After massive hits like The Poppy War, Babel and Yellowface, R.F. Kuang’s new novel takes readers to hell — quite literally. Katabasis follows two grad students who venture through the underworld to save their professor’s soul, and R.F. Kuang’s own experience as a PhD student, high school debater and talented chef all factor into the book. At a special on-stage event in Toronto, joined by around a thousand of her fans, R.F. told Mattea Roach all about Katabasis … and dove into her own life and inspirations along the way.  

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Nalo Hopkinson: How Caribbean folktales inspired her fantastical novel, Blackheart Man
• Ocean Vuong finds beauty in a fast food shift

Statistically, your odds of becoming an astronaut are close to zero. You have to make some pretty extreme sacrifices to reach the stars, and that’s the thrust of a new novel about the first Cherokee astronaut. To the Moon and Back is Eliana Ramage’s debut novel and the September pick for Reese Witherspoon’s book club. It’s a book about ambition and astronauts, but it’s also about what it means to be Indigenous … in the past, present, and future. This week, Eliana tells Mattea about loving the story of science, writing frustrating characters and why she’s taking Cherokee identity to Mars. 

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Taylor Jenkins Reid is among the stars — on and off the page
• For Indigenous players, ice hockey is a ceremony of its own

A snail scientist takes part in a kidnapping scheme to protest the Ukrainian romance industry. That's the story Maria Reva was writing in her debut novel, Endling. But then Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, leaving Maria to question whether fiction had a place in the devastating new reality. The result is an innovative and darkly humorous book in which Maria blends her novel with her own experiences grappling with the war. Endling is longlisted for the Booker and is a finalist for the Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. Maria joins Mattea Roach to talk about her interest in snails, the evolution of her novel and having loved ones on the frontlines in Ukraine.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Nnedi Okorafor: Bringing a writer to life in Death of the Author
• Writing about catastrophe gives Madeleine Thien courage

Growing up in rural Ontario, Jeff Lemire bought superhero comics at the local minimart. Years later, he’s one of the biggest comic book creators in Canada … and he’s the one bringing those superheroes to life. Jeff’s new memoir, 10,000 Ink Stains, tells his story. The book looks back on his 25-year career, diving into notable works like Essex County and Sweet Tooth — both of which were recently adapted for television. Jeff tells Mattea about his early days as an indie comics artist, stepping into the worlds of iconic heroes and why his career is only just beginning.

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Chris Ware: Inside the sketchbooks of a comics master
• Adrian Tomine: Answering his readers' burning questions

Milena Jesenská was a courageous journalist, translator and resister of the Nazi regime. So why do most people only know her as Franz Kafka’s lover? Milena was one of the great loves of Kafka’s life, and his letters to her are immortalized in the book Letters to Milena. But that story remains unfinished … because Milena’s responses have never been found. That’s where writer Christine Estima steps in. In her debut novel, Letters to Kafka, Christine tells Milena’s story and gives voice to a woman often overshadowed in history. 

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Leslie Jamison: Capturing Peggy Guggenheim in fiction and honouring a friend's dream
• Emma Donoghue boards a train destined for disaster  

Check out Mattea’s interview on Gays Reading:

• gaysreading.com 

Feeling nostalgic for the music of the aughts? You’re not the only one. Holly Brickley’s debut novel, Deep Cuts, follows a music-obsessed writer named Percy coming of age in the early 2000s. When Percy befriends a young musician in college, they start to collaborate and their connection deepens. Holly and Mattea talk about their shared love of music, the magic of the pre-smartphone era and why music and human connection often go hand-in-hand. 

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Music, sex and finding the soundtrack to queer joy
• Emma Knight: 'Bad' mothers make good stories — and are more true-to-life

Tessa Hulls won a Pulitzer Prize for her first book. So why is it also her last? Tessa’s graphic memoir, Feeding Ghosts, unravels the stories of three women in her family: her Chinese grandmother, her mother and herself. It’s an emotional, complex and beautifully illustrated book that took Tessa almost a decade to produce. This week on Bookends, Tessa tells Mattea about following her family ghosts across the world … and why her next step will look a little different. 

Liked this conversation? Keep listening:

• Teresa Wong: Illustrating her family's past — in all its ordinary and epic moments
• Sarah Leavitt: Illustrating grief too wide for words

Listen to Mattea's interview on Gays Reading here: https://www.gaysreading.com/

Here at Bookends, we never shy away from difficult conversations … and neither does Anna Sale, the host of the popular Slate podcast Death, Sex and Money. The show is all about diving into topics that get deep fast, and Anna expands on that promise in her book, Let’s Talk About Hard Things. In this special summer edition of Bookends, Anna joins Mattea to chat all about the book, podcasting and how her own outlook on tough topics has changed over the years. 

The CBC Literary Prizes are where Canadian writing stars are made… and this week, we’ll prove it to you. In the first season of Bookends, Mattea Roach spoke with some of the winners, finalists and jurors of the prizes. This week, we’re revisiting Mattea's conversations with Zilla Jones, Dorian McNamara, David Huebert, Zoe Whittall, and Rachel Robb. You can learn more about the prizes at cbcbooks.ca.

Hear the full conversations here:

• An opera singer gives voice to the Grenadian revolution
• Meet the winner of the 2025 CBC Short Story Prize
• David Huebert: Exploring the complexity of our relationship with oil through fiction
• Zoe Whittall: Why heartbreak is a valid form of grief
• Rachel Robb: Exploring reconciliation and the natural world

This week, Bookends is revisiting the Mirrors series. It’s a CBC Books special featuring winners of the 2024 Governor General’s Literary Awards.

The English-language books that won last year’s awards demonstrate how stories help us reflect on our lives and see the world in new ways. In this special series, CBC Books asked the winners to further explore the power of reflection in original works. The new works are centred around the theme of mirrors and challenge how we see ourselves, explore alternative identities and blur the lines between reality and fantasy. 

This episode is hosted by Talia Schlanger. It features Canadian authors Li Charmaine Anne, Caleigh Crow, Katia Grubisic, Niigaanwewidam Sinclair, Todd Stewart and Chimwemwe Undi. You can learn more about the winners at cbcbooks.ca.