The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan

Latest Episodes:

Monique Roffey: How to Write About Colonialism Without Talking About Colonialism Aug 05, 2022

Show notes

On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Monique Roffey to discuss her novel, The Mermaid of Black Conch, out now from Knopf.

Monique Roffey is a senior lecturer in creative writing at the Manchester Writing School at Manchester Metropolitan University. She is the author of seven books, four of which are set in Trinidad and the Caribbean region. The Mermaid of Black Conch won the 2020 Costa Book of the Year Award and was short-listed for several other major prizes. Roffey’s work has appeared in The New York Review of Books, Wasafiri, and The Independent. She was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, and educated in the United Kingdom. Her website is moniqueroffey.com.

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Blitz Bazawule on Why Crop Rotation Is The Perfect Metaphor For the Creative Mind Jul 22, 2022

Show notes

This week, The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan revisits a Books & Books virtual event with multidisciplinary artist Blitz Bazawule in conversation with Beasts of Prey author Ayana Gray. Bazawule’s debut novel, The Scent of Burnt Flowers, set in the mid-1960s, tells the story of a Black couple, Melvin and Bernadette, who have fled the United States for Ghana after Melvin kills a racist assailant in self-defense. “The literary world has given me so much in terms of freedom and the ability to zig-zag though the world of time and space, in a way I probably could never do in another medium,” said Bazawule. The filmmaker, musician and now author is currently directing the musical adaptation of The Color Purple movie.

The Scent of Burnt Flowers is available at Books & Books.

BLITZ BAZAWULE is a multidisciplinary artist born in Ghana. His feature directorial debut, The Burial of Kojo, premiered on Netflix via ARRAY Releasing. He co-directed Beyoncé’s Black Is King, which earned him a Grammy nomination. Bazawule is set to direct the musical version of The Color Purple for Warner Bros. His artwork has been featured at the Whitney Biennial. He is also a TED senior fellow and a Guggenheim fellow. The Scent of Burnt Flower is his debut novel.

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How Frank O'Hara Brought a Father and Daughter Closer Together Jul 15, 2022

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Ada Calhoun is the New York Times bestselling author of St. Marks Is Dead, Wedding Toasts I'll Never Give, and Why We Can't Sleep. She has written for the New York Times, the New Republic, and the Washington Post.

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Geraldine Brooks on the Beauty of Implausible Truth Jul 08, 2022

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On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Geraldine Brooks to discuss her latest novel, Horse, out now from Viking.

Geraldine Brooks is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel March and the international bestsellers The Secret Chord, Caleb’s Crossing, People of the Book, and Year of Wonders. She has also written the acclaimed nonfiction works Nine Parts of Desire and Foreign Correspondence. Born and raised in Australia, Brooks lives in Massachusetts.

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Ottessa Moshfegh: Why Do I Write About Such Darkness? Jul 01, 2022

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On today’s episode of The Literary Life, at a live event at Books & Books, special guest Amanda Keeley is joined by Ottessa Moshfegh to discuss her latest novel, Lapvona, out now from Penguin Press.

Ottessa Moshfegh is a fiction writer from New England. Eileen, her first novel, was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Man Booker Prize, and won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Death in Her Hands, her second and third novels, were New York Times bestsellers. She is also the author of the short story collection Homesick for Another World and a novella, McGlue. She lives in Southern California.

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Mark Kurlansky: Why Short Stories are Pure Storytelling Jun 24, 2022

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On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Mark Kurlansky to discuss his latest book, The Importance of Not Being Ernest: My Life with the Uninvited Hemingway, out now from Books & Books.

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Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Milk!, Havana, Paper, The Big Oyster, 1968, Salt, The Basque History of the World, Cod, and Salmon, among other titles. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appétit‘s Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. He lives in New York City.

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Hernan Diaz: Why Are Novels About Wealth Almost Absent From the Literary Canon? Jun 17, 2022

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On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Hernan Diaz to discuss his latest book, Trust, out now from Riverhead Books.

Hernan Diaz is the author of two novels translated into more than twenty languages. His first novel, In the Distance, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. He has also written a book of essays, and his work has appeared in The Paris Review, Granta, Playboy, The Yale Review, McSweeney’s, and elsewhere. He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing, and a fellowship from the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers.

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Alexander Maksik No Longer Condemns Metafictional Novels Jun 06, 2022

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On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Alexander Maksik to discuss his latest book, The Long Corner, out now from Europa Editions.

Alexander Maksik is the author of three previous novels: You Deserve Nothing (Europa, 2011), a New York Times and IndieBound bestseller; A Marker to Measure Drift, which was a New York Times Notable Book; and Shelter in Place (Europa, 2016), named one of the best books of the year by the Guardian and the San Francisco Chronicle. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Pushcart Prize, and the Andrew Lytle Prize, as well as fellowships from the Truman Capote Literary Trust and the Corporation of Yaddo.

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Steve Almond on the Myth of Reaganism May 27, 2022

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On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Steve Almond to discuss his latest book, All the Secrets of the World, out now from Zando.

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Steve Almond is the author of ten books of fiction and nonfiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Candyfreak and Against Football. He teaches Creative Writing at the Neiman Fellowship at Harvard and Wesleyan, as well as Hugo House, Grub Street, and numerous literary conferences. His essays and reviews have been widely published in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, GQ, The Wall Street Journal, Poets & Writers, Tin House, and Ploughshares. His journalism has received numerous awards including the top national prize for feature writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. His short stories have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories, Best American Mysteries, Best American Erotica, and The Pushcart Prize. He serves as a literary correspondent for WBUR and appears on numerous podcasts. He lives in Arlington, Massachusetts.

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Don Winslow Is Hopeful For the Future May 20, 2022

Show notes

On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan is joined by Don Winslow to discuss his latest book, City on Fire, out now from William Morrow.

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Don Winslow is the author of twenty-two acclaimed, award-winning international bestsellers, including the New York Times bestsellers The Force and The Border, the #1 international bestseller The Cartel, The Power of the Dog, Savages, and The Winter of Frankie Machine. Savages was made into a feature film by three-time Oscar-winning writer-director Oliver Stone. The Power of the Dog, The Cartel, and The Border sold to FX to air as a major television series, and The Force is soon to be a major motion picture from 20th Century Studios. A former investigator, antiterrorist trainer, and trial consultant, Winslow lives in California and Rhode Island.