The Deckle Edge Blog & Podcast recap of books read in 2021.
2021 Books Read in Review
Category: Books
Boerne Book & Arts Festival 2021
Today’s episode is a little different and features short conversations with several authors about their most recent book and involvement with the 2021 Boerne Book & Arts Festival. For those that don’t know, Boerne is a beautiful bedroom community just north of San Antonio, Texas, and the book festival takes place each year on Main Plaza on the first Saturday in October. This year’s event featured authors such as John Erickson and James Wade, as well as author panels with topics such as Heroines of WWII, Texas Ranches and Texas Rangers, and Early Roads and the Old Spanish Trail.
James Wade
A conversation with the novelist, James Wade. James lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and daughter. His debut novel, All Things Left Wild, won the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Historical Novel and the MPIBA’s Reading the West Award for Best Debut Fiction. His second novel, River, Sing Out, was released in the summer of 2021. James is also a winner of the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest, and a finalist of the Tethered by Letters Short Fiction Contest.
The Dharmadillo Podcast
A crossover episode featuring an interview with me, Matt Boutte, on The Dharmadillo Podcast. We talk about Jimmy Buffett as a business, about my spiritual life, and about some of my reading and writing practices, among other things.
Daniel Lassell
A conversation with Daniel Lassell. Daniel is the author of Spit (July 2021), winner of the 2020 Wheelbarrow Books Emerging Poetry Prize and a poetry finalist for the 2021 International Book Awards, as well as Ad Spot (April 2021), a chapbook from Ethel Zine & Micro Press. His recent poetry can be found in the Colorado Review, Southern Humanities Review, River Styx, Grist, and Prairie Schooner. He raised llamas and alpacas while growing up on a farm in Kentucky.
Michael Kleber-Diggs
A conversation with Michael Kleber-Diggs. Michael Kleber-Diggs is a poet, essayist, and literary critic. His debut poetry collection, Worldly Things, won the Max Ritvo Poetry Prize and will be published by Milkweed Editions in June of this year and his essay "On the Complex Flavors of Black Joy," is included in "There's a Revolution Outside, My Love: Letters from a Crisis," edited by Tracy K. Smith and John Freeman. This is an important, if at times painful, discussion about race, community, and hope. I'm grateful to Michael for having it with me.
Daniel Slager
A conversation with Daniel Slager, Publisher & CEO of Milkweed Editions, about the interplay between publishers, authors, and readers. We talk about independent bookstores and the impact of Amazon on the entire industry. I learned so much in this conversation about the independent publishing and book businesses. If you're at all interested in books, writers, publishers, or even the evolving nature of retailing in the era of Amazon, I think you'll get a lot from this episode.
Terry Tempest Williams
Terry Tempest Williams is a writer, a teacher, a naturalist, and environmentalist. Terry is a force of nature and views and voice are needed now, more than ever.
Todd Davis & Noah Davis
Todd Davis and Noah Davis are both published poets, men sensitive to the land and our home ground. They are also father and son, which made for a fascinating and engaging discussion.
2020 Books Read in Review
It goes without saying that 2020 was a weird year for all of us but in many ways, it allowed me the time to read a lot more than I have in most years previously. The launch of The Deckle Edge Podcast helped too, as I try and read everything I can the author has … Continue reading 2020 Books Read in Review