Kiese Laymon originally conceived of his award-winning memoir Heavy as a weight-loss book, but it turned into something more profound: an intimate account of growing up Black in Jackson, Miss. With fearless honesty and hard-edged humour, Laymon describes a childhood filled with love, but also violence. The memoir confronts his complicated relationship with his mother, as well as his lifelong struggle with his weight and addiction to gambling. This interview originally aired January 4, 2019.

The world-famous French mime is the subject of a new documentary exploring Marceau's life and legacy — from Resistance hero during the Second World War, to inspiring generations of artists. The Art of Silence, a film by Maurizius Staerkle Drux, is part of the 2022 Hot Docs Film Festival.

Claire Keegan's beautifully wrought fiction is remarkable for its subtlety and emotional depth. Her new novel, Small Things Like These, has won high praise and was on many best-of-the-year lists in Britain. Set during a time of economic hardship and the authority of the Catholic Church in 1980s Ireland, Small Things Like These is a moving story of complicity and human decency.

In this Canadian exclusive interview, Vietnamese-American poet and novelist Ocean Vuong talks to Eleanor Wachtel about his highly anticipated new collection, a meditation on love, grief, and finding a way forward after the death of his mother.

Known for her roles in the films of Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann has also won acclaim on stage and behind the camera. In 2014, she wrote and directed an adaptation of August Strindberg's play Miss Julie, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Last week, Ullmann was presented with an honorary Oscar for her exceptional contribution to the art of film. Eleanor Wachtel spoke to Liv Ullmann at TIFF in 2014. This interview originally aired on Wachtel on the Arts on Sept. 16, 2014.

From her beginnings as a young performer, to becoming an internationally acclaimed filmmaker herself, Sarah Polley has made bold, unusual choices in her work. Her first feature film, Away from Her, won multiple awards, while her personal documentary, Stories We Tell, was included in the Top Ten Canadian Films of All Time. Now she’s published a powerful collection of personal essays called Run Towards the Danger. They probe some of the most difficult experiences she has faced.

Korean-American writer Min Jin Lee's novel, Pachinko, draws on the experiences of Koreans living in Japan during the 20th century, most of whom were born and grew up there, but are still classified as "resident aliens." It was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2017 and is now an Apple TV + mini-series. This interview originally aired on October 29, 2017.

Rutu Modan's comics have appeared in magazines and periodicals around the world, and her full-length graphic novels--inspired by real events and family history--have won major awards. Her latest book, Tunnels, is a witty, political, adventure about an archaeological dig in the West Bank. It features rivalries and conflicts that mirror the complexity of contemporary Israeli life.

Fiction writer Yan Ge is a literary sensation in China, where she was named one of her country’s “future literary masters.” Her latest work to appear in English translation is Strange Beasts of China, a mysterious, imaginative tale about unusual creatures that live among humans. Written shortly after the death of Ge’s mother, it explores themes of identity, loss, and the very nature of being human.

Somali-British writer Nadifa Mohamed's latest novel, The Fortune Men, is based on the true story of Mahmood Mattan, a Somali seaman who was executed in 1952 in Cardiff, Wales, for a murder he didn't commit. The book was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and Costa Best Novel Award.