How Literature Can Save the World

Matt K. Parker has been many things in his life: a musician, a programmer, an activist, a writer, a consultant, a business owner, a husband, a father. And he's lived in many places, including Texas, New York, California, and Connecticut. But amidst all the life and career changes, and all the moving from one coast to the other and back, the one constant in his life has been reading.    Whether hiding with a book in his closet as a kid, or burying his nose in a book on a subway train, or waking up before dawn to get a quiet hour of reading done before his many boisterous children awaken, Matt has always found refuge in reading. And although his reading tastes have varied widely over his life, he has, for the last few years, increasingly settled into reading literature, from the ancient to the contemporary.    Today, Matt likes to interact with other fans of literature on Twitter, where he both sources recommendations for books from others, and also shares out his own thoughts on what he's reading. And Matt currently dreams of founding a non-profit dedicated to increasing adult literature readership by an order of magnitude, focused first on readership in the United States, but then expanding to the entire globe.   You can follow Matt on twitter at @realmattkparker.

Watch this episode here: https://youtu.be/5fsc-6-XpNU  

Randy Winston, writer, Director of Fiction at The Black List, host of the podcast, Read the Acknowledgments, and former Creative Director for the Center for Fiction. Find him at RW. Watch this interview at https://youtu.be/kePiTHOhDLU 

Hugh Martin, poet and author of In Country and The Stick Soldiers, editor of War, Literature, and the Arts, professor, and veteran of the conflict in Iraq.

Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned, Marval and a Wonder, The Boy Detective Fails, and Book of Extraordinary Tragedies; editor and professor.

Natalia Theodoridou is a transmasculine writer whose stories have appeared in publications such as Kenyon Review, The Cincinnati Review, Ninth Letter, and Strange Horizons, and have been translated into Italian, French, Greek, Estonian, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. He won the 2018 World Fantasy Award for Short Fiction, the 2022 Emerging Writer Award by Moniack Mhor & The Bridge Awards, and the Nebula Award in 2025. He holds a PhD in media and cultural studies from SOAS, University of London. Born in Greece, with roots in Georgia, Russia, and Turkey, he currently lives in the UK. His debut novel, Sour Cherry, a queer Bluebeard retelling about toxic masculinity and cycles of abuse, came out in April 2025 from Tin House (US) and Wildfire (UK).  Website: www.natalia-theodoridou.com 

Elizabeth Lukács Chesla is the daughter of Hungarian refugees and a mother of three. Her award-winning fiction debut, You Cannot Forbid the Flower, was published in 2023. She writes, edits, and teaches from the suburbs of Philadelphia, where she was born and raised. Liz holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University and certificates in Transformative Language Arts and trauma-sensitive yoga. She has taught a wide range of writing and literature courses and is an emerging literary translator. A dedicated and compassionate editor and educator, Liz serves as fiction editor for Consequence Forum and senior editor for Inch and Meter. She teaches at Gwynedd Mercy University. Find her (and purchase her book!) at ELIZABETH LUKÁCS CHESLA – author and editor.

Adrian Bonenberger is the author of The Afghan Post and The Road Home, a New York Times and Foreign Policy contributor, the founder of Wrath-Bearing Tree, and a combat veteran. 

Brecht De Poortere was born in Belgium and grew up in Africa. He currently lives in Paris, France. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in the Hudson Review (3rd Prize Short Fiction Contest), the Missouri Review, the Baltimore Review, Grain, X-R-A-Y, The Forge Literary Magazine and Consequence, amongst others. Find him at www.brechtdepoortere.com

Wynter K Miller is the Managing Editor at Electric Literature, where she supports the publication of The Commuter and Recommended Reading. Previously, Wynter served as a contributing editor, Interim Books Editor, and Associate Editor at Electric Lit, and was the Managing Editor of Forum Literary Magazine. Find Wynter at Wynter K Miller | Editor | Writer. Home - Electric Literature   Next episode will be live on November 7th!

Matthew Krajniak earned a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Houston as a C. Glenn Cambor fellow. He coedited Wendy Battin: On the Life & Work of an American Master (Unsung Master Series, 2020), and his writing has appeared in Gulf Coast, Poetry Foundation, Willows Wept Review, The Avalon Literary Review, The Wax Paper, and elsewhere. He is the Executive Editor of Consequence Forum, a nonprofit addressing the human consequences of war through literature, art, and community events. Follow Matthew @KrajniakMatthew on Insta. Matthew would also like to extend the following invitation: Please join us in the celebration of our most recent issue. This event is free and open to the public, and is available both in person and via livestream. Honorary Chair: President Emerita Harvard University Drew Gilpin Faust Featured Reader: Poet Laureate of Massachusetts Regie Gibson 6-7p: City Hall Civic Pavilion, 5 Congress St. Home - Consequence Forum

Sarah Starr Murphy is the Managing Editor of The Forge Literary Magazine, and her writing is in The Threepenny Review, Epiphany, Baltimore Review, and many more. She’s eternally writing a novel and never without a book to read. She’s a marathoner with epilepsy, often found wandering the forest in rural New England. Find her at Welcome! | Sarah Starr Murphy; follow her @sarahstarrmurphy.bsky.social and on Insta @sarahstarrmurphy. Home Page - The Forge Literary Magazine

Welcome to How Literature Can Save the World! This is an introduction episode explaining the purpose, interview format, and frequency of the podcast, as well as sharing the books that have changed my life.