Poured Over

"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.

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.

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.

"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).

"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).

"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).

"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).

"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.

"I grew up in a blue-collar neighborhood. And you know, nobody was expected to be a novelist — that was not a thing, that was not a choice in my neighborhood. And when I made that choice, it was very strange to people. And it was a really hard thing for people to accept and my father and my grandfather did not understand that at all. And they discouraged me. But then once I succeeded, they really claimed that, and my grandfather would tell everyone…" Matthew Quick (The Silver Linings Playbook) joins guest host Allyson Gavaletz to talk about his new novel, We Are the Light, along with breaking cycles, writer's block, connecting with people, collective trauma, running, Jungian analysis, the books and writers he loves to teach, his literary influences, what's next for him and more. And we end this episode with TBR Topoff book recommendations from Marc and Madyson. Featured Books (Episode): We Are the Light by Matthew Quick The Ferryman by Justin Cronin Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Siddhartha by Herman Hesse Featured Books (TBR Topoff): A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston This episode of Poured Over was produced and hosted by Allyson Gavaletz and mixed by Harry Liang. Follow us here for new episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays (with occasional Saturdays).

"One of the ways you can get into my cast of characters is by leaving a very detailed written record. Because that's what we historians have to work from, you're not allowed to make stuff up like a novelist can… And, of course, it skews, to some extent, the way history is written. Because the rich leave more records than the poor, men leave more records than women, white people leave more records than Black and so on." Adam Hochschild (King Leopold's Ghost) joins us on the show to talk about his latest book, American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis. Hochschild connects the dots between our America and an all-too familiar America of a century ago, riffing on power and deception, Woodrow Wilson's legacy, undercover agents, labor organizers, the Espionage Act of 1917, what's next for him and much more with Poured Over's host, Miwa Messer. Featured Books: American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy's Forgotten Crisis by Adam Hochschild Rebel Cinderella by Adam Hochschild King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason 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).