Writers & Company from CBC Radio

Selin is back! The bright and curious heroine of Elif Batuman’s acclaimed debut novel, The Idiot, is now in her second year at Harvard, still hungry for experience. From awkward sexual encounters to depression to ongoing questions of how to live and to become a writer – in Batuman’s new novel, Either/Or, that quest leads Selin to some uncomfortable places, but also to self-discovery. Batuman's first book, The Possessed, traced her passion for all things Russian. Her novel, The Idiot, was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

James Runcie's latest novel, The Great Passion, imagines a year in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach, culminating with the writing and first performance of his St. Matthew Passion in 1727. Told through the eyes of a fictional, 13-year-old student, it explores the man behind the legendary composer: an ambitious working musician and father of eight, coping with grief and loss, through faith and music. Runcie is also the author of the popular Grantchester Mystery series.

From the face that launched a thousand ships, to the gaze that turned men to stone – the women of Greek myths are the subject of Natalie Haynes’s latest book, Pandora’s Jar. If you’ve ever wondered whether Helen really started the Trojan War, or how Medusa got a head full of snakes, or what Pandora’s box was all about, Haynes is the person to ask. The British classicist, novelist and stand-up comedian goes back to the ancient original sources to rediscover these and other legendary women, whose stories have too often been forgotten or misrepresented.

Joachim Trier has been hailed as one of the most interesting and dynamic new voices in European cinema. His film The Worst Person in the World is the latest in his loosely described “Oslo trilogy”–compelling character studies set in the changing landscape of his hometown. Trier has described the movie as “a coming-of-age film for grown-ups who feel like they still haven’t grown up.” It’s been nominated for numerous prizes including the Oscar for Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay.

From novels such as Annie John and Lucy, to her notable nonfiction, Jamaica Kincaid's work is highly autobiographical, chronicling everything from her childhood in Antigua to her brother's untimely death from AIDS. Inspired by the life of her father, Kincaid's 2002 novel Mr. Potter tells the story of an illiterate taxi driver living in Antigua. Jamaica Kincaid spoke to Eleanor Wachtel in Toronto in 2002. This episode originally aired on September 22, 2002.

Kiese Laymon originally conceived of his award-winning memoir Heavy as a weight-loss book, but it turned into something more profound: an intimate account of growing up Black in Jackson, Miss. With fearless honesty and hard-edged humour, Laymon describes a childhood filled with love, but also violence. The memoir confronts his complicated relationship with his mother, as well as his lifelong struggle with his weight and addiction to gambling. This interview originally aired January 4, 2019.

John Keats died of tuberculosis at 25 two centuries ago, but his poetry is still celebrated, studied and widely anthologized. His short but intense life has been the subject of many biographies, which all too often cast him as a delicate, tragic figure. Acclaimed literary biographer and critic Lucasta Miller discovers a different, more complex man in her new book, Keats: A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph.

Actor and comedian Stephen Fry has dazzled audiences in the popular television series Jeeves and Wooster, with friend Hugh Laurie, and Blackadder with Rowan Atkinson. He's known for helping to break down stigmas, speaking openly about his struggles with bipolar disorder and coming to terms with his sexuality as a young gay man. Fry has explored these experiences and more in three autobiographies: Moab Is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and More Fool Me. Stephen Fry spoke to Eleanor Wachtel in 2011 in Toronto. This interview originally aired on April 10, 2011.

Known for her roles in the films of Ingmar Bergman, Liv Ullmann has also won acclaim on stage and behind the camera. In 2014, she wrote and directed an adaptation of August Strindberg's play Miss Julie, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Last week, Ullmann was presented with an honorary Oscar for her exceptional contribution to the art of film. Eleanor Wachtel spoke to Liv Ullmann at TIFF in 2014. This interview originally aired on Wachtel on the Arts on Sept. 16, 2014.

From her beginnings as a young performer, to becoming an internationally acclaimed filmmaker herself, Sarah Polley has made bold, unusual choices in her work. Her first feature film, Away from Her, won multiple awards, while her personal documentary, Stories We Tell, was included in the Top Ten Canadian Films of All Time. Now she’s published a powerful collection of personal essays called Run Towards the Danger. They probe some of the most difficult experiences she has faced.

When Joan Didion died in December 2021 at the age of 87 from complications of Parkinson's disease, writers and readers lamented the loss of a literary giant. In a rare conversation in 2005, Didion spoke to Eleanor Wachtel in front of a packed audience at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto about her award-winning memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking. This interview originally aired on November 27, 2005.

Fiction writer Yan Ge is a literary sensation in China, where she was named one of her country’s “future literary masters.” Her latest work to appear in English translation is Strange Beasts of China, a mysterious, imaginative tale about unusual creatures that live among humans. Written shortly after the death of Ge’s mother, it explores themes of identity, loss, and the very nature of being human.