Bookwaves/Artwaves presents in-depth interviews with authors of fiction and narrative non-fiction, delving deeply into political and social issues, literary technique, and the life of the author, along with interviews devoted to theatre and film, and archive interviews from Bookwaves and Probabilities. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Playwright Luis Alfaro discusses his latest play, “The Travelers,” at the Magic Theatre through March 15, with host Richard Wolinsky. A Chicano activist and performer, Luis Alfaro has established a career as one of this country’s leading playwrights. This interview focuses not only on his present work, but on his career and his views about the state of live theater today.
Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Jane Smiley discusses her latest novel, “A Dangerous Business,” set in Monterey, California in the 1850s. Then, a 1990 Probabilities interview with the great British feminist writer Fay Weldon (1931-2023) who died on January 4, 2023 at the age of 91, conducted by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff. Finally, a review of the play “Clyde’s” by Lynn Nottage, at Berkeley Rep’s Peets Theater through February 26, 2023. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
To start Black History Month, an interview with Wil Haygood, author of “Colorization,” which discusses Black film-making history and the relationship of Hollywood to the African American community. That’s followed by the second part of a two part interview with film critic Dennis Lim, as he discusses his own career and talks a bit about the work of David Lynch. Also: Review of “In Every Generation” at TheatreWorks Mountain View Center for the Arts.
Part One: Dennis Lim, film critic and Artistic Director of the New York Film Festival and author of “Tale of Cinema,” an examination of the work of South Korean film-maker Hong Sang-soo, in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky.
Part Two: Russell Banks (1940-January 7, 2023) was a master of fiction, both novels and short stories. In this interview conducted on June 7, 2000, he discusses his then most recent short story collection along with aspects of his career with Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff. This interview has not aired in over twenty years.
Jack O’Brien, theatre director and author of Jack in the Box, or How to Goddamn Direct, in conversation with Richard Wolinsky. Jack O’Brien has won three Tony Awards and has been nominated seven times. The former artistic director of The Old Globe in San Diego, from 1981 to 2007, he’s one of the premier directors working in America today. Among his Broadway shows are The Full Monty, Hairspray, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Catch Me If You Can and The Coast of Utopia. He directed the much lauded 2018 revival of Carousel on Broadway. Most recently, in 2021, he directed Hairspray in London.
Two artists who died on January 2, 2023. Suzy McKee Charnas (1939-2023) was a groundbreaking feminist author of science fiction and fantasy. In this interview early in her career, in 1981, she talks about her history as a writer and her engagement with feminist issues. Frank Galati (1943=2023) was a giant among theater directors, particularly in his home town, Chicago. He was in San Francisco in 2019 to discuss both his career and his then-current project, “Rhinoceros” by Eugene O’Neill, at ACT. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Venessa Veselka discusses her two novels, “The Great Offshore Grounds” and “Zazen,” both just released in trade paperback, then a 1981 interview with Robert B. Parker (1932-2010) about the origins of Spenser and Hawk, and his views on detective fiction. Weekly Review: As You Like It, at San Francisco Playhouse through January 14, 2023. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Mystery writer Shelley Singer (1939-2022), who also served as a book reviewer at KPFA, interviewed by Richard Wolinsky and Richard A. Lupoff in 1986 in an interview not aired since that time, followed by a 2000 interview with Philip Pullman, author of the “His Dark Materials” and “Book of Dust” trilogies. Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
Helen Benedict, co-author (with Eyad Awwadawnon) of “Map of Hope and Sorrow: Stories of Refugees Trapped in Greece,” in conversation with host Richard Wolinsky. Helen Benedict is the author of seven novels and five books of non-fiction. Her latest book, “Map of Hope and Sorrow,” co-written by Eyad Awwadawnon, a Syrian refugee who was planning to get a law degree in Damascus, is partly an oral history of refugees coming to Greece after escaping from their home countries, and partly a look at the refugee camps of Greece. Also: Review of “Little Shop of Horrors” at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.
Derek Goldman, co-author and director of “Remember This: The Lesson of Jan Karski,” at Berkeley Rep, December 2 – 18, 2022, interviewed by Richard Wolinsky.
William Gibson, noted science fiction writer, discussing the early history of cyberpunk, recorded February 4, 2003 in the KPFA studios. Segment never before aired.
Review: “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” at Shotgun Players Ashby Stage through Jan. 15, 2023.
Hosted by Richard Wolinsky.
