BRASS, the excellent first novel by Xhenet Aliu, mixes voice, humor, and simmering rage into the tale of a family that keeps ending up in the same rut. She and James talk about what they’re going to do when they grow up, not porn-ifying poverty, editing vs. new pages, and then give credit to the proofreaders out there. Plus, the wondrous Chip Cheek tells James about the writing and thrilling sale of his novel, CAPE MAY.

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Xhenet Aliu

Xhenet and James discuss:

University of Alabama

Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference

University of Georgia

Julie Barer

Avid Bookshop

The Old Pal

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Chip and James discuss: 

Gunter Grass

Christopher Castellani

Grub Street

Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference

Emerson College

Whitney Scharer

Jennifer De Leon

Becky Tuch

Celeste Ng

Adam Stumacher

Calvin Hennick

Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich

Katherine Fausset

Curtis Brown, Ltd.

Laura van den Berg

Benjamin Percy

Josh Weil

Deb Futter

Jamie Raab

Celadon Books

Macmillan Publishing

Ren and Stimpy