Mason Out Loud

On our inaugural episode of Globally Lit, a podcast of international literature and translation, we first welcome Moroccan author Abdellah Taia to discuss his novel A Country for Dying. Next, the novel’s translator, Emma Ramadan, is in conversation with wonderful French language translator Laura Marris. And finally, Aliza Cohen reviews A Beautiful Darkness, a new graphic novel translated from French to English. Please purchase all the books discussed today through Riff Raff Books at riffraffpvd.com and visit the Cheuse Center at cheusecenter.gmu.edu and Books Across Borders at booksacrossborders.com. You can learn more about our translators today by visiting emmaramadan.com and lauramarris.com

Ayşe Papatya Bucak sat down with Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon to discuss mythology, re-imagining the past, and re-imagining the form of her short stories in her newest collection, The Trojan War Museum.

Poet and memoirist Reginald Dwayne Betts spoke from the road with Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon about his poetry collection Felons, "gateway literature," and his ambitious Million Book Project, which will put 500 books in prisons around the country.

Karen Russell, award-winning author of Swamplandia!, Vampires in the Lemon Grove, Orange World, Sleep Donation, and more sits down with Fall for the Book's Kara Oakleaf and Suzy Rigdon to talk magic, ghosts, and writing to uncertainty.

Navigate the Puzzle of Polynesia with Sea People author Christina Thompson. She sits down with Kara Oakleaf to uncover the mysteries of this ten million square miles of ocean and the people who navigated it.

Danielle Evans, author of The Office of Historical Corrections and Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, sits down with Kara Oakleaf to talk short stories, YA, and giving herself permission to write long.

Award-winning author Rion Amilcar Scott sits down with Fall for the Book Director, Kara Oakleaf to discuss his newest short story collection, The World Does Not Require You.

Andre Perry discusses his debut essay collection Some of Us Are Very Hungry Now, exploring form and telling stories across multiple platforms, and writing against a narrative.

Fall for the Book Director Kara Oakleaf sits down with short story writer Jamel Brinkley to discuss his collection, A Lucky Man, which was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award in Fiction, and won the 2018 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence.

Fall for the Book and the Visiting Writers Series presents a discussion with Jane Brox, author of Silence: A Social History of One of the Least Understood Elements of Our Lives.

Fall for the Book and the Visiting Writers Series presents a discussion with Ilya Kaminsky about his new book Deaf Republic.

Alan Cheuse International Writers Center Presents this episode of Mason Out Loud with Canadian writers Erin Moure, Brecken Hancock, And Aisha Sasha John

Author Rebecca Makkai discusses her book The Great Believers with Fall for the Book director Kara Oakleaf.

Fall for the Book director Kara Oakleaf sits down with Lyz Lenz to talk about her new book God Land: A Story of Faith, Loss, and Renewal in Middle America.

The Alan Cheuse International Writers Center presents Ahmed Naji Episode 12 by Watershed Lit

Cynthia Marie Hoffman sits down with Fall for the Book to discuss her new book, "Call Me When You Talk About The Tombstones"(Persea Books 2018)

Explore the City of Lights with Liam Callanan as he talks about his new book Paris by the Book!

Matt Zapruder discusses his new book Why, Poetry

Chloe Benjamin is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Immortalists, a #1 Indie Next Pick, #1 Library Reads pick, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, Amazon Best Book of the Month, and an iBooks Favorite. Her first novel, The Anatomy of Dreams, received the Edna Ferber Fiction Book Award and was long listed for the 2014 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. Her work has been translated into twenty-eight languages. Originally from San Francisco, CA, Chloe is a graduate of Vassar College and the M.F.A. in fiction at the University of Wisconsin. She lives with her husband in Madison, WI.

This episode of Mason Out Loud is brought to you by our friends at Fall for the Book! Listen here to find out about these authors and their upcoming events.