Kaveh Akbar and Tommy Orange: The Author Friendship

The Book Case

ABC News

Fiction, Arts, Books, Society & Culture

4.1 • 766 Ratings

🗓️ 20 March 2025

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kaveh Akbar and Tommy Orange are a writer’s circle of two. We can’t remember how we first heard they were close friends, but we knew it when we interviewed them and were thrilled when we heard they might be touring together. Tune in to find out how these two amazing authors encourage and challenge each other. Find books mentioned on The Book Case: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/shop/story/book-case-podcast-reading-list-118433302 Books mentioned in this week's episode: There There by Tommy Orange Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar Portrait of the Alcoholic by Kaveh Akbar Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar Pilgrim Bell: Poems by Kaveh Akbar Moby Dick by Herman Melville Beowulf by Beowulf Poet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:32.6	Well, hello, boys and girls. Good to have you back. It's the bookcase with Kate and Charlie Gibson.
0:41.7	And we're here all geared up for another good show. I'm really excited because last week I think he switched us and it was the bookcase with Charlie and Kate. So I'm really excited that he has reprimpromoted me back into my original position. And it's the
0:54.6	bookcase with Kate and Charlie, and I am the Kate part. And I also welcome you to the show.
0:59.9	We have a double header for you today. And I think this is really interesting. Kate called me.
1:07.4	We talked a number of weeks ago to Kavei Akbar, who wrote a book that was a National
1:13.1	Book Award finalist, I think. Martyr was the name of the book, wonderful book, Kavei Akbar's
1:18.5	first novel, though he's an accomplished poet. And we also talked to Tommy Orange, who wrote
1:24.8	Wandering Stars, and before that wrote There, There, two books that were
1:28.7	very well received. And I think he was a Pulitzer finalist. I think, wasn't he, Kate, for
1:32.7	those, for one of those books. So National Book Award guy, a Pulitzer guy, and they're friends.
1:40.1	And Kate called me up and said, they're really good friends, and they exchange pages back and forth.
1:46.7	They largely shaped their last two novels, Kavei working with Tommy on Wandering Stars and
1:53.6	Tommy getting pages from martyr, as Kave wrote.
1:57.0	It's a really interesting friendship, and it got us thinking about two writers,
2:01.2	kindred spirits, who are sort of in each other's heads as they write. And so we talk to them
2:07.0	together. Yeah, I don't remember how I heard about their friendship initially, but I remember
	...

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