Bay Area Book Festival Podcast

Often regarded with pity or disdain, women who don't mother are made to feel like failures. But what possibilities are opened by a child-free life? Brazen in their vulnerability, these authors break the silence on not mothering, addressing the assumptions, stigmas and rewards. With the support of the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco/Silicon Valley; Culture Ireland; and Women Lit members.

Award-winning Canadian writers converge on one stage to recount their adventures in literary risk-taking and rule-breaking. Hear from Esi Edugyan ("Washington Black"), Sheila Heti ("Motherhood") and André Alexis ("Days By Moonlight"). With the support of the Consulate General of Canada, San Francisco/Silicon Valley.

One of the Festival's most popular sessions is back, featuring some of Scandinavia's most scintillating mystery writers. With the support of Iceland Naturally, the Icelandic Literature Center, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, the Consulate General of Sweden in San Francisco, SWEA San Francisco, the Norway House Foundation and NORLA. With ASL interpreter.

How do we reckon with what haunts us most? These writers pick apart trauma to understand its source, pushing past reductive conclusions and condemnations in pursuit of a fuller truth. Moderated by associate professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and a facilitator of restorative justice. Sponsored by the California Institute of Integral Studies.

Eliot Pattison's work, which uses the lens of mystery fiction to illuminate the harsh treatment of Tibetans under Chinese rule, has earned him both literary and humanitarian honors. Pattison joins us upon the publication of the final book in the bestselling Inspector Shan Tao Yun series.

Large-scale, far-in-the-future stories tend to get most the glory in the sci-fi canon. But what happens when reality already feels like science fiction? Like George Orwell's '1984,' near-future narratives exploit current technology, politics, and fears to explore what life could be like in 10 years, one year, or even a hour. Our panelists consider how to predict the tantalizing possibility of what...

Through history and philosophy, Kwame Anthony Appiah, weekly columnist for The New York Times, explores the compulsion to define and gather around identity. How do groups struggling for justice use, or misuse, identity? Can a more nuanced understanding bring us together? Carlos Lozada, 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner and nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post, will interview.

Anger about economic injustice drives political change. Anand Giridharadas ("Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World") speaks with Robert Reich ("The Common Good"), to reveal how the uber wealthy are impoverishing you, yours and democracy itself. Moderated by the CEO and co-founder of Beneficial State Bank. Sponsored by Beneficial State Bank.

In "Dread Nation," Justina Ireland explores an alternate Civil War where zombie-slaying biracial teenager Jane McKeene finds herself in a desperate fight for her life. Ireland talks with author and YA librarian Alexandria Brown about how she employs planet-hopping Star Wars characters and half-god assassins to dig into complex questions about capitalism, science, racism and inequality.

Taking us from pole to pole and across decades, "Horizon," the latest by celebrated humanitarian Barry Lopez, glimmers with insights on our place in this world and on writing as a way of living and seeing. Lopez will be in conversation with John Freeman, writer, editor and prominent literary critic.

The former president of the National Book Critics Circle talks with Bay Area authors you won't want to miss: a National Book Award finalist for a poignant collection of short stories, a debut author who ignited the book world with her incendiary first book and another debut author who clinched the Caine Prize for African writing.

The landscape of sex, love and romance in New York City has undergone dramatic changes in the 20 years since Candace Bushnell published the iconic  Sex and the City , which broke down major barriers in cultural representations of single women and reshaped the landscape of pop culture. Now the trailblazing Bushnell is back to ask the vital question: Is there still sex in the city for women 50+?

Look around. How much of our infrastructure — from roads and bridges to factories and food supplies — was built on the backs of American slaves? Three writer-researchers examine how the brutal history of slavery laid the foundation of American capitalism and shaped today's racial and economic inequality. Blight just won the the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for his biography of Frederick Douglass. Sponsored...

Terry Tempest Williams, a woman whose writings are as lyrical and formidable as her name, has been heralded as an "activist laureate." She's best known for her classic Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place , an astonishing meditation on grief and the landscape of the West, and she joined Women Lit in Berkeley on October 17 to discuss her newest book of essays, Erosion .

What do mega-bestselling crime writers talk about around the family dinner table? Perhaps they plot their next juicy thrillers. After all, they do some great work together: Jonathan and Jesse have a new book that Stephen King calls "brilliant, page-turning fiction," and Faye and Jonathan co-wrote the New York Times bestseller "Double Homicide." Meet this family of mystery masters.

If we let them, natural spaces and creatures can help us slow down, notice and reflect on modern life. These authors come to us from England, Oakland and France to explore the wonders that acts of attention can bring. With the support of Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.

Ann Beattie is known for casting a gimlet eye on her generation's ambivalence and ambition. "A Wonderful Stroke of Luck," her 21st book, explores the complicated relationship between a charismatic teacher and his students and the secrets people keep from those they love. She'll talk with her friend Carol Edgarian, author, publisher and cofounder of Narrative. With the support of Women Lit Members.

This roundtable includes the New York Times Ethicist columnist, the former National Book Critics Circle president, the Freeman's literary journal editor, a Washington Post book critic, the German secretary of culture and The Paris Review's editor. With support from "Wunderbar Together," initiated by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut, and supported by the Federation of Germa...

Storytelling brings humanity to the headlines. Journalist Atia Abawi depicts a young boy who must escape from war-torn Syria. Aaron Bobrow-Strain follows an undocumented teen mom at a militarized border. Eliot Pattison concludes his mystery series set in Tibet, which he writes so readers can "understand what it feels like to witness an armed policeman assault a praying monk." Moderated by Human Ri...

Four distinct voices from Germany and Switzerland explore these questions in their work, all bestsellers in Europe. Discover these new voices in translation, one of the most exciting areas in literature today. With the support of the initiative "Wunderbar Together," initiated by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe Institut, and supported by the Federation of German Industries (BDI); t...

From the little island with the big reach: Hear from Mike McCormack with his acclaimed third novel "Solar Bones," Catherine Ryan Howard and her debut propulsive thriller "Distress Signals" and Emilie Pine with her searching "Notes to Self." With the support of Culture Ireland.

The 20th century brought us "1984" and "Brave New World" as harbingers of terrifying social and technological change. In the 21st century, we have bold and urgent climate literature. Hear from the talented authors bringing us these stories, moderated by the former deputy editor of The Paris Review.

Carmen Maria Machado, National Book Award finalist and author of "Her Body and Other Parties" and the forthcoming memoir "In the Dream House," sits down with Lacy Johnson, author of "The Other Side" and "The Reckonings," which was hailed by The Millions as "a collection that converses with itself and the reader, asking us to question our beliefs and our roles in a system that perpetuates violence....

Aya de Leon's women characters rob the rich and protect the exploited, Laura Lindstedt depicts seven women meeting after death, Lisa Locascio tells of a young woman discovering her sexual power and Tamsen Wolff traces the path of friendship, love and heartbreak between two women. With the support of FILI - Finnish Literature Exchange, the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation and Women Lit members.

Winner of the prestigious Windham-Campbell prize for his body of work, Trinidad-born and Ottawa-raised André Alexis sits down with National Book Award and National Humanities Medal winner, and author of over 40 novels, Joyce Carol Oates. The pair will discuss genre-bending, world-building and their shared obsession with storytelling. With the support of the Consulate General of Canada, San Francis...