Yusef Komunyakaa Shares Poems From His New Collection
NPR host Scott Simon speaks to Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa about his new collection of poems.
Books
This Family Saga Finds Grace And Beauty In Ordinary Lives, Fully Lived
Simon Van Booy's new novel Night Came With Many Stars follows several generations of a Kentucky family, their crossroads and choices, their curses and hard memories, their luck and their chances.
'Mercury Rising' Explores The U.S.'s Treacherous Attempts to Control Space
In Mercury Rising, historian Jeff Shesol recalls the early days of the U.S. space program, when Cold War fears ruled, and no one was sure Glenn would survive America's first orbital flight.
'We Need New Stories' Asks: Why Are People Prone To Believing The Largest Of Lies?
Author Nesrine Malik is reclaiming the terms of defense against ignorance and bigotry, ones that she says have become rote in the mouths of some and insults in the mouths of others.
Letters Reveal Author's Strength In A World Of Destructive Noise
Akwaeke Emezi's Dear Senthuran is a story of transcendence over violence that has marked their lived experience, told through letters to friends, lovers, and public figures — some they've never met.
Still Don't Want To Go Out? Here Are 3 Books For An Inner Journey
Everyone's talking about getting out and about now that the pandemic has calmed — but what if you don't want to? Here are three books in translation that'll help you dig into your own life and mind.
'Kissing Bug' Tells A Personal Story About Race, Sexuality And A Deadly Insect
When Daisy Hernández was 5, her aunt in Colombia came down with a mysterious illness that caused her large intestine to swell. Hernández details her aunt's story — and her own — in a new memoir.
4 Books To Broaden Your Pride Month Reading List
There are a lot of Pride Month reading lists out there — so we thought we'd get away from the classics everyone knows. We asked author Akwaeke Emezi to recommend some of their favorite reads.
The Supreme Court Justice Who Made History By Voting No on Racial Segregation
A new book explores the life of Justice John Marshall Harlan, who wrote the dissenting opinion in the Supreme Court case that upheld the principle of racial segregation.
These Stories Dance Deftly Between America And Cameroon
In her debut collection Walking On Cowrie Shells, Nana Nkweti bends language like a master, delivering keenly observed details and wicked humor no matter which side of the Atlantic she's on.