What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books

My guest on this episode is Renée D. Bondy. Renée’s writing has appeared in Herizons, Bitch, Bearings Online, and the Humber Literary Review. Her debut novel, [non]disclosure, was published by Second Story Press in 2024. Author Julie S. Lalonde called [non]disclosure “a true masterclass on the power of solidarity and how community can either sustain us or drag us under.”Renée and I talk about how she is adjusting to her relatively luxurious new writing space, about swerving into literary fiction after a life spent as an academic and activist, and about how the difficulty of the issues she explores in her debut novel led her to put support structures in places at the launch event for it.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.  

My guest on this episode is Rik Emmett. Rik is best known for being in the multi-platinum-selling band Triumph until the late 80s, after which he released many, many solo albums. Rik’s books include the poetry collection Reinventions and the memoir Lay It On The Line: A Backstage Pass to Rock Star Adventure, Conflict and Triumph, both published by ECW Press. His most recent book, Ten Telecaster Tales: Liner Notes for a Guitar and Its Music, was published by ECW earlier this year. Author Terry Fallis called the book “eloquent, erudite, entertaining, and enlightening […] a thoughtful meditation on art, creativity, and the human species.” Rik and I talk about why, at an age when most people would be enjoying retirement, he has suddenly become a published author with a new book out almost every year, about the focus and intensity he brings to all of his creative endeavours (and how he has learned to pull back a little for the sake of his relationships and his mental health), and about how, despite all he has accomplished on his own, and continues to accomplish, the machine that is his former band has a way of sucking him back in, and why he’s mostly okay with that.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

My guest on this episode is Catherine Bush. Catherine is the author of five novels, including Blaze Island, which was a Globe and Mail and Writers’ Trust of Canada Best Book of the Year, and the Hamilton Reads 2021 Selection. Her other novels include the Canada Reads longlisted Accusation; the Trillium Award shortlisted Claire's Head; the national bestselling The Rules of Engagement, which was also named a New York Times Notable Book and a L.A. Times Best Book of the Year; and Minus Time, shortlisted for the City of Toronto Book Award. Catherine’s most recent book is the story collection Skin, published by Goose Lane Editions earlier this year. The Ottawa Review of Books called Skin “a haunting and beautifully crafted collection that solidifies Catherine Bush’s reputation as a writer of immense talent.” Catherine and I talk about the many exotic locations at which she has written, including time spent at an Italian villa with Zadie Smith as her neighbour, about writing her most recent book at a remote Ontario schoolhouse she had to break COVID protocols to get to, and about where serious literature fits within a world in which serious art of any kind is often overlooked.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

My guest on this episode is Oonya Kempadoo. Oonya is the author of four novels, the first of which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, the second was longlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and won a Casa De Las Americas prize. Her most recent novel is Naniki, published by Dundurn Press in 2024. That novel was longlisted for the Carol Shields Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award. The Montreal Review of Books called Naniki “playful, refreshing, and luminous, inspiring an almost childlike curiosity and urge for exploration, while illustrating the importance of understanding our past to safeguard our future.”Oonya and I talk about the ongoing immersive art project that inspired her to write her latest novel, about why she took such a long break from writing fiction after the publication of her third novel more than a decade ago, and about how writing and publishing Naniki has sparked a new desire in her to return to being a novelist.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

My guest on this episode is Kenneth Oppel. Kenneth’s books include the Silverwing trilogy, which has sold over a million copies around the world, Airborn, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award and a Michael L. Printz Honor Book, and Ghostlight, which was shortlisted for several awards, including the Aurora and the IODE Violet Downey Book Award. His most recent book is the novel Best of All Worlds, published by Penguin Teen Canada earlier this year and nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award. It has also been named one of Best Children’s Books of 2025 by The Times (UK). Publishers Weekly called it “a sharp examination of society and isolation presented as a thriller set in a deceptively bucolic landscape.” Kenneth and I talk about the book he remembers having the biggest emotional impact on him as a kid, about his dislike of the various age groups and categories that get applied to children’s literature, and about his next novel, which just might be his first one explicitly written for adults.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

My guest on this episode is Su Chang. Su’s debut novel is The Immortal Woman, published by House of Anansi Press earlier this year. Publishers Weekly called the novel “a cathartic account of a family buffeted by the winds of modern Chinese history.”Su and I talk about the cultural and political realities that cause to very deliberate in her writing, about why her father, who was himself a writer, urged her not to follow in his footsteps, and about why she has chosen not to participate in any public-facing events to promote her 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.

My guest on this episode is Niko Stratis. Niko’s writing has appeared in Xtra, Catapult, Spin, Paste, The Walrus, and more. She is the co-editor of the Lambda Literary Award-winning anthology  2 Trans 2 Furious and its follow-up, Sex Change and the City. Her debut book, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman, was published by the University of Texas Press earlier this year. Publishers Weekly called it a “stirring collection focused on the music that inspired the author to embrace her trans identity” and a “poignant ode to musicʼs power to change lives.” Niko and I talk about the roots of her intense connections to music, about the online chuds who have not been happy with a trans author writing about their favourite artists and bands, and about her novel-in-progress, which began life, like those award-winning anthologies, as kind of a joke.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.

My guest on this episode is Chelsea Wakelyn. Chelsea is a musician and author whose debut novel, What Remains of Elsie Jane, was published by Dundurn Press in 2023 and was a finalist for the Foreword Indies award. Author Emily Austin called the novel “a poignant, laugh-out-loud funny, weird, and heartbreaking window into being bereft and being in love.” Chelsea and I talk about losing track, in her twenties, of her initial plan to become a writer, about the enormous losses that finally drove her to write her first novel, and about the sick cosmic joke of losing another partner to cancer right after publishing a novel based on her real-life grief.This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.