"I sketched out some of these pool scenes a long, long time ago, maybe 15 years ago, but just you know, a few paragraphs. And then I don't know, I put them in a drawer somewhere..." It's been 20 years since Julie Otsuka's sublime debut, When the Emperor was Divine, almost 10 since the collective voice of The Buddha in the Attic. Julie's third novel, The Swimmers, is just out, and she joins us on the show to talk about her elegant, witty and elegiac new book and its "soft beating heart," the joy (and comedy) she found writing about this community, writing in pencil (and more of her creative process), silence and memory, and more.

Featured books:

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

Poured Over is produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional bonus episodes on Saturdays.)