Read an excerpt of Tom Scocca's Beijing Welcomes You on Slate

"The Year of the Pig would begin in February. At the Carrefour supermarket, by the north side of the Third Ring, the entrance ramp was lined with pig merchandise and decorations in the red of the festival season till it resembled an inflamed esophagus. There were to be no pigs on CCTV, however. In a gesture of intranational (rather than international) hypersensitivity, the state broadcaster was banning on-air pig imagery, so as not to offend the sensibilities of China's Muslim minority." More...

Salon interviews Tom Scocca on the importance of understanding China’s modernization

Beijing Welcomes You author Tom Scocca explains the significance of China’s rapid modernization and what the U.S. can learn from its advancement. Read the full interview here.

Maile Meloy in the New York Times on childhood reading and its rewards

Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It author Maile Meloy reminisces about the deal she strikes as a child to read classic books in exchange for a new bike and the reward of freedom it unexpectedly grants. Read the full New York Times op-ed here.

Nick Hornby on fellow Riverhead author Sarah Vowell’s Unfamiliar Fishes

In his June column for The Believer, Nick Hornby’s challenge as an Englishman is to read and enjoy the “awesomely uncompromising” American nature of Vowell’s books, including her most recent novel Unfamiliar Fishes. Read Hornby’s column here.

The Rumpus interviews the ‘rabidly funny’ Sloane Crosley

Sloane Crosley, author of How Did You Get This Number and I Was Told There Would Be Cake, talks to Rumpus about why she writes about what she writes about, generational nostalgia, and old men in Ed Hardy.

Patricia McArdle sees solar cooking as a source of renewable energy and hope in Afghanistan

Farishta author Patricia McArdle promotes cooking with solar ovens as an inexpensive, long-term method of renewable energy that fits in with Afghanistan’s long tradition of sustainable living. Read the full article at Reuters here. Don’t forget to check out her NYT op-ed on sustainability and U.S. policy in Afghanistan if you haven’t already!

Jamil Ahmad interview in Granta magazine

Listen to Jamil Ahmad speak with Granta’s Ellah Allfrey about his forthcoming book, The Wandering Falcon, a novel set in the tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

South of Superior featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition

Ellen Airgood discusses the “magical” setting of her debut novel South of Superior, in which a Chicago transplant learns to understand the complexities of living in a small, tight-knit community on the coast of Lake Superior. Listen to the full interview or read the transcript here.

You are Free author Danzy Senna’s thoughts on being a “mixed-race artist”

Riverhead author Danzy Senna contributes her thoughts on biracial identity in a New York Times article on the rising profile of mixed-race artists. Her short story collection out from Riverhead, You Are Free, explores the issues faced by women between the lines of race and class. Read the full article here.

Female writers talk about sex

Erica Jong’s new anthology Sugar in My Bowl features three Riverhead authors who share their stories, thoughts, and advice on real women and real sex. Rebecca Walker, author of One Big Happy Family, reflects on walking away from the best sex she could have had. Meghan O’Rourke, author of The Long Goodbye, writes about reaching out for her first lover after her mother’s death. Julie Klam, author of You Had Me at Woof, talks about rebellion against being too open about sex. Read more excerpts on the NPR website here.