Kicking off 2024 we welcome Tara Cheesman to the podcast with her recommendation, Being Here Is Everything: The Life and Times of Paula Modersohn-Becker by Marie Darriussecq, translated by Penny Hueston. Tara is a freelance critic, former judge of the Best Translated Book Award, and she brings us our first work of nonfiction. We have an absolutely fascinating conversation on art, motherhood, representations of women, and a lot more. And recommend a small syllabus of titles to dig into.

Titles/authors mentioned:

Imperium by Christian Kracht, translated by Daniel Bowles

Nathalie Léger: Suite for Barbara Loden, Exposition, The White Dress

Éric Plamondon: Apple S and Mayonnaise

Jean Echenoz’s biographical novels: Running, Lightning, Ravel

Sharks, Death, Surfers by Melissa McCarthy

Kate Zambreno: Book of Mutter and To Write As If Already Dead

Margaret the First by Danielle Dutton

Jazmina Barrera: On Lighthouses and Linea Nigra

Georges Perec: Ellis Island, I Remember, An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris

To hear more from Tara follow her on Instagram: @taracheesman or subscribe (and you should!) to her Substack: Ex Libris.

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Music: “The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” by Traffic

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