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Tag: book interview
My Reading Life: Great Disasters author Grady Chambers wants teens to read more contemporary books in school
In his debut novel, Great Disasters, Grady Chambers traces the lives of six men coming of age in early-2000s Chicago, as friendship, first love, protest, and war shape the bonds that push and pull them. Chambers captures the humor, heartbreak, and hope that can be found even in moments of loss and devastation. He is also the author of the poetry collection North American Stadiums, which won the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize, and his work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Paris Review, American Poetry Review, and The Sun.
We asked Chambers to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that shaped his life and what influenced his debut novel.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: Great Disasters author Grady Chambers wants teens to read more contemporary books in school”Samantha Browning Shea on her debut novel Marrow and fifteen years of being a literary agent
Samantha Browning Shea has been a literary agent for Georges Borchardt for fifteen years, where hse has worked on books that have been received numrerous honors and awards, including the “5 Under 35” honor from the National Book Foundation, the “Best of Young American Novelists” honor from Granta Magazine, the Kirkus Prize, the Whiting Award, the National Book Critics Circle Awards, the PEN/ Robert W. Bingham Prize.
Now, with her debut novel, Marrow, Shea is ready to introduce readers to a world that explores femininity and power on a small island off the coast of Maine, where a coven of witches tinkers with fertility.
We caught up with Shea via email, where we asked about being a literary agent, why magic and motherhood interested her, and how Marrow became her debut book.
Continue reading “Samantha Browning Shea on her debut novel Marrow and fifteen years of being a literary agent”Debutiful Podcast: Lacey N. Dunham discusses The Belles
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Continue reading “Debutiful Podcast: Lacey N. Dunham discusses The Belles”My Reading Life: Oddbody author Rose Keating will always read vampire stories
Rose Keating is an Irish writer who studied creative writing at the University of East Anglia, where she was a recipient of the Malcolm Bradbury Scholarship and the Curtis Brown Prize. She also won the Marian Keyes Young Writer Award, the Hot Press Write Here, Write Now Prize, and the Ted and Mary O’Regan Arts Bursary. In 2022, she received an Agility Award from the Irish Arts Council.
Her debut short story collection, Oddbody, features ten stories that feature women who defy societal norms in bizarrely satisfying and mind-bending ways.
We asked Keating to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know the books that influenced her life and inspired her debut book.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: Oddbody author Rose Keating will always read vampire stories”My Reading Life: The Sunflower Boys author Sam Wachman wants to shoutout Cindy, his neighborhood librarian
In Sam Wachman‘s debut novel, The Sunflower Boys, brothers Artem and Yuri embark on a journey after war kills their family in rural Ukraine. As the journey unfolds, so does a beautifully constructed character study of Artem’s identity, loss of innocence, and blossoming love for his best friend.
Before writing his debut novel, Wachman taught English to primary schoolers in central Ukraine and worked with refugee families in Europe and the United States. His work has also appeared in Sonora Review, Berkeley Fiction Review, and New England Review.
We asked him to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped his story.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: The Sunflower Boys author Sam Wachman wants to shoutout Cindy, his neighborhood librarian”My Reading Life: The Compound author Aisling Rawle’s first book love was The Wind in the Willows
Aisling Rawle’s debut novel, The Compound, is a chillingly prescient exploration of reality TV, desire, and survival in a world teetering on collapse. Set on a remote desert compound where twenty contestants compete to outlast each other for luxury rewards and existential purpose, the story follows Lily, a bored and beautiful twenty-something, as she navigates the blurred lines between performance and reality, safety and spectacle, love and manipulation.
We asked the writer to answer our recurring My Reading Life Q&A so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped her life.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: The Compound author Aisling Rawle’s first book love was The Wind in the Willows”Debutiful Podcast: Nini Berdnt discusses There Are Reasons For This
My Reading Life: Mouth author Kerry Donoghue wants to choose her own adventure
Earlier this year, Kerry Donoghue‘s debut short story collection Mouth was published by Unsolicited Press. Prior to publishing this collection, her poetry and stories have appeared in Ninth Letter, Painted Bride Quarterly, Permafrost, The Louisville Review, and The South Carolina Review.
She is also part of the Poets & Writers Get the Word Out publicity incubator, which Debutiful announced last December.
We asked her to answer our recurring My Reading Life questionnaire so readers could get to know her and the books that shaped her life.
Continue reading “My Reading Life: Mouth author Kerry Donoghue wants to choose her own adventure”My Reading Life: Liquid writer Mariam Rahmani on the books that shaped her
Mariam Rahmani, the author of Liquid: A Love Story, is a writer and translator whose work has appeared in Granta, Gulf Coast, n+1, and more. Her first book-length translation was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker. Rahmani holds a PhD from UCLA, an MFA from Columbia, and degrees from Princeton and Oxford. She currently teaches at Bennington College.
Her debut novel follows an unnamed Iranian-Indian American narrator who, after struggling to find stability post-PhD, embarks on a meticulously planned mission to “marry rich.” What begins as a whirlwind of absurd and revealing dates across Los Angeles shifts when a family tragedy forces her to confront the contradictions in her life—and question whether the person she’s searching for has been there all along.
Below, the author answered our My Reading Life questionnaire, sharing the books that shaped her, the stories that make her laugh, and what’s currently on her nightstand.
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