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
Alka Joshi, "Six Days in Bombay" (Mira, 2025)
Sona Falstaff, a hospital nurse in Bombay, has things more or less where she wants them. Yes, she faces a certain discrimination, positive and negative…
- New Books in Literature
Erica Stern, "Frontier: A Memoir and a Ghost Story" (Barrelhouse Inc., 2025)
Frontier: A Memoir and a Ghost Story (Barrelhouse Inc., 2025) is a genre-bending expedition into childbirth. Seamlessly blending memoir, fiction, and research…
- New Books in Literature
Tim Welsh, "Ley Lines" (Guernica Editions, 2025)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with debut Toronto author Tim Welsh about his novel, Ley Lines, published by Guernica Editions, 2025. Set in…
- New Books in Literature
Nora Gold, "18: Jewish Stories Translated from 18 Languages" (Cherry Orchard, 2023)
18: Jewish Stories Translated from 18 Languages (Cherry Orchard, 2023) is the first anthology of translated multilingual Jewish fiction in 25 years: a…
- New Books in Literature
Farzana Doctor, "The Beauty of Us" (ECW Press, 2024)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with acclaimed author Farzana Doctor about her stunning novel, The Beauty of Us (ECW Press, 2024). They also…
- New Books in Literature
Kayla E.'s "Precious Rubbish" (Fantagraphics Books, 2025)
Kayla E.’s Precious Rubbish (Fantagraphics, 2025), is an experimental graphic memoir drawn in a style that references the aesthetics of mid-century children’s…
- New Books in Literature
Debra Spark, "Discipline" (Four Way Books, 2024)
Discipline (Four Way Books, 2024), Debra Spark’s latest novel was inspired by the life of Walt Kuhn, who introduced Americans to modern art, and also by an…
- New Books in Literature
Stedmond Pardy, "Beached Whales" (Mosaic Press, 2024)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery is delighted to speak with Toronto area poet Stedmond Pardy about his newest book, Beached Whales (Mosaic Press, 2024).Stedmond Pardy’s…
- New Books in Literature
William Cooper and Michael McKinley, "A Quiet Life" (Arcade, 2024)
Michael Housen is living a typical, white-collar American life at a security company when he falls for a phishing campaign with dire implications. One click…
- New Books in Literature
William Cooper and Michael McKinley, "A Quiet Life" (Arcade, 2024)
Michael Housen is living a typical, white-collar American life at a security company when he falls for a phishing campaign with dire implications. One click…
- New Books in Literature
Your Devotee in Rags
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with cultural icons, Anne Waldman (The Iovis Trilogy: Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment) and Andrew Whiteman (Broken Social…
- New Books in Literature
Betsy Lerner, "Shred Sisters" (Grove Press, 2024)
It is said that when one person in a family is unstable, the whole family is destabilized. Meet the Shreds. Olivia is the sister in the spotlight until her…
- New Books in Literature
Tolu Oloruntoba, "Unravel" (McClelland & Stewart, 2025)
On this episode of NBN, host Hollay Ghadery interviews Griffin and Governor General Award winning poet, Tolu Oloruntoba, whose highly-anticipated poetry…
- New Books in Literature
Nicholas Jubber, "Monsterland: A Journey Around the World’s Dark Imagination" (Scribe, 2025)
Monsters, in all their terrifying glory, have preoccupied humans since we began telling stories. But where did these stories come from?In Monsterland: A…
- New Books in Literature
Colum McCann, "Twist" (Random House, 2025)
Anthony Fennell, an Irish journalist and playwright, is assigned to cover the underwater cables that carry the world’s information. The sum of human…
- New Books in Literature
Michael Backus, "The Heart Is Meat: An 80s Memoir" (Oil on Water Press, 2025)
In the early 80s, New York City’s Gansevoort Meatpacking District, a small irregular patch of the West Village, was a wild confluence of meat market workers…
- New Books in Literature
Elana Wolff, "Faithfully Seeking Franz" (Guernica Editions, 2023)
The itinerary of Faithfully Seeking Franz comprises an irregular quest for dead mentor, modernist author Franz Kafka--in places he lived, worked, vacationed…
- New Books in Literature
Lauren Elkin, "Scaffolding" (FSG, 2024)
Paris, 2019. An apartment in Belleville. Following a miscarriage and a breakdown, Anna, a psychoanalyst, finds herself unable to return to work. Instead, she…
- New Books in Literature
Dorothea Heiser and Stuart Taberner, eds., "My Shadow in Dachau: Poems" (Camden House, 2014)
Poems by and biographies of inmates of the Dachau Concentration Camp, testimonies to the persistence of the humanity and creativity of the individual in the…
- New Books in Literature
Minrose Gwin, "Beautiful Dreamers" (Hub City Press, 2024)
Memory Feather, who was born with a misshapen hand and was able to communicate with animals, looks back to when she was a child living with her newly divorced…
- New Books in Literature
Vidyan Ravinthiran, "Asian/Other: Life, Poems, and the Problem of Memoir" (Icon Books, 2025)
Asian/Other: Life, Poems, and the Problem of Memoir was published in January 2025 by Icon Books. The book considers the political and psychological dimensions…
- New Books in Literature
Charlie Petch, "Why I Was Late" (Brick Books, 2021)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Charlie Petch (they/them, he/him) about their phenomenal debut poetry collection, Why I Was Late (Brick Books, 2021), which…
- New Books in Literature
Michael David Lukas, "More to the Story," The Common Magazine (Fall, 2025)
Michael David Lukas speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his essay “More to the Story,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. Michael talks about…
- New Books in Literature
Donna Besel, "The Unravelling: Incest and the Destruction of a Family" (U Regina Press, 2021)
In this NBN episode host Hollay Ghadery talks to bestselling author Donna Besel about her staggering memoir, The Unravelling: Incest and the Destruction of a…
- New Books in Literature
rob mclennan, "On Beauty: Stories" (U Alberta Press, 2024)
NBN host and CanLit fangirl extraordinaire Hollay Ghadery speaks with rob mclennan about his collection of stories, On Beauty (University of Alberta Press…
- New Books in Literature
Emma Pattee, "Tilt" (Marysue Rucci Books, 2025)
Set over the course of a single day, an electrifying debut novel from “a powerful new literary voice” (Vogue) following one woman’s journey across a…
- New Books in Literature
Ronald Okuaki Lieber, "The Long Journey Out" (Wipf and Stock, 2023)
Today I spoke with Ronald Okuaki Lieber about his new book, The Long Journey Out (Resource Publications, 2023)These poems are arranged in four sections…
- New Books in Literature
CS Richardson, "All the Colour in the World" (Knopf Canada, 2023)
Shortlisted for the 2023 Giller Prize, All the Colour in the World by CS Richardson tells the story of the restorative power of art in one man’s life, set…
- New Books in Literature
Victoria Christopher Murray, "Harlem Rhapsody" (Berkley, 2025)
Most people in North America have probably at least heard the name W. E. B. Dubois. In the early twentieth century, DuBois—the first African-American to earn a…
- New Books in Literature
Rob Winger, "It Doesn't Matter What We Mean" (McClelland & Stewart, 2021)
In this episode, NBN host Hollay Ghadery chops it up with poet Rob Winger about his collection, It Doesn't Matter What We Meant by Rob Winger (McClelland &…
- New Books in Literature
Shahd Alshammari, "Confetti and Ashes" (2025)
Shahd Alshammari’s Confetti and Ashes: Reflections on Wellness (Literary Mentor Words for Wellness, 2025) is a speculative memoir that questions what it means…
- New Books in Literature
Jehanne Dubrow, "Civilians" (LSU Press, 2025)
The final volume in Dr. Jehanne Dubrow’s groundbreaking trilogy about the experience of being a modern military spouse, Civilians (LSU Press, 2025) examines a…
- New Books in Literature
Catherine Owen, "Moving to Delilah" (FreeHand Books, 2024)
From award-winning poet Catherine Owen, a collection of poems about one woman’s journey from BC to a new life in Alberta, where she buys an old house and…
- New Books in Literature
Kirby, "She" (Knife, Fork, Book, 2024)
In this episode of NBN host, Hollay Ghadery speaks with the incomparable Toronto poet Kirby in an exclusive sampler of spectacular Kirby poetry.Kirby and…
- New Books in Literature
Su Chang, "The Immortal Woman" (House of Anansi Press, 2025)
Lemai never forgets the humiliation of her teachers and the burning of books during the Cultural Revolution. She uses her position as a student Red Guard…
- New Books in Literature
Cristina Leport, "Change of Heart: A Miner & Mulville Medical Thriller" (Bancroft, 2025)
In the bustling heart of New York City, a young medical student’s life is tragically cut short, though her heart continues to beat, holding the promise of life…
- New Books in Literature
George Elliott Clarke, "Canticles II (MMXX)" (Guernica, 2020)
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with one of her “favourite poets in the galaxy”, Canada’s 7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Elliot Clarke…
- New Books in Literature
Joseph Earl Thomas, "God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer" (Grand Central Publishing, 2024)
After a deployment in the Iraq War dually defined by threat and interminable mundanity, Joseph Thomas is fighting to find his footing. Now a doctoral student…
- New Books in Literature
Margaret Nowaczyk, "Marrow Memory: Essays of Discovery" (James Street North Books, 2024)
Margaret Nowaczyk’s Marrow Memory: Essays of Discovery is a touching collection of personal essays exploring the impact of genetics, ancestry, and immigration…
- New Books in Literature
Paul Lisicky, "Song So Wild and Blue: A Life with the Music of Joni Mitchell" (HarperOne, 2025)
Paul Lisicky remembers when he first heard Joni Mitchell on the radio, and when he found one of her records in a bin at Korvettes. He was inspired by her…
- New Books in Literature
Jason Pargin, "I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom" (St. Martin's Press, 2024)
I’m Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom is a darkly humorous thriller set in modern America's age of anxiety, by New York Times bestselling author…
- New Books in Literature
Gray Davidson Carroll, "Silent Spring," The Common magazine
Poet Gray Davidson Carroll speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about their poem “Silent Spring,” which appears in The Common’s fall issue. Gray talks about…
- New Books in Literature
Lisa F. Rosenberg, "FIne, I'm a Terrible Person" (Sibylline Press, 2025)
Today I talked to Lisa F. Rosenberg about Fine, I'm a Terrible Person (Sibylline Press, 2025).The pain of 73-year-old Aurora’s divorce over thirty years before…
- New Books in Literature
Nora Lange, "Us Fools" (Two Dollar Radio, 2024)
Joanne and Bernadette Fareown are raised on their family farm in rural Illinois, keenly affected by their parents' volatile relationship and mounting financial…
- New Books in Literature
Tim Blackett, "Grandview Drive" (Nightwood, 2024)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Tim Blacket about his award-winning debut short story collection, Grandview Drive (Nightwood Editions, 2024). Grandview…
- New Books in Literature
Cynthia Weiner, "A Gorgeous Excitement" (Crown, 2025)
There are two things Nina Jacobs is determined to do over the summer of 1986: avoid her mother’s depression-fueled rages, and lose her virginity before she…
- New Books in Literature
Janet Sherfund, "Abandoned at Birth: Searching for the Arms that Once Held Me" (Worth, 2024)
Adoption is often painted as a happy, inspirational act—a baby finds a family and lives happily ever after. But the truth is that adopted children experience…
- New Books in Literature
Elyse Durham, "Maya & Natasha" (Mariner Books, 2025)
As Nazi tanks roll toward Leningrad in August 1941, an unmarried nineteen-year-old ballerina gives birth to twin girls in the soon-to-be besieged city. Bereft…
- New Books in Literature
Janna Brooke Wallack, "Naked Girl" (2024)
After their mother dies, Jackson Jones is too busy selling drugs and bedding young women to pay attention to his two motherless children. Sienna and her little…
- New Books in Literature
Caroline Topperman, "Your Roots Cast a Shadow: One Family's Search across History for Belonging" (HCI, 2024)
NBN host Hollay Ghadery interviews Toronto author Caroline Topperman about her new book, Your Roots Cast a Shadow: One Family's Search Across History for…
- New Books in Literature
Natasha Ramoutar, "Baby Cerberus" (Buckrider Books, 2024)
Ethereal, soul-stirring, and playful, Baby Cerberus (Buckrider Books, 2024) by Natasha Ramoutar traces joy and kinship across a multitude of lives. Flitting…
- New Books in Literature
Tova Mirvis, "We Would Never" (Avid Reader Press, 2025)
After her husband Jonah asks for a divorce, Hailey Gelman’s difficult life in Binghamton turns into six weeks of litigation and custody battles in Tova…
- New Books in Literature
Ayelet Tsabari, "Songs for the Brokenhearted" (Random House, 2024)
On this NBN podcast, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with acclaimed author Ayelet Tsabari about gorgeous debut novel, Songs for the Broken Hearted (Random House…
- New Books in Literature
Emily E K Murdoch on the Governess Bureau Series
When the nobility and gentility of England are at their wits end, they send a discrete note to Miss Vivienne Clarke’s Governess Bureau. Only accepting the very…
- New Books in Literature
Adam Ross, "Playworld: A Novel" (Knopf, 2025)
“In the fall of 1980, when I was fourteen, a friend of my parents named Naomi Shah fell in love with me. She was thirty-six, a mother of two, and married to a…
- New Books in Literature
Jamie Tennant, "River, Diverted" (Palimpsest Press, 2022)
River, Diverted is a wild and wonderfully dark and campy novel by Jamie Tennant, published by Palimpsest Press in 2022.River Black found cult success writing…
- New Books in Literature
Saad T. Farooqi, "White World" (Cormorant Books, 2024)
Today I talked to Saad T. Farooqi about his new novel White World (Cormorant Books, 2024).Allah has burned the sky away. A mysterious snow falls over…
- New Books in Literature
Allegra Goodman, "Isola" (The Dial Press, 2025)
Today I talked to Alegra Goodman about her novel Isola (The Dial Press, 2025)After Marguerite is orphaned as a young girl, her guardian leaves her alone in her…
- New Books in Literature
Badiucao and Mellissa Chan, "You Must Take Part in Revolution" (Street Noise Books, 2024)
You Must Take Part In Revolution is a mind-bending graphic novel by award-winning journalist Melissa Chan and acclaimed dissident artist Badiucao. A…
- New Books in Literature
Elio Zarmati, "Goodbye, Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile" (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025)
Goodbye, Tahrir Square: Coming of Age as a Jew of the Nile (Cherry Orchard Books, 2025) is a first-person memoir written from the standpoint of a Jewish boy…