Tag Archives: Fiction

Peggy Orenstein, UNRAVELING & Katy Simpson Smith, THE WEEDS

We talk with Peggy Orenstein about her book, Unraveling: What I Learned About Life While Shearing Sheep, Dyeing Wool, and Making the World’s Ugliest Sweater.

But first, Katy Simpson Smith tells us about her new novel, The Weeds. It weaves history, botany, feminism and the climate crisis together into a compelling and sharply funny tale.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Tags: Writer’s Voice, podcast, book recommendations, author interview, book podcast, book show, book excerpt, nonfiction, fiction, botany, knitting Continue reading →

Podcast

How To Save The Planet, Collectively & Individually: Stephen Markley, DELUGE, plus Peter Kalmus & Darr Reilly

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How can we make the change we need to save our future?

I spent a lot of time studying how we as collective agents of history have helped foment enormous change and also how we have failed at it. That was another important element, to look at the revolutions that did not work. Because unlike basically every one of those revolutions, this is something we can’t miss on. We’re not going to get a do-over on this. It’s now or never.Â — Stephen Markley

We talk with Stephen Markley about his acclaimed new novel about the climate crisis, The Deluge. It lays out the different paths that may be taken to changing the political will to tackle climate, the unintended consequences they lead to, and the twists and turns of political, ecological and individual fates that intertwine and react with each other.

Then we talk about what we can do in our own lives to protect our planet from climate disaster. We air excerpts from our interviews with Peter Kalmus (Being The Change) and Darr Reilly of Carbon C.R.E.W.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

The Five Senses of the Wildscape with Nancy Lawson & A Mystery about Pandora’s Box with Susan Stokes Chapman

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Spring is here and the birds are returning. But the roar of the leaf blowers is a big turn-off to our feathered friends:

Right now they’re starting to migrate back in from Central and South America and either coming through or stopping to stay and breed. And if they’re going to a spot where there’s this constant noise, well, why are they going to want to nest there?

We talk with Nancy Lawson about her book, Wildscape: Trilling Chipmunks, Beckoning Blooms, Salty Butterflies, And Other Sensory Wonders Of Nature. It’s about the vibrant web of nature outside our back door—where animals and plants perceive and communicate using marvelous sensory abilities we are only beginning to understand.

Then, a novel links the Pandora myth to a young namesake in Jane Austen’s London — and a mystery that must be solved. Susan Stokes Chapman tells us about Pandora. Continue reading →

Podcast

Exploring Grief, Sisterhood & Sport: Chetna Maroo, WESTERN LANE & Black History Month: Ta-Nahisi Coates, THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE

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We speak with Chetna Maroo about her debut novel, Western Lane. It’s a beautifully written coming of age story about a young girl and her British Indian family who are trying to come to terms with the recent death of the family matriarch.

Then, for Black History Month, we hear my 2008 interview with Ta-Nahisi Coates about his first book, The Beautiful Struggle: Between the World and Me.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

Heinz Insu Fenkl, SKULL WATER & Stephanie Wear, EAT UGLY

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We talk with Korean American writer Heinz Insu Fenkl about his autobiographical novel Skull Water. It’s about his youth in Korea as the son of a Korean mother and German-American father, the trauma of war and the dizzying transformation of Korea from the old ways to modern life.

Then, jelly fish, bugs and garbage, oh my! We talk with marine scientist Dr. Stephanie Wear about the importance—and the joys — of “eating ugly.” She hosts the new documentary series Eating Ugly, on Discovery+.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

Omolola Ogunyemi, JOLLOF RICE AND OTHER REVOLUTIONS & Noviolet Bulaweyo, GLORY

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Nigerian novelist Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi talks about her novel of interlocking short stories, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions.

Then, we harken back to our conversation earlier this year with NoViolet Bulaweyo about her novel of Zimbabwe, Glory. It was shortlisted for the 2022 Man Booker Prize.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

Abdulrazak Gurnah, AFTERLIVES & R.F. Kuang, BABEL

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This week, we talk about two novels about colonialism, both from the point of view of the colonized.

First, we are honored to talk with the 2021 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah about his novel Afterlives, just published in the United States by Penguin Random House.

Then R.F. Kuang tells us about her fantasy/slash/alternate history novel, Babel, Or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translator’s Revolution.

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Podcast

Octavio Solis, RETABLOS & Freya Sampson, THE LOST TICKET

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In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we air our 2019 interview with playwright and author Octavio Solis. We spoke with him about growing up the son of Mexican migrants in El Paso Texas. His book of stories based on that history is Retablos: Stories from a Life Lived Along the Border. Octavio Solis.

Then, a new novel from British novelist Freya Sampson, The Lost Ticket. It’s one of those heart-warming but page-turning reads that makes you feel really good.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

Bill McKibben, THE FLAG, THE CROSS and the STATION WAGON & Sarah Thankam Mathews, ALL THIS COULD BE DIFFERENT

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We talk with Bill McKibben about his terrific new book, The Flag, The Cross And The Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What The Hell Happened.

Then, a brilliant coming-of-age novel that treats the personal as political and vice versa. We talk with Sarah Thankam Mathews about All This Could Be Different.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

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Podcast

Dolen Perkins-Valdez, TAKE MY HAND & HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers, THE LOVE SONGS OF W.E.B. DUBOIS

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We talk with Dolen Perkins-Valdez about her novel, Take My Hand. It’s based on a famous case accusing the federal government of forced sterilization of poor and minority women inspires a novel about reproductive justice.

Then we air an excerpt from our 2021 interview with HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers about her novel The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.

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Dolen Perkins-Valdez
The “Mississippi Appendectomy.” That’s what the great civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer called the practice of involuntary sterilization forced on poor, mostly Black and Brown, women for decades in the 20th century — a practice Hamer herself was a victim of.

Dolen Perkins Valdez’ novel Take My Hand takes up this history in the story of a young nurse who fights for justice for two young girls who have been sterilized in Mississippi in 1971.

Out from Penguin Random House in April of this year, the book has garnered widespread praise. Ms Magazine called it “A searing and ultimately hopeful novel about (in)justice and the importance of learning from history.”

In addition to Take My Hand, Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of previous novels, Wench and Balm.

HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers
In 2021 Writer’s Voice spoke with HonorÁ©e Fanonne Jeffers about her award-winning novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois. Listen to the full interview here.

We play an extended excerpt from that interview.

Podcast

Keri Blakinger, CORRECTIONS IN INK & Eve Karlin, TRACK 61

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We talk with journalist Keri Blakinger about her powerful prison memoir, Corrections In Ink.

Then, Eve Karlin tells us about her historical novel Track 61. It’s about the invasion by a group of German saboteurs during World War II, who came ashore in Amagansett, Long Island.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

Writer’s Voice: Mohsin Hamid, THE LAST WHITE MAN & Omar El Akkad, WHAT STRANGE PARADISE

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Mohsin Hamid tells us about his fable of race and humanity, where white people suddenly turn brown. It’s called The Last White Man.

Then Omar El Akkad talks about his novel What Strange Paradise. It’s about what happens when a Syrian refugee, a young boy, washes up on a Greek island.

Writer’s Voice — in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004. Rate us on your favorite podcast app! It really helps others find our show.

And like us on Facebook at Writers Voice Radio or find us on Twitter @WritersVoice.

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Podcast

Mary Pipher, A LIFE IN LIGHT & Anita Barrows, THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS

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We talk to Mary Pipher about her new memoir, A Life In Light: Meditations On Impermanence.

And poet, therapist and translator Anita Barrows talks with us about her stunning debut novel, The Language of Birds.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

Jonathan Lee, THE GREAT MISTAKE & Michael Mechanic, JACKPOT

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We speak with Jonathan Lee about his historical novel The Great Mistake. It’s about the man who’s called “The Father of Greater New York,” Andrew Haswell Green.

Then, Michael Mechanic takes us on a tour into the lives of the super-rich and what their astronomic wealth says about America. His book is Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live- and How their Wealth Harms Us All.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

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Podcast

Antonio Scurati, M & Tsering Yangzom Lama, WE MEASURE THE EARTH WITH OUR BODIES

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We talk with Antonio Scurati about his international bestseller about Mussolini, M: Son of the Century. It won the prestigious Strega Prize.

Then Tsering Yangzom Lama tells us about her powerful novel of Tibetan exile and resilience, We Measure The Earth With Our Bodies.

Writers Voice— in depth conversation with writers of all genres, on the air since 2004.

Like us on Facebook at Writers Voice with Francesca Rheannon, on Instagram @WritersVoicePodcast or find us on twitter @WritersVoice.

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Antonio Scurati
Benito Mussolini came to power in circumstances that are resonant with the crises we face today: economic turmoil for the masses, disenchantment with elites that fail to govern, and the erosion of democracy.

In his international bestseller, M, Antonio Scurati takes a deep dive into the mind of the dictator and the social conditions he was able to exploit in his rise.

By combining fiction with documentary evidence and meticulous historical research, Scurati has invented a new genre, which he calls the “documentary novel.”

M is a cautionary tale that we would all do well to heed.

Read An Excerpt From M

Tsering Yangzom Lama

In today’s world, thirty people become refugees every minute and 68 million people have been displaced (almost certainly an undercount.)

One of the earliest post WWII refugee crises happened in 1959, when Mao’s People’s Liberation Army invaded Tibet. About 80,000 Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, were forced to escape to India and Nepal, uprooted from their ancestral villages and way of life. Many people died during that exodus.

Tsering Yangzom Lama’s parents were among those who fled. She was born in Nepal. Yet there was much about her family’s history that she was unaware of growing up.

Her acclaimed debut novel We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies tells the story of the Tibetan diaspora. But it also brings alive the rich history, traditions and culture of Tibet.

Named a most anticipated book of the year by The Millions and Ms. and among the
Washington Post’s 10 Noteworthy Books for May, 2022, We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies is a story of courage, survival resilience by an extraordinary young writer.