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PODCAST

Bookends with Mattea Roach

When the book ends, the conversation begins. Mattea Roach speaks with writers who have something to say about their work, the world and our place in it. You’ll always walk away with big questions to ponder and new books to read.

arts books

All Episodes

00:28:29

What does “worldly” mean to a Jehovah’s Witness?

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/02/15

Tamara Jong grew up going door-to-door for the Jehovah’s Witnesses … and her new memoir, Worldly Girls, is all about breaking away from the faith. For much of her life, the strict religious movement was Tamara’s only way of making sense of the world. But as she got older, Tamara began to reflect on her unconventional childhood, complicated relationships with her parents and mental health struggles. She realized that she wasn’t lost without the Witnesses — it was actually the religion that was

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00:33:16

Justice for Murder Bimbo!

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/02/11

Murder Bimbo is a new book about a sex worker-turned assassin … and it’s the debut novel by Rebecca Novack, a former priest-in-training. The story follows a sex worker nicknamed Murder Bimbo who is hired by the government to kill a right-wing politician. She does the deed, makes her escape, and tells her story in emails to a social justice podcaster. But things aren’t quite what they seem. So is she a scapegoat … or is she a liar? This week, Rebecca dives into the wild premise of the book, how she

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00:29:00

Need cash fast? Become a corpse bride today

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/02/08

If you’re worried about being lonely in the afterlife, don’t worry. Just hire a corpse bride to keep you company in the coffin! In Lindsay Wong’s new novel, Villain Hitting for Vicious Little Nobodies, a university dropout is desperate to pay off her family’s debt … so she signs her life away to the ancient Chinese tradition of corpse marriage. But as she prepares to be auctioned off to the highest bidder and locked away in a coffin forever, she realizes that running from her family’s ghosts won’t

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00:31:32

Why an ADHD diagnosis had this author rethinking...

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/02/04

Carla Ciccone was 39 years old when she was diagnosed with ADHD. That diagnosis changed everything for her ... and she shares her experience in her new memoir, Nowhere Girl: Life as a Member of ADHD’s Lost Generation. Over the past few years, the rates of adult women receiving ADHD diagnoses have risen dramatically. So why were these women overlooked for so long? And where do they go from here? This week, Carla tells Mattea about struggling with undiagnosed ADHD, understanding her childhood through

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00:30:51

Capitalism, dating apps and why we love Edmonton

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/02/01

If you’re feeling jaded by money, politics and modern dating … you’re not the only one. Conor Kerr’s new novella, Beaver Hills Forever, follows the everyday lives of four Métis people in Edmonton. The odds are stacked against them and life is exhausting, but each person finds meaning in the small moments and the beauty of life in the Canadian Prairies. Beaver Hills Forever is a poetic love letter to the city of Edmonton and the power of community … and yes, the perils of dating apps make an

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00:28:25

For this author, losing an eye was “kind of...

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/01/25

What would you do if there was a jellyfish in your eye? And what if it started multiplying, blocking your vision completely? That’s the premise of The Jellyfish, the latest graphic novel by the Montreal artist Boum. The Jellyfish is an allegory for learning to live with a degenerative condition and is based on Boum’s own experience with vision loss. It follows a young person named Odette as they navigate life, work and a budding romance … all while jellyfish start to cloud their vision. Boum tells

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00:16:09

This poem is straight out of a dream

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/01/21

The winner of the 2025 CBC Poetry Prize is the Vancouver poet Jordan Redekop-Jones. Jordan’s winning poem, Mixed Girl as Cosmogonic Myth, was inspired by her experience of becoming a caretaker in her 20s in the midst of reconnecting with her cultures and finding her place in the world. It’s a dreamlike ode to her journey and her mother, who she calls “the strongest, most beautiful woman I know.” Jordan tells Mattea Roach about what draws her to writing, navigating her mother’s illness and what’s

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00:34:17

1 marriage, 2 mid-life crises … and a guy named Gluten

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/01/18

“You’ve changed” isn’t necessarily something you want to hear … especially when you’re trying to keep a marriage alive. That’s the premise of Ian Williams’ new novel, You’ve Changed. The book follows a couple named Beckett and Princess who are dealing with their mid-life crises in some questionable ways. While Princess turns to plastic surgery, Beckett throws himself into his work and explores a surprising relationship with a man named Gluten. Yes, Gluten. As the couple change in opposite

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00:37:48

How far would you go for your family?

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/01/14

Would you steal? Would you kill? In Megha Majumdar’s new novel, A Guardian and a Thief, a mother prepares to escape a city in the midst of climate collapse. She’ll do anything for her family … and she’s driven to desperation when their immigration documents are stolen just days before they're set to leave. But is the thief a monster? Or is he merely trying to help his own family? With survival on the line, what would you do to protect the people you love? Megha tells Mattea Roach about writing a

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00:35:17

Buffoon or genius? What makes a cult leader?

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/01/11

To be a good cult leader, you’ll need some natural charisma and a pathological desire for control … and according to Rob Benvie, it might also help if you're a bit of a buffoon. Rob explores this personality mix in his latest novel, The Damagers. The book follows a 15-year-old girl named Zina in 1950s America. After a tragic event, she becomes entangled in an isolated spiritual commune ... in other words, a cult. At the centre of the story is Zina’s own desire for power, which puts her in a

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00:56:42

For Louise Penny, stories come from hurt

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2026/01/04

Louise Penny is one of the biggest mystery novelists alive today … but it didn’t start out that way. Her latest novel, The Black Wolf, is the 20th in her bestselling Armand Gamache series. So how did Louise go from empty book events to packed concert halls? This week, Bookends brings you on-stage at Toronto’s historic Massey Hall. Joined by nearly 2000 of her fans, Louise told Mattea Roach about her long journey to becoming an author, why she’ll never tire of her characters and how pain has made her

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00:51:27

Revisiting Writers & Company: Happy 250th, Jane Austen!

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/12/21

Jane Austen is one of the most enduring novelists of all time. But what do we know about the woman behind the stories? To celebrate Austen’s 250th birthday, we’re revisiting Eleanor Wachtel’s conversation with Carol Shields about her 2001 biography, Jane Austen: A Life. Carol Shields herself was a writer and a lifelong Austen fan, and she talks about how Austen’s stories about marriage, money and family offer insight into who the novelist really was.Check out the rest of the Writers & Company

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00:28:15

So your whole family thinks you’re reincarnated —...

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/12/17

After releasing her breakout hit My Sister the Serial Killer in 2018, Oyinkan Braithwaite struggled to write under the pressure of high expectations. She worried about being a one-hit wonder … but her new novel, Cursed Daughters, proves otherwise. The book follows three generations of women from a family that is believed to be cursed, dooming them all to remain single forever. To make matters worse, one of the young women looks so much like her deceased aunt that her relatives think she's a

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00:31:24

All I want for Christmas … is a fake boyfriend?

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/12/14

Christmas is a time for togetherness, good food … and lying to your family about your love life. At least, that’s the case in Uzma Jalaluddin’s new holiday rom-com, Yours for the Season. The book stars Sameera and Tom, whose career ambitions lead them into a fake-dating situation. The holidays get even messier when Sameera and Tom’s families decide to spend Christmas together … and to top it all off, Sameera’s family has never celebrated Christmas before. It’s a holiday faux-mance that takes a

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00:30:53

Video games are radical. Not in the way you think

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/12/10

Video games make you violent. Video games corrupt the youth. Video games rot your brain! You’ve probably heard that narrative before … but Kawika Guillermo offers a fresh take in their new essay collection, Of Floating Isles: On Growing Pains and Video Games. The book is part memoir, part cultural analysis about the roles that video games play in our lives. For Kawika, games aren’t just a mindless escape — they’re thoughtful works of art that help us understand our identities and the world we live

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00:44:41

Three writers on the monsters that made them

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/12/07

What’s more horrifying than slashers, monsters … and Vancouver real estate? This week, Bookends brings you on-stage at the Vancouver Writers Fest. Back in October, Mattea Roach was joined by writers Mona Awad, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Jen Sookfong Lee for a special panel about how the horror genre reflects our lived experiences. All three authors have written horror stories that go deeper than jump scares or screams in the dark. Their novels tell us the truth about the world through metaphor, myth

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00:32:43

A priest and an artist walk into a bar

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/12/03

… and they can’t keep their hands off each other. That’s the premise at the centre of Brandon Taylor’s latest novel, Minor Black Figures. It’s about a painter named Wyeth who’s struggling to find his voice in New York’s politically charged art scene. It only gets messier when Wyeth has the perfect meet-cute at a bar … and starts falling for someone who has already devoted himself to God. Brandon joins Mattea to talk about his Alabama roots, grappling with a crisis in faith and the impossible

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00:29:23

Anarchists have bigger hearts than you think

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/11/30

What’s more romantic than planning an assassination together?You’d have to ask the radical activist Emma Goldman, who did just that with her revolutionary partner and lover, Sasha Berkman. Emma was a real historical figure and one of the best known anarchists and orators of all time … and the Canadian author Robert Hough fictionalizes her life in his latest novel, Anarchists in Love. The book follows Emma’s early years in New York City, where she meets Sasha, becomes a famed activist … and helps

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00:23:51

John Irving’s new novel returns to a familiar orphanage

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/11/26

John Irving’s books are on many readers’ list of favourites. He’s written novels like The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules, which you also might recognize from their beloved screen adaptations. John is known for writing generation-spanning novels about family, identity and contemporary issues. His latest book, Queen Esther, delivers on that promise. It follows a Vienna-born Jewish orphan named Esther Nacht, whose story is defined by her journey to live an unapologetically Jewish

en-ca

00:30:46

This poem took 16 straight hours to write

Bookends with Mattea Roach ·

2025/11/23

It’s a bit of an understatement to say that Canisia Lubrin has a way with words. Last year, she took home the Carol Shields Prize for her debut novel, Code Noir. Now she’s back with a long-form poem called The World After Rain. The poem is an epic tribute to her mother and the passing of time, and it poured out of Canisia over the span of 16 hours. This week, Canisia joins Mattea Roach to talk about why she never intended to publish the poem … and why she felt she had no choice.Check out our

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