Author Interviews

'Sing For Your Life' Recounts A Journey From Juvenile Detention To The Opera House

2:40pm September 20, 2016

Ryan Speedo Green grew up in a trailer park and did time in juvenile detention before discovering he had a unique singing voice. He now performs at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

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Winston Churchill was so displeased with Graham Sutherland's portrait that his wife asked his secretary to destroy it. Pictured here is a preparatory sketch.

'The Face Of Britain' Tells A Nation's History Through Portraits

6:23pm September 19, 2016

by NPR Staff

Art historian Simon Schama shares the stories behind the artworks — from the portrait that made an 18th-century actor into a star, to the one Winston Churchill's secretary threw into a bonfire.

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Books
Arts

Blogger Luvvie Ajayi Is Judging You With Her New Book

5:21pm September 18, 2016

Blogger Luvvie Ajayi discusses her new book I'm Judging You: The Do-Better Manual, which has her takes on pop culture and more.

Kelley Benham French and her husband, Thomas French, share the story of their daughter, Juniper, who was born premature, in the memoir Juniper: The Girl Who Was Born Too Soon.

Books

'Juniper': The Story Of A Premature Baby Girl Who Grew To Be 'Perfect'

3:59pm September 18, 2016

by NPR Staff

Kelley Benham French and husband Tom French tell the story of the tough decisions they made after the premature birth of their daughter in the memoir Juniper: The Girl Who Was Born Too Soon.

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Holy ground: Alan Moore standing on the site of his childhood home.

Books
Arts

In 'Jerusalem,' Nothing You've Ever Lost Is Truly Gone

7:49am September 18, 2016

by Petra Mayer

The house Alan Moore was born in was torn down in 1969 — along with most of the rest of his neighborhood. But in his new novel, Jerusalem, the legendary comics creator brings it all back to life.

Emma Donoghue's New Novel Follows "The Wonder" Of Starvation

9:13am September 17, 2016

The main character in Emma Donoghue's new novel "The Wonder" is a little Irish girl who refuses to eat. She says she's been kept alive by "manna from heaven." NPR's Scott Simon speaks to the author.

Books
Arts

Laia Jufresa Weaves Together Richness Through Common Grief In Debut Novel 'Umami'

8:53am September 17, 2016

Laia Jufresa's new novel Umami traces a group of neighbors, each getting over a private grief. Scott Simon asks Jufresa about the book and the woman who translated it from Spanish to English.

Books
Arts

Writer Mat Johnson On 'Loving Day' And Life As A 'Black Boy' Who Looks White

2:08pm September 16, 2016

As a biracial child growing up in Philadelphia, Mat Johnson identified as black, but looked white. His latest novel is about a man returning to his childhood home. Originally broadcast June 29, 2015.

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The 'Racial Cleansing' That Drove 1,100 Black Residents Out Of Forsyth County, Ga.

2:07pm September 15, 2016

In 1912, white mobs set fire to black churches and black-owned businesses. Eventually the entire black population of Forsyth County was driven out, says Blood at the Root author Patrick Phillips.

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Abby Wambach celebrates the U.S. team's victory against Japan in the FIFA Women's World Cup on July 5, 2015.

Why Abby Wambach Doesn't Want To Be Known 'Just As A Soccer Player'

7:56am September 15, 2016

Wambach scored 184 goals, more than any other man or woman in the history of international soccer. Still, she knew that someday that identity would end — and "what then?" Her new memoir is Forward.

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