New Books in Literature

Marshall Poe
  • 5.0 (8)
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This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

  1. 18H AGO

    Joe Mungo Reed, "Terrestrial History" (Norton, 2025)

    Joe Mungo Reed is the author of the novels Hammer and We Begin Our Ascent, one of the best novels about sport that I’ve ever read. He Teaches creative writing at the University of Cambridge and lives in London. Recommended Books: Flesh, David Szalay Tokyo These Days, Taiyo Matsumoto White River Crossing, Ian McGuire Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    49 min

  2. 2D AGO

    K.R. Wilson, "Stan on Guard" (Guernica Editions, 2026)

    In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with K.R. Wilson about his novel, Stan on Guard (Guernica Editions, 2026). Ishtanu (call him Stan) is a Hittite immortal keeping his head down in Toronto and recounting some of his experiences. Tróán is an immortal Trojan princess who thought she’d killed Stan in post-war Berlin but who now knows he survived. Yes, technically Stan can die. He has just managed not to for 3200 years. As their stories braid together toward a final reckoning they take us through, among other things, a subversive retelling of the Odysseus story, the resistance of pagan Lithuania against Papal crusaders, the decline of Friedrich Nietzsche in a German clinic, the arts scene in belle epoque Paris, and the descent of Europe into the horrors of the Great War. Strap in. Stan On Guard is the follow-up to K. R. Wilson’s tragical-comical-historical novel Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millennia, which was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal for Humour. K. R. Wilson’s novel An Idea About My Dead Uncle won the inaugural Guernica Prize in 2018, and his novel Call Me Stan was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal. His work has appeared in various literary journals and the flash fiction anthology This Will Only Take a Minute. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    41 min

  3. 3D AGO

    Brit Griffin, "The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien" (Latitude 46, 2025)

    In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Brit Griffin about her novel, The Haunting of Modesto O’Brien (Latitude 46, 2025). A gothic tale from deep within the boreal forest… Violence and greed have intruded into a wild and remote land. It’s 1907, and silver fever has drawn thousands of men into a fledgling mining camp in the heart of the wilderness. Modesto O’Brien, fortune-teller and detective, is there too - but he isn’t looking for riches. He’s seeking revenge. O’Brien soon finds himself entangled with the mysterious Nail sisters, Lucy and Lily. On the run from their past and headed for trouble, Lily turns to O’Brien when Lucy goes missing. But what should have been a straightforward case of kidnapping pulls O’Brien into a world of ancient myths, magic, and male violence. As he searches for Lucy, O’Brien fears that dark forces are emerging from the ravaged landscape. Mesmerized by a nightmarish creature stalking the wilderness, and haunted by his past, O’Brien struggles to maintain his grip on reality as he faces hard choices about loyalty, sacrifice, and revenge. Brit Griffin is the author of the climate-fiction Wintermen trilogy (Latitude 46) and has written essays, musings, and articles for various publications. Griffin spent many years as a researcher for the Timiskaming First Nation, an Algonquin community in northern Quebec. She lives in Cobalt, northern Ontario, where she is the mother of three grown daughters. These days, she divides her time between writing and caring for her unruly yard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    43 min

  4. 3D AGO

    Nicole Glover, "The Starseekers: A Murder and Magic Novel" (Harper Voyager, 2026)

    The Starseekers: A Murder and Magic Novel (Harper Voyager, 2026), the fourth offering in the Magic and Mystery series follows Dr. Cynthia Rhodes as she investigates two separate murder mysteries that appear to be unrelated, while trying keep her job at NASA and raise two younger sisters. Old family friend Theo Danner teaches at Brewster University and provides moral support, investigative acumen, and a few smooches. The first murder involves an unpleasant co-worker at NASA who dies in an apparently accidental explosion. Yet when Cynthia observes him seconds before, he appears to be expecting a disaster. Soon afterwards, a shady character who goes by the name of Fitzgerald is murdered, but not by the pistol pointed at him through the stacks of books from an unknown assassin. The more you read in this richly layered narrative, the more surprises there are. In between chapters presenting pivotal events and introducing new suspicious characters, the attentive reader uncovers the complicated dynamics of the multi-generational Rhodes family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    24 min

  5. 4D AGO

    Ann Packer, "Some Bright Nowhere" (Harper Books, 2026)

    Eliot and his wife Claire have been happily married for nearly four decades. They’ve raised two children in their sleepy Connecticut town and have weathered the inevitable ups and downs of a long life spent together. But eight years after Claire was diagnosed with cancer, the end is near, and it's time to gather loved ones and prepare for the inevitable. Over the years of Claire’s illness, Eliot has willingly—lovingly—shifted into the role of caregiver, appreciating the intimacy and tenderness that comes with a role even more layered and complex than the one he performed as a devoted husband. But as he focuses on settling into what will be their last days and weeks together, Claire makes an unexpected request that leaves him reeling. In a moment, his carefully constructed world is shattered. What if your partner’s dying wish broke your heart? How well do we know the deepest desires of those we love dearly? As Eliot is confronted with this profound turning point in his marriage and his life, he grapples with the man and husband he’s been, and with the great unknowns of Claire’s last days. Ann Packer makes a triumphant return with this powerful novel that is tender and raw, visceral and unexpected. Emotionally vibrant and complex, Some Bright Nowhere (Harper Books, 2026) explores the profound gifts and unexpected costs of truly loving someone, and the fears and desires we experience as the end of life draws near. Ann Packer is the author of two best-selling novels, Songs Without Words and The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, the latter of which received a Great Lakes Book Award, an American Library Association Award, and the Kate Chopin Literary Award. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Vogue, and Real Simple. Also the author of Mendocino and Other Stories, she lives in northern California with her family. Recommended Books: Loved and Missed, Susie Boyt The Spare Room, Helen Garner Everything/Nothing/Someone, Alice Carrier Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    39 min

  6. MAR 3

    Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen, "The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom" (Akashic Books, 2026)

    Rebekah Buchanan talks with Ani DiFranco about her latest collaborative work The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music and Freedom (Akashic Books, 2026). In this powerful collaborative work, the legendary folk-rock star and feminist icon is in conversation with author, artist, and cultural anthropologist Lauren Coyle Rosen. In these exchanges, Ani is remarkably open about her creativity, spirituality, personal experiences, and evolving consciousness. She is vulnerable and unapologetic, offering an unprecedented window into her fiercely prolific journeys. Rebekah  Expanding on themes from her best-selling memoir, Ani also offers fascinating reflections on contemporary popular culture—ranging from gender and queer politics, to the music industry in the virtual age, to climate change. The book includes previously unpublished photographs and journal entries, song-birth sheets, paintings, and the lyrics for some of her most treasured songs. The coauthors explore how Ani’s music and art are profoundly tied to her experiences of the interconnectedness of all consciousness and tuning in to receive creative inspiration. Ani’s striking openness produces a book that is both meditative and activating. This is a must-read for anyone intrigued by the dedication, intuition, and vision that drive Ani’s lifelong journey of creating art that not only reflects, but also empowers, transforms, and heals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    39 min

  7. MAR 3

    Cynthia Leal Massey, "Well of Deception" (Stoney Creek Publishing, 2025)

    Leta Becker was thirty-seven when she married Amos after a fifteen-year courtship, and they never had kids. Leta and Amos are related to lots of people, but their closest neighbors are Leta’s brother, Sam and his wife, Maggie Schneider. Amos thinks the Schneiders use more than their fare share of water to raise turkeys, and Sam thinks Amos has something wrong with him, like all the Beckers. When Maggie is shot while feeding her turkeys one March morning in 1958, Amos is the main suspect, but he’s gone missing. Months pass and some think he fled to Mexico, but others suspect that like family members before him, he took his own life. This is a novel about the harshness of Texas farm country, the hardships of the Depression, and the difficulty of living without love. Inspired by a true story, Well of Deception (Stoney Creek Publishing, 2025) describes decades of drought, difficulties, and deception. Cynthia Leal Massey is a former corporate editor, college instructor, and magazine editor. She has published hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, and several award-winning books, including Death of a Texas Ranger, A True Story of Murder and Vengeance on the Texas Frontier, which won a San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award and a Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award, and What Lies Beneath, Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards, also a SACS Award winner. Her first novel, Fire Lilies, a saga of the Mexican Revolution, was an Electronic Publishing Industry Coalition Award Finalist for Best Historical Fiction and its sequel, The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas, was a WILLA Literary Award Finalist for Best Original Softcover Fiction. Cynthia also won the Lone Star Award for Magazine Journalism for her article “Is UT Holding Our History Hostage?” published in Scene in SA Monthly. The article was also a finalist for the Texas Institute of Letters O. Henry Award for Magazine Journalism. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Cynthia has resided in Helotes, twenty miles northwest of the Alamo City since 1994. She served on the town’s city council for sixteen years. She holds a master’s degree in English from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. A full-time writer, she is a past president of Women Writing the West and a member of Western Writers of America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    28 min

  8. MAR 1

    Lindsay Wong, "Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies" (Penguin Random House Canada, 2026)

    In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with acclaimed author Lindsay Wong about her novel, Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies (Penguin Random House Canada, 2026). A woman signs her life away in the ancient Chinese tradition of corpse marriage in this wickedly hilarious novel about class, ambition, and the burden of being an impoverished model minority.Poor, vicious Locinda Lo is a nobody with a powerful witch for a grandmother and an undead corpse-kid-sister as her only friend. A broke MFA dropout living in Vancouver with six roommates and zero job prospects, she’s buried so deep in debt she might as well be six feet under—and her family is in danger of being buried along with her.Desperate to escape her financial woes and save her grandmother and sister, Locinda signs a contract with a nefarious company, Joyful Coffin & Co. Matchmaking Services, to be auctioned off as a corpse bride to the highest bidder. Next thing she knows, she’s being smuggled underground into the damp caves where her training coffin awaits.As Locinda prepares for a rich, dying dearly beloved to claim her as his bride-to-be in the Afterlife, her past becomes twisted with that of her grandmother, Baozhai. A feared and revered Villain Hitter, or witchy curse-monger, Baozhai’s legacy stretches from 1920s China to the Battle of Hong Kong in the 40s to New York City thereafter. Across the generational divide, one thing becomes achingly clear to them both: you can’t outrun your ghosts.Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies is a daring, genre-bending meditation on life, death, and the murderous cost of living in between. It lays bare the societal and cultural expectations placed on Chinese women and the devastating price of enduring them. This chilling masterclass in fiction cements Lindsay Wong as one of the most provocative Canadian horror writers of our time. Lindsay Wong is the author of the critically acclaimed, award-winning, and bestselling memoir The Woo-Woo, which was a finalist for Canada Reads 2019. She has written a YA novel entitled My Summer of Love and Misfortune. Wong holds a BFA in creative writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in literary nonfiction from Columbia University. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Winnipeg. Follow her on Twitter @LindsayMWong, Instagram @Lindsaywong.M, or visit www.lindsaywongwriter.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

    42 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
8 Ratings

About

This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

Information

  • Creator
    Marshall Poe
  • Years Active
    2013 - 2026
  • Episodes
    1.8K
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © New Books Network
  • Show Website
    New Books in Literature

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