Zarina Zabrisky talks about her new book, Explosion, the art of the short story, Russia and Ukraine, and being "a Jewish pessimist in the spirit of Shalom Aleichem."
Sean Bernard talks about the placid, annoying heaven of his debut novel, Studies in the Hereafter, why he’s both optimistic and cynical about human nature, and the difference between writing short stories and a novel.
Lincoln Michel talks about his debut short story collection, Upright Beasts, his interest in monsters, and what sources of culture outside of literature inspire him.
Garth Risk Hallberg talks about his debut, City on Fire, living in New York City now and in the ’70s, and the anxiety and gratitude you feel when your first novel generates so much buzz.
Lauren Groff talks about her new novel, Fates and Furies, the life of creative people and those who love them, and why she's grateful to anyone who reads books.
Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Margo Jefferson talks about her new memoir, Negroland, and about growing up in an elite black community in the segregated Chicago of the 1950s and 1960s.
Christopher Moore discusses his latest book, Secondhand Souls, the permanence of place in San Francisco, Michael Bay’s take on marine biology, and why everyone from Shakespeare nerds to goth teens trusts him to deliver laughs.
Amy Fusselman discusses her latest memoir/manifesto/philosophical treatise Savage Park, the rise of a new kind of nonfiction, and what kind of art “discombobulates her and makes her scream.”