Author Interviews

Books
Arts

CNN anchor Zain Asher looks back on the tragedy that helped drive her success

1:27pm April 26, 2022

by Dave Davies

Asher's father died in a car crash in Nigeria when she was 5. Afterward, her mom raised four children on her own in a crime-ridden London neighborhood. Asher's memoir is Where the Children Take Us.

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The pandemic inspired a cartoonist to explore their Wuhanese roots and queer identity

8:41am April 24, 2022

by Malaka Gharib

In the funny and heartfelt coming-of-age graphic memoir 'Messy Roots,' artist Laura Gao unpacks their relationship with their Asianness, queerness and their ever-changing home city of Wuhan.

Books

In the new novel 'Search,' a church searches for a new minister

10:41am April 23, 2022

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Michelle Huneven about her new novel, "Search," and the characters, recipes, and humor involved in a Unitarian Universalist church's search for a new minister.

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For classical pianist Jeremy Denk, life is like a series of music lessons

2:34pm April 22, 2022

by Terry Gross

Denk talks about what he learned from his teachers, and his failures, frustrations and pivotal moments as an artist. His new memoir is Every Good Boy Does Fine. Originally broadcast March 21, 2022.

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Fairport Convention band cofounder Richard Thompson looks back on his life in music

1:22pm April 20, 2022

by Terry Gross

The British singer/guitarist talks about his formative years, and about pioneering a new musical genre that blended rock with traditional music of the British isles. Thompson's new memoir is Beeswing.

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A former Israeli prime minister went to jail — where he wrote a memoir

4:38pm April 19, 2022

NPR's Daniel Estrin speaks with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about his book, "Searching for Peace: A Memoir of Israel." He's said he's innocent, but went to prison for corruption charges.

Books

Louisa Lim's 'Indelible City' examines the U.K.'s handover of Hong Kong to China

7:27am April 19, 2022

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with former NPR Beijing correspondent Louisa Lim about her new book: Indelible City: Dispossession and Defiance in Hong Kong.

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In a new sci-fi book, musician Janelle Monáe expands on themes from her Grammy-nominated album Dirty Computer to tell stories about a community of individuals whose identities are being erased.

Janelle Monáe's 'Dirty Computer' comes alive in a new collection of stories

2:10pm April 17, 2022

by Ayesha Rascoe

The artist builds on the Afrofuturistic world from her 2018 album in a new short story collection titled The Memory Librarian. She tells NPR about her nightmare that inspired the project.

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Books

Graphic novelist O'Connor turns ancient gods and goddesses into modern superheroes

10:01am April 16, 2022

by Scott Simon

George O'Connor has turned the legends of Greek gods into best-selling graphic novels for kids. The Olympians series is faithful to the ancient myths where gender and sex fluidity was embraced.

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Books

In Liana Finck's world — or, maybe just in her new book — God is a woman

8:34am April 16, 2022

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks with New Yorker magazine cartoonist Liana Finck about her new book, "Let There Be Light," a graphic novel adaptation of the Book of Genesis with a female God.