Episode 14: "The Thinking is the Plot with Jeannie Vanasco"

"A habit of mind with Mark Haber"

Naomi is joined by writer Mark Haber for a conversation about the habit of mind cultivated through reading. We discuss the kind of writer who opens a door for other writers, tracing a thread through Haber’s early encounter with Kurt Vonengut to a later encounter and friendship with the Argentinian writer Rodrigo Fresán. We talk about voice-driven novels over plot-driven novels, books in conversation with each other, and books that don’t shy away from their influences, along with the American obsession with the myth of originality, of what’s never been done before. Our conversation is framed by Haber’s reading of Rodrigo Fresán’s book The Invented Part, translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden. Reading List The Invented Part [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-invented-part-rodrigo-fres-n/19ba61c74c6b61c1?ean=9781940953564&next=t], Rodrigo Fresán Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut Lesser Ruins [https://bookshop.org/p/books/lesser-ruins-mark-haber/31a9e7aa2aaaa7e5?ean=9781566897198&next=t], Mark Haber Reinhardt’s Garden [https://bookshop.org/p/books/reinhardt-s-garden-mark-haber/767e24968a7294b5?ean=9781566895620&next=t], Mark Haber Saint Sebastian’s Abyss [https://bookshop.org/p/books/saint-sebastian-s-abyss-mark-haber/0b50a8dece6f5a9c?ean=9781566896368&next=t], Mark Haber Pre-order Haber’s new novel ADA [https://coffeehousepress.org/products/ada], out July 14, 2026 with Coffee House Press here. Other Selected writing by Mark Haber How to Read Kafka [https://southwestreview.com/how-to-read-kafka/] César Aira Makes the Impossible Possible [https://lithub.com/cesar-aira-makes-the-impossible-possible/] The Writer You’ve Never Heard of that Made My Book Possible, on the life and writing of Mila Menendez Krause [https://lithub.com/the-writer-youve-never-heard-of-that-made-my-book-possible/] Mark Haber was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Florida. His debut novel, Reinhardt’s Garden (2019), was longlisted for the PEN/Hemingway Award. His second novel, Saint Sebastian’s Abyss (2022), and third, Lesser Ruins (2024) were both named as a best book of the year by the New York Public Library. His fourth novel, Ada, will be published this July. Mark's fiction has appeared in Guernica, Southwest Review, and LitHub, among others. Mark lives in Minneapolis. Find a copy of Marginalia: an autobiography from Autofocus Books [https://autofocusbooks.com/store/p/marginalia], New York University Press [https://nyupress.org/9781957392394/marginalia/], or your local independent bookstore. Subscribe to Process Notes [https://naomiwasher.substack.com/] for further reflections on reading, subjectivity, and psychoanalysis.

"Who speaks and who listens with Akshi Singh"

Naomi is joined by writer and psychoanalyst Akshi Singh. They speak about the kind of associations that prompt more writing in the margins versus the moments of significance that are less immediately available in words; teaching oneself to write dialogue in a novel; how a listener can fade into listening; the problems we're embroiled in while reading; how the carrying-on of one version of a life can involve the repression of one's own thoughts and wishes; and psychoanalysis, friendships, and diaries as spaces where speech and writing can create new experiences of thinking. Reading List Voices in the Evening [https://bookshop.org/p/books/voices-in-the-evening-natalia-ginzburg/3e37b6f16a9b0280?ean=9780811231008&next=t], Natalia Ginzburg A Life of One's Own [https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-life-of-one-s-own-marion-milner/d40fc030bcb11a2e?ean=9781032757551&next=t], Marion Milner How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978-1998 [https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-end-a-story-collected-diaries-1978-1998-helen-garner/3e07073663e3e055?ean=9780553387490&next=t], Helen Garner Selection of related essays by Akshi Singh When Raising Your Voice is Not Enough to be Heard [https://artreview.com/when-raising-your-voice-is-not-enough-to-be-heard-opinion-akshi-singh-anne-carson-gender-sound-laila-soueif/] Issey Miyake [https://granta.com/issey-miyake/] X [https://granta.com/x/] Akshi Singh is a writer and psychoanalyst. Born in India, she lives in Glasgow. Akshi is the author of In Defence of Leisure: Experiments in Living with Marion Milner (Jonathan Cape, 2025). She works across genres, writing memoir, criticism, fiction, and poetry. Her writing on psychoanalysis, art, and politics has appeared in Granta, Parapraxis, The London Review of Books, Art Review and elsewhere. She has a PhD in literature from the University of London. She was previously a Wellcome Trust funded postdoctoral fellow at Queen Mary, University of London, and Lecturer in Global Migrations at the University of Glasgow. She is Associate Editor at Parapraxis magazine and Deputy Editor at Critical Quarterly. Find a copy of Marginalia: an autobiography from Autofocus Books [https://autofocusbooks.com/store/p/marginalia], New York University Press [https://nyupress.org/9781957392394/marginalia/], or your local independent bookstore. Subscribe to Process Notes [https://naomiwasher.substack.com/] for further reflections on reading, subjectivity, and psychoanalysis.

"One word gives way to the next with Emily LaBarge"

For the first episode of Season 2, Naomi is joined by writer and art critic Emily LaBarge. We revisit marginalia from her copies of Amy Hempel's The Dog of the Marriage, Joan Didion's The White Album, Sylvia Plath's The Unabridged Journals, and Alice Munro's Who Do You Think You Are? exploring a lineage of library-keeping; book titles lost in translation across continents; forms of intertextual desire; marginalia as a record of life outside the book; the complexity of memory; and the internal rhythms of our prose style, as they develop consciously and unconsciously through our practice of reading and thinking. Reading List The Dog of the Marriage [https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-dog-of-the-marriage-stories_amy-hempel/433497/?srsltid=AfmBOoq0g-mLlBlJBmFzmiTCW8cF8GEPgTKUHQbw0aTcL7czp0Og6uC7#edition=3408785&idiq=2881129], Amy Hempel The White Album [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-white-album-essays-joan-didion/a7700f62bf86cd3d?ean=9780374532079&next=t], Joan Didion The Unabridged Journals [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-unabridged-journals-of-sylvia-plath-sylvia-plath/f107200eef314774?ean=9780385720250&next=t], Sylvia Plath Who Do You Think You Are? [https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/who-do-you-think-you-are_alice-munro/274305/item/83627195/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=LCE_low_vol_f%2fm%2fs_standard_shopping_customer_aquisition_22591097975&utm_adgroup=&utm_term=&utm_content=754049995133&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22591097975&gbraid=0AAAAADwY45gWYXvE4lssj0pjDE2he0vac&gclid=CjwKCAjwtvvPBhBuEiwAPMijr4N8fkwsqYvuTWMwKuJLSTyyh14IqMRPs8LpVICrqME4qpVXzAUPiBoCSFoQAvD_BwE#idiq=83627195&edition=65398465], Alice Munro Selection of related essays by Emily LaBarge "Best Book of 1978: Who Do You Think You Are?" [https://granta.com/best-book-of-1978-who-do-you-think-you-are/] "Chantal Akerman's Elusive Interiors: what the filmmaker's portrayal of women reveals--and withholds" [https://yalereview.org/article/emily-labarge-chantal-akerman] "What Wasn't There" [https://www.affidavit.art/articles/what-wasnt-there] Purchase LaBarge's debut DOG DAYS [https://www.emilylabarge.co.uk/work/dog-days] Emily LaBarge is a Canadian writer living in London. Her essays and criticism have appeared in Granta, the London Review of Books, Artforum, mousse, Bookforum, Frieze, The Observer, and The Paris Review, among others. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times and 4Columns. She is the author of Dog Days (Peninsula Press, 2025; Transit and Hamish Hamilton Canada, 2026). Find a copy of Marginalia: an autobiography from Autofocus Books [https://autofocusbooks.com/store/p/marginalia], New York University Press [https://nyupress.org/9781957392394/marginalia/], or your local independent bookstore. Subscribe to Process Notes [https://naomiwasher.substack.com/] for further reflections on reading, subjectivity, and psychoanalysis.

Episode 14: "The Thinking is the Plot with Jeannie Vanasco"

For our final episode of our first season, Naomi is joined by fellow Annie Ernaux enthusiast Jeannie Vanasco for an in-depth discussion on immersion in the reading process, the un-self-consciousness of writing memoir, the question of whether there is a divide between the craft and the personal, and how we make choices about what to leave out when and why. For the Annie Ernaux fans out there, Naomi and Jeannie look closely at Jeannie's marginalia in her copies of Shame [https://bookshop.org/p/books/shame-annie-ernaux/e06a35cb03a20ad4?ean=9781583220184&next=t] and The Other Girl [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-other-girl-annie-ernaux/b1c4713e46fde7b5?ean=9781644214879&next=t] and their influence on Jeannie's work, particularly The Glass Eye. Shout-out to Seven Stories Press, Ernaux's American publisher -- we're repping your Annie Ernaux hats and shirts and hope you'll make more of them ;) Author Bio: Jeannie Vanasco is the author of A Silent Treatment [https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-silent-treatment-a-memoir-jeannie-vanasco/7df47bc1be3a7326?ean=9781963108453&next=t], which was named a best book of 2025 by NPR and a best nonfiction book of 2025 by Electric Literature. Her other memoirs include Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl [https://bookshop.org/p/books/things-we-didn-t-talk-about-when-i-was-a-girl-a-memoir-jeannie-vanasco/0cbe9841689cb7c8?ean=9781951142032&next=t]—a New York Times Editors' Choice and a best book of 2019 by TIME, Esquire, Kirkus, among others—and The Glass Eye [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-glass-eye-a-memoir-jeannie-vanasco/6adefe269b155f14?ean=9781941040775&next=t], which Poets & Writers called one of the five best literary nonfiction debuts of 2017. Born and raised in Sandusky, Ohio, she lives in Baltimore and is an associate professor of English at Towson University. Her fourth book is under contract with Tin House, publisher of her other memoirs. Marginalia: an autobiography is out now! Order it from Autofocus Books [https://autofocusbooks.com/store/p/marginalia] or your favorite, cool bookstore (like Unnameable Books [https://unnameablebooks.square.site/], Book Club Bar [https://www.bookclubbar.com/preorders/naomi-washer-marginalia], Exile in Bookville [https://exileinbookville.com/], Literati [https://literatibookstore.com/], Third Place Books [https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/], Skunk Cabbage Books [https://www.skunkcabbagebooks.com/events/3608620251003], Interabang Books [https://interabangbooks.com/book/9781957392394], and more)! Subscribe to her Substack, Process Notes [https://naomiwasher.substack.com/], for further thoughts and reflections.

Episode 13: "Lori Feathers on the hypnotic style of abundant books"

Naomi is joined by bookseller and podcaster Lori Feathers to discuss her reading of The Hunger of Women [https://interabangbooks.com/book/9781913505868] by Marosia Castaldi, translated by Jamie Richards (And Other Stories, 2023). They explore the impact of this rhythmic, hypnotic prose, the embedded references to books from other cultures, and the lineage of ‘abundant’ books that drives so much of Lori’s reading. Reading List: Miss Mackintosh, My Darling [https://interabangbooks.com/book/9781628973952] by Marguerite Young Palinuro of Mexico [https://interabangbooks.com/book/9781628975635] by Fernando del Paso Ducks, Newburyport [https://interabangbooks.com/book/9781771963077] by Lucy Ellmann Lori Feathers is a writer and podcaster in Dallas, Texas, and a co-owner/founder of Interabang Books [https://interabangbooks.com/] where she is the store’s book buyer. She is creator of “The Big Book Project” [https://thebigbookproject.substack.com/] on Substack, and co-hosts the critically acclaimed books podcast, “Across the Pond.” [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1728150] Lori is founding Chair of the Republic of Consciousness Prize, US and Canada [https://www.republicofconsciousnessprize-usa.com/], a prize honoring the work of small publishers, and co-founder of the Inside Literary Prize [https://www.innovatingjustice.org/inside-literary-prize/] for incarcerated persons. For six years she served on the elected board of the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing can be found at Literary Hub, Words Without Borders, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Southwest Review. Marginalia: an autobiography is out now! Order it from Autofocus Books [https://autofocusbooks.com/store/p/marginalia] or your favorite, cool bookstore (like Unnameable Books [https://unnameablebooks.square.site/], Book Club Bar [https://www.bookclubbar.com/preorders/naomi-washer-marginalia], Exile in Bookville [https://exileinbookville.com/], Literati [https://literatibookstore.com/], Third Place Books [https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/], Skunk Cabbage Books [https://www.skunkcabbagebooks.com/events/3608620251003], Interabang Books [https://interabangbooks.com/book/9781957392394], and more)! Subscribe to her Substack, Process Notes [https://naomiwasher.substack.com/], for further thoughts and reflections.