In The Author's Voice

In this edition of In The Author's Voice, WSIU's Jeff Williams talks with author Steve Berry about his new Cotton Malone novel The Malta Exchange.

WSIU's Jennifer Fuller talks with author Jeremy Finley about his new book, "The Darkest Time of Night."

So, what is a giraffe's favorite shoe?   Answer: Hightops!    Just in time for a good summer read for your kids or grand kids is the latest children’s story from long-time educator, and former college president Karen Gross.    Her new book, Lady Lucy’s Laugh Giraffe Journey is the latest in her Lady Lucy series.  

The book is in honor of World Giraffe Day on June 21st and raises awareness to the plight of giraffes as well as providing some proceeds from the book’s sales to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation.  Gross recently talked with WSIU's Jeff Williams about the book and her effort to help children learn through laughter.

You  can find out more about the book here.   In The Author’s Voice is a listener supported service of WSIU and Southern Illilnois University Carbondale.  

This week the United States officially opened its US Embassy in Jerusalem.   A move, that has generated praise, as well as controversy and unrest in the region.  Michael Sfard is a human rights lawyer in Israel and author of the recent book The Wall and The Gate: Israel, Palestine, and the Legal Battle for Human Rights.  As an advocate for human rights, he offers a different perspective on the much covered conflict. 

WSIU's Jeff Williams  talked with Sfard earlier this year shortly after President Trump announced that the US would move its embassy to Jerusalem.   Sfard talked about how the announcement was received  as well as what he sees as the future of Israel and Palestine.

Michael Sfard's writings on human rights has appeared in The New York Times, Haaretz, and Foreign Policy. He lives in Tel Aviv.   The Wall and The Gate is published by Metropolitan Books.

A southern Illinois native is the author of a new children's book.  Dr. Kimberly Gordon Biddle grew up in Colp.  She now lives in California where she teaches at Sacramento State University.    LaDonna Plays Hoops is a picture book that tells the story of a young African-American girl who goes to visit her grandma for a family reunion.  

In this edition of In The Author's Voice, WSIU's Jeff Williams recently talked with Dr. Biddle about her book and a reading she will give on Saturday, March 24, 2018 at the Carbondale Barnes & Noble beginning at 12:00pm. 

More with Kimberly Gordon Biddle...

Dr. Biddle talks about growing up in southern Illinois and her desire to teach.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the assignation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.   After nearly five-decades there remain many unanswered questions surrounding the killing of Dr. King.  Author Steve Berry’s new novel, The Bishop’s Pawn, is the latest installment in his Cotton Malone series.  It’s a prequel of sorts and tells the back story of the beginning of the Magellan Billet and Cotton’s association with that  special Justice Department unit.  It also wraps Cotton's latest mystery around the historical intrigue of one of the most pivotal events of the 20th Century - the assignation of MLK.  

WSIU's Jeff Williams recently talked with Berry about his new novel.   The Bishop's Pawn, from Minotaur Books, is in bookstores today (March 20, 2018).

In The Author’s Voice is an online feature of WSIU Radio – a listener supported service of Southern Illinois University.    You can find more segments of In The Author's Voice here.

As China's trillion dollar "Road and Belt" infrastructure initiative continues working to re-shape global trade, a new book, Young China, works to bring a new understanding of China to the world - especially of Chinese millennials known as the Restless Generation.   In this edition of In The Author's Voice, WSIU's Jeff Williams talks with author Zak Dychtwald about his book and his experience with China and its people.

Young China is out in paperback from St. Martin's Press.  Zak Dychtwald is the founder of the Young China Global Group, a think-tank focused on helping companies and governments understand global millennials.

The Vietnam War was a time of much change in America that still echos through our country's culture nearly 50 years later.  Les Arbuckle spent nearly two years of his life growing up in Saigon at the start of the Vietnam War. His father was stationed there and signed on the air Saigon's Armed Forces Radio station. Arbucfkle talks with WSIU's Jeff Williams about being a teenager in Saigon and his new memoir, Saigon Kids: An American Military Brat comes of Age in 1960's Vietnam.

More of the Conversation with Les Arbuckle:

Hear more of Les Arbuckle's conversation with Jeff Williams about life in Saigon as a teenager and a military brat.