Check This Out

You may know Ayana Mathis from her debut novel, The Twelve Tribes of Hattie. Published 11 years ago, the excitement and noise around that debut took up all the space and energy Mathis had to write fiction.

Her new second novel is called The Unsettled. It’s a mother-daughter-son story that braids two narratives - one from the south and one from the north.

In the north, Mathis plunges her readers into the horrors of life at the cockroach infested Glenn Avenue family shelter in 1985 Philadelphia.

In the south, she takes us to the tiny town of Bonaparte Alabama which is a decaying mess but used to be a beacon of Black freedom and self-determination. She shows the fight to save that town from rapidly encroaching white developers. Her characters from both the north and the south are all drawn to the leader of a cult-like group modeled on the real life MOVE organization and the ending is just as tragic.

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Check this Out features lively conversations with up and coming authors, and serves as a platform for diverse voices and stories to be heard. NHPR and The Howe Library are proud to be able to bring these conversations into your homes and headphones.

John Manuel Arias is a queer Costa Rican-American poet and writer who has lived in the U.S. and in Costa Rica where, as he reports, he shared a house with his grandmother and four ghosts. His debut novel, Where There Was Fire, burst onto the scene in August 2023.

Set in Costa Rica, this story follows several generations of women in one family — mothers and daughters — alternating between their lives in the 1960s and the 1990s.

The novel focuses on one major event that reverberates and haunts each generation: a fire that burnt down a banana plantation and in which a father goes missing.

This single event tears the family apart and gives rise to ghosts that keep the characters pushing for answers. Who started the fire? What happened to a missing husband? To a dead mother? Where There Was Fire is about love and secrets, reconciliation and redemption, all focused around the biggest question of all: What is the price of a banana?

This week, host Rachel Barenbaum sits down with Angie Kim, author of the novel "Miracle Creek." Kim was named a finalist for the New American Voices Award. Her latest work, "Happiness Falls" follows the story of family in crisis, after a father goes missing — and the only person who knows what happened to him is the family's non-verbal 14 year old son, Eugene.

In this conversation, Angie Kim shares her inspiration for "Happiness Falls," which tackles fascinating questions of love, language, and human connection.

Check this Out features lively conversations with up and coming authors, and serves as a platform for diverse voices and stories to be heard. NHPR and The Howe Library are proud to be able to bring these conversations into your homes and headphones.

This week, host Rachel Barenbaum sits down with Tania James, author of the novels "The Tusk That Did the Damage" and "Atlas of Unknowns." Her latest work, "Loot," has been named to the longlist of the 2023 National Book Award in fiction.

In this conversation, Tania James shares her inspiration for "Loot," which gives readers a front-row seat to 18th and 19th century imperialism as seen through the eyes of an artisan toy maker who begins his journey in 1794 in Mysore, India.

Check this Out features lively conversations with up and coming authors, and serves as a platform for diverse voices and stories to be heard. NHPR and The Howe Library are proud to be able to bring these conversations into your homes and headphones.