It was an honor to speak with Laurie Hertzel, former Book Editor of the Star Tribune, about her memoir, Ghosts of Fourth Street, told from the perspective of nine-year-old Laurie about growing up in Duluth and the death of her older brother. We talked about the importance of storytelling and the perils and pitfalls of writing about family. I loved meeting young Laurie and experiencing all her favorite haunts and I know you will too.

What a delight to talk to N. West Moss about her middle-grade novel, Birdy, a poignant story about loss and the healing power of nature and found family. A five-star read for fans of Erin Soderberg’s Keep Walking.

What an honor to speak with Nina McConigley about her novel, HOW TO COMMIT A POST COLONIAL MURDER, a striking debut that opens with a dead uncle and a tween niece’s confession that she and her sister killed him and they blame the British. Listen to our far-ranging conversation about teen magazine surveys and what it was like to grow up in Wyoming, the only East Indian family in their commuity.

THE ORCHARD is a departure from Peter Heller’s (as he puts it) “dude books” … the story of a precocious young girl and her mother, translator of Tang Dynasty poetry, who escape academia and society to live off grid on an abandoned apple orchard in the Vermont woods. It’s always a joy to talk to Peter about his work.

Listen to my conversation with Erin White about her debut novel, LIKE FAMILY. We talk about what her experience was like writing a novel vs. a memoir, creating art out of lived experience, and found family.

In her collection of essays, Bowen examines the imperfect ways we care for each other and how community can fill in the gaps. As the founder of the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop, she knows a thing or two about community and what happens when it’s missing. Our conversation was wide ranging and thought provoking.

Hakensen’s biography of Helen Hoover was informed by massive amounts of research — letters, conversations, and Hoover’s papers.

A heartwarming and heartbreaking tale. Lisa Ridzen and I discuss aging with dignity, caring for our elderly parents, and imperfect love.

One of my favorite Superior Reads conversations was this conversation with (Sir) Alexander McCall Smith. Our wide-ranging conversation included a discussion of the current lack of civil discourse.

A fascinating conversation with Maria Reva about her metafiction novel, ENDLING, about three women embedded in the Ukranian marriage industry. Midway through writing the book, Russia invaded Ukraine, and Maria Reva took a hard turn, inserting herself in the narrative and sending her three female protagonists on a mission to save her real-life grandfather who is living in Ukraine.

Listen to my conversation with Susanna Kwan about her debut novel, AWAKE IN THE FLOATING CITY. We talked about what it means to memorialize a person and a place, the role of art in finding purpose and meaning, and her writing practice.

Hooray! Peter Geye returns to historical fiction and the North Shore of Lake Superior in his newest novel, A Lesser Light. Listen to my conversation with Peter as we talk about his foray into contemporary fiction, his return to historical fiction, and the multi-layered lives of his most recent characters.

What a thrill to be in conversation with Pulitzer Prize finalist Karen Russell about her brilliantly imagined novel, THE ANTIDOTE. Our conversation ranged from memory, history, and revisionist history to books and the authors we love.

Listen to my conversation with Evie Wyld about her fourth novel, THE ECHOES, a fascinating look at the people and experiences that haunt us.

Griffin Hurt’s character is at once charming in his naivete, heartbreaking in his vulnerability, and winsome in his earnestness. He is sincere but lacks agency. In short, he has not yet discovered who he is and what he wants to be. But some of the adults in his life are more than willing to take over – directing, manipulating, and controlling his life. Listen to my conversation with author Adam Ross about his astonishing new novel.