What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books

My guest on this episode is Zilla Jones. Zilla’s writing has won the Journey Prize and been shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for Emerging Writers. Her debut novel, The World So Wide , was published in April 2025 by Cormorant Books. The Winnipeg Free Press said that “Jones’ novel is a gift and a magnificent read that will leave readers crying for an encore.” Zilla and I talk about the role opera singing has played in her life and in her creative work, about the very first story she ever wrote—at the age of 3, in crayon—and about exploring the complexities of social and historical issues through fiction, something she is rarely able to do in her day job as a lawyer. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Chantal Braganza. Chantal is the deputy editor at Chatelaine . Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine , Hazlitt , The Hairpin , the Globe and Mail , Toronto Life , Fashion Magazine , and Maisonneuve , among others. Her debut book is Story of Your Mother , published in 2025 by Strange Light. The Globe and Mail called it “an expansive hybrid of memoir and essay exploring identity, labour and care, which manages to be both intellectually rigorous and compulsively readable.” Chantal and I talk about some of the realities of her former life as a busy freelance writer, about struggling to complete a memoir about things that were happening in her life, while those things were still happening, and about her recent World Cup-induced obsession with soccer—which she is totally not going to write a book about. Maybe. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Russell Smith. Russell is the author of multiple novels and collections of short fiction, as well as one non-fiction book. His work has been nominated for the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Award, the Rogers/Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Trillium Prize, the Chapters/Books In Canada First Novel Award, the City of Toronto Book Prize, and the Danuta Gleed Award. He is the editor of three story anthologies, and works as an acquiring editor for Dundurn Press. His most recent novel, Self Care , was published by Biblioasis in 2025 . Kirkus Reviews called it “an uncomfortable, disturbing, and timely examination of relationships between men and women.” Russell and I talk about the infamous and possibly apocryphal pitch letter that accompanied his very first novel, about how his very strong opinions as a writer and reader inform his work as an acquiring editor, and about the ways he feels the Canadian book world has sabotaged itself. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Elliott Gish. Elliott is a writer and librarian whose work has appeared in the Baltimore Review , Dark Matter , Grain , and the New Quarterly . Her debut novel, Grey Dog , was published by ECW Press in 2024. In a starred review of the novel, Publishers Weekly said “Gish’s prose is as sharp as a scalpel.” Elliott and I talk about the impact a very nerdy-sounding historical summer camp had on her imagination, about why she’s not into writing horror stories set in the era of cellphones, and about why she’s both excited and a little concerned that her second novel will have far fewer horror elements than her first. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Jason Schneider. Jason has written for Exclaim!, the Globe & Mail, the Toronto Star, Paste, American Songwriter, Relix, Shindig and many other media outlets. His books include Whispering Pines: the Northern Roots of American Music , The Longest Suicide: The Authorized Biography of Art Bergmann , and the novel 3,000 Miles. He is the co-author of Have Not Been The Same: the CanRock Renaissance 1985-1995 . His most recent two books are That Gun in Your Hand: The Strange Saga of ‘Hey Joe’ and Popular Music’s History of Violence , published by Anvil Press, and the novel The City Knows , published by Montag Press. Both books were published in 2025. Jason and I talk about how he ended up publishing two books, in two different genres, in the same year, about turning a COVID-era deep dive into a single song into an entire book, and about how he is once again working on two books at once, in two different genres. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Jeannie Marshall. Jeannie is a nonfiction author, journalist, and former staff writer at the National Post . She has written for Maclean’s and the Walrus and has published literary nonfiction in The Common, the Literary Review of Canada, Brick , and elsewhere. Her first book was Outside the Box: Why Our Children Need Real Food, Not Food Products. Her most recent book is All Things Move: Learning to Look in the Sistine Chapel , published by Biblioasis in 2023. Vanity Fair called the book “rich, meditative” and said “the book is part art history, part memoir; a case for slowing down, curiosity, a closer look.” Jeannie and I talk about the early days of the National Post , about overcoming the skepticism of art historians who felt there was nothing new to say about the Sistine Chapel, and about how her new book project, a novel, fits in with her previous two books. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Emily Weedon. Emily is an award-winning screenwriter and author, whose first book was the novel Autokrator . Her most recent book is the novel Hemo Sapiens , which was published by Dundurn Press in 2025. Quill & Quire called the book “a fun and welcome addition to the vampire genre.” Emily and I talk about the agent who advised her to change the male protagonist of her novel to a lesbian for no particular reason, about publishing two books in two years, and why she does not recommend doing that, and about the book world’s strange and contradictory relationship with hustle culture. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Tessa McWatt. Tessa is the author of many novels and books for young people. Her fiction and non-fiction has won the Eccles British Library Award and the Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature for Non-Fiction, and has been nominated for the Governor General's Award, the City of Toronto Book Award, and the Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize. Her most recent book, The Snag: A Mother, A Forest and Wild Grief, was published by Random House Canada in 2025. That book also won the Bocas Prize, and was shortlisted for the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize. Author Stephanie Bishop called it “wise, bold, and deeply affecting.” Tessa and I talk about the recent racist riots and violence in the UK, about writing books that are distinctly anti-cozy, and about how, as someone who now lives and teaches in England, she is desperate to go on a long canoe trip. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Sarah Leavitt. Sarah is the creator of the graphic memoir Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me and the historical fiction comic Agnes, Murderess . Her work has won a CBC Bookie award for Best Comic or Graphic Novel, a Vine Award for Canadian Jewish Literature, and an Alberta Book Publishing Award, and has been shortlisted for many, many other awards. An animated feature film version of Tangles , which features the voices of people like Seth Rogen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Bryan Crantson, recently premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Sarah’s most recent book, the graphic memoir Something, Not Nothing: A Story of Grief and Love , was published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2024 and was a finalist for an Eisner Awar, a Lambda Literary Award, and a Publishing Triangle Award. It won a BC/Yukon Book Prize, and the New York Times said in its review of the book that “Sarah Leavitt embraces the ways that comics can work as poetry.” Sarah and I talk about long process of turning Tangles into a film, about souring on social media as a way of sharing her creative work, and about her new project, which might turn out to be a novel, except without the graphic part. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Shyam Selvadurai. Shyam’s novels include Funny Boy , Cinnamon Gardens , and The Hungry Ghosts , as well as the YA novel Swimming in the Monsoon Sea . His work has won the W. H. Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award and the Lambda Literary Award, and been shortlisted for the Giller Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award, and the Trillium Prize. Funny Boy was made into a feature film in 2020 by director Deepa Mehta. His most recent book is the novel Mansions of the Moon , published by Knopf Canada in 2022. Maclean’s said “Selvadurai’s tale of emotionally torn star-crossed lovers—and the aftermath of their parting—is subtle, absorbing and thoroughly modern.” Shyam and I talk about the overwhelming whiteness of the Canadian book world when he first started publishing (and how that has changed for the better), about the difference between the literary reputation he has in his birth country of Sri Lanka and the one he has in Canada, and about the mall in Scarborough that might one day become a CanLit landmark, thanks to his books. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Alex Manley. Alex’s essays, fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Walrus , Hazlitt, Vulture, Maisonneuve , among others. They have been a finalist for a National Magazine Award and a Digital Publishing Award. Their books include the poetry collection We Are All Just Animals & Plants and The New Masculinity: A Roadmap for a 21st-Century Definition of Manhood , which was a finalist for the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction. Their most recent book is Post-Man: Essays on Being a Neurodivergent Non-Binary Person , published by Arsenal Pulp Press in 2025. Author Larissa Pham said the book is “steeped in internet lore and shimmering with a poet's sensibility.” Alex and I talk about the realities of writing careers that publishing their most recent book brought home, about whether any progress is being made in some of the traditionally straight male spaces they write about, and about their next book project, a novel. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Dennis Bock. Dennis is the author of the short story collection Olympia and the novels The Ash Garden , The Communist’s Daughter , Going Home Again , and The Good German . His work has won the CAA Jubilee Award, the Danuta Gleed Literary Award, the Betty Trask Award, and the Canada-Japan Literary Award, and been shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Kiriyama Prize, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and the Giller Prize. His most recent novel is Strangers at the Door , published by HarperCollins Canada in 2025. The Winnipeg Free Press called it “eerily delightful.” Dennis and I talk about how playing guitar helps him write novels, about writing historical fiction that is more focused on the second part of that category than the first, and about learning to allow himself some fallow time between books. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Kate Cayley. Kate has published two short story collections and three collections of poetry. She has won the Trillium Book Award, the Mitchell Prize for Poetry, and an O. Henry Prize, and been a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, among other awards. She has also served as a playwright in residence with Tarragon Theatre. Her most recent book is the novel Property , published by Coach House Books in 2025. That novel was short-listed for the Foreword INDIES prize for literary fiction, and for the Amazon Canada First Novel Award, presented in partnership with The Walrus . Publishers Weekly called Property ”an unflinching tale of a community’s fragile bonds.” Kate and I talk about the surprise and pleasure of an award nomination coming many months after a book is published, about what her novel owes to the rats in her neighbourhood, and about the strangeness of being a debut novelist, six books into her career. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Adriana Barton. Adriana is an author and journalist whose writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Boston Globe, Western Living, Vancouver magazine, and elsewhere. Her debut book is Wired for Music: A Search for Health and Joy Through the Science of Sound, published by Greystone Books in 2022. That book was a finalist in the Canadian Book Club Awards and the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada Book Awards. The Globe and Mail called it “thoroughly researched and tenderly written.” Adriana and I talk about how different the original pitch for her book was from its final version, about how she gets through her nervousness around public speaking, and about her ongoing difficulties with her planned follow-up book. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Gabrielle Drolet. Gabrielle is a journalist, essayist, and cartoonist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Globe and Mail , New York Times, The Walrus, VICE, Teen Vogue , and more. Her essays on disability have been nominated for a Digital Publishing Award and won gold at the Canadian Online Publishing Awards. Her first book, Look Ma, No Hands: A Chronic Pain Memoir , was published by McClelland & Stewart in 2025, and was a finalist for a 2026 Lambda Literary Award. Journalist Sarah Hagi called the book “a remarkable debut from an incredible voice.” Gabrielle and I talk about some of the more ethically dubious gigs she has taken on as a freelance writer, about writing using voice-to-text software, and how that has changed her style, and about her worries that next book, which is not a memoir, might have less of a hook in comparison with her first. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross. Jacquelyn’s fiction, poetry, essays, and art criticism have appeared in BOMB, C Mag, The Ex-Puritan, Fence, Mousse, and elsewhere. In addition, She is an editor at The Capilano Review. Her debut book, The Longest Way to Eat a Melon , was published by Sarabande Books in 2025. The New York Times called it "a collection of short stories each more satirical and surreal than the last." Jacquelyn and I talk about her book ending up in a New York Times trend piece, about turning self-consciousness from an obstacle to her writing into one of its central themes, and about how her approach to writing has been changed by becoming a parent. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Miriam Toews. Miriam is the author of the internationally acclaimed and bestselling novels Fight Night, Women Talking, All My Puny Sorrows , Irma Voth , The Flying Troutmans , A Complicated Kindness , A Boy of Good Breeding , and Summer of My Amazing Luck , and the memoir, Swing Low: A Life . She is the winner of numerous awards, including the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, the Libris Award for Fiction, the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, and the Writers’ Trust Engel Findley Award. Several of her novels have been made into feature films, including All My Puny Sorrows and the Oscar-winning Women Talking . Her most recent book is the bestselling memoir A Truce That Is Not Peace , published by Knopf Canada in 2025. That book was a finalist For The Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize For Nonfiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award For Autobiography, and was named a best book the year by TIME , The Globe and Mail, the CBC, The New Yorker, The Guardian and more . Author Paula Hawkins called it “beautiful, hilarious, devastating.” Miriam and I talk about the early days of her writing career, about how she thinks every new book she completes is her last, and about how she got to hold the Oscar for Women Talking for only about five seconds. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Ira Wells. Ira’s work has appeared in The Guardian , The New Republic , The Walrus , The Globe and Mail , Literary Review of Canada , Los Angeles Review of Books , and many other publications. His books include Fighting Words: Polemics and Social Change in Literary Naturalism and Norman Jewison: A Director’s Life . His most recent book is On Book Banning: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy , published by Biblioasis in 2025. That book is a finalist for the 2026 Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing. Quill & Quire called it “a testament to the life-altering power of books and ideas.” Ira and I talk about the sense of cultural fear and helplessness that seems to be behind the resurgence of book banning, about how his book was inspired, not by a conservative drive to ban books, but by a so-called “library audit” at a school in the heart of progressive Toronto, and about his return to biography for his next book project. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Meredith Hambrock. Meredith’s debut book was the novel Other People’s Secrets . She has been a finalist for the CBC Short Story Prize and worked extensively in television, most recently in the writers’ room for the Canadian Screen Award–winning sitcom Corner Gas Animated . Her most recent book is She’s a Lamb! , published by ECW Press in 2025. Booklist called the novel “a dive into the mind of a deeply delusional woman,” and said it is “audacious and darkly funny.” Meredith and I talk about her habit of deleting entire manuscripts (not permanently) while they are in progress, about her love of dark comedy and her resistance to sticking to the rules of genre, and about her next book, which has a narrative hook so good, she had to make sure nobody else had thought of it already. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Ethan Lou. Ethan is a journalist whose work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life , The Guardian , the Washington Post , and elsewhere. He is the opinion editor for the Globe and Mail ’s business section. His first book, Field Notes from a Pandemic , was a finalist for the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. His most recent book is Once a Bitcoin Miner: Scandal and Turmoil in the Cryptocurrency Wild West , published by ECW Press in 2021. Publishers Weekly called the book a “roller-coaster ride” and said that “readers interested in an in-the-trenches view of the Bitcoin world will appreciate Lou’s willingness to tell all.” Ethan and I talk about the current state of crypto culture, about how he ended up publishing two books in very quick succession, and about the going cost of illicit drugs on the dark web. This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock , in partnership with The Walrus . Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky . Used with permission. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.