Nathan Scott McNamara also contributes at Literary Hub, the Atlantic, the Millions, the Washington Post, Electric Literature, and more. Follow him at @nathansmcnamara, or read more at nathanscottmcnamara.com.
CONTRIBUTOR ARTICLES
Submersion: The Sensory-Heightened Fiction of Elvira Navarro
Nathan Scott McNamara explores “Rabbit Island,” the new short story collection by Elvira Navarro and translated by Christina MacSweeney....
The Humiliation of No Longer Being Desired: Nathalie Léger’s Investigations of Abandonment
Nathan Scott McNamara considers Nathalie Léger's "The White Dress," out now from Dorothy in a translation by Natasha Lehrer....
Allegories of Otherness: The Unnerving Isolation of Marie NDiaye’s “That Time of Year”
Nathan Scott McNamara appreciates "That Time of Year," the new novel by Marie NDiaye translated by Jordan Stump....
Each Moment Bleeding into the Next: On Yoshiharu Tsuge’s “The Swamp”
Nathan Scott McNamara gets bogged down in “The Swamp,” a collection of manga by Yoshiharu Tsuge....
Life Out of Balance: Deb Olin Unferth’s “Barn 8”
Nathan Scott McNamara reviews Deb Olin Unferth's new novel, "Barn 8."...
“Books Find Their Way to Readers”: The Barcelona Literary Agency Casanovas & Lynch
Nathan Scott McNamara talks to María Lynch and Sandra Pareja of Casanovas & Lynch, a Barcelona-based literary agency....
The Soul Makes Room: On Amina Cain’s “Indelicacy”
Nathan Scott McNamara considers “Indelicacy,” the new novel from Amina Cain....
Failed Utopias: On Johannes Anyuru’s “They Will Drown in Their Mothers’ Tears”
Nathan Scott McNamara reviews Johannes Anyuru's "They Will Drown in Their Mothers’ Tears," translated by Saskia Vogel....
In Your Loss of Time I Found All of Myself Included: On Naja Marie Aidt’s “When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back”
Nathan Scott McNamara reviews Naja Marie Aidt’s “When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back,” translated from the Danish by Denise Newman....
The Pleasure of Momentum, the Heat of Containment: On “The Remainder” by Alia Trabucco Zerán
Nathan Scott McNamara reads "The Remainder" by Alia Trabucco Zerán, out now in a translation from Sophie Hughes....
Shine a Light: Tom Roberge and Emma Ramadan on Selling Uncommon Books
Nathan Scott McNamara talks to Tom Roberge and Emma Ramadan, co-owners of Riffraff, a bookstore, coffee shop, and bar in Providence, Rhode Island....
Parallel Deterioration: On Brian Evenson’s “Song for the Unraveling of the World”
In “Song for the Unraveling of the World,” Brian Evenson renders the world as a place of infinite and paralyzing delusion....
Eyes Cracking Like Egg Yolks: LeAnne Howe’s “Savage Conversations”
"Savage Conversations" is an interrogation of the depth and rot of American racism and the way it distorts the minds of everyone, even our political icons....
Emergency Lights Blinking: On Samanta Schweblin’s “Mouthful of Birds”
Nathan Scott McNamara reviews Samanta Schweblin's new collection of short stories, "Mouthful of Birds."...
It Just Made Perfect Sense: Dorothy, a Publishing Project
Danielle Dutton and Martin Riker’s Dorothy, a Publishing Project is a small feminist press that isn’t stopping anytime soon....
Everything Was a Fake
Nathan Scott McNamara reviews Helen DeWitt’s collection “Some Trick,” where we are granted access to 13 more of her mad performances....
Breathing Life into Language: The Collaborations of Christina MacSweeney
Nathan Scott McNamara talks to translator Christina MacSweeney about her work with Valeria Luiselli, Verónica Gerber Bicecci, and Daniel Saldaña París....
The Straight Way Was Lost: Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi’s “Call Me Zebra”
Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi’s “Call Me Zebra” threads narrative and theory to depict the isolating experience of exile....
Where Is the Thing We’re Chasing? Renee Gladman and Her Invented City of Ravicka
Nathan Scott McNamara visits Renee Gladman at her home in Connecticut to discuss loneliness, love, and her invented city of Ravicka....
From Isolated Places: Fleur Jaeggy’s “I Am the Brother of XX”
Nathan Scott McNamara discusses the isolation from which Fleur Jaeggy writes “I Am the Brother of XX.”...
Midnight Madness: Franz Kafka’s “Investigations of a Dog: And Other Creatures”
“Investigations of a Dog: And Other Creatures” offers a glimpse into Franz Kafka’s crazed late-night writing sessions....
The Waterfall Coping Strategy: Patty Yumi Cottrell’s “Sorry to Disrupt the Peace”
Patty Yumi Cottrell’s debut “Sorry to Disrupt the Peace” asks how to live with trauma....
A Surreal Argentine Western in César Aira’s “Ema the Captive”
César Aira's "Ema the Captive" is a surreal Western in the spirit of Cormac McCarthy’s "Blood Meridian" that causes you to lose your sense of proportion....
BLARB BLOG POSTS
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“I don’t know how we could bear it if we couldn’t share in that weirdness”: On Disa Wallander’s Becoming Horses
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“Every so often I hold my breath and hope:” Julia Sanches on Literary Translation and the Translators Collective Cedilla & Co.
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A Space Where Past, Present, and Future Come Together: Ebony Flowers on Hot Comb
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“Here is How I Became a Feminist, and Here is Why This is the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me”: Julie Delporte on This Woman’s Work
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An Image or Idea Arises to Fill Out the Blank: An Interview with Poet Kate Colby
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Prepare a Face to Meet the Faces: Virginie Despentes’s Pretty Things
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Certain Rules of Logic Are Suddenly Obsolete: Aisha Franz on Shit is Real
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The Horrifying Joy of Roque Larraquy’s Comemadre
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A Quiet Pulsing Dread: Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina
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