Born to Walk: My Journey of Trials and…
- New Books in Literature
Dennard Dayle, "How to Dodge a Cannonball: A Novel" (Henry Holt, 2025)
How to Dodge a Cannonball is a razor-sharp satire that dives into the heart of the Civil War, hilariously questioning the essence of the fight, not just for…
- New Books in Literature
Tom Lutz, "1925: A Literary Encyclopedia" (Rare Bird Books, 2025)
The year 1925 was arguably the peak of literature's centrality. There were more magazines, more journals, more reviews, more book news, and more book gossip…
- New Books in Literature
Jesse Browner, "Sing to Me" (Little Brown, 2025)
Jesse Browner is the author of the novels Sing to Me (Little Brown, 2025) The Uncertain Hour and Everything Happens Today, among others, as well as of the…
- New Books in Literature
Jennifer Kabat, "Nightshining" (Milkweed, 2025)
Nightshining (Milkweed, 2025) Jennifer Kabat is the author of The Eighth Moon, her writing has also appeared in Frieze, Harper’s, McSweeney’s, and The…
- New Books in Literature
Libby Buck, "Port Anna" (Simon & Schuster, 2025)
After Gwin Gilmore loses her adjunct teaching job, mother, and boyfriend, she leaves the south and heads for the cottage she’s just inherited on the Maine…
- New Books in Literature
Lindsay Zier-Vogel, "The Fun Times Brigade" (Book*hug Press, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Lindsay Zier-Vogel about her new novel, The Fun Times Brigade (Book*hug Press, 2025). From acclaimed…
- New Books in Literature
Bianca Marais, "A Most Puzzling Murder" (Harper Collins, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Bianca Marais about her delightful and highly entertaining new book, A Most Puzzling Murder (Harper…
- New Books in Literature
Tochi Onyebuchi, "Harmattan Season: A Novel" (Tor Books, 2025)
Tochi Onyebuchi’s novel Harmattan Season: A Novel (Tor Books, 2025) follows Boubacar, a veteran and private eye living in French occupied West Africa, as he…
- New Books in Literature
Jennifer Kabat, "Nightshining: A Memoir in Four Floods" (Milkweed Editions, 2025)
Hello, my name is Eric LeMay, a host on New Books in Literature, a channel on the New Books Network. Today I interview Jennifer Kabat. Kabat is writer I've…
- New Books in Literature
John DeVore, "Theatre Kids: A True Tale of Off-Off Broadway" (Applause, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with John Devore about his phenomenal memoir, Theatre Kids: A True Tale of Off-Off Broadway (Applause, 2024)…