Tessa Hadley’s new book, “Free Love” (Harper), is set in 1967 London at the beginning of the counterculture movement that swept the world. The protagonist, Phyllis, steps out of one sense of herself into another. She is a conservative mother of two until she crosses paths with the younger Nicky.

Canadian-American author Antoine Wilson discusses the work he put into writing entertaining pages for his new short book, “Mouth to Mouth” (Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster), and the propulsive story is not finished until the very last sentence.

“ Punks: New & Selected Poems ” is expansive poetry from John Keene, one of our time’s most notable writers. Seven sections offer different perspectives on what poetry can be: queer and Black, and much more than that. He joins Bookworm to discuss the difference between his prose and poetry.

After the deaths of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and her daughter, Quintana, Joan Didion wrote "Blue Nights," the most personal and poetic book of her career. From 2011, she talks about aging, death, and the act of complete surrender that this devastating book required.

Honoree Fanonne Jeffers discusses writing about the full range of a community, its sexuality and gender, in her first fiction novel, “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.”

Master poet Honoree Fanonne Jeffers discusses her fiction debut, “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois.”

Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes (Knopf) A collection of lyrics from the first half of Stephen Sondheim's career, along with insights into the art of songwriting for the theater. In this 2010 conversation, he explains why a song that may be "perfect" can be wrong for its dramatic moment in a show. This famous perfectionist reveals how much can go wrong.

Dave Eggers further discusses his new book, “The Every.”

“The Every” is the new book by Dave Eggers, a follow-up to his book “The Circle.”

Every bookstore is haunted, and Louise Erdrich’s new book, “The Sentence,” is about one.

“Martita, I Remember You/Martita, te recuerdo” is a bilingual new book by Sandra Cisneros.

Idiosyncratic short story writer Diane Williams discusses her new book, “How High? – That High.”

Mary Gaitskill’s "The Devil’s Treasure” features sections from her previous novels and an unfinished novel, commentary, illustrations, and a story inspired by a dream her younger self had.

Teresa K. Miller discusses “Borderline Fortune,” which won her the National Poetry Series, when she was about ready to give up on herself.

Atsuro Riley says he wrote “Heard-Hoard” with a kind of pacing he could feel in his body.

Rita Dove’s new book of poetry, “Playlist for the Apocalypse,” goes in many different historical and personal directions.

Rabih Alameddine speaks about being in love with the characters in his new novel, “The Wrong End of the Telescope."

Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Richard Powers discusses his new novel, “Bewilderment,” which has been longlisted for the Booker Prize and National Book Award.

Santa Claus, James Turrell, “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter,” John Wayne Gacy, and, most of all, George Miles: these are parts of Dennis Cooper‘s discussion of his new book, “I Wished.”

Alice McDermott discusses the madness in fiction and her new book, “What About the Baby?: Some Thoughts on the Art of Fiction.”

About the interdependence between humans and trees, Richard Powers found a place for the non-human in literary fiction with his new book, The Overstory .

Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks discuss the small and significant differences between their original material and the final movie, “Annette.”

Rikki Ducornet speaks about writing in dreamtime for her new sci-fi book, “Trafik.”

Part two of two, a continuation of Yaa Gyasi’s discussion about the extraordinary explorations of her books “Homegoing” and “Transcendent Kingdom.”

Part one of two in which Yaa Gyasi discusses the myriad complexities of her novels “Transcendent Kingdom” and “Homegoing.”