Carol Edgarian: ‘Every Book, You Have to Woo Your
Readers Again’

On today’s episode of The Literary Life, Mitchell Kaplan talks to Carol Edgarian about her new novel, Vera, out now from Scribner.

From the episode:

Mitchell Kaplan: Clearly, you have not cranked them out, right? I mean, you take the craft of it really seriously, in the sense that your next book was a number of years later, which was Three Stages of Amazement, which also takes place in your adopted home—but it’s no longer adopted. I mean, it’s who you are, right?—in San Francisco. Each book is hailed as a real event. It must be very, very gratifying to know that you have this readership that will wait for you, in that sense.

Carol Edgarian: That’s a lovely thing to say. I feel I have to earn it every time. You do have to earn it every time. There’s so many things vying for readers’ attention and a reader’s heart. And I think every book, you have to woo your readers again, and say, come with me, take my hand. I’m going to lead you down a path that’s going to engage you and entertain you and teach you something and reward you. I don’t think you can ever take that for granted.

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This episode of The Literary Life with Mitchell Kaplan was recorded in Florida. Subscribe now on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever else you find your podcasts!

Carol Edgarian is the author of the New York Times bestseller Three Stages of Amazement and the international bestseller Rise the Euphrates, winner of the ANC Freedom Prize. Her articles and essays have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and W, among many others. She is cofounder and editor of Narrative, a digital publisher of fiction, poetry, and art, and Narrative in the Schools, which provides free libraries and writing resources to teachers and students around the world. Edgarian lives with her family in San Francisco.