Members and friends, we hope you’re doing well! Our critics have been busy this past week with reviews of authors including Tayari Jones, Elena Garro, George Saunders, Ae Hee Lee, and more, and interviews with writers such as Ezra Claytan Daniels, D.S. Waldman, and Namwali Serpell. Stay safe and warm, and thanks for reading!
Member Reviews/Essays
Michael Quinn contributed to The New York Times Valentine’s Day feature “The Objects We Keep for Love,” writing about a hand-embroidered table runner as a symbol of chosen family, and wrote “Anarchy on Avenue C,” a reported essay on 1990s-era anarchist bookstores, for The Village Star-Revue.
Catherine Parnell reviewed Martha Cooley’s My Little Donkey and Other Essays for Compulsive Reader.
NBCC Co-Vice President/Events Lauren LeBlanc reviewed Tayari Jones’ Kinfor The Boston Globe.
Cory Oldweiler reviewed The Week of Colors, written by Elena Garro and translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell and Jazmina Barrera’s biography of Garro, The Queen of Swords, translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney, for Southwest Review, and Julia Cooke’s Starry and Restlessfor The Boston Globe.
Jessica Gigot reviewed The Place of Tides by James Rebanks for Terrain.org.
Erick Verran reviewed Matthew Tuckner’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for The Hopkins Review.
Linda Hitchcock reviewed Loretta Ellsworth’s The Jilted Countess and Don Winslow’s The Final Score for BookTrib.
Brian Tanguay reviewed Truth and Consequence: Reflections on Catastrophe, Civil Resistance, and Hope by Daniel Ellsberg, edited by Michael Ellsberg and Jan R. Thomas, for the California Review of Books.
For her Substack, Mostly Books, Marcie Geffner reviewed Vigil by George Saunders and Supremacy: AI, ChatGPT, and the Race That Will Change the World by Parmy Olsen, and wrote about eight books she read in January.
Robert Manaster reviewed Ae Hee Lee’s debut poetry collection, Asterism, for Colorado Review.
Jake Casella Brookins wrote a column for Locus on his top speculative fiction reads of 2025.
Al Kratz reviewed The Morgue Keeper by Ruyan Meng for Heavy Feather Review.
Ryan Teitman reviewed D.S. Waldman’s debut poetry collection, Atria, for The Adroit Journal.
Clea Simon reviewed Daniel Poppick’s The Copywriter for The Arts Fuse.
Member Interviews
DW McKinney interviewed Ezra Claytan Daniels about his latest graphic novel, Mama Came Callin’, for Publishers Weekly.
Sullivan Summer interviewed novelist Princess Joy L. Perry about her acclaimed debut, This Here Is Love, for the New Books Network.
Hannah Bonner interviewed D.S. Waldman about his debut poetry collection, Atria, for BOMB.
From NBCC Co-Vice President/Events Jane Ciabattari’s Literary Hub conversation with NBCC finalist in criticism and fiction Namwali Serpell about her new book: “It’s no surprise that On Morrison, published on the day before Toni Morrison’s birthday, opens new portals into the work of one of the most revered authors of our time, with deep reading, archival gems, and original analysis of Morrison’s syncretic genius.”
Member News
Christa Lei’s interview “Memoir, Reinvented” with NBCC member Terese Svoboda regarding her book, Hitler and My Mother-in-Law, was published in Epiphany, and Andrew Tonkovich’s two-part interview of Terese appeared in Bibliocracy‘s radio show.
Brink, which is edited by NBCC member Hannah Bonner, is open for The Brink Literary Award for Hybrid Writing through February 28! The winner will receive $1,000, publication in the journal, and 4 copies of the issue in which their work appears. Diana Khoi Nguyen is the judge for this year’s contest. More information about submitting can be found here.
“typewriter” by Amy Ross is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.