Albert Camus (1913–1960) was a French writer-philosopher born in the North African country of Algeria, a French colony until 1962. In 1957, Camus won the Nobel Prize for Literature. His celebrated novels The Stranger and The Plague reflect his absurdist and existential philosophies. Tragically, the writer died in a car accident at the age of 46 at what some consider to be the peak of his career. Listen to hear how Camus and his work were viewed during his lifetime and after his untimely death.
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In the 1880s European countries divided up Africa and made them their colonies. In the 1960s, 17 of those nations gained independence. The European countries and their former African colonies still feel the effects of colonization today. France colonized nearly all of northern Africa and large parts of sub-Saharan Africa, as you can see on the map. Holding onto these countries makes France feel strong as a nation and world power. Many French leaders say they will give up their connections to their former colonies that are now independent. However, in this interview with a journalist covering Africa, we learn how France is still very involved in African states they formerly ruled in.
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This story features an interview with author Jay Cantor about his 2014 story collection, "Forgiving the Angel: Four Stories for Franz Kafka." In this work, Cantor fictionalizes the lives of several friends of renowned Czech writer Franz Kafka’s in order to examine the influence Kafka had on them. In the interview, Cantor explains what drew him to Kafka, the dilemma Kafka created for his close friend Max Brod, and the meaning of the term Kafkaesque. Listen to the story to learn about one writer’s inspiration and his thoughts on a literary giant.
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Langston Hughes was one of the most influential writers of the Harlem Renaissance, a flourishing of African American art and culture that occurred in the late 1920s through the early 1930s. In 2015, Hughes’s letters were collected in Selected Letters of Langston Hughes by a team of editors. The letters reveal much about how Hughes viewed his writing, how he dealt with criticism, and how he felt about friends and peers. Listen to this interview with one of the editors of the collection to learn what Hughes’s letters reveal about who he was as a man, an African American, and a writer.
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Acclaimed American author Kurt Vonnegut is known for his legacy of satirical literature, including his best-selling novel Slaughterhouse Five and his short-story collection Welcome to the Monkey House. His writing often mixed dark humor with speculative fiction, calling attention to important issues in American society, politics, and life. Listen to learn more about Vonnegut’s influential work from interviews with the author himself.
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