Members and friends, we hope you’re having a great 2025 so far! Our members are ringing in the new year with reviews of books by authors including Brandon Shimoda, Adam Haslett, Nikkya Hargrove, Dorianne Laux, Anna Moschovakis, and more, and interviews with writers such as Judy Grahn, Karen Russell, and Didi Jackson. Stay safe, stay warm, and as always, thanks for reading!
Member Reviews/Essays
Joshua Roebke wrote about realism and the nature of experiments in physics and fiction, especially in Spanish literature, for Aeon.
Sean Carlson’s essay, “False Cognates,” appears in the latest issue of the New England Review (45.4) as part of a special folio celebrating the 30th anniversary of Wong Kar Wai’s film Chungking Express.
Laura Villareal and Francisco Aragón co-edited “THE CHORUS THESE POETS CREATE: TWENTY YEARS OF LETRAS LATINAS,” a folio published in Poetry Magazine’s December issue.
Former NBCC board member Anita Felicelli reviewed Brandon Shimoda’s The Afterlife Is Letting Go for the Los Angeles Times.
Charles Green reviewed Will Tosh’s Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare for The Gay & Lesbian Review.
Adam Hochschild reviewed Brenda Wineapple’s Keeping the Faith for The New York Review of Books.
NBCC board member Mary Ann Gwinn reviewed Adam Haslett’s Mothers and Sonsfor the Los Angeles Times.
Nicole Yurcaba’s review of Todd Dillard’s poetry collection Ragnarok at the Father-Daughter Dance was published in Tupelo Quarterly, and her review of Robin Peguero’s One in the Chamber was published in Southern Review of Books.
Costa Beavin Pappas wrote an article about a Palestinian family’s century-old olive oil vineyard, as well as a feature on Swiss artists Jasmin Bigler and Nicole Weibel’s digital exhibit for the Cairo Video Festival, for CairoScene.
Robert Rubsam reviewed Sergio de la Pava’s Every Arc Bends Its Radian for The Washington Post.
Anne Charles reviewed Nikkya Hargrove’s Mama: A Queer Black Woman’s Story of a Family Lost and Found for The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide.
JoeAnn Hart reviewed the essay collection Going to Seed, Essays on Idleness, Nature, & Sustainable Work by Kate J. Neville for Ecolit Books.
Nell Beram reviewed two books for Shelf Awareness: Alter Ego by Alex Segura and Knife Skills for Beginners by Masterchef semi-finalist Orlando Murrin.
Chris Barsanti contributed to the Best Books of 2024 year-end roundup for PopMatters.
Susan Shapiro wrote a piece for The Washington Post about how what she learned in recovery helps her cope with the political unrest and keep writing.
Linda Hitchcock reviewed Emma Gray’s Pictures of You for BookTrib.
Alex Gurtis reviewed Darren C. Demaree’s River on Firefor the Heavy Feather Review.
Allan Graubard reviewed The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World by Christine Rosen for the print edition of Leonardo.
Lee Rossi reviewed Dorianne Laux’s Life on Earth for PedestalMagazine.com.
Marcie Geffner’s reviews of Trondheim by Cormac James; Nicked by M.T. Anderson; and Taiwan Travelogue, written by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ and translated by Lin King; were included in Washington Independent Review of Books‘ year-end roundup, “Our 51 Favorite Books of 2024.”
Jake Casella Brookins reviewed Lauren C. Teffeau’s A Hunger With No Name; Anna Moschovakis’ An Earthquake Is a Shaking of the Surface of the Earth; and Solve Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume I, translated by Barbara Haveland, for Locus.
For The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Michael Quinn reviewed The Importance of Being Furnished: Four Bachelors at Home by R. Tripp Evans.
NBCC Vice President/Online Michael Schaub wrote about 36 books coming in early 2025 for the Orange County Register.
Member Interviews
Anne Charles interviewed poet/essayist Judy Grahn on the occasion of the issue of the updated version of her 1984 book, The Highest Apple: Sappho and the Lesbian Poetic Tradition, for The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide. Anne also interviewed poet/writer Judith Barrington about Virginia’s Apple: Collected Memoirs for the show All Things LGBTQ.
Elaine Szewczyk wrote a profile of Karen Russell for Publishers Weekly.
Jake Casella Brookins talked to cyberpunk scholar Anna McFarlane about Adam Roberts’ novel The This for the podcast A Meal of Thorns.
Catherine Parnell interviewed fellow NBCC member JoeAnn Hart about eco-fiction and her new novel, Arroyo Circle, for Cleaver.
Tiffany Troy interviewed Didi Jackson about My Infinity for The Rumpus‘ “Mini-Interview series.”
Member News
Susan Shapiro will be moderating an online panel at The Strand Bookstore on Jan. 22 with some top literary agents, book editors, and her coauthor for American Shield (recently out in paperback from Counterpoint Press.) It’s open to the public.
NBCC Vice President/Online Michael Schaub appeared on Kirkus Reviews’ podcast, Fully Booked, to discuss the weirdest book news of 2024 with former NBCC Presidents Tom Beer and Megan Labrise.