Bookwaves/Artwaves is produced and hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Links to assorted local theater & book venues
Susanna Clarke: “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.”
Susanna Clarke in 2006
Susanna Clarke, author of the classic fantasy novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, interviewed September 12, 2005 in the KPFA studios.
Back in the fall of 2004, a new fantasy novel, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by a newcomer, Susannah Clarke, became an instant classic, finding its way to best-seller lists in the U.K. and United.States, and winning the Hugo Award for 2004’s best novel at the 2005 World Science Fiction Convention.
This interview with Susannah Clarke was recorded while on tour for the paperback edition of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and has not aired in two decades.
Both Christopher Hampton and Julian Fellowes took stabs at writing a film adaptation of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, but both were unable to translate the very long novel into a screenplay, and then New Line cancelled the project. It was eventually developed into a seven -part miniseries for the BBC, and aired in both the United States and Britain in 2015. It is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
After the publication of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and the awards, Susannah Clarke continued to work on the sequel, set in the same universe a few years later, but became bogged down, almost sentence by sentence, as chronic fatigue syndrome took its toll. By 2015, after visiting the set of the BBC production, she decided to go another route, and went back to another manuscript that likely pre-dated her best-seller. That novel, Piranesi, was published to mostly favorable reviews in 2020. She is now working on a third novel. Complete Interview.
Dawn Porter
Dawn Porter, documentary filmmaker, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky, recorded September 11, 2023.
Dawn Porter’s work has appeared on ESPN, HBO, Netflix, PBS and other streamers. Her film Trapped, focusing on abortion clinics in the South, won a special prize at Sundance in 2016 along with a Peabody Award. Her 2013 documentary, Gideon’s Army, her first film, focusing on public defender attorneys in the South, is now part of the US Deparment of State’s American Film Showcase.
She is also the director of John Lewis: Good Trouble, which focuses on the late Congressman and activist. Her recent projects are The Lady Bird Diaries, which was shown at SXSW Film Festival and the four part documentary series, Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court, both of which can be found streaming on various platforms. Other recent projects include the short film Bree Wayy, about the life of Brionna Taylor, Luther: Never Too Much, about the late singer/songwriter Luther Vandross, and The Sing Sing Chronicles, about men wrongly incarcerated in Sing Sing prison. Special thanks to A.J. Fox and Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archives. Complete Interview.
Review of Hershey Felder’s “Rachmaninoff and the Tsar” at TheatreWorks Mountain Viow Center for the Performing Arts through February 9, 2025.
Book Interview/Events and Theatre Links
Note: Shows may unexpectedly close early or be postponed due to actors’ positive COVID tests. Check the venue for closures, ticket refunds, and vaccination and mask requirements before arrival. Dates are in-theater performances unless otherwise noted. Some venues operate Tuesday – Sunday; others Wednesday or Thursday through Sunday. All times Pacific Time. Closing dates are sometimes extended.
Book Stores
Bay Area Book Festival See website for highlights from the 10th Annual Bay Area Book Festival, June 1-2, 2024.
Book Passage. Monthly Calendar. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
Books Inc. Mix of on-line and in-store events.
The Booksmith. Monthly Event Calendar.
BookShop West Portal. Monthly Event Calendar.
Center for Literary Arts, San Jose. See website for Book Club guests in upcoming months.
Green Apple Books. Events calendar.
Kepler’s Books On-line Refr