Bay Area Book Festival Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Shine Bright: Black Women in Pop Music Jun 30, 2022

Show notes

Danyel Smith, Mariecar Mendoza

From formerly enslaved poet Phyllis Wheatley to Mahalia Jackson to Tina Turner, brilliant Black women have been instrumental—indeed, foundational—in creating America's pop music. Former Billboard editor Danyel Smith's "Shine Bright" is an ode to the songbird geniuses that have been hidden in plain sight. In this conversation between Smith and the San Francisco Chronicle's Mariecar Mendoza, we'll celebrate a musical lineage as life-affirming as it is awe-inspiring.

Keep Calm and Go Quietly Mad Jun 23, 2022

Show notes

Molly Giles, Leslie Kirk Campbell, Sarah Moss

With book titles like "Wife with Knife: Stories that Cut" (by Molly Giles), "The Man With Eight Pairs of Legs" (by Leslie Kirk Campbell), and "The Fell" (by Sarah Moss), it's clear you're not in for a typical reading experience. These fiction writers explore what happens when we're pushed to extremes. With the support of Culture Ireland.

Writing a Path Out of Darkness: Writers on Mourning Jun 16, 2022

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Pik-Shuen Fung, Kristin Keane, Litt Woon Long, Deirdre English

These authors give voice to the unspeakable parts of grief. The protagonist of Pik-Shuen Fung's "Ghost Forest" navigates her father's death in a family that doesn't talk about feelings. In "The Encyclopedia of Bending Time," memoirist Kristin Keane uses an encyclopedic format to grieve her mother. And Litt Woon Long's "The Way Through the Woods" wends a path through mushroom-foraging as a way to process loss. With the support of the Consulate General of Canada San Francisco/Silicon Valley, the Norway House Foundation, and NORLA - Norwegian Literature Abroad.

Splitting the World Open: An International Roundtable of Dangerous Women Writers Sep 16, 2021

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Spend an hour with three brilliant female authors, writing from and about multiple corners of the globe—India, the Middle East, North Africa, South America, the United States—with woman-focused stories. Meet Dubai-based Indian author Avni Doshi, Ethiopian-American novelist Maaza Mengiste and Chilean author Alia Trabucco Zerán. The event is co-presented by Words Without Borders and moderated by Karen Phillips, its executive director.

What Happens When a Woman Tells Her Whole Truth w/Gina Frangello, Brooke Warner Sep 09, 2021

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Gina Frangello's new memoir, Blow Your House Down, was met with wide acclaim, impassioned support, and also the judgments and criticisms that people love to lob at women who write about their authentic, messy lives. She writes about adultery, a longtime affair, and eventually breaking up her family, with repercussions to all concerned, including her children. At the center of this conversation, moderated by Brooke Warner, are questions about how women are encouraged to be silent, or get silenced.

Book Launch Event: The Confession of Copeland Cane, with author Keenan Norris in conversation with Dr. Michael Datcher Sep 02, 2021

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Love, Loss, and Meaning in Life: World-Renowned Therapist Irvin Yalom & Joyce Carol Oates Aug 19, 2021

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A powerful conversation between renowned psychiatrist Irvin Yalom & one of the most honored authors in American letters, Joyce Carol Oates. This heartfelt talk explores universal questions of intimacy, love, and grief.

How to Dream the World You Want: Nnedi Okorafor & Jeff VanderMeer with Isabel Yap Aug 12, 2021

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Lager and Love Can't Pay the Bills: 2020 Booker Prize Winner Douglas Stuart on his Masterpiece, Shuggie Bain Aug 07, 2021

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Douglas Stuart enraptured readers worldwide in 2020 when his debut novel, Shuggie Bain, took the world's top literary award, the Booker Prize. Shuggie Bain was a labor of love that drew from his own history of childhood poverty, hardship, and devotion to a mother whose addiction struggles were intensified by a broken system. Stuart is interviewed by Casey Gerald, who gained fame with a viral TED talk, "The Gospel of Doubt." Like Stuart, Gerald grew up queer, shaped by poverty and parental addiction.

Green Rabbits Glowing at the End of the World Jul 29, 2021

Show notes

Hear from two highly respected journalists who also happen to be speculative fiction writers. Annalee Newitz is an award-winning novelist (The Future of Another Timeline) and a science, technology and culture writer whose fascinating new book, Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, explores the rise and fall of four urban-centered civilizations, from medieval Angkor in Cambodia to the indigenous metropolis Cahokia in present-day Missouri. Moderated by Bonnie Tsui, author of Why We Swim.