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Bookends with Mattea Roach

CBC

When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.

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  • 28 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 29 min
  • English

Episodes 28

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  • June 14 · 35 min

    A raunchy workplace satire ... about deradicalizing ISIS brides?

    <p>When Nussaibah Younis decided to write a book about ISIS brides, everyone expected it to be an academic tome. Instead, she wrote a raunchy satire about a woman who takes a job in a warzone to get over a recent heartbreak. Nussaibah's debut novel, <em>Fundamentally</em>, sees protagonist Nadia in over her head working for the UN in Baghdad. But her sense of purpose renews when she connects deeply with Sara, a young ISIS bride who Nadia becomes intent on saving. Drawing on her own professional

  • S2 · E40
    June 7 · 30 min

    Here’s why Fran Lebowitz needs a cigarette

    <p>Fran Lebowitz is a legendary writer and critic. She’s made a career of sharing hot takes without apology, and she didn’t hold back when she joined Mattea Roach for a special on-stage event in Toronto. You might know Fran from her books <em>Metropolitan Life</em> and <em>Social Studies</em> or her appearances in two Martin Scorsese documentaries. Fran is perhaps most famous for sharp social commentary — from airplane fashion, to the silly questions asked by educated youth, to the return of smo

  • S2 · E39
    June 3 · 22 min

    Dive into the dark underbelly of rural Ontario

    <p>It’s easy to glamorize small town life … but Kevin Hardcastle’s new novel, <em>County Road Six</em>, is all about the darkness lurking in rural Canada. When Arthur O’Hare dies, his three daughters return to the family farm to sort through what he left behind. But what they inherit is more than land — it’s a shadowy history they never knew existed. <em>County Road Six</em> is a dramatic thriller about economic decline, family secrets and the lengths people will go to survive. It’s a compelling

  • S2 · E39
    May 31 · 32 min

    Douglas Stuart was a fashion exec — now he designs stories

    <p>A glamorous life and career in New York’s fashion industry was everything Douglas Stuart worked for. So why did he walk away from it all? And how did he go from fashion designer to Booker Prize winning author? Douglas’s first two novels, <em>Shuggie Bain</em> and <em>Young Mungo</em>, were critically acclaimed hits. He continues the streak with <em>John of John</em>, a moving novel about a young man returning home to a remote Scottish island steeped in religion and tradition. It’s one of the

  • S2 · E38
    May 27 · 26 min

    What’s the cost of the immigrant success story?

    <p>Anne Kim has it all. She’s a high-powered tax lawyer, lives in a beautiful apartment in New York and has the perfect boyfriend to boot. She’s the pride of her parents, Korean immigrants in small-town Alberta who worked day and night to keep the family afloat. But Jane Park’s debut novel, <em>Inheritance</em>, is all about the hidden costs of Anne’s immigrant success story — the hurt, trauma and stifling expectations that tore her family apart. When her father’s death sends her back to Alberta

  • May 24 · 26 min

    A forensic thriller writer autopsies her own life

    <p>A famous crime writer who gets her inspiration from years of working on real cases at the medical examiner’s office. That’s the story of Patricia Cornwell, the bestselling author of the Kay Scarpetta series. Her new memoir, True Crime, is all about the person behind the thrillers … and it proves that sometimes, life is stranger than fiction. From getting dropped off at the doorstep of one of America’s most famous evangelicals to her real forensics experience, Patricia’s memoir is an autopsy o

  • S2 · E37
    May 20 · 18 min

    Accepting the unknown … and a giant flock of crows

    <p>The winner of the 2026 CBC Short Story Prize is the Vancouver-based writer Larah Luna. Larah’s story, <em>A Season of Crows</em>, is about a small town learning to live with a huge murder of crows that passes through the town. Born in the Philippines and raised in Manitoba, Larah grew up surrounded by prairie landscapes that shaped the emotional setting of her story. <em>A Season of Crows</em> explores the wonder of the natural world and accepting the unknown … but it’s also based on Larah’s

  • S2 · E37
    May 17 · 35 min

    Literature, liberation and Lolita in Iran

    <p>Books can be revolutionary. That’s the message of Azar Nafisi’s celebrated memoir <em>Reading Lolita in Tehran</em>, which is about her experience teaching forbidden literature to young women in Iran. Although it was published nearly 23 years ago, Azar’s memoir continues to speak to issues around censorship, authoritarianism and resilience in Iran and across the world. Her 2022 book <em>Read Dangerously</em> follows that thread, exploring how books are a tool for resistance and change in a ti

Showing 21–28 of 28 episodes