Author Interviews

Books
Arts

Pioneering writer Octavia Butler on writing Black people and women into sci-fi

2:09pm December 14, 2022

Butler's 1979 book, Kindred, is now a series for FX on Hulu. In 1993, the pioneering author, who died in 2006, told Fresh Air she made up her own stories so that she could see herself in them.

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Books
Arts

Remembering Marijane Meaker, a pioneer of lesbian pulp fiction

2:09pm December 14, 2022

by Terry Gross

Meaker wrote Spring Fire in 1952, and was surprised when it sold 1.5 million copies. She went on to write other lesbian-themed books under pen names. She died Nov. 21. Originally broadcast 2003.

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Book cover with the back of braided hair down the center on a aged background. The cover bold orange and red across the braid.

Banned Books: Author Ashley Hope Pérez on finding humanity in the 'darkness'

9:10am December 14, 2022

Ashley Hope Pérez published Out of Darkness in 2015 to critical acclaim. The novel re-contextualized contemporary issues of race providing a historical framework in a not-so-post-racial America.

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Books
Arts

Woodrow Wilson led the U.S. into WWI. He also waged war on democracy at home

1:55pm December 13, 2022

by Dave Davies

Author Adam Hochschild says Wilson used the first World War as an excuse to spy on Americans, censor the press and plan for the mass deportation of immigrants. His new book is American Midnight.

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Jason Reynolds, pictured at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2019, has spent the last three years speaking with students across the United States in his role as national ambassador for young people's literature.

Literature ambassador Jason Reynolds knows young people have a story of their own

11:02am December 13, 2022

by Julie Depenbrock

NPR's A Martínez talks to writer Jason Reynolds, who is ending his term as the national ambassador for young people's literature. The Library of Congress appointed him to the post three years ago.

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Books

Bora Chung on her collection of short stories 'Cursed Bunny'

7:55am December 11, 2022

by Ayesha Rascoe

NPR's Ayesha Rascoe speaks with Bora Chung, author of "Cursed Bunny," a collection of offbeat, surreal short stories newly translated from Korean into English.

Books

'Crime Junkie' host Ashley Flowers talks debut novel

5:07pm December 10, 2022

Host Michel Martin speaks with podcaster Ashley Flowers about her novel All Good People Here.

Books

Kevin Powell on his new poetry collection 'Grocery Shopping With My Mother'

7:50am December 10, 2022

by Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon talks with Kevin Powell about his new poetry collection, "Grocery Shopping With My Mother." In it, Powell reflects on their complicated and troubled relationship.

I Don't Care, written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal

Books
Arts

'I Don't Care' is a book about what matters in friendship, illustrated by best friends

7:50am December 10, 2022

by Samantha Balaban

When illustrator Molly Idle read the text of Julie Fogliano's children's book, she immediately thought of her buddy Juana Martinez-Neal — and in true friend form — she volunteered her for the job.

Books

Author Elin Hilderbrand on why 'Family Happiness' is her favorite book

4:42pm December 07, 2022

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with author Elin Hilderbrand about her favorite book, "Family Happiness" by Laurie Colwin.