What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books

My guest on this episode is Karen Solie. Karen is the author of the poetry collections Short Haul Engine, Modern and Normal, Pigeon, The Road In Is Not the Same Road Out, and The Caiplie Caves–which have won her the Dorothy Livesay Award, the Pat Lowther Award, the Trillium Poetry Prize, and the Griffin Prize. Her most recent collection, Wellwater, was published by House of Anansi in 2025. It won the Governor General's Award For Poetry, the Forward Prize, and the T.S. Eliot Prize. It was also named a book of the year by the Guardian, the Financial Times, the CBC, and the Observer. The Times Literary Supplement called the book “authoritative and unforgettable.”

Karen and I talk about how little stress she felt going into T.S. Eliot Prize event, mostly because she assumed she had very little chance of winning, about the joy of using the prize money to pay off her credit card debt, and about her plans for her next book, which may see her taking a break from poetry.

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.
Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Haley Mlotek. Haley is an author, editor, and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, Bookforum, The Paris Review, The Columbia Journalism Review, Vogue, ELLE, Harper’s Bazaar, and n+1, among others. She is a founding member of the Freelance Solidarity Project in the National Writers Union, and is currently the director of content at Feeld. Her first book, No Fault: A Memoir of Romance and Divorce, was published by Viking Books and McClelland & Stewart in 2025. Author Susan Orlean called the book “an ideal hybrid of rigorous reporting, social commentary, and personal reflection on the nature of love and divorce.”

Haley and I talk about the brief urge she had to cancel publication of her book the night before it came out, about resisting the idea that writing a book about divorce makes her either an expert on divorce or an advocate for it, and about the importance of recognizing that books are not built upon two or three moments of inspiration, but upon hundreds and hundreds of small decisions.

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.
Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Michelle Shephard. Michelle is an award-winning author, journalist, filmmaker, and podcast host and producer. She is the author of Guantanamo’s Child: The Untold Story of Omar Khadr and Decade of Fear: Reporting from Terrorism’s Grey Zone. Her films include the Emmy-nominated documentary Guantanamo’s Child, The Perfect Story, The Man Who Stole Einstein's Brain, and The Way Out. Her most recent book is Code Name: Pale Horse, which she co-wrote with retired FBI Special Agent Scott Payne, and which was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. Kirkus Reviews called it “an eye-opening look at the small but eminently dangerous radical right-wing fringe out there in the shadows.”

Michelle and I talk about the kinds of things she has witnessed while reporting in places like Guantanamo Bay, about how she—an unapologetically lefty journalist who has reported extensively on abuses by the police and other government forces—handled co-writing a book with a former FBI agent, and about the journalist/novelist she looks to as a model as she contemplates trying her hand at a work of fiction.

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.
Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Antonio Michael Downing. Antonio is the author of the memoir Saga Boy and the children’s book Stars in My Crown, and is the current host of CBC Radio’s book program The Next Chapter. He also writes and performs music as John Orpheus. His most recent book is the novel Black Cherokee, published in 2025 by Simon & Schuster Canada. Author Zalika Reid-Benta said that “Downing’s prose is both lyrical and controlled and weaves together a story that is, at once expansive and intimate, expertly blending the personal with the sweeping nature of the historical.”

Antonio and I talk about bringing his own perspective as an author to his work on The Next Chapter, about why he handwrites the drafts of his books, and about unexpectedly discovering a kindred creative spirit in Anne of Green Gables.

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.
Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My guest on this episode is Timothy Taylor. Timothy is a novelist, journalist, and educator whose books include the novels Stanley Park, Story House, The Blue Light, and The Rule of Stephens, the story collection Silent Cruise, and the non-fiction work Foodville. His work has nominated for multiple awards, including the Giller Prize, and has been chosen as the ‘One Book One City’ selection for Vancouver and named a finalist for Canada Reads. His most recent book is the novel The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf, published by Dundurn Press in 2024. Author Kevin Chong called the book “a sumptuously written story about culinary ambition, restaurant-world vice, and the frailties of the heart.”

Timothy and I talk about starting his writing career with a triple-nomination for the Journey Prize (which he ended up winning), about not wanting to be pigeon-holed as someone who always writes about restaurants and food, the subject of his most recent novel, and about the discovery of family secrets that have led to a massive podcast project with The Walrus and an upcoming book.

This podcast is produced and hosted by Nathan Whitlock, in partnership with The Walrus.
Music: "simple-hearted thing" by Alex Lukashevsky. Used with permission.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.