Kaveh Akbar: Finding meaning in sobriety and writing his bestseller, Martyr!

Update: 2024-09-08

Description

Iranian American writer Kaveh Akbar and his novel Martyr! are everywhere these days. Martyr! made the New York Times bestseller list and several summer reading lists, including Barack Obama's. Drawing on Kaveh's own experience with addiction and recovery, it's about Cyrus, a 20-something Iranian American poet who’s in the early years of sobriety. Cyrus is a little lost…and a lot depressed…and he becomes interested in the stories of historical martyrs. In this very first episode of Bookends, Kaveh speaks with Mattea about how his own journey inspired the novel.

Comments

Top Podcasts

The Best New Comedy Podcast Right Now – June 2024 The Best News Podcast Right Now – June 2024 The Best New Business Podcast Right Now – June 2024 The Best New Sports Podcast Right Now – June 2024 The Best New True Crime Podcast Right Now – June 2024 The Best New Joe Rogan Experience Podcast Right Now – June 20 The Best New Dan Bongino Show Podcast Right Now – June 20 The Best New Mark Levin Podcast – June 2024

In Channel

Fawn Parker: Blending her own grief with fiction in new novel Hi, It’s Me

2024-11-0327:14

Erica McKeen: Using horror and surrealism to explore grief, care and love in new novel Cicada Summer

2024-10-3027:30

Jeff VanderMeer: How his blockbuster Southern Reach series reflects our own fight against climate change

2024-10-2733:22

V.V. Ganeshananthan: Exploring the complexity of Sri Lanka's civil war in her prize-winning novel, Brotherless Night

2024-10-2339:25

Corinna Chong: Uncovering long buried truths against the backdrop of Alberta's Badlands

2024-10-2027:24

Jenny Heijun Wills: Sharing her journey of transracial adoption and self-discovery in her moving essay collection

2024-10-1626:54

Matt Haig: A surprise inheritance, a magical island and why he's embracing hope — in fiction and life

2024-10-1330:47

Aldona Dziedziejko: Poetic reflections on land and loss wins 2024 CBC Nonfiction Prize

2024-10-0919:02

Casey McQuiston: Celebrating queer love and joy and navigating the future of romance

2024-10-0641:57

Tanya Talaga: Searching for her great-great grandmother — a story of family, truth and survival

2024-09-2955:39

Alison McCreesh: Exploring the magic and nuance of life in the North in her latest graphic novel

2024-09-2526:23

Aysegul Savas: Finding home in foreignness and capturing the uncertainty of early adulthood

2024-09-2231:16

Sloane Crosley: Losing her best friend and sharing her grief with the world

2024-09-1828:45

David Huebert: Exploring the complexity of our relationship with oil through fiction

2024-09-1524:44

Heather O'Neill: How motherhood and artistry intersect in the bestselling writer's life and work

2024-09-1124:57

Kaveh Akbar: Finding meaning in sobriety and writing his bestseller, Martyr!

2024-09-0830:44

Introducing Bookends with Mattea Roach

2024-09-0601:45

Madeleine Thien interviews Eleanor Wachtel on the final Writers & Company episode

2024-09-0153:45

Ali Smith on ghost stories, activism and the cyclical nature of time

2024-08-2553:04

Peter Eisenman on pushing the bounds of modern architecture and transforming influence

2024-08-1853:56

00:00

Kaveh Akbar: Finding meaning in sobriety and writing his bestseller, Martyr!

#box-pro-ellipsis-173064425498664{-webkit-line-clamp:2;}Kaveh Akbar: Finding meaning in sobriety and writing his bestseller, Martyr!

Kaveh Akbar: Finding meaning in sobriety and writing his bestseller, Martyr!

Kaveh Akbar: Finding meaning in sobriety and writing his bestseller, Martyr!