Author Interviews

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid about the sprawling and tragic effects of the war in Afghanistan. Hamid's novels include: The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Exit West.

Ashley M. Jones is Alabama's youngest and first Black poet laureate. Her new book Reparations Now! discusses America's history of Black oppression, and asks for more than monetary repairs.

The nation's first Native American poet laureate has a new memoir in which she tells her own story — as well as the story of her sixth-generation grandfather, who was forced from his ancestral land.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Hilma Wolitzer about her collection of short stories, Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket, which illuminates the complexity of motherhood and marriage.

In her new book, All That She Carried, historian Tiya Miles tells the story of an enslaved woman who, upon hearing her child was to be sold off, hastily packed her a bag with a few personal items.

Michaela Coel has earned acclaim for her show: I May Destroy You, which explored sexual assault and consent. Her book, Misfits: A Personal Manifesto, details her experiences in TV.

In his new book Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China, Desmond Shum writes about the disappearance of his ex-wife in China.

NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Karla Valenti about her middle-grade novel, Loteria. Life and Death meet to play a game, choosing a girl who'll either live or die depending on who wins.

NPR's Scott Simon talks to author Lauren Groff about her new novel, Matrix, set in 12th century Europe, based on the life of the poet Marie de France.

Red tape: it's everywhere. Public policy expert Cass Sunstein offers insight with his new book, Sludge: What Stops Us from Getting Things Done and What to Do About It.

Shugri Said Salh recounts her journey from goat- and camel-herding nomad in Somalia to nurse and mom of three in California in her memoir, The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert.

For the Code Switch podcast, we talked to authors Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray to discuss The Personal Librarian — the fictionalized account of the very real Belle da Costa Greene.