The Maris Review

Adrian Tomine is the author of Scenes from an Impending Marriage, Shortcomings, Summer Blonde, Sleepwalk, 32 Stories, and the comic book series Optic Nerve. He is also an illustrator for The New Yorker, Esquire, and Rolling Stone. He lives in Brooklyn.  The Loneliness of the Long Distance-Cartoonist is his latest.Recommended Reading:365 Days by Julie DoucetThe works of Richard Sala Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jenny Zhang was born in Shanghai and grew up in New York. She is the author of the poetry collection Dear Jenny, We Are All Find and the story collection Sour Heart. Her latest poetry collection is called My Baby First Birthday.Recommended Reading:The Teebs Tetralogy by Tommy PicoMagical Negro and Who Put This Song On by Morgan ParkerDear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life by Yiyung LiHomie by Danez Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Ortile is the managing editor of Catapult. His writing has been published by BuzzFeed, Into, Self, and Out, among others. He lives in Brooklyn.This episode is sponsored by Penguin Random House Audio. Stay on top of your book club reading with audiobooks such as The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead, Brit Bennett’s The Vanishing Half, Elizabeth Kay’s Seven Lies, A Burning by Megha Majumdar, and much more. These titles are available wherever audiobooks are sold. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Alexandra Petri is an American humorist and newspaper columnist at the Washington Post. She lives in Washington DC. Nothing Is Wrong And Here Is Why is her essay collection.Recommended Reading:Here For It by R. Eric ThomasWar and PeaceThe Confessions by Jean-Jacques RousseauDavid Copperfield Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Zaina Arafat is a Palestinian-American writer. Her stories and essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times, Granta, and more. She holds an M.A. in international affairs from Columbia University, an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. She grew up between the U.S. and the Middle East and currently lives in Brooklyn. Her debut novel is called You Exist Too Much. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jayson Greene is a music writer and the author of Once More We Saw Stars.Recommended Reading:The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marie-Helene Bertino is the author of 2 A.M. at the Cat's Pajamas and the story collection Safe as Houses. Her work has received The O. Henry Prize, The Pushcart Prize, The Iowa Short Fiction Award, and The Mississippi Review Story Prize. Her latest novel is called Parakeet.Recommended ReadingHex by Rebecca Dinerstein KnightQuotients by Tracy O’NeillThese Ghosts Are Family by Maisy CardA Burning by Megha Majumdar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ishmael Beah is the Sierra Leonean and American author of the novel Radiance of Tomorrow and the memoir A Long Way Gone, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller and has been published in more than 40 languages. A UNICEF Ambassador and Advocate for Children Affected by War, and a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Advisory Committee, Beah’s latest novel is called Small Family.Recommended Reading:The Plague by Albert CamusChildren of the Alley by Naguib MahfouzThe House of Hunger by Dambudzo Marechera Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patrick Hoffman is a writer and private investigator based in Brooklyn. His first novel, The White Van, was a finalist for the Crime Writers’ Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award. His latest novel is called Clean Hands.Recommended ReadingThe Paying Guest by Sarah Waters Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ivy Pochoda is the author of The Art of Disappearing, Visitation Street, and Wonder Valley, a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist and winner of the Strand Critics Award. She lives in Los Angeles. Her latest novel is called These Women.Recommended BooksMake Them Cry by Smith Henderson and John Marc SmithThe Book of Lamps and Banners by Elizabeth HandTake Me Apart by Sarah Sligar Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices