Journalist and biographer Steve Paul and writer and Washington University professor Henry Schvey join host Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, to discuss their books on novelist Evan S. Connell and Tennessee Williams, respectively. Each of the old masters was from Missouri—Connell from Kansas City and Williams from St. Louis. Paul and Schvey talk about how, though neither man was happy about his city of origin, those locations factored importantly into their work. Finally, they take questions from the live audience at Unbound. 

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Steve Paul

Henry Schvey

• Blue Song

Others

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Novelist and Iowa Writers’ Workshop director Lan Samantha Chang joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss her new novel, The Family Chao, an homage to The Brothers Karamazov centered on the title family’s Midwestern Chinese restaurant. Chang talks about how the three brothers of her story and their varied relationships to identity reflect their parents’ changing circumstances. She also discusses how Asian American and immigrant narratives are evolving to reflect new generations; Asian American life in the Midwest; using humor to subvert cliches; and how directing the Workshop has altered her approach to writing.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Lan Samantha Chang

Others

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Novelist, Skylark Bookshop owner, and Unbound Book Festival organizer Alex George joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the festival in Columbia, Missouri, to discuss what’s harder, writing a novel or running a bookfest – or doing both and continuing his (other) day job as an attorney. It turns out that doing all of the above is difficult, but so rewarding that George wouldn’t have it any other way. George also reads from his 2020 novel The Paris Hours, an Indie Next Book of the Month selection and Amazon Best Book of the Month, and discusses the merits of living in Columbia’s literary community. Finally, he takes questions from the live audience at Unbound. 

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected Readings:

Alex George

Others

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fiction writers Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Sequoia Nagamatsu join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell live from the Unbound Book Festival in Columbia, Missouri, where they talk about pop culture in the literary sphere, the blurring of the line between literary and popular fiction, and subverting tropes within their genres (plus, a bit of Frasier fanfiction). Nana reads from his short story collection Friday Black, and Sequoia reads from his novel How High We Go in the Dark. The two also take questions from the live audience at Unbound. 

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf, Carter Groves, Brooke Spalding-Ford, Shannon Moran, Maria Starns, and Kayla Wiltfong.

Selected readings for the episode: 

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

•  Friday Black

Sequoia Nagamatsu 

Others

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Now celebrating its fifth season, Storybound is a radio theater program designed for the podcast age. Hosted by 2021 KCRW Radio Race winner Jude Brewer, Storybound presents the voices of today’s best writers, like Mitchell S. Jackson, Tamara Winfrey-Harris, and Lauren Groff, reading accomplished works of fiction and non-fiction. You’ll also hear original music specially composed for the respective text. Needless to say, it’s an immersive storytelling experience.

The episode we’re sharing today features Debbie Millman, host of Design Matters and author of Why Design Matters. This episode is really special: Not only do we hear from Debbie herself, we also hear portions of the interviews Debbie conducted with luminaries like Ira Glass and David Byrne. 

If you enjoy what you hear, make sure to follow Storybound (for free) wherever you get your podcasts.

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Novelist SJ Sindu joins host V.V. Ganeshananthan live from the Tamil Worlds Initiative at the University of Toronto-Scarborough to discuss her new novel, Blue-Skinned Gods, and its protagonist, Kalki, a blue-skinned boy raised in an ashram as the tenth human incarnation of Vishnu. Sindu talks about depicting caste, gender, and heteronormative privilege within a rigid community; the destructive intersection of spirituality and capitalism; and how the age of digital misinformation has aided the Hindu right’s attempt to redefine South Asian history. 

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf and Hannah Ward. 

Selected readings for the episode: 

SJ Sindu

Others

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Award-winning actor and LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS activist Alexandra Billings joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the spate of recent anti-Trans bills and American misogyny. Billings reads from her new memoir, This Time for Me, and talks about her life as a Trans woman, her career as a teacher, and her experiences on the show Transparent.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf, Hayley Brown, Zoë Harper, America Fontenot, and Ross Whitehead.

Selected readings for the episode: 

Alexandra Billings

Others

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fiction writer and former Tor assistant editor Molly McGhee joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss details of her recent resignation from a position she’d fought for in the industry she loves. She also talks about what’s behind #PublishingBurnout for junior employees and what that means for the future of publishing.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected readings for the episode: 

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author and journalist Putsata Reang joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the dangers faced by foreign correspondents and local journalists during times of violent crisis. Reang talks about the dangers reporters are facing in Ukraine, recalls training journalists in Afghanistan, and reads from her forthcoming book Ma and Me: A Memoir. She also reflects on how her experiences in journalism connect to her history as a Cambodian refugee and her identity as a gay woman.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected readings for the episode:

Putsata Reang

Others

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See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Author and former Guantánamo detainee Mansoor Adayfi joins co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss his 14 years of systematic torture in the military prison. Adayfi reads from his memoir, Don’t Forget Us Here: Lost and Found at Guantánamo; recalls being ambushed, kidnapped, and sold to the U.S. by warlords; and explains the hunger strikes and protests he and other detainees participated in in defense of their lives and rights. Adayfi, who was ultimately found innocent and released, urges President Biden to work toward closing Guantánamo, which he describes as a place of lawlessness, oppression and injustice.

To hear the full episode, subscribe through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Check out video versions of our interviews on the Fiction/Non/Fiction Instagram account, the Fiction/Non/Fiction YouTube Channel, and our show website: https://www.fnfpodcast.net/

This podcast is produced by Anne Kniggendorf.

Selected readings for the episode:

Mansoor Adayfi

Others

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.