Poured Over

Latest Episodes:

Jacqueline Woodson on REMEMBER US Oct 17, 2023

Show notes

"I expect my reader to meet me halfway with their own experiences and fill in the white space, fill in what's left unsaid."

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson brings the reader to Brooklyn in the 70s to examine memory and acceptance through the eyes of one girl from her childhood and beyond. Woodson joins us to talk about writing for young people, the themes of childhood and nostalgia, creating identity through literature and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer 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):

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis

Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson

Poured Over Double Shot: Bryan Washington and Curtis Chin Oct 14, 2023

Show notes

Family Meal by Bryan Washington features the importance of food, friends and connection with a cast of characters working through the transitions in life. Washington joins us to talk about the identity of place, how he writes the messiness of life, staying truthful to characters and their struggles and more.

Curtis Chin's Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant follows the author's life as he grew up in and around his family's restaurant where he came to better understand himself and those around him. Chin joins us to talk about the perils of writing about your relatives, the nuances of cultural identity, a very particular Detroit meal and more.

Listen in as these authors speak separately with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer 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):

Family Meal by Bryan Washington

Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant by Curtis Chin

Memorial by Bryan Washington

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

Love in the Big City by Sang Young Park

100 Boyfriends by Brontez Purnell

Mott Street by Ava Chin

The Family Chao by Lan Samantha Chang

Jean Kwok on THE LEFTOVER WOMAN Oct 12, 2023

Show notes

"I want people to read it with joy, just for the story. But I do hope that they'll pick up something else along the way about … deeper things."

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok finds two women on incredibly different paths in life in collision as they grapple with issues of culture, class and motherhood. Kwok joins us to talk about how she started a career in writing, the importance and language and cultural identity, how books open doors to learning and growth and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over. We end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Madyson and Mary.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer 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):

The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok

Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

Broadway Butterfly by Sara DiVello

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

Greek Lessons by Han Kang

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan

Justin Torres on BLACKOUTS Oct 10, 2023

Show notes

"I wanted it to feel like stepping off the world..."

Blackouts by Justin Torres explores love, loss and the stories we leave behind with inventive and transformative form and prose. Torres joins us to talk about the source material for this novel, the importance of telling queer stories, navigating legacy, loneliness and identity and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer 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):

Blackouts by Justin Torres

We the Animals by Justin Torres

Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo

Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis

City of God by Gil Cuadros

Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe

Punks by John Keene

In Case of Emergency by Mahsa Mohebali

Pauls Toutonghi on THE REFUGEE OCEAN Oct 07, 2023

Show notes

Our October Discover Pick is The Refugee Ocean by Pauls Toutonghi, featuring musical prose and interwoven stories that cross generations and countries to explore what it means to be an immigrant and the resiliency of the human spirit. Toutonghi joins us to talk about his family connection to the novel, using fiction to connect to the human experience, the long process of writing this book and more with guest host, Jenna Seery.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery and mixed by Harry Liang.

Featured Books (Episode):

The Refugee Ocean by Pauls Toutonghi

The Overstory by Richard Powers

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Soccer in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

Safiya Sinclair on HOW TO SAY BABYLON Oct 05, 2023

Show notes

"Language doesn't just exist on the page … It's about how you embody it."

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair is a poetic memoir about growing up as a Rastafari woman in Jamaica and how words and writing empowered her voice. Sinclair joins us to talk about the literary connections in her poetry, shedding light on the reality of her upbringing, and the identity that comes with writing and reading with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer 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):

How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair

Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

Educated by Tara Westover

The Star-Apple Kingdom by Derek Walcott

Poured Over Double Shot: Jonathan Lethem and Benjamín Labatut Oct 03, 2023

Show notes

Jonathan Lethem's Brooklyn Crime Novel brings readers to New York in the 70s and the cast of characters it contains. Lethem joins us to talk about creating something different than he'd done before, writing memory and nostalgia, the joy of bookselling and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

The Maniac by Benjamín Labatut defies genre with an examination and exploration of science and humanity from the Manhattan Project to the advent of A.I. Labatut joins us to talk about the dark art of writing, the mystery and mythology of existence, the importance of story and more with guest host, Jenna Seery. We end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Jamie and Marc.

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

Featured Books (Episode):

Brooklyn Crime Novel by Jonathan Lethem

The Maniac by Benjamín Labatut

The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem

Desperate Characters by Paula Fox

Another Country by James Baldwin

Steelwork by Gilbert Sorrentino

Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.

When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

Underworld by Don DeLillo

The New Life by Tom Crewe

V.E. Schwab on THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER Sep 30, 2023

Show notes

"My biggest goal was to convert people who said they don't like fantasy."

V.E. Schwab's Shades of Magic series has enchanted us with wit, wonder and a world not unlike our own, filled with heroes and intrigue. Her newest addition, The Fragile Threads of Power, brings our favorite characters on a new adventure. Schwab joins us to talk about returning to her magical version of London, the role of social media for authors and readers, vampire novels and more with guest host, Kat Sarfas. We end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Madyson and Marc.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang.

Featured Books (Episode):

The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab

The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell

You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey

Ayana Mathis on THE UNSETTLED Sep 28, 2023

Show notes

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis follows a family through generations from small town Alabama to Philadelphia in the 80s as they struggle, succeed and learn to care for each other. Mathis joins us to talk about how long it took her to write this book, keeping joy in hard stories, how real events and culture shape her characters and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer 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):

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis

The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis

Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Philadelphia Fire by John Edgar Wideman

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel

C Pam Zhang on LAND OF MILK AND HONEY Sep 26, 2023

Show notes

"It really illuminates these questions of privilege and pleasure, and what kind of joy we can look forward to in the human experience as things continue to get worse."

In a world facing food scarcity and limited resources, a young chef enters a world of allure, privilege, abundance (and their consequences) in Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang. Zhang joins us to talk about the mythology of the worlds she creates, the secret to great food writing, the politics of privilege and pleasure and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.

This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Executive Producer 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):

Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang

How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang

The Lover by Marguerite Duras

Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr

Prophet by Helen Macdonald and Sin Blaché

H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald