When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll ...
Chris Ware: Inside the sketchbooks of a comics master
The latest volume of Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Date Book series is made up of pages from his personal sketchbooks, providing a window into his ideas, obsessions and insecurities. Chris tells Mattea Roach about his career as a cartoonist, staying in touch with childhood and why his daughter is the star of the comics in this book.
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Amy Lin: Widowed at 31, she looks for the beauty in grief
When Amy Lin’s husband died suddenly, even the simplest parts of daily life became a struggle — but through it all, she took refuge in writing. Amy’s debut memoir, Here After, is a searing portrait of grief and a tribute to the love she shared with her husband. Amy joins Mattea to talk about the intensity of grief, the widowhood effect and confronting the death of a loved one.
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Rumaan Alam: How would you spend a billion dollars?
Rumaan Alam’s latest novel, Entitlement, is about a young woman hired to help an aging billionaire give away his fortune — and it asks a lot of questions about the cash-driven world we live in. Rumaan joins Mattea Roach to talk about wealth, morality and how much money a billion dollars really is.
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Rachel Robb: Exploring reconciliation and the natural world
Rachel is a teacher from Toronto. Her students didn’t even know she was a writer — until she won the 2024 CBC Poetry prize. Her poem, Palimpsest County, is inspired by Ontario landscapes and speaks to colonialism, climate change, and how our responsibility to protect the natural world is a key part of reconciliation. Rachel talks to Mattea Roach about approaching reconciliation as a non-Indigenous person and how her job inspired her winning poem.The CBC Poetry Prize is one of three literary prizes that CBC Books offers for aspiring Canadian writers. The CBC Nonfiction Prize is open right now. You could win $6,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts, a writing residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and have your work published by CBC. Head to CBCBooks.ca for all the details.
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Judith Butler: Breaking down why people fear gender
Judith Butler is one of the foremost gender and political theorists of the 21st century — an academic celebrity. Their latest book, Who’s Afraid of Gender?, explores gender in today’s polarized world and how the word itself is being used to incite political passions. Judith joins Mattea Roach to tackle the book’s titular question and discuss their influential body of work.
When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.
Ireland