First Pages Readings Podcast

Celebrating books as cultural messengers and agents of change as they open our hearts and minds to new worlds. Listen to brief commentary and readings (from fiction, non-fiction, YA, middle grade, and poetry). New episodes released once a month.

Episode 84: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode a few pages of the following books will be read: Last Evenings on Earth by Roberto Bolano, translated from the Spanish by Chris Andrews A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia BerlinThe Passport and Other Selected Short Stories by Antonis Samarakis, translated from the Greek by Andrew Horton

10-01
24:11

Episode 83: Fiction (Icelandic Novels)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: Heaven and Hell by Jon Kalman Stefansson, translated from the Icelandic by Philip RoughtonMiss Iceland by Audur Ava Olafsdottir, translated from the Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbonHotel Silence by Audur Ava Olafsdottir, translated from the Icelandic by Brian FitzGibbon

09-01
15:23

Episode 82: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: The Woman Who Borrowed Memories: Selected Stories by Tove Jansson, translated from the Swedish by Thomas Teal and Silvester MazzarellaPublic Library and Other Stories by Ali SmithExhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

08-01
18:39

Episode 81: Non-Fiction (Silk Roads)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter FrankopanFruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat by Robert N. Spengler IIIOut of Istanbul: A Journey of Discovery Along the Silk Road by Bernard Ollivier, translated from the French by Dan Golembeski

07-01
13:19

Episode 80: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: The End of the World is a Cul de Sac: Stories by Louise KennedySabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-AnstineGhostroots: Stories by Pemi Aguda

06-01
17:45

Episode 79: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode a few pages of the following books will be read: Alligator & other stories by Dima Alzayat (pub. 2020)Canoes by Maylis de Kerangal, translated from the French by Jessica Moore (pub. 2021; English translation pub. 2024)The Diary of a Madman, The Government Inspector and Selected Stories by Nikolay Gogol, translated by Ronald Wilks (translations pub: 1972; revised for Penguin Classics 2005)

05-01
12:43

Episode 78: Non-Fiction (Memoirs)

In the episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir by E.J. KohTwo Trees Make a Forest: In Search of My Family's Past Among Taiwan's Mountains and Coasts by Jessica J. LeeThe Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar

04-01
14:47

Episode 77: Fiction (Novels)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal, translated from the French by Jessica MooreWhat Strange Paradise by Omar El AkkadThousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata, translated from the Japanese by Edward G. SeidenstickerMy Friends by Hisham Matar

03-01
16:49

Episode 76: Non-Fiction (Nature Writing/Memoir)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: Move Like Water: My Story of the Sea, A Memoir by Hannah StoweRiverwalking: Reflections on Moving Water by Kathleen Dean MooreWaterlog: A Swimmer's Journey through Britian by Roger Deakin

02-01
16:11

Episode 75: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken LiuTales of Pirx the Pilot by Stanislaw LemA Day in the Life of a Smiling Woman: Complete Short Stories by Margaret DrabbleLadies' Lunch and other stories by Lore Segal

01-01
22:07

Episode 74: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode, a few pages from the following books will be read: How To Pronounce Knife: Stories by Souvankham ThammavongsaWhere The Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda, translated from the Japanese by Polly BartonThe Love Object: Selected Stories by Edna O'Brien

12-01
16:51

Episode 73: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode, a few pages from the following books will be read: Dragon Palace by Hiromi Kawakami, translated by Ted GoossenAetherial Worlds: Stories by Tatyana Tolstaya, translated by Anya MigdalWhite Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link

11-01
16:35

Episode 72: Fiction (Short Stories)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: Elsewhere, Home, by Leila AboulelaThe Lonesome Bodybuilder: Stories, by Yukiko Motoya, translated by Asa YonedaThe Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories, by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell

10-01
19:38

Episode 71: Non-Fiction (Memoir)

In this episode. a few pages of the following memoirs will be read: The Invention of Solitude by Paul AusterCountry Girl by Edna O'BrienBoyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life by J.M. Coetzee

09-01
20:49

Episode 70: Fiction (Novels)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: Grey Bees by Andrey Kurkov, translated by Boris DralyukWhen I Sing, Mountains Dance by Irene Sola, translated by Mara Faye LethemSparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi

08-01
21:54

Episode 69: Nature Writing (Bees, Music, Wolves)

In this episode, a few pages of the following books will be read: A Honeybee Heart Has Five Openings: A Year of Keeping Bees by Helen JukesEarth's Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World by Kathleen Dean MooreOf Wolves and Men by Barry Lopez

07-01
17:12

Episode 68: Poetry Anthologies

In today's episode, three poems will be read from: Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First Peoples Poetry, edited by Joy HarjoThis Is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, edited by Kwame AlexanderThe Ecco Anthology of International Poetry, edited by Ilya Kaminsky and Susan Harris

06-01
15:08

Episode 67: Young Adult

In this episode, the first few pages of three YA books will be read: Wild Dreamers by Margarita EngleAccountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka SlaterDown And Across by Arvin Ahmadi

05-02
23:30

Episode 66: Fiction

In this episode, the first pages of three novels will be read. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa SeeGo, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated by Susan BernofskyOptic Nerve by Maria Gainza, translated by Thomas Bunstead

04-02
15:03

Episode 65: Non-Fiction and Memoir

The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert, A Memoir by Shugri Said SalhThe Pianist From Syria: A Memoir by Aeham Ahmad, as told to Sandra Hetzl and Ariel Hauptmeier, translated by Emanuel BergmannA Rome of One's Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire by Emma Southon

03-05
15:06

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