Ryan B. Patrick hosting special summer edition of The Next Chapter
The 10-episode season will begin on July 1, 2023
For the first time, The Next Chapter will have a summer edition that features Canadian authors and books with a summer twist.
The program will be hosted by CBC Books producer and The Next Chapter contributor Ryan B. Patrick.
"We're doing something special [and] looking at the summertime, so it'll be books that you want to read in the summer and books that you want to take to the beach or the patio to chill out," said Patrick in an interview with CBC Books.
Each episode will feature an all-new conversation with Patrick and the week's guest to talk about their books that have "a nice mix in genre."
This season will include the romance novel Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune, psychological thriller Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury, queer urban fantasy mystery novel The Winter Knight by Jes Battis, humorous novel The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt, The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong which features a young man growing up in Chinatown in the 1980s and more.
There will also be panel discussions surrounding a particular genre, such as a romance, science fiction, or fantasy panel where guests share what makes a good book in the genre and their own book picks.
The array of stories mirror the diversity of authors which Patrick is eager to highlight in the show.
"We'll be talking about how their identity informs the work that they do," said Patrick, "[It's] like my focus when I talk to authors. I want to know their creative process [and] how their particular identity shaped how they explore the world, why they write [and] how their lived experience provides fuel for the fiction, or nonfiction, or poetry they write."
The show will also pay homage to Shelagh Rogers, the long-time CBC host-producer of The Next Chapter who announced her retirement in the spring of 2023 after a thrilling 15-year run.
Encore conversations and highlights from interviews that Rogers did from the past season will be featured in each episode.
Before Rogers' last episode that aired on June 24, she talked to Patrick about hosting The Next Chapter's summer edition in an interview.
"[Ryan B. Patrick] has been a radiant presence on our program, he has alerted us to great reads and brought us wonderful conversations with authors who include Suzette Mayr, Catherine Hernandez [and] Michael Christie," said Rogers, "I can't wait to hear [him] engage with the listeners."
The Next Chapter's summer edition will kick-off on July 1 with an interview with author Patrick deWitt.
"His new novel is called The Librarianist and it's a really interesting character study," said Patrick, "A lot of [deWitt's] books are dark humour and nihilistic points of views, but this book was really charming and [deWitt] was really giving in the interview so I'm looking forward to having people listen to it."
Patrick added "I would just like to thank Shelagh Rogers for being so giving, and being a friend, and a mentor for me and providing space for me to do the summer show. I would also like to thank The Next Chapter team, which includes senior producer Jacqueline Kirk and summer show producer Lisa Matthews."
The Next Chapter airs every Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on CBC Radio, the CBC Listen app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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