Bookends with Mattea Roach

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When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.

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For Louise Penny, stories come from hurt

Louise Penny is one of the biggest mystery novelists alive today … but it didn’t start out that way. Her latest novel, The Black Wolf, is the 20th in her bestselling Armand Gamache series. So how did Louise go from empty book events to packed concert halls? This week, Bookends brings you on-stage at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall. Joined by nearly 2000 of her fans, Louise told Mattea Roach about her long journey to becoming an author, why she’ll never tire of her characters and how pain has made her a better writer. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Chris Hadfield — from astronaut to author Kiran Desai’s novel is worth the 20-year wait

57 min
2025-12-21

Revisiting Writers & Company: Happy 250th, Jane Austen!

Jane Austen is one of the most enduring novelists of all time. But what do we know about the woman behind the stories? To celebrate Austen’s 250th birthday, we’re revisiting Eleanor Wachtel’s conversation with Carol Shields about her 2001 biography, Jane Austen: A Life. Carol Shields herself was a writer and a lifelong Austen fan, and she talks about how Austen’s stories about marriage, money and family offer insight into who the novelist really was. Check out the rest of the Writers & Company archive: https://digital.lib.sfu.ca/writers-company

51 min
2025-12-17

So your whole family thinks you’re reincarnated — what now?

After releasing her breakout hit My Sister the Serial Killer in 2018, Oyinkan Braithwaite struggled to write under the pressure of high expectations. She worried about being a one-hit wonder … but her new novel, Cursed Daughters, proves otherwise. The book follows three generations of women from a family that is believed to be cursed, dooming them all to remain single forever. To make matters worse, one of the young women looks so much like her deceased aunt that her relatives think she's a reincarnation. It’s a story about family, legacy and how to live freely when your closest loved ones believe your fate is sealed. This week, Oyinkan tells Mattea Roach about how the novel came to be, why she writes complex dynamics between women and what it means to live and work as an artist. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s triumphant return to fictionHere’s what you have wrong about teen moms

28 min
2025-12-14

All I want for Christmas … is a fake boyfriend?

Christmas is a time for togetherness, good food … and lying to your family about your love life. At least, that’s the case in Uzma Jalaluddin’s new holiday rom-com, Yours for the Season. The book stars Sameera and Tom, whose career ambitions lead them into a fake-dating situation. The holidays get even messier when Sameera and Tom’s families decide to spend Christmas together … and to top it all off, Sameera’s family has never celebrated Christmas before. It’s a holiday faux-mance that takes a deeper look into faith, family and culture, with a healthy helping of delicious food and Christmas hijinks. Uzma joins Mattea Roach to talk about the cultural nuances at the centre of the book, her own relationship with the holidays and why Die Hard is actually a rom-com. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Nita Prose: The Maid series returns with a Christmas twist Fans asked for another happy ending — Carley Fortune delivered

31 min
2025-12-10

Video games are radical. Not in the way you think

Video games make you violent. Video games corrupt the youth. Video games rot your brain! You’ve probably heard that narrative before … but Kawika Guillermo offers a fresh take in their new essay collection, Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games. The book is part memoir, part cultural analysis about the roles that video games play in our lives. For Kawika, games aren’t just a mindless escape — they’re thoughtful works of art that help us understand our identities and the world we live in. Kawika joins Mattea to talk about gaming as a catalyst for social change, rethinking shooting games and how video games helped them grapple with grief. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Why this Pulitzer Prize winner is done with writing booksWeightlifting made Casey Johnston stronger — in muscle and mind

31 min
2025-12-07

Three writers on the monsters that made them

What’s more horrifying than slashers, monsters … and Vancouver real estate? This week, Bookends brings you on-stage at the Vancouver Writers Fest. Back in October, Mattea Roach was joined by writers Mona Awad, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Jen Sookfong Lee for a special panel about how the horror genre reflects our lived experiences. All three authors have written horror stories that go deeper than jump scares or screams in the dark. Their novels tell us the truth about the world through metaphor, myth and monsters … and share why real life is sometimes scarier than fantasy. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Why Mona Awad gave the Bunnies a say Erica McKeen: Using horror and surrealism to explore grief, care and love in new novel Cicada Summer

45 min
2025-12-03

A priest and an artist walk into a bar

… and they can’t keep their hands off each other. That’s the premise at the centre of Brandon Taylor’s latest novel, Minor Black Figures. It’s about a painter named Wyeth who’s struggling to find his voice in New York’s politically charged art scene. It only gets messier when Wyeth has the perfect meet-cute at a bar … and starts falling for someone who has already devoted himself to God. Brandon joins Mattea to talk about his Alabama roots, grappling with a crisis in faith and the impossible question of who we make art for. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Zadie Smith never thought she’d tell this storyRumaan Alam: How would you spend a billion dollars?

33 min
2025-11-30

Anarchists have bigger hearts than you think

What’s more romantic than planning an assassination together? You’d have to ask the radical activist Emma Goldman, who did just that with her revolutionary partner and lover, Sasha Berkman. Emma was a real historical figure and one of the best known anarchists and orators of all time … and the Canadian author Robert Hough fictionalizes her life in his latest novel, Anarchists in Love. The book follows Emma’s early years in New York City, where she meets Sasha, becomes a famed activist … and helps plan the assassination of an industry giant. This week, Robert joins Mattea Roach to talk about Emma’s remarkable life, what we have wrong about anarchists and why 2025 is the new Gilded Age. Liked this conversation? Keep listening: Leslie Jamison: Capturing Peggy Guggenheim in fiction and honouring a friend's dream

29 min

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Introducing Bookends with Mattea Roach

When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You'll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read. Beginning Sept. 8 on CBC.

2024-09-06

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Mattea Roach

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When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.