Literary Figures

Munro has a new collection called "Selected Stories." Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Paris Review. She's written seven previous short story collections, and has received Canada's highest literary prize three times.

The sixty-year-old writer talks with Terry Gross about his new book "Angela's Ashes." The memoir recounts his childhood experience growing up in the slums of Ireland. McCourt lives in New York.

The Nobel Prize winner and activist talks with Terry about his newest book "The Open Sore of a Continent: A Personal Narrative of the Nigerian Crisis." It's been nearly a year since the Nigerian military government executed dissident writer Ken Saro-Wiwa. The killing sparked international protests that today has left Nigeria politically isolated. The events that led up to the execution in November 1995 mark Nigeria's decline from a thriving post-colonial state to its present military dictatorship.

The essayist, poet and playwright's new book, "Make-Believe Town," is a selection of essays about everything from theater to politics to Judaism. His work has been called opinionated, forceful, original and always surprising. Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize for his play "Glengarry Glen Ross" and has written and directed several motion pictures.

Performance poet Sapphire has written a new novel, "Push," in the voice of a 16 year-old black girl named Precious Jones, who is pregnant for the second time by her father. Her world opens up when a teacher encourages her to learn to read and write. Sapphire taught reading and writing to teenagers and adults in Harlem and the Bronx for eight years. There's also a new edition of her book of poetry, "American Dreams."

Author Barbara Grizzuti Harrison. Her new book is "An Accidental Autobiography (Houghton Mifflin). In this unconventional memoir, Harrison arranges the chapters alphabetically because she says "the path of memory is circular and coherent." Harrison grew up in Brooklyn and was converted by her mother to Jehovah's Witness, a source of much pain and a major influence in her writing. Also a journalist, essayist and short story writer, she has traveled extensively in Libya, India, Guatamala and Italy. Harrison has seven other non-fiction books and one novel.

Writer Mary Gordon. Her new memoir, "The Shadow Man: A Daughter's Search for Her Father" (Random House), is about her research into her father's past. Gordon's father died when she was seven. Gordon has written several bestselling novels, including "Final Payments" and "The Company of Women."

Poet, performer, and punk rocker Patti Smith. Early in her career she lived with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and -- she says -- the two helped each other form and develop their individual talents. (Her 1975 debut album cover was photograph was taken by Mappelthorpe.) Terry talks with Smith on the occasion of the publication of, "Mappelthorpe Altars," (Random House) the color companion volume to the collection of his black-and-white prints, "Mapplethorpe" published in 1992.

Publisher of The Nation, Victor Navasky. He was one of a group of writers who in 1967 conceived of a literary hoax. The book "Report From Iron Mountain," was penned by Leonard Lewin and was a satire, supposedly written by a commission of eminent scholars about the problems that would arise in the United States if "permanent peace" should arrive. The book has been compared to Swift's "A Modest Proposal" and "Dr. Strangelove" for its social and political commentary. It wasn't until 1972 that Lewin admitted the hoax.

Rosanne Cash. The singer/lyricist has released nine albums. In 1985 she won a Grammy for "I don't Know Why You Don't Want Me." Cash is the daughter of Johnny Cash. She currently has a new album, "Ten-Song Demo" (Capitol Records) and her first work of fiction: "Bodies of Water" (Hyperion) a collection of nine short stories. One reviewer writes, "her talent as a lyricist translates beautifully into short fiction."