New Books in Literature Podcast By Marshall Poe cover art

New Books in Literature

New Books in Literature

By: Marshall Poe
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This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literatureNew Books Network Art
Episodes
  • 10.2 Beautiful Sentences Matter. Billy-Ray Belcourt and Matt Hooley (SW)

    10.2 Beautiful Sentences Matter. Billy-Ray Belcourt and Matt Hooley (SW)
    Mar 26 2026
    Can a novel with a singular voice also be a chorus? Can it reject the conventions of the novel and still be a novel? Poet, essayist, and novelist Billy-Ray Belcourt tells critic Matt Hooley how his desire to write a novel that “would sound like something else,” led him to produce A Minor Chorus, his experimental debut novel. Together they consider how Billy-Ray’s vulnerable, first-person narrator makes room for other voices, or more precisely, how it becomes “a voice that could focalize the desires of a community.” Billy-Ray discusses how his influences— queer theory, indigenous novelists, and contemporary autofiction—harmonize in his search for a new form. While author and critic trace the circuits of grief and melancholy that run from Roland Barthes to Billy-Ray, their conversation is joyful, reminding listeners that romance and intimacy sustain us and that beautiful sentences matter. His answer to this season’s signature question attests to the way that even the classroom can be refashioned, like the novel, into a chorus. Mentioned in this episode By Billy-Ray Belcourt: A Minor Chorus A History of My Brief Body This Wound is a World Also mentioned: The Summer Day “Arundhati Roy Sees Delhi as a Novel” Rachel Cusk, The Shakespeare and Company Interview “The State of the Political Novel: An Interview with Édouard Louis” “100 Things About Writing a Novel” Mourning Diary Ann Cvetkovich Joshua Whitehead Mourning and Melancholia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
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    44 mins
  • Esther Goldenberg, "Song of the Bluebird" (Row House, 2026)

    Esther Goldenberg, "Song of the Bluebird" (Row House, 2026)
    Mar 24 2026
    Much of history has revolved around the journeys, challenges, and relationships, of men, but Serrah, daughter of Asher describes the teachings of her mother, grandmother, and all the women who shared their skills, compassion, hopes, and dreams. She’s mentioned once in passing in Genesis and again in the Book of Chronicles, but in Song of the Bluebird (Row House 2026), she’s known as Blue, who lives for generations, always a hard-working presence as the ancient Twelve Tribes of Israel grow in numbers, follow Joseph into Egypt, suffer as slaves, follow Moses across the sea, wander in the desert for forty years, and finally exult in freedom in the Land of Israel. Song of the Bluebird is a sweet and filling journey through the eyes of a wise and ageless woman. Esther Goldenberg was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, where both her parents told her stories and she spent a lot of time daydreaming. As the daughter of an elementary school teacher, Esther spent more time in the classroom than the average child. She studied child development in college and went on to become a teacher. Esther spent a lot of time reading books to students and, over time, began writing books of her own. She has helped many children write stories and many adults write stories for children. She was the editor of a New York Times bestselling children's book (A Day With No Words). Esther considers herself an educator first, even though she is also an editor and writer. Two of Goldenberg's non-fiction books, Resistant to Reading: Tricks and Tips for Parents of Reluctant Readers and A Story Every Week: Torah Wisdom for Today's World were Amazon bestsellers in their categories, and her debut adult fiction novel The Scrolls of Deborah won the 2024 Foreword Indies gold medal for Religious Adult Fiction. That book is the first installment in The Desert Songs Trilogy of novels that retell the story of the Bible. These books highlight the everyday lives of the women, the relationships between family members, and the (sometimes surprising) similarities between life in modern times and life in ancient times. When not reading, writing, or leading workshops, Esther enjoys the process of making art -- regardless of the end-product. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
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    21 mins
  • Daniel Poppick, "The Copywriter" (Scribner, 2026)

    Daniel Poppick, "The Copywriter" (Scribner, 2026)
    Mar 24 2026
    Daniel Poppick is a poet and novelist. He is the author of the poetry collections Fear of Description, selected for the National Poetry Series, and The Police. His work appears in The New Yorker, The Paris Review Daily, The Drift, Harper's, BOMB, The New Republic, Chicago Review, and other journals. The recipient of awards from MacDowell and Yaddo and a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he has taught at the University of Iowa, Victoria University (New Zealand), Coe College, and the Parsons School of Design. He currently lives in Brooklyn, where he works as a copywriter and coedits the Catenary Press. Recommended Books: Joy Williams, Pelican Child Leah Flax Barber, The Mirror of Simple Souls Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro Against World Literature, is published with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature
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    42 mins
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