Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry

Author: David Naimon, Milkweed Editions Language: English Episodes: 100
There's a particular kind of conversation that happens when a thoughtful reader sits down with a writer, one that moves beyond simple promotion into the real heart of the creative act. Between The Covers is built on that very premise. Hosted by David Naimon and presented with Milkweed Editions, this long-form interview podcast delves into the lives and minds of authors working across fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Each episode feels less like an interview and more like a privileged eavesdrop on a deep, meandering dialogue. You'll hear writers discuss not just their latest book, but the fragments of life, the stubborn questions, and the daily rituals that feed their work. Naimon’s approach is informed and curious, often leading guests into unexpected reflections on craft, influence, and the ideas that haunt them. The result is a consistently illuminating audio experience that feels like a private workshop in narrative, language, and thought. For anyone who loves the texture of words and the stories behind them, this podcast offers a sustained and intimate look at how literature is made. It’s a space where the finished book is just the starting point for a richer exploration.
Episodes
Dionne Brand : Salvage : Readings from the Wreck [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:11:03
What does it mean that a life can not only be animated by books but destroyed by them? That a self can be not only made by reading, but unmade by it? Dionne Brand’s latest book of nonfiction Salvage: Readings from the Wr…
Danez Smith : Bluff [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:53:11
Danez Smith’s poetry is so many things, a poetry of resistance, of elegy, of joy, of care, of repair. Their poetry is Afrofuturist and Afropessimist. It’s nature poetry, decolonial poetry, queer poetry, a poetry that is…
Kenzie Allen : Cloud Missives [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:33:17
Today’s conversation with Kenzie Allen, about her debut poetry collection Cloud Missives, is unusually wide-ranging. We look at the influence of archaeology, anthropology and cartography on her poetry, and on her notion…
Tin House Live : Torrey Peters on Strategic Opacity [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:45
Today’s craft talk—by Torrey Peters on “Strategic Opacity”— was recorded at the 2024 Tin House summer writers workshop. Peters explores the elements in works of fiction that actually don’t make sense—from William Shakesp…
Jewish Currents Live : Dionne Brand & Adania Shibli in Conversation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:00
As part of Jewish Currents Live: A Day of Politics & Culture, I moderated a conversation between Adania Shibli and Dionne Brand this September in New York City. Both Dionne and Adania have been on the show individually,…
Isabella Hammad : Recognizing the Stranger : On Palestine and Narrative [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:56:17
Today’s conversation with Isabella Hammad is truly like no other on the show in its fourteen year history. The main text of her book is the speech she delivered for the Edward Said Memorial Lecture in September of 2023.…
Tin House Live : Frank Bidart [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:19
Today’s episode is an archival recording of poet Frank Bidart from the 2008 Tin House Writers Workshop. It begins with an introduction by the poet Brenda Shaughnessy, followed by an extended poetry reading by Frank Bidar…
Nalo Hopkinson : Blackheart Man [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:50:34
Todays’ guest is Grand Master of science fiction and fantasy Nalo Hopkinson. Together we center her first novel in over a decade, the remarkable Blackheart Man, and look at what it means to not only write an alternate Ca…
Vajra Chandrasekera : Rakesfall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:25:56
Sri Lankan writer Vajra Chandrasekera’s first novel, The Saint of Bright Doors, was shortlisted for or won nearly every major SFF award there is. Much of the buzz around this book circled the question:”what exactly is th…
Carl Phillips : Scattered Snows, to the North [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:00
Today’s guest is one of the most singular and celebrated Anglophone poets writing today, Carl Phillips. We center his latest collection, Scattered Snows, to the North, his first since winning the 2023 Pulitzer prize in p…