Poured Over

Latest Episodes:

Oindrila Mukherjee on THE DREAM BUILDERS Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

"I remember being in an English class in high school (12th grade actually). We were reading The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot, and I announced to the teacher that I could have written a better ending … And I remember the look of shock on the teacher's face because she probably thought I was so arrogant and presumptuous. I don't know how I would have ended it. But I remember thinking that I could have I could have come up with a better ending."

Who among us hasn't been tempted to rewrite a classic? The very funny and smart debut novelist Oindrila Mukherjee joins us on the show to talk about The Dream Builders, the looming influence of American pop culture in India, building a fictional city from scratch, tossing out her entire first draft and starting over, her unconventional path to publication via an open submission call from her publisher Tin House, her writing advice, her love of literature in translation and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer.

Featured Book:

The Dream Builders by Oindrila Mukherjee

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 Saturdays).

Leigh Bardugo on HELL BENT Jan 10, 2023

Show notes

"And I always tend to start a book with a very popcorn sensibility, like, oh, well, this'll be fun, we're gonna have a little romp. And then to tell the story, honestly, you tend — especially when you're talking about things like institutional power and social influence and economic influence — you're going to bump up against some pretty heavy themes. And that certainly happened with Ninth House and again with Hell Bent."

No one does magic and mayhem and unforgettable characters like Leigh Bardugo. She takes readers behind the scenes of Hell Bent, her latest novel and the long-awaited follow-up to Ninth House, riffing on setting the series at Yale University, what she learned from writing movie trailers, the advice Holly Black gave her about screen adaptations, reading The Princess Bride, magic as a metaphor for power (and what happens to the metaphor when the power is real), how Louise Erdrich shifted the way Leigh felt about fiction, writing morally gray characters, vampires, what she's been reading, what's next for her (hint: character-driven standalone) and much more in a laughter-filled conversation with guest host Kat Sarfas.

Featured Books:

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams

This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Kat Sarfas and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

Deepti Kapoor on AGE OF VICE Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

"But now, with the rise of new money, it's like there's this moment in India, when new money was eclipsing old money. And that's the moment that I basically find really interesting because I happen to be right there observing, and just talking to people and listening and picking up stories." You might have missed Deepti Kapoor's debut, A Bad Character, in 2014; you absolutely do not want to miss Age of Vice, her fast-paced, epic novel of crime and corruption (and the first of three volumes in a series featuring a cast of characters you won't be able to shake). Deepti joins us on the show to talk about the inspiration behind her pulse-pounding new novel, the trio of characters at its center, the transformation of Delhi, her writing process, her literary influences (ranging from Dostoyevsky to Patricia Highsmith), and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer.

Featured Books:

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

A Bad Character by Deepti Kapoor

2666 by Roberto Bolaño

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 Saturdays.

Poured Over Double Shot: Tracey Rose Peyton and Parini Shroff Jan 03, 2023

Show notes

Our January Discover and B&N Book Club picks have lots in common: both are debut novels with indelible characters and an unforgettable story, both are graduates of UT's Michener Center for Writers — think of this episode as an audio boxed set, as both authors sit down separately with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer.

Tracey Rose Peyton knew she was taking on a major challenge with a narrative about enslaved women in 1850's Texas — and even tossed an entire early draft — but she knew she had what she needed when she landed on the hypnotic first person plural voice for our January Discover pick, Night Wherever We Go. Tracey talks about her literary influences (including Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, Julie Otsuka and Alice Walker), love of short novels, making sure to include moments of real joy in terrible times, and more.

Our January B&N Book Club pick, The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff, is a dark comedy set in modern-day India that started as a short story — one that she put in a drawer for ten or so years. Parini talks about how she got from a short story to her novel about second chances and women breaking free of society's constraints, her favorite writers (including Zadie Smith and James McBride), the real-life inspiration behind her book's title, writing women's friendships, and more. (Join us for the B&N Book Club event in February if you're looking for spoilers on this one.)

Featured Books (Tracey Rose Peyton):

Night Wherever We Go by Tracey Rose Peyton

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Featured Books (Parini Shroff):

Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

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 Saturdays.

Poured Over: All the Pretty Books and Beautiful Things Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

We're closing out 2022 with something new: A Poured Over Double Shot with host Miwa Messer.

Cormac McCarthy doesn't really do interviews — If you want to know about the work, it's on the page, he says. Jenny Jackson and Chip Kidd are part of the team that publish McCarthy; Jenny's been his editor for the last eight years, and Chip has designed McCarthy's hardcover jackets from 1992's All the Pretty Horses all the way up to this fall's The Passenger and Stella Maris, along with the recent reissues of McCarthy's backlist including Suttree, Blood Meridian and No Country for Old Men. They join us to talk about McCarthy's surprising new books — his first since Pulitzer Prize winner The Road (2006), getting the jackets right and more in the first half of this Poured Over Double Shot episode.

When a pal asked Cheryl Strayed to take over writing the "Dear Sugar" column in The Rumpus, her first thought was, "Who am I to give people advice? I'd never taken a class in psychology or gone to therapy or any of that stuff. But also, I was afraid specifically to write an advice column on the internet, because it was the age of snark…" Cheryl's open-hearted, non-judgmental letters to readers redefined the medium — and inspired two podcasts, Dear Sugars and Sugar Calling. Some of that work is collected in Tiny Beautiful Things, which was adapted into an acclaimed stage play by Nia Vardalos and is coming to Hulu next year as a series starring Kathryn Hahn (WandaVision). Cheryl joins us to talk about trust and empathy, finding freedom by writing letters to strangers, what she's working on now and more in the second half of this episode.

Featured Books:

The Passenger by Cormac McCarthy

Stella Maris by Cormac McCarthy

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy

Torch by Cheryl Strayed

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition) by Cheryl Strayed

Poured Over is Produced and hosted by Miwa Messer and mixed by Harry Liang. We're taking a break until 1/3/23, but we'll be back with new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) then.

Maggie O'Farrell on THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

"They have traveled for most of the day using what little daylight the season offers leaving Ferrara Dawn and riding out to what he had told her was a hunting lodge, far in the northwest of the province. 'But this is no hunting lodge' is what Lucrezia had wanted to say when they reach their destination, a high walled edifice of dark stone flanked on one side by dense forest and on the other by a twisting meander of the Po River. She would have liked to turn in her saddle and ask, 'Why have you brought me here?'"

That's Maggie O'Farrell, reading from her brilliant new novel The Marriage Portrait, a finalist for our 2022 Book of the Year. In front of a live audience at the Barnes & Noble in Eastchester, New York, Maggie takes us to Renaissance Florence and behind the scenes of her page-turning historical novel and its untamable heroine, the writers who inspired her (from Robert Browning and Wilkie Collins to Daphne DuMaurier and Patricia Highsmith), her writing process (including Post-It notes and pinboards), what's next for her and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer.

Featured Books:

The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker

Matrix by Lauren Groff

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 Saturdays).

Alison L. Strayer and Dan Simon on Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

"It is an amazing, amazing translation experience….But it took a long time to get to the point where the language started moving because you have to start out sort of in English laying down a rock, rocks, and then a rock and a rock, building a wall. It doesn't move, and it's just right, right next to the ground. And because you can't obviously start translating in full sentences really. My whole idea was this to just stick absolutely close to the earth of her syntax and build up. And you build and you build and you build and finally something starts to move. And then you can gain some of the movement that you — but in English — that you have sensed and been thrilled by in reading the French."

Alison L. Strayer has been reading Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux's books for 30 years, and has translated the last few, including The Years, nominated for the International Man Booker Prize. Alison and Dan Simon of Seven Stories Press, Annie's longtime American publisher, join us on the show to talk about working with the iconic French author, the joys of literature in translation, capturing Ernaux's voice and sensibilities and the emotional truth of her genre-bending prose for English-speaking audiences and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer.

Featured Books:

The Years by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer

A Girl's Story by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer

Getting Lost by Annie Ernaux, translated by Alison L. Strayer

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 Saturdays).

Jane Smiley on A DANGEROUS BUSINESS Dec 06, 2022

Show notes

"One of my favorite places to take a little walk around is the public cemetery, which is on a little hill that overlooks the bay. And you know, if you ever wanted to be buried somewhere, that's the place to be buried. And right across the street from it, and a little ways down the road is this beautiful canyon you can walk up. The trees are covered with Spanish moss, and there's fog. And so it's perfect place — if you believe in ghosts — to see one."

A murder mystery set in 1850's Monterey, California, Jane Smiley's latest novel, A Dangerous Business, is a bit of a departure for the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer. She joins us on the show to take readers behind the scenes of her new book (as well as some of her earlier work) and talk about the books and writers who've inspired her along the way (including what she learned from reading Charles Dickens), what she loves about novels and more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Jamie.

Featured Books (Episode):

A Dangerous Business by Jane Smiley

Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley

Moo by Jane Smiley

A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley

The Hundred Years Trilogy (Some Luck, Early Warning and Golden Age) by Jane Smiley

The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley

Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley

The Transylvanian Trilogy by Miklos Banffy (Vol 1) and (Vol 2 + 3)

The Kellys and the O'Kelleys: Or, Landlords and Tenants by Anthony Trollope

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

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 Saturdays).

Lauren Graham on HAVE I TOLD YOU THIS ALREADY?: STORIES I DON'T WANT TO FORGET TO REMEMBER Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

"Storytelling can just be you understanding yourself, but it turns into something else when it's a shared piece — so much of anything in life is practice, and just pure showing up…I think that's just important to remember, you're not always going to feel inspired or inspirational, or you're not going to feel you've done your best. And you just have to ignore that voice and keep going." Lauren Graham (Talking as Fast as I Can) is an absolute delight on the page and on the screen (Gilmore Girls and Parenthood) and she joins us on the show to talk about her new book, Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember, along with Old Lady Jackson, marmalade, rereading and rewatching, her writing process, what's next for her and more with guest host Marie Cummings. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson.

Featured Books (Episode):

Have I Told You This Already?: Stories I Don't Want to Forget to Remember by Lauren Graham

Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

One Italian Summer by Rebecca Searle

This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Marie Cummings and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

Nick Hornby on DICKENS AND PRINCE: A PARTICULAR KIND OF GENIUS Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

"I loved it more than everybody. And afterwards, I thought for the first time, whatever I do, I've got to get as close to that as I can. Not the noise or the music or being a rock star, but the creativity of it and the energy of it and the way that you affect people, and I knew that my life wouldn't be the same. And it's kind of always been like that."

Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, Fever Pitch, About a Boy and Juliet, Naked, among others) returns with Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius — a very funny, very "Nick Hornby" look at music, books, fandom and creativity. Nick joins us on the show to talk about how a newly issued deluxe edition of Sign 'O' the Times jumpstarted his latest book, why perfectionism is terrible, how an early Springsteen show put Hornby on his path, why Dickens shouldn't be taught before the age of 18, why test screenings are a good thing and much more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc, Jamie and Madyson.

Featured Books (Episode):

Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius by Nick Hornby

High Fidelity by Nick Hornby

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Featured Album (Episode):

Sign 'O' the Times [Super Deluxe] by Prince

Featured Books (TBR Topoff):

Bowie's Bookshelf by John O'Connell

The Lyrics by Paul McCartney

The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

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 Saturdays.

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