21: Fiction for 2021; Berryman's letters; African American poetry

Send us Fan MailWelcome to Books for Breakfast in 2021! We begin the year with a look at some noteworthy fiction from new and familiar writers. Books mentioned are:The Art of Falling  by Danielle McLaughlin A Crooked Tree  by Una Mannion Words to Shape My Name  by Laura McKenna Pure Gold  by John Patrick McHugh Snowflake  by Louise NealonWe Are Not in the World  by Conor O’Callaghan The Death of Francis Bacon  by Max Porter The Dark Room  by Sam Blake Life Sentences by Billy O’Callaghan Nora: A Love Story of Nora and James Joyce  by Nuala O’Connor White City  by Kevin Power A Shock  by Keith RidgwayWeirdo  by Zadie Smith and Nick Laird Also mentioned was RTE’s Spoken Stories, Independence,  a collection of 12 stories where authors write about what Independence means to them.Today's Toaster Challenge Guest is Philip Coleman, Fellow of Trinity College Dublin and co -editor of  The Selected Letters of John Berryman.  We feature a rare recording of John Berryman reading from the Dream Songs and discuss Berryman's life, work and letters. Philip's Toaster Challenge is the groundbreaking new anthology, African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle edited by Kevin Young.Intro/outro music: Colm Mac Con Iomaire, ‘Thou Shalt Not Carry’ from The Hare’s Corner, 2008, with thanks to Colm for permission to use it.Artwork by Freya SirrTo subscribe to Books for Breakfast go to your podcast provider of choice (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google etc) and search for the podcast then hit subscribe or follow, or simply click the appropriate button above. Support the show