fiction/non/fiction

S8 Ep. 18: Lan Samantha Chang on the Risks and Rewards of Literary Personas


Listen Later

Acclaimed novelist and Director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop Lan Samantha Chang joins Fiction/Non/Fiction hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the role that literary personas may–or may not–have played in recent revelations about Alice Munro, Neil Gaiman, and Cormac McCarthy. Chang discusses how writers often develop literary personas as their public profiles grow. Chang also discusses how personas can be both protective and damaging when they no longer align with the writer's true self, the impact of personas on writers' privacy and the industry's role in shaping and maintaining these personas. She reads from her novel All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost.


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 Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan.


Selected Readings:

Lan Samantha Chang

  • The Family Chao
  • Hunger
  • Inheritance
  • All is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost 
  • Writers, Protect Your Inner Life |Lit Hub|August 7, 2017


    Others:

    • A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
    • Erasure, Percival Everett
    • Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 6 Episode 40: “In Memory of Cormac McCarthy: Oscar Villalon on an Iconic Writer’s Life, Work, and Legacy”
    • Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7 Episode 19: “Jacinda Townsend and James Bernard Short on American Fiction” 
    • James Alan McPherson
    • Fiction/Non/Fiction Season 7 Episode 35: “Jonny Diamond on His Mother and Alice Munro” 
    • The Dark Secrets Behind the Neil Gaiman Abuse Accusations|Vulture | January 13, 2025

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

      ...more
      View all episodesView all episodes
      Download on the App Store

      fiction/non/fictionBy fiction/non/fiction

      • 4.9
      • 4.9
      • 4.9
      • 4.9
      • 4.9

      4.9

      77 ratings


      More shows like fiction/non/fiction

      View all
      The Book Review by The New York Times

      The Book Review

      3,857 Listeners

      The New Yorker: Fiction by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker: Fiction

      3,326 Listeners

      Books and Authors by BBC Radio 4

      Books and Authors

      365 Listeners

      Otherppl with Brad Listi by Brad Listi

      Otherppl with Brad Listi

      520 Listeners

      Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry by David Naimon, Tin House Books

      Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

      445 Listeners

      London Review Bookshop Podcast by London Review Bookshop

      London Review Bookshop Podcast

      128 Listeners

      The New Yorker: Poetry by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker: Poetry

      497 Listeners

      The New Yorker Radio Hour by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker Radio Hour

      6,696 Listeners

      Backlisted by Backlisted

      Backlisted

      582 Listeners

      The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

      The New Yorker: The Writer's Voice - New Fiction from The New Yorker

      2,115 Listeners

      NPR's Book of the Day by NPR

      NPR's Book of the Day

      606 Listeners

      The Interview by The New York Times

      The Interview

      1,476 Listeners

      Critics at Large | The New Yorker by The New Yorker

      Critics at Large | The New Yorker

      605 Listeners

      The Critic and Her Publics by Merve Emre

      The Critic and Her Publics

      72 Listeners

      The New York Times Narrated by The New York Times

      The New York Times Narrated

      51 Listeners