Fall for the Book Podcast

Mojgan Ghazirad discusses her autobiographic novel, The House on Sun Street, about a young girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution. She talks about the power of storytelling, changing identities, and the dangers of book banning.

Vanessa Riley talks about her novel Queen of Exiles, about the first black queen of Haiti after the Haitian Revolution. Marie-Louise Christophe then lived in exile where she became the first 'media-stalked' royal in an impressive tale.

Kathryn Savage, author of the debut lyric essay Groundglass, breaks down Superfund sites, the “body burden” of pollution, and the importance of hearing those whose voices often are silenced.

Salar Abdoh discusses martyrdom, (in)humanity in war, and dichotomies of art, peace, and violence in the Middle East, in his powerful novel Out of Mesopotamia. Abdoh was born in Iran and splits his time between Tehran and New York City. He is the author of the novels Tehran at Twilight, The Poet Game, and Opium; and he is the editor of Tehran Noir. His latest novel is Out of Mesopotamia.

Dr. Debra Lane, a 30 year veteran of the education systems in the US and abroad, sits down to talk about resilience in school for students and instructors, the changing role of women in education, and what needs to change to help make students more successful in school.

Bruce Holsinger, author of The Displacements, and Matt Bondurant, author of Oleander City, sit down with Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon for the first episode of 2023. They talk superstorms, climate change, disaster response in their tales of a near future Category 6 hurricane and the true devastation in Galveston, TX in the early 1900s.

On the final episode of the year, Sisters Frances & Ginger Park talk about family history and memory, collaborating on a long list of children's books and a memoir, and the best chocolate pairings for their newest books, That Lonely Spell, and The Hundred Choices Department Store.

Combat veteran and former paratrooper Bill Glose discusses his story collection, All the Ruined Men, as well as the toll of war on soldiers, and the power of poetry and writing, on this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast.

A Calm and Normal Heart author Chelsea T. Hicks talks about revitalizing the Wazhazhe ie language, creating art, fashion, and poetry, and her story collection in this episode of The Fall for the Book Podcast. Hicks is an enrolled citizen of the Osage Nation and she belongs to the Pawhuska District.

In the first episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast's season, Alma Katsu curls horror and the supernatural through her historical fiction - from the Donner Party to the Titanic, to Japanese internment campus during WWII in her newest book The Fervor. She talks research, Japanese folklore, and more. She even talks about how she helped predict the future of Intelligence in social media during her...

On this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast, Pamela N. Harris, author of the debut YA novel When You Look Like Us sits down to talk about defying stereotypes, writing your own experiences, the power of representation in books, and of course, Leonardo DiCaprio.

Janice Northerns discusses her childhood in arid West Texas, changing life and land, and coming back to writing later in life. This episode of the Fall for the Book podcast features her work in the debut collection Some Electric Hum.

Brandie June, author of the YA fantasy novel Gold Spun, chats about her fairy tale retelling of “Rumpelstiltskin,” which gives the princess more agency, playwriting, doing aerial arts, and more, all on this episode of the Fall for the Book Podcast. Purchase her book here: https://bookshop.org/lists/fall-for-the-book-podcast

Claudia Kalb, author of Spark: How Genius Ignites, From Child Prodigies to Late Bloomers talks about the role of memory and luck, and the "rage to master" their skills that make each of the 13 profiled geniuses -- including Pablo Picasso, Yo-Yo Ma, and Julia Child-- so incredible.

Jim Peterson takes readers on a surreal journey in his short story collection The Sadness of Whirlwinds. In this first episode of the 2022 season of The Fall for the Book Podcast, he discusses how each tale dabbles or drips with magical realism and why it's important for the reader to ask questions.

Ethel Rohan discusses the importance of "uncomfortable" stories, how memories can shape a character's future, and the power of small moments, all on this episode of The Fall for the Book Podcast. Rohan is the author of In Case of Contact, which won the Dzanc Short Story Collection Prize.

Two writers discuss power, position, and moving forward: M.M. Bailey in her flash piece “Smaller,” and Yermiyahu Ahron Taub in his poem “The Light at the Beginning of the Tunnel.” Bailey and Taub are two of the hundred writers from DC, Maryland, and Virginia featured in This is What America Looks Like – the first anthology from The Washington Writers’ Publishing House in 25 years. The book showcas...

Richard Washer, resident playwright at The Rose Theatre Company discusses his new play, Dubliners in Exile after actors perform a scene. In the play, James Joyce wakes up disoriented from a deep sleep to a timeless world at once strange and yet familiar where he knows something important needs to get done quickly, but he can’t remember what it is. As he searches for clues, an ever-changing process...

Jesse DeLong and Beth Gilstrap infuse every word of their poetry and prose with atmospheric tension, using nature to explore what it means to be human. DeLong’s poetry collection The Amateur Scientists Notebook uses scientific tables, field guides and more to draw the natural world together with philosophy, memory, and family. Gilstrap’s Deadheading and Other Stories intertwines her Southern Gothi...

Heather Young discusses her novel, The Distant Dead, set in the high desert hills. Called “electrifying, ambitious, and crushingly beautiful,” by Kirkus Reviews, Young’s novel is a taught literary thriller which tackles the opioid epidemic, poverty, and deeply buried secrets.

Two writers examine pressing issues of identity, legacy, and historical memory in their work. Poet Sandra Beasley writes through the lens of Washington D.C. and Virginia’s history to examine race, politics, disability advocacy and more in her collection Made to Explode: Poems. Chris Stuck’s debut short story collection Give My Love to the Savages tackles the taboo with grit, humor, and gripping la...

Celebrate Children's Book Week with Megan Wagner Lloyd, author of Allergic, and Paper Mice, and Nadine Poper, author of Porcupette and Moppet talk the art and craft of writing kids' books, and the little known facts of the children's book publishing world!

Arthur Sze sat down with Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon to discuss revisiting fifty years' worth of poetry in his latest collection, The Glass Constellation, finding freedom within structure, and the importance of poetry in daily life.

Ayşe Papatya Bucak sat down with Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon to discuss mythology, re-imagining the past, and re-imagining the form of her short stories in her newest collection, The Trojan War Museum.

Poet and memoirist Reginald Dwayne Betts spoke from the road with Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon about his poetry collection Felons, "gateway literature," and his ambitious Million Book Project, which will put 500 books in prisons around the country.