My guest on this episode is Michael Crummey. Michael is the author of seven books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a half-dozen novels, all of which have won and/or been shortlisted for major literary prizes, including the Giller, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, and the Governor General’s Literary Award for fiction. His most recent novel, The Adversary, was published in 2023 by Knopf Canada. That book was a #1 national bestseller, and recently won the Dublin Literary Award. The New York Times called it “a twisty, gloriously grim novel." Michael and I talk about winning the Dublin Literary Award, about the intense struggle he had writing his very first novel, River Thieves, and about his gratitude for the success of The Adversary—a novel he worried might end his career as a writer.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Tickets for the live onstage interview with Anne Michaels on July 10 at the Humber Lakeshore Campus in Toronto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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24:49
Teresa Wong
My guest on this episode is Teresa Wong. Teresa is an author and artist whose work has appeared in The Believer, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s and The Walrus. Her first book, the graphic novel Dear Scarlet, was longlisted for CBC Canada Reads. Her most recent book is the graphic novel All Our Ordinary Stories, published in 2024 by Arsenal Pulp Press. It was also longlisted for Canada Reads, and won two Alberta Literary Awards. (NB: as you’ll hear, this episode was recorded a day before the book won.) Publishers Weekly said that “Wong explores her Chinese immigrant parents' history with gentle curiosity, wry humor, and moments of aching regret” and called the book “a resonant journey into the past.”Teresa and I talk about the potential meditative benefits of learning to swim as an adult, which she is currently doing, about worrying she was done making books entirely after All Our Ordinary Stories was published, and about her complicated thoughts on the whole concept of literary awards.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Tickets for the live onstage interview with Anne Michaels on July 10 at the Humber Lakeshore Campus in Toronto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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31:06
Kerry Clare
My guest on this episode is Kerry Clare. Kerry is the author of the novels Mitzi Bytes and Waiting for a Star to Fall and the editor of The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood, Kerry also edits the Canadian books website 49thShelf.com, is host of the BOOKSPO podcast, and writes about books and reading at her longtime blog, Pickle Me This. Kerry’s most recent book is the novel Asking for a Friend, published by Doubleday Canada in 2023. Author Marisa Stapley said that “this novel is like the best kind of friend: honest, wise, complicated, endearing, smart.”Kerry and I talk about her new podcast and how it fits into a publishing landscape that seems to change completely every 5 years or so, about being surprised (and a little disappointed) that she had to work to promote her most recent novel just as hard as she did her first, and about the sense of liberation she felt, early on, when she realized she didn’t have to try to write “pretentious CanLit.”This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Tickets for the live onstage interview with Anne Michaels on July 10 at the Humber Lakeshore Campus in Toronto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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26:59
Sid Sharp
My guest on this episode is Sid Sharp. Sid is an artist and illustrator whose debut graphic novel for young readers, The Wolf Suit, was featured in Best of the Year lists by the New York Public Library, School Library Journal, and The Globe and Mail, and has been translated into French, German, and Italian. Their most recent graphic novel, Bog Myrtle, was published in 2024 by Annick Press, and was a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. It has also been nominated for an Eisner and Doug Wright awards. Publishers Weekly called the book a “lighthearted and surreal take on evergreen themes surrounding the benefits of kindness that’s more Brothers Grimm than classic Disney.”Sid and I talk about how they originally had no plans to create work for children, about the fun but very exhausting experience of meeting young readers in the wild, and about how they need, in their words, to “draw some weird, sad stuff for grown-ups” before tackling another kids’ book.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Tickets for the live onstage interview with Anne Michaels on July 10 at the Humber Lakeshore Campus in Toronto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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24:46
John Lorinc
My guest on this episode is John Lorinc. John is a journalist and editor who writes regularly for places like the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, The Walrus, and Spacing Magazine, where he is a senior editor. His previous books include The New City and Dream States: Smart Cities, Technology, and the Pursuit of Urban Utopias. He has also contributed to, co-edited, or project-managed a number of essay anthologies for Coach House Books, including one that has just come out, called Messy Cities: Why We Can’t Plan Everything. The most recent book for which he is the sole author is the memoir No Jews Live Here, published in 2024 by Coach House. The Literary Review of Canada called the book “a poignant exploration of survival and identity that will resonate deeply with readers interested in Holocaust history.”John and I talk about his enduring interest in cities, about writing a Holocaust-themed memoir after working for so long in the realm of urbanism, and about his long relationship with Coach House BooksThis podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission. Tickets for the live onstage interview with Anne Michaels on July 10 at the Humber Lakeshore Campus in Toronto. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
About What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books
In each episode of What Happened Next, author Nathan Whitlock interviews other authors about what happens when a new book isn’t new anymore, and it’s time to write another one. This podcast is presented in partnership with The Walrus.https://thewalrus.ca/podcasts/what-happened-next/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Listen to What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books, The Munk Debates Podcast and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
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