Leah Hager Cohen, critically acclaimed author and English professor, as well as the James N. and Sarah L. O'Reilly Barrett professor in Creative Writing at the College of the Holy Cross, was recently interviewed by The Boston Globe.
Professor Cohen, whose latest novel, "Strangers and Cousins" (Riverhead, 2019), has been dubbed the "perfect summer novel" by The Washington Post, spoke to a Globe reporter about books she enjoys reading, ones that make it into her collection and others she likes to give as gifts.
When asked whether she reads nonfiction, Cohen said "I always confess to my students that when I was their age I couldn’t understand why anyone would pick up nonfiction, which is so embarrassing because now I write it and read it."
"Strangers and Cousins" was also an Editor's Choice pick by The New York Times. "Cheerful and lively, Cohen’s new novel — set at an anarchic family gathering in rural New York — packs a lot of themes into its satisfyingly simple frame. As in a Shakespearean comedy, disparate relationships are resolved and familial love prevails."
Leah Hager Cohen is the author of five works of nonfiction, including "Train Go Sorry" (Houghton Mifflin, 1994), "Glass, Paper, Beans" (Doubleday, 1997), and "I don't know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance" (Riverhead, 2013), and six novels, among them "The Grief of Others" (Riverhead, 2011) and "No Book but the World" (Riverhead 2014). She has received nominations for the IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She is also a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book review.
To read the full interview, go to BostonGlobe.com.
Related Coverage:
- Refinery29, May 1
- Oprah Magazine, May 1
- InStyle Magazine, May 1
- Kveller.com, May 9
- Literary Hub, May 14
- The Washington Post, Nov. 21
