Poured Over

“I'm not here to tell the story. I'm here to find the story…”   Cristina Henríquez’s new novel, The Great Divide is a deeply meaningful, character-driven narrative that brings momentous history to new life. Henríquez joins us to talk about writing historical fiction, her family’s connection to the story, her influences and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over. We end this episode with TBR Topoff recommendations from Mary and Jamie.   This episode of Poured Over was hosted by 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 Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez  The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez  Sixty Stories by Donald Barthelme  The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros  Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut  This Other Eden by Paul Harding  The Known World by Edward P. Jones  Featured Books (TBR Topoff): When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton  The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 

Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring is biographer Brad Gooch’s compassionate and comprehensive look at the artist’s work and archives. Gooch joined us to talk about why he chose Haring as a subject, the lasting legacy of his work, his connections to other artists and more with Miwa Messer, host of Poured Over.   This episode of Poured Over was hosted by 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): Radiant by Brad Gooch  City Poet by Brad Gooch  Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs 

“The big reveal isn't 'who done it', the big reveal is why and what effects does it have?"   Set in an insular small town in the Irish countryside, Tana French’s The Hunter follows a set of vibrant characters as they uncover secrets, plots and mystery among their friends and neighbors. French joins us to talk about writing mysteries that cross genres, writing village politics, the influences of Westerns on the novel and more with guest host, Jenna Seery.  This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery 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 Hunter by Tana French  The Searcher by Tana French  In The Woods by Tana French The Likeness by Tana French  Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry  True Grit by Charles Portis  The Secret History by Donna Tartt  Mystic River by Dennis Lehane  The Yiddish Policeman’s Union by Michael Chabon  Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent 

"I do think it was freeing for me to write about a female character who has been relegated to a corner, but she takes over the whole house." Take What You Need by Idra Novey is a story of home and family, coming of age and making art. Novey joins us to talk about her connection to the setting of the novel, art and identity, her influences 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): Take What You Need by Idra Novey Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey Those Who Knew by Idra Novey Foster by Claire Keegan

“I think the question has to do with American memory and what, as a nation, we are prioritizing in that memory…” Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo blends history and biography with the story of Ellen and William Craft, two remarkable people who escaped slavery, and through danger and constant challenges would become abolitionists and heroes in American history. Woo joins us to talk about her research process, the importance of preserving our past, the ever-changing notion of history 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):  Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo   The Rediscovery of America by Ned Blackhawk  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr  The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead  Middlemarch by George Eliot 

“If my mother and my grandma were in this book, how would they be? And what kind of love can I show them as a writer…”  The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin brings readers to pre-Civil War New Orleans to meet a cast of strong, fierce women in a hope filled novel of freedom and liberation. Ruffin joins us to talk about the intricacies of writing about his hometown, cultural impacts on identity, building empathy through fiction 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 American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin  We Cast a Shadow by Maurice Carlos Ruffin  The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr.  Ours by Phillip B. Williams  American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson  Lone Women by Victor LaValle  Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov  The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison  Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides   12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup  Trust Exercise by Susan Choi 

Two historical novels with elements of fantasy and folklore will bring readers from the battlefields of World War One to the last years of the Qing Dynasty in China.   Katherine Arden’s The Warm Hands of Ghosts shows the terrors of war and the unsettling and fantastical things that can appear in its shadow. Arden joins us to talk about her extensive research, classical allusions in her writing and more with guest host, Jenna Seery.  The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo bridges the mystical and the familiar with an expansive story featuring a detective and mysterious and sly (yet alluring) fox spirits. Choo talked with us about writing in this setting, cultural influences on her work, connections to nature and more with host, Miwa Messer.  We end this episode with a TBR Topoff from booksellers, Marc and Mary.   Featured Books (Episode):  The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden   The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo  The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden   All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque  Paradise Lost by John Milton  The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov  The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo  The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo  The Great Reclamation by Rachel Heng  Featured Books (TBR Topoff): The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern  The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu  

“I describe this as a love story steeped in loss.”  How We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica is a heartbreaking yet hopeful debut novel of first love, first loss and how we become ourselves. Ordorica joined us live at B&N Upper West Side to talk about growing into your identity, writing community legacy, his literary influences and more with guest host, Jenna Seery.   This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery 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 We Named the Stars by Andrés N. Ordorica  Diaries of a Terrorist by Christopher Soto  Small Bodies of Water by Nina Mingya Powles  Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett  The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros 

“To have freedom you have to give something up, to have love — to experience love as an action — there has to be something that you're willing to sacrifice…”  Ours is the epic and lyrical debut novel by poet Phillip B. Williams, featuring unforgettable characters woven together with folklore and humanity’s search for freedom. Williams joined us to talk about how his characters shaped the story, the influences of poetry on his prose, including myths and legends and more with Miwa Messer, the 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): Ours by Phillip B. Williams  Mutiny by Phillip B. Williams  Blindness by José Saramago  One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez  Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair 

“The peril actually comes from us — our prejudice, our biases, and our conceived threats, not from artificial intelligence, so we need to reconsider what is human and how we're treating other human beings…” Unsettling and chilling, Bora Chung’s Your Utopia is a story collection featuring robot vehicles, sentient elevators and futures both hopeful and terrifying. Chung joins us to talk about the dangers of human influenced A.I., caring for our future robot overlords, adding humor to horror and more with guest host, Jenna Seery. This episode of Poured Over was hosted by Jenna Seery and mixed by Harry Liang.                   New episodes land Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays) here and on your favorite podcast app.         Featured Books (Episode): Your Utopia by Bora Chung Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung R.U.R. by Karel Čapek