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Public Books

@public_books

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Public Books is an online magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship.

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An interview with Beyond Ourselves editors Catherine Gander and Stefania Heim and an excerpt from the book linked in our bio! 🔗

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Review spotlight ✨ Thank you to @c4noff and @public_books for these thought provoking reflections on STRING THEORY by Karen Villeda, tr. NAFTA.

Read the full review at the link in our bio. STRING THEORY is available for purchase on Asterism and our website!

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Thank you to @public_books + @br.cohen for this lovely review of “Reaping What She Sows: How Women Are Rebuilding Our Broken Food System.”

I’m proud to be on your nightstand in conversation with such brilliance! From saucy literary vignettes 🍤to prolific poet-novelists 🏊to notes on the African diaspora + Caribbean cookery 🐂, from literary agents 📚 to literature in translation, to a meditation on a pre-punk anthem, loneliness 🚘, capital 💵 + consumption, this roundup has something for everyone. Check out the full article through 🔗 in bio!

#reapingwhatshesows @melvillehouse #bookreview

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I wrote for @public_books about why “Heated Rivalry” Is the “Moby-Dick” of Canadian Gay Hockey Shows. Link in bio.

I wish I could tell you that I have consumed any other culture/thought about anything else in six months but I haven’t, and here’s a little bit about why. Thanks to anyone who has allowed me to talk at them about HR and MD.

#heatedrivalry #heatedrivalrycrave

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In a fresh conversation with Ken Chen for Public Books, translator Lara Norgaard pulls back the curtain on bringing Felix Nesi’s novel into English. Nesi’s book completely bypasses the typically sober, documentary style of political fiction. Instead, it weaponizes sharp, anti-colonial irony to challenge generations of occupation in Timor.

Norgaard talks about the precise balance required to make the satire land for a global audience without erasing the heavy, real-world testimonies Nesi grew up with. From the absolute absurdity of state-enforced dietary laws to the fierce pragmatism of characters like Silvy, the discussion shows exactly how grassroots storytelling can chip away at dominant state narratives.

Read the full interview via the link in our bio.

#idwriters #indonesianwriters #literatureintranslation #felixnesi #peoplefromoetimu

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We spent yesterday promoting our two new releases, but May 27 was also the one year anniversary of our first book: Kiik Araki-Kawaguchi’s debut poetry collection, DISINTEGRATION MADE PLAIN AND EASY! It’s currently on its fifth printing, it exceeded expectations, & people continue to reach out & let us know how it moved them / wrecked them / bewildered them / brought them joy. We love Kiik & we love you all for supporting the weirdness of Piżama since day one. Here’s a slideshow/recap of the last year.

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Tune in to publicbooks.org to read the first contribution to "Fascism's Building Blocks." More to come from more incredibly impressive contributors in the coming days.

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Thrilled to record an episode of the Novel Dialogue podcast discussing my novel The Gossip Columnist's Daughter. Especially excited to have the chance to recognize my favorite professor, Tish O'Dowd Ezekiel, who somehow saw some potential in my dumb stories at the University of Michigan. Thanks to Emily Hyde and Sarah Wasserman for having me. The episode is available wherever you get your podcasts. I'll drop a link in my bio, too.

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It’s been a year! Swipe to see Piżama Press over the last twelve months. It’s wild to think how this all started on January 1, 2025. When you’re in the thick of it, sometimes the little wins seem little, but lined up next to each other, it can feel quite substantial. Feeling grateful, emotional, hopeful, etc. As the last slide states: thank you ALL for your encouragement and support this year. We couldn’t do it without you. Much more to come in 2026!

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As someone who’s lived in the world of classical music and then spent years telling stories about that world, I’m grateful to see conversations like this happening — especially ones that recognize the power of narrative. Thank you to Shannon Draucker for editing and elevating this thoughtful piece. The idea that literary fiction can help “save” classical music isn’t about fiction replacing music. It’s about storytelling opening doors.

Literary fiction gives readers an entry point that concert halls sometimes don’t. You don’t need to know the repertoire, the rules, or the etiquette. You don’t need prior permission or training. A story lets you feel the stakes — the pressure, the beauty, the obsession, the joy — before you ever hear a single note.

When I wrote The Violin Conspiracy, Symphony of Secrets and The Dark Maestro, I wasn’t trying to explain classical music. I was trying to humanize it. To show the people behind the instruments. The communities, the inequities, the passions, the contradictions. Fiction allows classical music to be experienced as lived reality, not an untouchable tradition.

That’s how accessibility begins — not by simplifying the art, but by expanding who gets to see themselves inside it.

If storytelling can invite more curiosity, more empathy, and more belonging, then it’s already doing important work for classical music.

Let’s keep telling those stories. 🎻📚

#ClassicalMusic #LiteraryFiction #Storytelling #BrendanSlocumb #TheViolinConspiracy TheDarkMaestro ArtsAndCulture

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