What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books

My guest on this episode is Valérie Bah. Valérie is a multidisciplinary Québécois artist, filmmaker, documentarian, photographer, and writer whose first book was the collection The Rage Letters , translated from the French and published by Metonymy Press. Valérie’s most recent book is their first novel (and first book in English) Subterrane . That book was published by Véhicule Press in 2024 and w...

My guest on this episode is Leanne Toshiko Simpson. Leanne is an author and educator who co-founded a reflective writing program at Canada’s largest mental health hospital and teaches at the University of Toronto. Her debut is the novel Never Been Better, published by HarperCollins Canada in 2024. That book recently won the KOBO Emerging Writer Prize in the category of Romance. In a starred review...

My guest on this episode is Natalie Zina Walschots. Natalie is an author, game designer and journalist whose books include two poetry collections, DOOM: Love Poems for Supervillains and Thumbscrews. Her most recent book is the novel Hench , published by HarperCollins in 2021. That book was a finalist on Canada Reads and was nominated for a Locus Award for Best First Novel. The New York Times calle...

My guest on this episode is Michelle Good. Michelle’s first book, the novel Five Little Indians , won the HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize, the Amazon First Novel Award, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Award, the Evergreen Award, the City of Vancouver Book of the Year Award, and even Canada Reads. Her most recent book, Truth Telling: Seven Conversati...

My guest on this episode is Michael Crummey. Michael is the author of seven books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a half-dozen novels, all of which have won and/or been shortlisted for major literary prizes, including the Giller, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction. His most recent novel,...

My guest on this episode is Teresa Wong. Teresa is an author and artist whose work has appeared in The Believer, The New Yorker , McSweeney’s and The Walrus . Her first book, the graphic novel Dear Scarlet , was longlisted for CBC Canada Reads. Her most recent book is the graphic novel All Our Ordinary Stories , published in 2024 by Arsenal Pulp Press. It was also longlisted for Canada Reads, and...

My guest on this episode is Kerry Clare. Kerry is the author of the novels Mitzi Bytes and Waiting for a Star to Fall and the editor of The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood , Kerry also edits the Canadian books website 49thShelf.com, is host of the BOOKSPO podcast, and writes about books and reading at her longtime blog, Pickle Me This. Kerry’s most recent book is the novel Asking for a Frie...

My guest on this episode is Sid Sharp. Sid is an artist and illustrator whose debut graphic novel for young readers, The Wolf Suit , was featured in Best of the Year lists by the New York Public Library, School Library Journal , and The Globe and Mail , and has been translated into French, German, and Italian. Their most recent graphic novel, Bog Myrtle , was published in 2024 by Annick Press, and...

My guest on this episode is John Lorinc. John is a journalist and editor who writes regularly for places like the Globe and Mail , the Toronto Star , The Walrus , and Spacing Magazine, where he is a senior editor. His previous books include The New City and Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias . He has also contributed to, co-edited, or project-managed a number...

My guest on this episode is Charlie Angus. Charlie is a politician, musician, and author who has published nine books, including Unlikely Radicals , Children of the Broken Treaty, and  Cobalt: Cradle of the Demon Metals, Birth of a Mining Superpower, which was shortlisted for the Trillium Prize. Charlie served in the Canadian Parliament for more than twenty years, representing the riding of T...

My guest on this episode is C.S. Richardson. C.S. Richardson is an award-winning book designer who worked in book publishing for more than forty years, and an author whose first novel, The End of the Alphabet , was an international bestseller, published in fourteen countries and ten languages, and won the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book (Canada and the Caribbean). His second novel,...

My guest on this episode is Carol Off. Carol is an author, journalist, and broadcaster who spent almost sixteen years co-hosting the multi-award-winning CBC radio program, As It Happens . Before that, she covered news and current affairs in Canada and around the world. Her books include The Lion, The Fox and the Eagle , The Ghosts of Medak Pocket , Bitter Chocolate , and All We Leave Behind , whic...

My guest on this episode is Anne Fleming. Anne is the author of the story collections Pool-Hopping  and Gay Dwarves of America , the novel Anomaly , as well as the middle-grade novel The Goat and a poetry collection, poemw . Her most recent book is the novel Curiosities , published in 2024 by Knopf Canada. That novel was longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and shortlisted for t...

My guest on this episode is Kyo Maclear. Kyo is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and published in over twenty-five countries, and have garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, the Boston Globe...

My guest on this very Toronto-centric episode is Shawn Micallef. Shawn is an author whose books include Full Frontal TO, The Trouble With Brunch, and Frontier City . He’s a weekly columnist at the  Toronto Star , and a senior editor and co-founder of Spacing magazine. His most recent book is a fully updated version of Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto , originally published by...

My guest on this episode is Eden Boudreau. Eden is an author whose work has appeared in the Globe & Mail, Flare, Today’s Parent, and elsewhere. She is the host and creator of the podcast Dear Lonely Writer, which was aimed at destigmatizing mental health struggles during the writing process. Eden’s most recent book is her debut, Crying Wolf: A Memoir , published by Book*hug Press in 2023 and s...

My guest on this 100th episode is Ayelet Tsabari. Ayelet is the author of the short-story collection The Best Place on Earth and the memoir The Art of Leaving , which won the Canadian Jewish Literary Award and was a finalist for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction. She is also a co-editor of the anthology Tongues: On Longing and Belonging through Language.  Her most recent book i...

My guest on this episode is Bob McDonald. Bob has been the host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks since 1992 and is a regular science commentator on the CBC News Network and a science correspondent for The National . He is the author of multiple books, including The Earthling’s Guide to Outer Space , Canadian Spacewalkers , and The Future is Now . He has been honoured with the Michael Smith Award f...

My guest on the episode is Jowita Bydlowska. Jowita is the author of four books, including the bestselling memoir Drunk Mom , and the novels GUY and Possessed . She is a journalist, and teaches at the Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her most recent book is the novel Monster , which was published by Anvil Press in 2024. Author Barbara Gowdy said about Monster : “that a book with...

My guest on this episode is Amy Stuart. Amy is the author of four bestselling novels, including her first, Still Mine, and her most recent, A Death at the Party , which was published in 2023. Her most recent book is Home and Away , a memoir by former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin, which she co-wrote with Sundin. That book was published by Simon & Schuster Canada in 2024, and was an i...

My guest on this episode is Anuja Varghese. Anuja is a writer whose debut book, the short-story collection Chrysalis , was published by House of Anansi Press in 2023. That book won the Writers Trust of Canada Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers, the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, and the Hamilton Literary Award for Fiction. It was also nominated for a Rakuten Kobo Eme...

My guests on this episode are Daniel Innes and Christina Wong. Daniel is an artist whose work includes painting, art installation, graphic and textile design, and illustration. He currently divides his time between Toronto and an artist residency in Hyōgo, Japan. Christina is an author, playwright, and multidisciplinary artist whose plays have been performed at Factory Studio, Theatre Passe Murail...

My guest on this episode is Margaret MacMillan. Margaret is a historian and author whose bestselling books include The War That Ended Peace ; Nixon and Mao ; Women of the Raj ; and Paris 1919 . She is emeritus professor of History at the University of Toronto, where she served as Provost of Trinity College, and an emeritus professor of International History at Oxford University, where she served a...

My guest on this episode is Ivan Lesay. Ivan is a senior climate finance advisor at the National Bank of Slovakia and has served as the State Secretary of that country’s Finance Ministry. In addition to his policy work, he has published two children’s books, and writes lyrics for a hardcore band. His debut novel for adults, Topografia bolesti , was published in 2020, and was shortlisted for the Sl...

My guest on this episode is Sheung-King. Sheung-King’s debut novel, You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked , was published by Book*Hug Press in 2021, and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction and the Amazon Canada First Novel Award. It was longlisted for Canada Reads and named one of the best book debuts by the Globe and Mail . His most recent book is the novel Bats...