Languages of Home by John Edgar Wideman is a collection of the acclaimed author and cultural critic's most influential works — five decades in the making. John joins us to talk about the creative process, improvisation, basketball, storytelling, the evolution of voice, translation and more with host Miwa Messer.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang.

New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app.

Featured Books (Episode): Languages of Home: Essays on Writing, Hoop, and American Lives 1975-2025 by John Edgar Wideman Slaveroad by John Edgar Wideman Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography by Edward Said The Homewood Trilogy by John Edgar Wideman The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X Corregidora by Gayl Jones Ulysses by James Joyce Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Every Tongue Got to Confess: Negro Folk-tales from the Gulf States by Zora Neale Hurston