Rumaan Alam, "Leave the World Behind" (Ecco, 2021)

An interview with Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind (2020), a finalist for the National Book Award. Rumaan and I discuss how all fiction must now be climate fiction, being a promiscuous reader, the fallacy of writing from “your roots”, why there is no autofiction of black women’s experience, and the genius of J.M. Coetzee.

Books Recommended in this episode:

Rumaan’s novels: Rich and Pretty, That Kind of Mother, Leave the World Behind

Rumaan Alam Recommends:

• J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace
• David Gates, Jurnigan
• Anita Brookner, Visitors
• Michelle Houellebecq, Elementary Particles
• Don Delillo, Running Do



Chris Holmes is Chair of Literatures in English and Associate Professor at Ithaca College. He writes criticism on contemporary global literatures. His book, Kazuo Ishiguro as World Literature, is under contract with Bloomsbury Publishing. He is the co-director of The New Voices Festival, a celebration of work in poetry, prose, and playwriting by up-and-coming young writers.

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