Emily is back in Connecticut, which means she and Chris were able to record this episode together at Book Cougars HQ. We are grateful for long-distance recording technology, but talking about books in person is much more fun!

Our special guest is Michael Kelleher, Director of the Windham Campbell Prizes. Mike explains that these awards are given to writers, not for a particular book, but in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and playwriting. This year’s festival dates are September 17-20 at Yale in New Haven, CT. If you can’t make it to Connecticut, some events, like Lydia Davis’s keynote and the awards ceremony, will be live-streamed (links in the show notes).

The books and stories we read since the last episode include:

Envy by Sandra Brown

Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez

The Truth’s We Hold: An American Story by Kamala Harris

Mrs. Saint and the Defectives by Julie Lawson Timmer

Big by Vashti Harrison

“Disaster Stamps of Pluto” by Louise Erdrich from the collection The Best American Mystery Stories 2005 edited by Joyce Carol Oates and Otto Penzler

“Double Birthday” by Willa Cather in The Best American Short Stories of the Century edited by John Updike

As always, we also talk about what we’re #CurrentlyReading, what we want to read, and Biblio Adventures.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Happy Listening and Reading!