Author Interviews

Books

Many Can Identify With Arceneaux's Book: 'I Don't Want To Die Poor'

7:54am April 08, 2020

NPR's David Greene talks to author Michael Arceneaux about his book: "I Don't Want to Die Poor" — which is being read as millions of Americans find themselves jobless during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Pictured here in his late 20s, Ravi Shankar was hugely important in popularizing Indian classical music in Western pop music. He would have turned 100 years old today.

The Enduring Afterglow Of Ravi Shankar's Life In Music

8:31pm April 07, 2020

by Bilal Qureshi

Ravi Shankar took Indian classical music to world stages and introduced the sitar to Western audiences. His influence can still be felt today, 100 years after his birth.

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The resurgence of family meals is one of the "precious few good things" that's come from the COVID-19 pandemic, says food writer Sam Sifton.

Books
Arts

Cooking During COVID-19: Family Meals And Fantasies Of Future Dinner Parties

12:49pm April 07, 2020

by Dave Davies

Food writer Sam Sifton says the resurgence of family meals is one of the "precious few good things" to come of the pandemic. He says his family is eating a lot of tinned fish and cabbage these days.

Books
Arts

'Godshot' Author Explains How Fiction Helps Us Face Real-World Adversity

4:59pm April 06, 2020

by Ari Shapiro

"Art can help me ask the difficult questions of myself," says Chelsea Bieker. In her debut novel, a devastating drought in a California town has led residents to put their faith in a cult leader.

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Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family, by Robert Kolker

In 'Hidden Valley Road,' A Family's Journey Helps Shift The Science Of Mental Illness

8:00am April 05, 2020

by Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Over the years, six of the Galvins' 12 children were diagnosed with schizophrenia. Robert Kolker, who has a new book on the family, says "there is a lot of hope and inspiration in this story."

Books

Author Terry McMillan On Her New Book 'It's Not All Downhill From Here'

10:28am April 04, 2020

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author Terry McMillan about her new book, "It's Not All Downhill from Here."

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Books

Into The West, From The Far East: 'How Much Of These Hills Is Gold'

8:00am April 04, 2020

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with author C Pam Zhang about her debut novel, which follows two sisters brought from China to the California Gold Rush by their father, who dies soon after they arrive.

Books
Arts

Julia Alvarez: Literature Tells Us 'We Can Make It Through'

8:00am April 04, 2020

by Scott Simon

Julia Alvarez returns to adult fiction with Afterlife, which she calls her first novel as an "elder." It's about a newly retired woman whose comfortable life is upended when her husband dies.

Jacqueline Woodson speaks at TED2019: Bigger Than Us. April 15 - 19, 2019, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photo: Dian Lofton / TED

Jacqueline Woodson: What Is The Hidden Power Of Slow Reading?

9:19am April 03, 2020

by NPR/TED STAFF

Novelist Jacqueline Woodson is a slow reader. Taking her time lets her savor each word brings her closer to each story, and it lets her pay respect to her ancestors who weren't allowed to read.

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Two profiles of a man and woman with speech bubbles inside their heads.

Books
Arts

Feisty. Ambitious. Lucky. Female Writers On The Words That Undermine Women

4:50pm April 02, 2020

by Ailsa Chang

Pretty Bitches, a new essay collection edited by Lizzie Skurnick, explores how words that sound complimentary can actually be loaded with sexism. "These words are code," Skurnick says.