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
Pria Anand "The Elephant's Child" The Common Magazine (Spring, 2025)
Pria Anand speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about her story “The Elephant’s Child,” which appears in The Common’s spring issue. The piece is a vivid…
- New Books in Literature
Naomi Xu Elegant, "Gingko Season: A Novel" (W. W. Norton, 2025)
Naomi Xu Elegant’s debut novel, Gingko Season (W. W. Norton: 2025), stars Penelope Lin, a young Chinese woman living in New York in the faraway year of 2018…
- New Books in Literature
Kay Sohini, "This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir" (Ten Speed Graphic, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kay Sohini about her graphic memoir, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City: A Graphic Memoir (published by Ten…
- New Books in Literature
Tie Ning, Annelise Finegan trans., "My Sister's Red Shirt" (Sinoist Books, 2025)
Growing up in a glittering new decade of possibility, Anran is radically different to her sister. Outspoken and idealistic, she relishes in challenging…
- New Books in Literature
Kathryn Mockler, "Anecdotes" (Book*hug Press, 2023)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kathryn Mocker about her wildy acclaimed award-winning collection of hyrbrid fiction/prose…
- New Books in Literature
Simon Tolkien, "The Palace at the End of the Sea: A Novel" (Lake Union Publishing, 2025)
A young man comes of age and crosses continents in search of an identity--and a cause--at the dawn of the Spanish Civil War in a thrilling, timely, and…
- New Books in Literature
Alice Fitzpatrick, "A Dark Death" (Stonehouse Publishing, 2025)
In this NBN interview, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Toronto author Alice Fitzpatrick about new her mystery, A Dark Death (Stonehouse Publishing, 2025). This…
- New Books in Literature
Christy Climenhage, "The Midnight Project" (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery interviews Christy Climenhage, the author of the highly-anticipated science fiction thriller, The Midnight Project (Wolsak & Wynn…
- New Books in Literature
Kevin Nguyen, "My Documents" (One World, 2025)
Kevin Nguyen, My Documents (One World, 2025) Kevin Nguyen is the author of the novel New Waves, published in 2020. He is the features editor at The Verge…
- New Books in Literature
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, "Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays and Writings" (Harper, 2025)
The New York Times-bestselling, National Book Award-nominated author of The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois and The Age of Phillis makes her nonfiction debut with…
- New Books in Literature
Omneya Ayad, "Love in Sufi Literature: Ibn ‘Ajiba’s Understanding of the Divine Word" (Routledge, 2023)
Love in Sufi Literature: Ibn ‘Ajiba’s Understanding of the Divine Word (Routledge, 2023) explores the role of divine love in the Quranic commentary of the…
- New Books in Literature
Yasmine Motawy, "Children’s Picture Books and Contemporary Egyptian Society" (AUC Press, 2025)
Children’s picture books are some of the most transparently ideological materials available to parents and educators, and as cultural objects they are an…
- New Books in Literature
Helen Sheehy, "Just Willa" (Cave Hollow Press, 2025)
Just Willa (Cave Hollow Press, 2025) is a family chronicle of rare beauty-more than reminiscent of Willa Cather in capturing the regional flavors of…
- New Books in Literature
Leah Lax, "Not From Here: the Song of America" (Pegasus Elliot MacKenzie, 2024)
When Leah Lax was asked to write an opera to celebrate local immigrants, she began by spending a year listening to accounts of upheaval, migration, and arrival…
- New Books in Literature
Ana Hebra Flaster, "Property of the Revolution: From a Cuban Barrio to a New Hampshire Mill Town" (She Writes Press, 2025)
Ana Hebra Flaster was six years old when her working-class family was kicked out of their Havana barrio for opposing communism. Once devoted revolutionaries…
- New Books in Literature
Catherine Bush, "Skin" (Goose Lane Editions, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with one of Canada's most beloved novelists, Catherine Bush, about her debut collection of short fiction, Skin…
- New Books in Literature
Connor Lafortune and Lindsay Mayhew eds., "A Thousand Tiny Awakenings" (Latitude 46, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with co-editors and poets, Connor Lafortune and Lindsay Mayhew about their anthology, A Thousand Tiny…
- New Books in Literature
Daryl Sneath, "In the Country in the Dark" (Signature Editions, 2023)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery interviews fellow rural Ontario author Daryl Sneath about his 2024 novel, In the Country in the Dark (Signature Editions). When Landon…
- New Books in Literature
Callista Markotich, "Wrap in a Big White Towel" (Frontenac House, 2024)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kingston, Ontario poet Callista Markotich about her poetry collection, Wrap in a Big White Towel. Callista’s powerful first…
- New Books in Literature
Rob Franklin, "Great Black Hope" (Summit Books, 2025)
Rob Franklin, Great Black Hope (Summit Books, 2025) Born and raised in Atlanta, Rob Franklin is a writer of fiction, criticism, and poetry, and a cofounder of…
- New Books in Literature
Amie Souza Reilly, "Human/Animal: A Bestiary in Essays" (Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2025)
Amie Souza Reilly bought an old house in the suburbs. She had just gotten remarried and was looking forward to a new start with her new husband and her…
- New Books in Literature
Jack Wang, "The Riveter" (HarperVia, 2025)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with author Jack Wang about his novel, The Riveter (HarperVia, 2025). In the vein of All the Light We Cannot See, a…
- New Books in Literature
Teri Vlassopoulos, "Living Expenses" (Invisible Publishing, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Toronto author Teri Vlassopoulos, author of Living Expenses—a timely tale of reproductive health in an age…
- New Books in Literature
Lindsay Wong, "Tell Me Pleasant Things about Immortality: Stories" (Penguin, 2023)
In this NBN episode, Hollay Ghadery speaks with Lindsay Wong about her short story collection, Tell Me Pleasant Things About Immortality (Penguin, 2023)…
- New Books in Literature
Melia McClure, "All the World's a Wonder" (Radiant Press, 2022)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with author and actor Melia McClure about her novel, All The World's a Wonder (Radiant Press, 2023). A playwright possessed by…
- New Books in Literature
Dave Margoshes, "A Simple Carpenter" (Radiant Press, 2024)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with award-winning author Dave Margoshes’ novel, A Simple Carpenter (Radiant Press, 2024)—which recently won a Saskatchewan…
- New Books in Literature
Kevin Potter, "Poetics of the Migrant: Migrant Literature and the Politics of Motion" (Edinburgh UP, 2023)
Since the 1980s, readers and scholars alike have celebrated migrant literature for not only depicting migration, but for inspiring reflections on class, race…
- New Books in Literature
We Better Laugh About It: A Discussion with Álvaro Enrigue and Maia Gil’Adí
Álvaro Enrigue and critic Maia Gil’Adí begin their conversation considering translation as a living process, one that is internal to the novel form. Álvaro…
- New Books in Literature
Anthony Bidulka, "Home Fires Burn" (Stonehouse Publishing, 2025)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery has a wonderful conversation with many-time award-winning author, Anthony Bidulka. Bidulka’s books have been shortlisted for Crime…
- New Books in Literature
Andy Oler, "Old-Fashioned Modernism: Rural Masculinity and Midwestern Literature" (LSU Press, 2019)
In light of recent conversations about the crisis of masculinity, let's revisit Dr. Andy Oler's book Old-Fashioned Modernism: Rural Masculinity and Midwestern…
- New Books in Literature
Jacob McArthur Mooney, "The Northern: A Novel" (ECW Press, 2025)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Jacob McArthur Mooney about his debut novel, The Northern, published by ECW Press in 2025. “The Northern is both a…
- New Books in Literature
Andrew Forbes, "McCurdle's Arm: A Fiction" (Invisible Publishing, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Andrew Forbes about his phenomenal novella, McCurdle’s Arm: A Fiction (Invisible Publishing, July 16…
- New Books in Literature
Zohra Saed and Sahar Muradi, "One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature" (U Arkansas Press, 2010)
Since 9/11 there has been a cultural and political blossoming among those of the Afghan diaspora, especially in the United States, revealing a vibrant, active…
- New Books in Literature
Jeff Nania, "River Gold: A Northern Lakes Mystery" (Feet Wet Writing, 2025)
In River Gold (Feed Wet Writing, 2025) Sheriff John Cabrelli is pulled into a murder investigation after a nationally known Great Lakes historian is robbed of…
- New Books in Literature
Emily Everett, "All That Life Can Afford" (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2025)
Anna first fell in love with London at her hometown library—its Jane Austen balls a far cry from her life of food stamps and hand-me-downs. But when she…
- New Books in Literature
Gina Leola Woolsey, "Fifteen Thousand Pieces" (Guernica Editions, 2023)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with author Gina Leola Woolsey about her stunning biography, Fifteen Thousand Pieces (Guernica Editions, 2023)…
- New Books in Literature
Lucas Schaefer, "Tuesday" The Common Magazine (Spring, 2025)
Lucas Schaefer speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his story “Tuesday,” which appears in The Common’s brand new spring issue. “Tuesday” is an excerpt…
- New Books in Literature
Frank X Walker, "Load in Nine Times: Poems" (Liveright, 2024)
For decades Frank X Walker has reclaimed essential American lives through his pathbreaking historical poetry. In this stirring new collection, he reimagines…
- New Books in Literature
Reem Gaafar, "A Mouth Full of Salt" (Saqi Books, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Reem Gaafar about her Island Prize 2023-winning book, A Mouthful of Salt, published in Canada by Invisible…
- New Books in Literature
Stephanie Cesca, "Dotted Lines" (Guernica Editions, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery interviews Stephanie Cesca about her acclaimed novel, Dotted Lines (Guernica Editions, 2024) which has been named a…
- New Books in Literature
Thomas Leduc, "Palpitations" (Latitude 46, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with former Sudbury Poet Laureate Thomas Leduc about his new collection of poetry, Palpitations (Latitude 46…
- New Books in Literature
Andrew Porter, "The Imagined Life: A Novel" (Knopf, 2025)
Steven Mills has reached a crossroads. His wife and son have left, and they may not return. Which leaves him determined to find out what happened to his own…
- New Books in Literature
Christine McNair, "Toxemia" (Book*hug Press, 2024)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with the wonderful Ottawa writer, Christine McNair about her 2024 book of lyric essays and prose poetry, Toxemia (Book*hug…
- New Books in Literature
Maureen Stanton, "The Murmur of Everything Moving: A Memoir" (Columbus State UP, 2025)
Maureen Stanton’s new memoir, The Murmur of Everything Moving (Columbus State University 2025) opens when she was in her early twenties, working at a bar…
- New Books in Literature
Manahil Bandukwala, "Heliotropia" (Brick Books, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host and poet Hollay Ghadery speaks with Manahil Bandukwala about her second collection, Heliotropia (Brick Books, 2024). This book of…
- New Books in Literature
Rosa Castellano, "All Is the Telling" (Diode, 2025)
In this NBN Poetry podcast, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Rosa Castellano about her gorgeous debut collection, All is the Telling (Diode, 2025). All is the…
- New Books in Literature
Katherine Addison, "The Tomb of Dragons" (Tor Books, 2025)
Katherine Addison’s novel The Tomb of Dragons (Tor, 2025) is the concluding novel in her Cemeteries of Amalo Trilogy. The novels follow Thara Celehar, a…
- New Books in Literature
Gary Barwin, "Scandal at the Alphorn Factory: New and Selected Short Fiction, 2024-1984" (Assembly Press, 2024)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with award-winning author Gary Barwin about his book, Scandal at the Alphorn Factory: New and Selected Short Fiction, 2024-1984…
- New Books in Literature
Kern Carter, "Boys and Girls Screaming" (Dancing Cat Books, 2022)
In this episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Kern Carter about his acclaimed YA novel, Boys and Girls Screaming (Dancing Cat Books, 2022). About the…
- New Books in Literature
“That In Between Time,” Fernanda Trías and Heather Cleary (MAT)
Fernanda Trías’s Pink Slime (Scribner, 2024) was first published in Spanish in October 2020, several months into a global pandemic that had bent our world into…
- New Books in Literature
Joanna Miller, "The Eights" (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2025)
Joanna Miller’s The Eights (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2025) follows four women attending the University of Oxford in 1920. They are not the first female university…
- New Books in Literature
Kyle Flemmer, "Supergiants" (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Calgary poet Kyle Flemmer about his collection of poetry, Supergiants (Wolsak & Wynn, 2025). For millennia…
- New Books in Literature
Lauren K. Watel, "Book of Potions" (Sarabande Books, 2024)
Lauren k. Watel's Book of Potions (Sarabande Books, 2025) is the winner of the 2023 Kathryn A. Morton Prize in Poetry, selected by Ilya Kaminsky. Written with…
- New Books in Literature
Linda Trinh, "Seeking Spirit: A Vietnamese (Non) Buddhist Memoir" (Miroland, 2025)
Join NBN host Hollay Ghadery for a thought-provoking conversation with Linda Trihn about her memoir, Seeking Spirit: A Vietnamese (Non)Buddhist Memoir…
- New Books in Literature
John Copenhaver, "Hall of Mirrors" (Pegasus Crime, 2025)
Hall of Mirrors (Pegasus Crime 2025) was selected as a New York Times Crime Novel of the Year. It opens with a fire – it’s May 1954 and Lionel Kane is watching…
- New Books in Literature
Michael Blouin, "Hard Electric" (Anvil Press, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Michael Blouin about his poetry collection, Hard Electric (Anvil Press, 2024). Hard Electric is Michael…
- New Books in Literature
Ted Levin, "The Promise of Sunrise: Finding Solace in a Broken World" (Green Writers Press, 2025)
In The Promise of Sunrise: Finding Solace in a Broken World (Green Writers Press, 2025), a former Bronx Zoo zoologist and award-winning nature writer, Ted…
- New Books in Literature
Planetary Boundaries are Non-Negotiable: Kim Stanley Robinson and Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (JP)
In Season 9, Novel Dialogue set out to find the Venn diagram intersection of tech and fiction—only to realize that Kim Stanley Robinson had staked his claim on…
- New Books in Literature
Chris Bailey, "Forecast: Pretty Bleak" (McClelland & Stewart, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with PEI poet and commercial fisherman, Chris Bailey, about his collection, Forecast: Pretty Bleak (McClelland…
- New Books in Literature
Diamond Forde, "Mother Body" (Saturnalia Books, 2021)
Mother Body (Saturnalia Books, 2021) is an intersectional exploration of the trauma and agency held within a body defined by its potential to mother. As Mother…