Bookworm

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What's Bookworm about?

Intellectual, accessible, and provocative literary conversations.

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Michelle Huneven: ‘Search’

05.12.2022

Los Angeles-based author Michelle Huneven joins Evan Kleiman to discuss her latest book, “ Search .” In this engaging and funny literary fiction novel, main character Dana Potowski writes a memoir that describes the steps of her Unitarian Universalist Church ...

Bookworm episodes:

05.12.2022 Michelle Huneven: ‘Search’ Los Angeles-based author Michelle Huneven joins Evan Kleiman to discuss her latest book, “ Search .” In this engaging and funny literary fiction novel, main character Dana Potowski writes a memoir that describes the steps of her Unitarian Universalist Church ...
05.05.2022 Natalia Molina: ‘A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community’ Natalia Molina tells the story of Nayarit, her grandmother’s Mexican restaurant, a space that became a cherished hub for immigrants and the LGBTQ community in Echo Park.
04.28.2022 Emily Skillings and John Yau: John Ashbery’s “Parallel Movement of the Hands: Five Unfinished Longer Works” (Re-air) Editor/poet Emily Skillings and poet/critic John Yau speak about an iconic poet of the 21st century, John Ashbery, and his posthumous book, “Parallel Movement of the Hands: Five Unfinished Longer Works.”
04.21.2022 Rita Dove: “Playlist for the Apocalypse” (Re-air) Rita Dove’s new book of poetry, “Playlist for the Apocalypse,” goes in many different historical and personal directions.
04.07.2022 Robert Jones, Jr.: “The Prophets” (Re-air) The debut novel of Robert Jones, Jr., “The Prophets,” is lyrical prose about the dimensionality and interiority of people.
03.31.2022 Paul Tran’s wildly impressive debut poetry book, ‘All the Flowers Kneeling’ Paul Tran says that poetry can live on a page. This show discusses the abundant life in their debut poetry book, “All the Flowers Kneeling.” Tran joins guest host Shawn Sullivan to explore the book’s four sections as well as ...
03.24.2022 Tobias Wolff on Harry Crews’ ‘A Childhood: The Biography of a Place’ Writer Tobias Wolff speaks about a dark book that remains loving, Harry Crews 1978 classic “ A Childhood: The Biography of a Place .” Wolff wrote the foreword to its Penguin Classics re-release, which joins a number of Crews’ works ...
03.17.2022 Tao Lin’s ‘Leave Society’ shifts the author’s perspective to love and kindness Acclaimed novelist, poet, and essayist Tao Lin (“Taipei,” “Shoplifting from American Apparel”) speaks about growing as a writer, and growing his idea of himself in a book, including his latest, “ Leave Society ,” about the blurred lines between life ...
03.10.2022 Zac Smith’s ‘Everything is Totally Fine,’ the book that reopened Tao Lin’s Muumuu House Author Zac Smith speaks about the extreme juxtaposition of the very short, dense, and clipped stories in his new book, “Everything is Totally Fine.” He says that by removing a lot of exposition, he was able to create intense emotions ...
03.03.2022 Brit Bennett: The Vanishing Half Brit Bennett pushes questions of race and color to their extremes in her new novel, The Vanishing Half.
02.24.2022 Sarah Manguso’s ‘Very Cold People’ and life’s overwhelming small moments A distinguished writer of books in various forms — poetry, essay, memoir — Sarah Manguso embarks on her first novel with “Very Cold People,” a striking work about what it means to be human. She discusses how she came to ...
02.17.2022 Sheila Heti: “Pure Colour” At the beginning of Sheila Heti’s new book, “Pure Colour,” God looks at a first-draft world he should get around to changing. The reader meets protagonist Mira, who bonds with a woman named Annie. Then Mira’s father dies, and his ...
02.10.2022 Tom Bissell: ‘Creative Types: and Other Stories’ Journalist and author Tom Bissell’s new short fiction collection, “ Creative Types: and Other Stories ,” is about people trying to solve the problem of being themselves. Seven short stories describe the kinds of lives lived in Los Angeles with ...
02.03.2022 Tessa Hadley: “Free Love” Tessa Hadley’s new book, “Free Love” (Harper), is set in 1967 London at the beginning of the counterculture movement that swept the world. The protagonist, Phyllis, steps out of one sense of herself into another. She is a conservative mother ...
01.27.2022 Antoine Wilson: “Mouth to Mouth” Canadian-American author Antoine Wilson discusses the work he put into writing entertaining pages for his new short book, “Mouth to Mouth” (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster), and the propulsive story is not finished until the very last sentence.
01.20.2022 John Keene: “Punks: New & Selected Poems” (The Song Cave) “ Punks: New & Selected Poems ” is expansive poetry from John Keene, one of our time’s most notable writers. Seven sections offer different perspectives on what poetry can be: queer and Black, and much more than that. He joins ...
01.13.2022 In Memory of Joan Didion: 'Blue Nights' After the deaths of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and her daughter, Quintana, Joan Didion wrote "Blue Nights," the most personal and poetic book of her career. From 2011, she talks about aging, death, and the act of complete surrender ...
01.06.2022 Honoree Fanonne Jeffers: “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” (Part 2) Honoree Fanonne Jeffers discusses writing about the full range of a community, its sexuality and gender, in her first fiction novel, “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.”
12.30.2021 Honoree Fanonne Jeffers: “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” (Part 1) Master poet Honoree Fanonne Jeffers discusses her fiction debut, “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.”
12.23.2021 Stephen Sondheim: Finishing the Hat Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes (Knopf) A collection of lyrics from the first half of Stephen Sondheim's career, along with insights into the art of songwriting for the theater. In ...
12.16.2021 Dave Eggers: “The Every” (Part 2) Dave Eggers further discusses his new book, “The Every.”
12.09.2021 Dave Eggers: “The Every” (Part 1) “The Every” is the new book by Dave Eggers, a follow-up to his book “The Circle.”
12.02.2021 Louise Erdrich: “The Sentence” Every bookstore is haunted, and Louise Erdrich’s new book, “The Sentence,” is about one.
11.25.2021 Sandra Cisneros: “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo” “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo” is a bilingual new book by Sandra Cisneros.
11.18.2021 Diane Williams: “How High? – That High” Idiosyncratic short story writer Diane Williams discusses her new book, “How High? – That High.”
11.11.2021 Mary Gaitskill: “The Devil's Treasure” Mary Gaitskill’s "The Devil’s Treasure” features sections from her previous novels and an unfinished novel, commentary, illustrations, and a story inspired by a dream her younger self had.
11.04.2021 Teresa K. Miller with Carol Muske-Dukes “Borderline Fortune” Teresa K. Miller discusses “Borderline Fortune,” which won her the National Poetry Series, when she was about ready to give up on herself.
10.28.2021 Atsuro Riley: “Heard-Hoard” Atsuro Riley says he wrote “Heard-Hoard” with a kind of pacing he could feel in his body.
10.21.2021 Jackie Kay: “Bessie Smith: A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend” Jackie Kay’s “Bessie Smith: A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend” is a terrific mixture of memoir and biography.
10.14.2021 Rita Dove: “Playlist for the Apocalypse” Rita Dove’s new book of poetry, “Playlist for the Apocalypse,” goes in many different historical and personal directions.
10.07.2021 Rabih Alameddine: “The Wrong End of the Telescope” Rabih Alameddine speaks about being in love with the characters in his new novel, “The Wrong End of the Telescope."
09.30.2021 Sandra Cisneros: “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo” “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo” is a bilingual new book by Sandra Cisneros.
09.23.2021 Richard Powers: “Bewilderment” Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Richard Powers discusses his new novel, “Bewilderment,” which has been longlisted for the Booker Prize and National Book Award.
09.16.2021 Dennis Cooper: “I Wished” Santa Claus, James Turrell, “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” John Wayne Gacy, and, most of all, George Miles: these are parts of Dennis Cooper‘s discussion of his new book, “I Wished.”
08.26.2021 Alice McDermott: “What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction” Alice McDermott discusses the madness in fiction and her new book, “What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction.”
08.19.2021 Richard Powers: The Overstory About the interdependence between humans and trees, Richard Powers found a place for the non-human in literary fiction with his new book, The Overstory .
08.12.2021 Ron and Russell Mael: “Annette” Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks discuss the small and significant differences between their original material and the final movie, “Annette.”
08.05.2021 Rikki Ducornet: “Trafik” Rikki Ducornet speaks about writing in dreamtime for her new sci-fi book, “Trafik.”
07.29.2021 Yaa Gyasi: “Transcendent Kingdom” and “Homegoing” (Part 2) Part two of two, a continuation of Yaa Gyasi’s discussion about the extraordinary explorations of her books “Homegoing” and “Transcendent Kingdom.”
07.22.2021 Yaa Gyasi: “Transcendent Kingdom” and “Homegoing” (Part 1) Part one of two in which Yaa Gyasi discusses the myriad complexities of her novels “Transcendent Kingdom” and “Homegoing.”
07.15.2021 Jack Skelley: “Dennis Wilson and Charlie Manson” Jack Skelley speaks about his new book, “Dennis Wilson and Charlie Manson,” and the bad Beach Boy’s intersection with a serial killer.
07.08.2021 Emily Skillings and John Yau: John Ashbery’s “Parallel Movement of the Hands: Five Unfinished Longer Works” Editor/poet Emily Skillings and poet/critic John Yau speak about an iconic poet of the 21st century, John Ashbery, and his posthumous book, “Parallel Movement of the Hands: Five Unfinished Longer Works.”
07.01.2021 Amy Gerstler: “Index of Women” Amy Gerstler's new book of poetry, “Index of Women,” is the product of a heart the world broke.
06.24.2021 Joshua Cohen: 'The Netanyahus' Joshua Cohen speaks about “The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor And Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family,” his new book that’s funny and tragic at the same time.
06.17.2021 Joan Silber: 'Secrets of Happiness' Joan Silber writes about life's strange surprises in her new book, “Secrets of Happiness."
06.10.2021 Robert Coover and Art Spiegelman: “Street Cop” Not a comicbook, but literally illustrated text, “Street Cop,” written by Robert Coover and inhabited by Art Spiegelman.
06.03.2021 Edward St. Aubyn: 'Double Blind' Edward St. Aubyn discusses his new book, “Double Blind,” and writing about the problems with consciousness that have long fascinated his consciousness.
05.27.2021 Domenico Ingenito: 'Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry' Domenico Ingenito speaks about his book, “Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry.”
05.20.2021 Brad Gooch: Rumi's Secret Biographer Brad Gooch reveals that he traveled 2500 miles to trace Rumi's footsteps, learned Persian and spent eight years to write “Rumi's Secret: The Life of the Sufi Poet of Love.”
05.13.2021 Sandi Tan: 'Lurkers' Sandi Tan speaks about writing “Lurkers” with a gut feeling, and following an emotional momentum.

Older episodes

Bookworm

What's Bookworm about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Bookworm episodes:

Michelle Huneven: ‘Search’

Natalia Molina: ‘A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican Restaurant Nourished a Community’

Emily Skillings and John Yau: John Ashbery’s “Parallel Movement of the Hands: Five Unfinished Longer Works” (Re-air)

Rita Dove: “Playlist for the Apocalypse” (Re-air)

Robert Jones, Jr.: “The Prophets” (Re-air)

Paul Tran’s wildly impressive debut poetry book, ‘All the Flowers Kneeling’

Tobias Wolff on Harry Crews’ ‘A Childhood: The Biography of a Place’

Tao Lin’s ‘Leave Society’ shifts the author’s perspective to love and kindness

Zac Smith’s ‘Everything is Totally Fine,’ the book that reopened Tao Lin’s Muumuu House

Brit Bennett: The Vanishing Half

Sarah Manguso’s ‘Very Cold People’ and life’s overwhelming small moments

Sheila Heti: “Pure Colour”

Tom Bissell: ‘Creative Types: and Other Stories’

Tessa Hadley: “Free Love”

Antoine Wilson: “Mouth to Mouth”

John Keene: “Punks: New & Selected Poems” (The Song Cave)

In Memory of Joan Didion: 'Blue Nights'

Honoree Fanonne Jeffers: “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” (Part 2)

Honoree Fanonne Jeffers: “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” (Part 1)

Stephen Sondheim: Finishing the Hat

Dave Eggers: “The Every” (Part 2)

Dave Eggers: “The Every” (Part 1)

Louise Erdrich: “The Sentence”

Sandra Cisneros: “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo”

Diane Williams: “How High? – That High”

Mary Gaitskill: “The Devil's Treasure”

Teresa K. Miller with Carol Muske-Dukes “Borderline Fortune”

Atsuro Riley: “Heard-Hoard”

Jackie Kay: “Bessie Smith: A Poet's Biography of a Blues Legend”

Rita Dove: “Playlist for the Apocalypse”

Rabih Alameddine: “The Wrong End of the Telescope”

Sandra Cisneros: “Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo”

Richard Powers: “Bewilderment”

Dennis Cooper: “I Wished”

Alice McDermott: “What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction”

Richard Powers: The Overstory

Ron and Russell Mael: “Annette”

Rikki Ducornet: “Trafik”

Yaa Gyasi: “Transcendent Kingdom” and “Homegoing” (Part 2)

Yaa Gyasi: “Transcendent Kingdom” and “Homegoing” (Part 1)

Jack Skelley: “Dennis Wilson and Charlie Manson”

Emily Skillings and John Yau: John Ashbery’s “Parallel Movement of the Hands: Five Unfinished Longer Works”

Amy Gerstler: “Index of Women”

Joshua Cohen: 'The Netanyahus'

Joan Silber: 'Secrets of Happiness'

Robert Coover and Art Spiegelman: “Street Cop”

Edward St. Aubyn: 'Double Blind'

Domenico Ingenito: 'Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry'

Brad Gooch: Rumi's Secret

Sandi Tan: 'Lurkers'