Author Interview: Max Gross
I’m always excited when an author agrees to participate in an interview for Off the Shelf, so when Max Gross, author of rave-reviewed The Lost Shtetl, agreed to sit for an interview and join the New Utrecht branch for a discussion of his debut novel, let’s just say I was exceedingly happy. Gross’s book is an attentively crafted thought experiment on what might happen if a Polish shtetl slipped away from the outside world, unwittingly escaped the Nazi’s warpath, then collided with modern society. The catalyst for this “lost'' shtetl's reconnection with the modern world? The suspected…
Author Interview: Elisheba Haqq
Elisheba Haqq is a writing professor at Rutgers University, a registered nurse, and the author of Mamaji, a memoir about the loss of her mother, growing up as part of an immigrant family in Minnesota, and persevering through an abusive childhood. In this interview, she discusses her writing career, explains her research process, and recommends a few of her favorite books. Off the Shelf (Ots): Mamaji is an extremely personal memoir about the loss of your mother, as well as the horrific emotional, physical and financial abuse that you and your older siblings endured. I felt like I was reading…
Peeking into the Writing Life of Author Deesha Philyaw
I’m someone who wants to be emotionally invested in the well-being of fictional characters. I enjoy worrying about them when I’m not reading and pining for them when the book has ended. And usually, I avoid short stories because I struggle to connect with the characters in so few pages. However Deesha Philyaw and her debut short story collection, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, changed my opinion entirely. Deesha's book contains nine short stories about black women, their sex lives and their varied relationships with the church, examining her tenderly-wrought characters at their most…
An Interview With Cover Designer Olivia McGiff
When people ask who my all-time favorite writer is, I never hesitate. "It’s Laurie Colwin, absolutely," I say. More often than not I’m met with a blank stare: Colwin died tragically young and her final books were published posthumously in 1993. For years, it’s been up to Colwin’s passionate fanbase to introduce new readers to the food and fiction writer’s books. But lo! This spring, the publishers Harper Perennial and Vintage Contemporaries are reissuing Laurie Colwin’s five novels, three story collections and two cooking memoirs with fresh, beautiful covers designed and illustrated by…
A Quick Chat with Brooklyn's Own Tiffany D. Jackson
If you were to scour the twitter account of best-selling YA author Tiffany D. Jackson (Grown), you’d surely come across a few readers who adamantly cuss her out for ripping through their emotions with her characters and plot twists (see: Allegedly and Monday’s Not Coming, especially). You’d also notice that she revels in the reactions. But more than that, you’d notice that, since her first novel debuted (and even before), Jackson has been a champion, advocate, and vocal supporter of Black stories and their right to be heard. I met her about a decade ago in a writing workshop she was running…
Interview with Author Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I think most people imagine a writer’s trajectory is a straight line but I’ve gone up and down...writing is a game of endurance. Like many of you this past summer, I read Mexican Gothic by the award-winning Silvia Moreno-Garcia and absolutely loved it. You clearly agree. At the time of this interview, 929 Brooklynites await their turn to read Mexican Gothic. It has all the bells and whistles of a classic gothic thriller: a once-grand estate, a misty cemetery, ghostly occurrences, a wealthy and peculiar family (complete with eligible bachelors), a beautiful young woman in…
Interview with Author Micah Nemerever
When I was a lonely teenager the local library was a sanctuary for me—there was one librarian in particular who linked me with public creative writing programs and offered to read stories I’d written...now that I’ve worked in libraries and know how busy librarians are, I’m especially grateful that she took the time to read my writing—it was above and beyond. I was thrilled by Micah Nemerever’s debut novel These Violent Delights and am so pleased to introduce him to Off the Shelf readers! This fresh thriller is hailed as The Secret History (Donna Tartt) meets Call Me by Your Name (Andre…
Interview with Farzana Doctor
Off the Shelf Editorial Staff; Liza
Growing up, my favourite places were my town’s public library and my school libraries. I still love these spaces for the sense of possibility they offer.... Brooklyn Public Library is delighted to welcome award-winning author Farzana Doctor to Off the Shelf as our latest guest. A true Candian triple threat, she’s a psychotherapist and activist as well as the author of a new book Seven hailed by Ms. Magazine as “fully feminist and ambitiously bold.” I couldn’t agree more. Seven follows Sharifa, a middle-aged wife and mother, on her trip to India where she begins an ancestral research…
Interview with Author Bonnie Tsui
Off the Shelf Editorial Staff; Erik Bobilin
"Water is the great equalizer—no matter your age or size or color or physical ability, it buoys us all. Libraries are the same. They are portals to magical worlds beyond the ones we currently inhabit. And we all could use that right about now." For an unexpectedly rewarding thought experiment, ask yourself: why do we swim? If a flood of fond memories of water and sun return for you, it probably makes little sense at first to ask why we, humans, swim, but as author Bonnie Tsui reminds us, primates are among the only mammals not innately possessed of swimming instincts. “Elephants, dogs,…
Modern Little Women: An Interview with Virginia Kantra
Have you seen Little Women yet?! It's been the first question out of every book lover's mouth since Christmas Day, when Greta Gerwig's highly anticipated adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel finally hit theaters. BPL's bloggers are happy to report the movie is wonderful, it is everything, stop whatever you're doing and go see it. Even more good news: this interview with Virginia Kantra, author of Meg & Jo, the first installment of a two-book, contemporary retelling of Little Women. Whether you're a longtime Alcott reader or are brand new to March Sister fandom, you will love Kantra's…
Interview with Author Beth Macy
Off the Shelf Editorial Staff; Erik Bobilin
On Tuesday, August 6th, 2019, journalist and best-selling author Beth Macy visited the Leonard Library to launch the paperback edition of Dopesick--a heartbreaking, essential read that takes the reader into the epicenter of America’s twenty-plus year struggle with opioid addiction. From the publisher: Macy sets out to answer a grieving mother’s question-why her only son died-and comes away with a gripping, unputdownable story of greed and need. She investigates the powerful forces that led America’s doctors and patients to embrace a medical culture where…
First Draft: A Podcast About Storytellers
How do today's authors come up with their book ideas? How did they become authors to begin with? In 2014, writer Sarah Enni set out to answer these questions and more on her podcast, First Draft. Her weekly show is a deep-dive into storytellers' careers and childhoods, their major influences and their future projects. Now in its fifth year, First Draft has featured more than 170 interviews, including ones with New York Times best-selling writers and winners of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Caldecott Award and the Michael L. Printz Award. Read on to learn all…