Literary Podcast Videos

In this literary podcast, we have a special holiday treat for you.  It s And to All a Good Night, HarperCollins Canada s lovely new holiday AudioBook.  The collection includes readings and performances by George Stroumboulopoulos, Mary Margaret O Hara, Sarah Harmer, and Gordon Pinsent.  For the Prosecast, we re happy to present Gordon Pinsent, reading Merry Christmas, by Stephen Leacock. Buy And to All a Good Night Amazon.ca Chapters.ca

In this edition of our literary podcast, we have a real event.  Best-selling author, Wally Lamb, talks about his  new novel, The Hour I First Believed. This American epic follows the fortunes of Caelum Quirk, a failed husband and disenchanted teacher, as he tries to make sense of our 21st century world. It s a landscape that features the Columbine massacre, damaged children, imprisoned women, and lost souls.  Yet, amidst all this despair, hidden in a corner, Caelum also finds hope.  I talked to Wally Lamb from his home in Connecticut.  Buy The Hour I First Believed Amazon.ca       Chapters.ca

In this literary podcast, we hear from Francine Prose, talking about her new novel, Goldengrove. Prose is a writer s writer, but she s also a reader s writer. She has written fifteen novels, an impressive achievement by any measure. She s also written the non-fiction book, Reading Like a Writer, a New York Times bestseller. She s also the president of PEN American Center. Buy Goldengrove Amazon.ca        Chapters.ca

In this episode of our literary podcast series, we talk to one of the star writers of historical fiction, Bernard Cornwell, about his latest novel, Azincourt.  Many of us have heard of the famous battle, either from history class, or from Shakespeare s Henry V, but I started our conversation by asking Bernard to give us a quick history lesson. Buy Azincourt amazon.ca      chapters.ca

In this literary podcast, I talk to Mo Hayder, Britain s Queen of Fear . Mo has just completed Ritual, the first  in a new series of thrillers. This spine-chiller features Jack Caffery, a burnt-out, loner detective, running away from the skeletons in his closet. He finds himself in the middle of a gruesome mystery: Who belongs to a pair of severed hands?  The hands in question are first discovered by police underwater diver, Flea Marley, who has secrets of her own to conceal. Caffery and Marley team up, only to find themselves in the middle of a world of drug addiction, ritual mutilation, and African medicine magic. Buy Ritual amazon.ca    chapters.ca

In this literary podcast, we ll hear from Michael Greenberg. Hurry Down Sunshine is Greenberg s utterly compelling new memoir about what happened one hot summer morning, when his 15 year old daughter, Sally, experienced a complete psychotic break. Greenberg is a regular columnist for The Times Literary Supplement, and his fiction, criticism, and travel pieces have appeared in The Village Voice, O Magazine, and The Boston Review. Cathi Bond spoke to him from his home in New York City. Buy Hurry Down Sunshine. amazon.ca    chapters.ca

In this literary podcast, Cathi Bond talks with Helen Humphreys.  Her new novel, Coventry, is an astounding account of the night the Germans bombed the British manufacturing town.  The story is told from the point of view of Harriet a fortysomething widow who lost her husband during the First World War, and is still numbly walking the streets of Coventry, in a permanent state of emotional shell shock.  Maeve offers a completely different perspective.  An only child of wealthy parents, Maeve has a child out of wedlock, and instead of opting for a respectful existence, she takes to the road with her baby boy, Jeremy, in tow, living a roving life.  Weeks prior to the bombing, they ve arrived in Coventry; Jeremy has taken a job in a factory.  Maeve is along for love and support. She decides to go to the pub to kill some time, while Jeremy takes his turn, walking the roof of Coventry Cathedral, watching for German planes.  While he s up there, he meets Harriet.  It s a beautiful night, full of brilliant light, casting what s known as a bomber s moon .  Harriet sees something approaching.   There is a flash of light and all hell breaks loose. Buy Coventry amazon.ca   chapters.ca

This podcast features Tish Cohen, talking about her new novel, Inside Out Girl.  Cohen already possesses an impressive pedigree.  Her first novel, Town House, was snatched up by Ridley Scott s production company, and the film is going to be directed by John Carney, the guy behind the indie smash, Once. Now Cohen is back with Inside Out Girl, the riveting story of how two families collide when Rachel, a control-freak single Mom, pulls over to help out Len, a harried Dad who has blown out a tire.  Love comes calling, but it s a love that s fraught with pain, joy, and plenty of unsuspected surprises. Buy Inside Out Girl amazon.ca chapters.ca

This time around, we re talking to Brunonia Barry about her first novel, The Lace Reader.  The novel has generated enormous buzz in the publishing world, because Barry decided on a grassroots approach to the business, and self-published.  Word got out, the book took off like a rocket, and a bidding war ensued. It s no wonder everybody wanted a piece of this literary property. The Lace Reader is a supernatural thriller about Towner Whitney, a self-described crazy woman , who returns to Salem to find out what happened to her Great Aunt Eva.  She s the family s eccentric matriarch, who has mysteriously vanished.  Once home, Towner finds herself in the midst of a series of possible murders, a dangerous cult leader, and the horrors of a past she s spent her life desperately trying to bury.  I spoke to Brunonia from her home in Salem, Mass. Buy The Lace Reader   amazon.ca     chapters.ca  

Welcome back to a new season on the Prosecast. Our first guest is Martin Walker. He came to writing fiction after a highly successful career as a political correspondent, working for The Guardian, NPR, and the BBC. He s currently senior director of the Global Business Policy Council, a private think-tank for CEOs. Not content to rest on these impressive laurels, Martin Walker decided to try his hand at writing fiction crime fiction, in particular and Bruno, Chief of Police is the very entertaining result. I spoke with Martin Walker at his phone in the Dordogne, in South West France. Buy Bruno, Chief of Police: Amazon.ca         Chapters.ca This interview is the first of a terrific lineup this season, with ten authors on board to talk about ten very different books. Please feel free to post any comments or questions here at the blog.

In this podcast, we ll talk to novelist James Meek about his new book, We Are Now Beginning Out Descent, a most unusual story about a 30-something war correspondent who finds himself at a philosophical crossroads. On one hand, he wants to write a sensational thriller and make sacks of cash. On the other, he desperately wants to create a book of genuine worth and meaning. He s searching for true, lasting love, while at the same time, he s convinced that it likely doesn t exist. And while all this is going on, Meek takes us to the battlefields of the middle east, for an unflinching look at the horrors of modern war. Buy We Are Now Beginning Our Descent amazon.ca chapters.ca

In this AudioBook podcast, we re going to be hearing British actor Jack Davenport, who many of us will know from The Talented Mr. Ripley, and Pirates of the Caribbean, reading from Steven Hall s debut novel, The Raw Shark Texts.  The Raw Shark Texts takes us into the life of Eric Sanderson, a young man who wakes up one day, and has absolutely no idea of who he is or where he came from.  While Eric stumbles around trying to piece together his life, he starts receiving messages from his former self.  The old Eric, warns the new Eric, that he s being relentlessly pursued by a Word Shark, a terrifying creature that exists in the flows and streams of language, as well as human interaction. While Eric flees from the shark, he s forced to deal with a potentially dodgy psychiatrist, as well as what really happened to Clio, the love of his life, and in so doing,  he finds himself delving into the recesses of humanity s collective memory. Buy The Raw Shark Texts amazon.ca chapters.ca

This podcast is the second in our series of excerpts from terrific new AudioBooks. This time, we ll be listening to the beginning of Heather O Neill s debut novel, Lullabies for Little Criminals. This book was a finalist for the Governor General s Award, as well as winning CBC Radio s prestigious Canada Reads. It s no wonder all of Canada was reading it. It follows the life of Baby, a young girl living on the mean streets of Montreal, with no mother, and a junkie drifter for a father. Once she turns 13, Baby attracts the eye of Alphonse, the neighbourhood pimp, who senses a good opportunity. O Neill uses the first person point of view, so we can watch as a young girl, on the cusp of adulthood, navigates life in a dangerous urban jungle. Baby continually reinvents herself, to maintain a sense of innocence, and this requires resilience, and the incredible power of imagination. Miriam McDonald, one of the stars of Degrassi: The Next Generation, reads. Buy Lullabies for Little Criminals chapters.ca amazon.ca