New Books Network

Biography May 20, 2022

You'll Never Find Us

A Memoir

Jeanne Baker Guy

Hosted by Jeannette Cockroft

In 1977, Jeanne’s German nationalist ex-husband, Klaus, tells her he’s gotten a new job and wants to take their three-year-old daughter and six-year-old son away for a long weekend …

Poetry May 17, 2022

Synaptic

Alison Calder

Hosted by Sine Yaganoglu

This intricate, yearning work from award-winning poet Alison Calder asks us to think about the way we perceive and the ways in which we seek to know ourselves and others …

Literature May 17, 2022

Geographies of the Heart

Caitlin Hamilton Summie

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Three members of a loving Minnesota family have a voice in Caitlin Hamilton Summie’s new thought-provoking novel-in-stories, Geographies of the Heart (Fomite 2022). Sarah, the eldest daughter, Al, Sarah’s husband …

The Common Magazine May 13, 2022

Idlewild

The Common magazine (Spring, 2022)

Nathan Jordan Poole

Hosted by Emily Everett

Nathan Jordan Poole speaks to managing editor Emily Everett about his story “Idlewild,” which appears in The Common’s new spring issue. In this conversation, Nathan talks about doing seasonal work …

Poetry May 13, 2022

Daughters of Harriet

Poems

Cynthia Parker-Ohene

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Drawing inspiration from the life of Harriet Tubman, Cynthia Parker-Ohene's poetic narratives follow a historical arc of consciousness of Black folks: mislaid in potters' fields and catalogued with other misbegotten …

Literature May 10, 2022

Lea

Ariela Freedman

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Lea Roback was a feminist and labor activist who was raised in a large Jewish family in Quebec, Canada. In the novel Lea (Linda Leith Publishing, 2022), Ariela Freedman describes a …

Literature May 6, 2022

Mingo

W. Jeff Barnes

Hosted by Deidre Tyler

Set against the backdrop of coal-rich, hard-scrabble West Virginia and "civilized," segregated Virginia, W. Jeff Barnes' Mingo (Little Star, 2021) reveals the deep divide between corporate might and those seeking …

Recall This Book May 5, 2022

We are Not Digested

A Conversation with Rajiv Mohabir (Ulka Anjaria, JP)

Rajiv Mohabir

Hosted by Elizabeth Ferry and John Plotz

Rajiv Mohabir is a dazzling poet of linguistics crossovers, who works in English, Bhojpuri, Hindi and more. He is as prolific as he is polyglot (three books in 2021!) and …

Science Fiction May 5, 2022

The Circus Infinite

Khan Wong

Hosted by Rob Wolf

Few writers are as qualified to set their book in a circus as Khan Wong, who has not only performed in a circus but is an internationally recognized hula hoop …

Academic Life May 5, 2022

Behind the Scenes at a Literary Magazine

A Talk with Jennifer Acker, Founder and Editor-in-Chief at The Common

Jennifer Acker

Hosted by Christina Gessler

Welcome to The Academic Life! In this episode you’ll hear about: How the Common got startedWhat is involved in running a literary journal Why grants and institutional support matter so …

Literature May 3, 2022

Constellations of Eve

Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

Abbigail Nguyen Rosewood has created a swiftly mutating story about a woman who is either a loving mother, a famous artist, or a teacher. Constellations of Eve (Texas Tech University …

Historical Fiction May 3, 2022

Murder on the Sea Witch

A Redmond and Haze Mystery Book 7

Irina Shapiro

Hosted by C. P. Lesley

Jason Redmond, a US Civil War surgeon, never expected to step into his father’s shoes as the heir to an English earldom. When he first shows up to claim his …

Fantasy May 2, 2022

A Lullaby for Witches

Hester Fox

Hosted by Gabrielle Martin

Augusta is a meek museum curator trapped in a dead-end job and relationship, when an employment offer to become the collections manager at Harlowe House changes her life. With new …

Poetry April 29, 2022

Today in the Taxi

Poems

Sean Singer

Hosted by Robert Snyder

The first poem in Sean Singers’ new collection of poetry, Today in the Taxi, published by Tupelo Press, begins with, “Today in the taxi, I brought a man from midtown …

Asian Review of Books April 28, 2022

Too Far from Antibes

Bede Scott

Hosted by Nicholas Gordon

Jean-Luc Guéry is a man down on his luck. Middling journalist, gambling addict, alcoholic. Yet when news of his brother’s murder in Saigon reach him in France, Guéry drops everything …

Burned by Books April 27, 2022

Paradais

Fernanda Melchor and Sophie Hughes

Hosted by Chris Holmes

An interview with Fernanda Melchor, finalist for the International Booker Prize, and author most recently of Paradais (New Directions, 2022). And Sophie Hughes, the English translator of Fernanda’s two novels, and …

Performing Arts April 27, 2022

This Is My Office and Notes on My Mother's Decline

Two Plays

Andy Bragen

Hosted by Andy Boyd

On this episode of New Books in Performing Arts, we talk with Andy Bragen about two plays of his published in a new volume by Northwestern University Press: This is …

Literature April 26, 2022

The Membranes

A Novel

Ta-wei Chi

Hosted by Morteza Hajizadeh

It is the late twenty-first century, and Momo is the most celebrated dermal care technician in all of T City. Humanity has migrated to domes at the bottom of the …

Literature April 26, 2022

Live Caught

R. Cathey Daniels

Hosted by G. P. Gottlieb

In Live Caught (Black Lawrence Press 2022) by R. Cathey Daniels, we meet Lenny after he’s stolen money and a skiff in an attempt to escape his abusive older brothers …

Literary Studies April 22, 2022

The Sun Also Rises

Authoritative Text, Backgrounds and Contexts, Criticism

Michael Thurston (editor)

Hosted by William Domnarski

“Finally, the first of Norton’s long-awaited treatments of Ernest Hemingway, the American who, more than anyone, changed the look and sound of modern American prose. Academic rigor and impeccable attention …