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Jacqueline Woodson On Growing Up, Coming Out And Saying Hi To Strangers

1:37pm October 14, 2016

Woodson won the National Book Award for young people's literature in 2014 for her memoir Brown Girl Dreaming, and is a finalist for another NBA this year. Originally broadcast Dec. 20, 2014.

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Pregnancy Is Personal, Not Political, In 'The Mothers'

7:52am October 14, 2016

by NPR Staff

A teenager faces an unplanned pregnancy in this debut novel by Brit Bennett. The 26-year-old author says people don't necessarily ask themselves: What would I do if I were in this situation?

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Ordinary Black Lives Are What Matter In 'The Mothers'

4:10pm October 13, 2016

by Annalisa Quinn

Brit Bennett's new novel focuses on two best friends, both motherless, growing up in a black community in Southern California — and their shifting, lifelong negotiation with the idea of motherhood.

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Vegan Chefs Show How To Make Even A Carrot The Centerpiece Of A Meal

1:34pm October 13, 2016

V Street, the new cookbook by married chefs Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby, features recipes inspired by global street food. Jacoby says the right techniques can coax "amazing flavor" out of vegetables.

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Bob Dylan performs in Chicago in 1978. He is the first American to claim the Nobel Prize in literature since Toni Morrison won in 1993.

Bob Dylan, Titan Of American Music, Wins 2016 Nobel Prize In Literature

10:33am October 13, 2016

by Colin Dwyer

The prolific musician is the first American to win the prize for lifetime literary achievement in 23 years. While Dylan long enjoyed favor as an outside shot for the award, few expected him to win.

In a recent series of photographic drawings, David Hockney, shown above in his studio, plays with the relationship between painting and photography.

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Artist David Hockney Says The Drive To Create Pictures 'Is Deep Within Us'

9:08am October 13, 2016

by Susan Stamberg

The nearly 80-year-old artist has written a book called A History of Pictures. It's chock-full of art he's loved looking at, including one painter he credits with inventing Hollywood lighting.

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The Humor In 'Crosstalk' Gets Lost In The Hubbub

7:00am October 13, 2016

by Amal El-Mohtar

Connie Willis' near-future tale of oversharing gone wrong follows a woman whose fiance wants to get an empathy-inducing brain operation for couples. The book aims for frothy farce, but falls flat.

After losing her family, Sarah Winchester became convinced that ghosts were haunting her; so she built an enormous, maze-like mansion — now known as the Winchester Mystery House — to ward them off. (At least that's how the story goes.)

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Skeletons In The Closet: What Ghost Stories Reveal About America's Past

5:47pm October 12, 2016

by NPR Staff

Why are so many ghosts unmarried women? And why doesn't Richmond, Va., have ghost stories about slavery? Writer Colin Dickey explores all that and more in a new book called Ghostland.

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Former Nobel Laureates React To Winning Literature Prize

4:33pm October 12, 2016

by Lynn Neary

The 109th Nobel Prize for Literature will be awarded Thursday morning. The Academy is known for its cloak-and-dagger methods to prevent leaks about its choice. NPR has a look at past winners and their reactions to winning.

How The 'Cannabis Catch-22' Keeps Marijuana Classified As A Harmful Drug

4:18pm October 12, 2016

Author John Hudak says federal law makes it hard to prove the medicinal value of marijuana. "As a Schedule 1 drug, it is very difficult to do research on the plant," he explains.

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