In each episode of What Happened Next, author Nathan Whitlock interviews other authors about what happens when a new book isn’t new anymore, and it’s time to write another one. This podcast is presented in partnership with The Walrus.https://thewalrus.ca/podcasts/what-happened-next/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Sep 28, 2026 · 26:28
My guest on this episode is Stephen R. Bown. Stephen is an author and historian whose books have been translated into nine languages and have won the BC Book Prize, the Alberta…
Sep 21, 2026 · 28:04
My guest on this episode is Katrina Onstad. Katrina is the author of three novels and one non-fiction book. Her books have been nominated for the Giller Prize and a Toronto Book…
Sep 14, 2026 · 32:28
My guest on this episode is Elizabeth Renzetti. Elizabeth is an author and journalist who worked for the Globe and Mail as a reporter, editor, and columnist, and currently writes…
Sep 7, 2026 · 31:10
My guest on this episode is Raymond Biesinger. Raymond is a Montréal-based illustrator, artist, and author whose work has been published in places like Billboard, the Economist,…
Aug 31, 2026 · 31:52
My guest on this episode is Michelle Berry. Michelle is the author of more than half a dozen novels and three collections of short stories. Her books have been nominated for…
Aug 24, 2026 · 28:04
My guest on this episode is Zilla Jones. Zilla’s writing has won the Journey Prize and been shortlisted for the CBC Short Story Prize and the RBC Bronwen Wallace Award for…
Aug 17, 2026 · 26:05
My guest on this episode is Chantal Braganza. Chantal is the deputy editor at Chatelaine . Her work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine , Hazlitt , The Hairpin , the…
Aug 10, 2026 · 31:13
My guest on this episode is Russell Smith. Russell is the author of multiple novels and collections of short fiction, as well as one non-fiction book. His work has been nominated…
Aug 3, 2026 · 31:06
My guest on this episode is Elliott Gish. Elliott is a writer and librarian whose work has appeared in the Baltimore Review , Dark Matter , Grain , and the New Quarterly . Her…
Jul 27, 2026 · 26:55
My guest on this episode is Jason Schneider. Jason has written for Exclaim!, the Globe & Mail, the Toronto Star, Paste, American Songwriter, Relix, Shindig and many other media…
Jul 20, 2026 · 34:03
My guest on this episode is Jeannie Marshall. Jeannie is a nonfiction author, journalist, and former staff writer at the National Post . She has written for Maclean’s and the…
Jul 13, 2026 · 27:20
My guest on this episode is Emily Weedon. Emily is an award-winning screenwriter and author, whose first book was the novel Autokrator . Her most recent book is the novel Hemo…
Jul 6, 2026 · 28:15
My guest on this episode is Tessa McWatt. Tessa is the author of many novels and books for young people. Her fiction and non-fiction has won the Eccles British Library Award and…
Jun 29, 2026 · 27:36
My guest on this episode is Sarah Leavitt. Sarah is the creator of the graphic memoir Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer's, My Mother, and Me and the historical fiction comic…
Jun 22, 2026 · 27:01
My guest on this episode is Shyam Selvadurai. Shyam’s novels include Funny Boy , Cinnamon Gardens , and The Hungry Ghosts , as well as the YA novel Swimming in the Monsoon Sea .…
Jun 15, 2026 · 29:40
My guest on this episode is Alex Manley. Alex’s essays, fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including The Walrus , Hazlitt, Vulture,…
Jun 8, 2026 · 27:43
My guest on this episode is Dennis Bock. Dennis is the author of the short story collection Olympia and the novels The Ash Garden , The Communist’s Daughter , Going Home Again ,…
Jun 1, 2026 · 28:40
My guest on this episode is Kate Cayley. Kate has published two short story collections and three collections of poetry. She has won the Trillium Book Award, the Mitchell Prize…
May 25, 2026 · 31:49
My guest on this episode is Adriana Barton. Adriana is an author and journalist whose writing has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the Boston Globe, Western Living, Vancouver…
May 18, 2026 · 30:24
My guest on this episode is Gabrielle Drolet. Gabrielle is a journalist, essayist, and cartoonist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, the Globe and Mail , New York Times,…
May 11, 2026 · 33:04
My guest on this episode is Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross. Jacquelyn’s fiction, poetry, essays, and art criticism have appeared in BOMB, C Mag, The Ex-Puritan, Fence, Mousse, and…
May 4, 2026 · 31:27
My guest on this episode is Miriam Toews. Miriam is the author of the internationally acclaimed and bestselling novels Fight Night, Women Talking, All My Puny Sorrows , Irma Voth…
Apr 27, 2026 · 34:39
My guest on this episode is Ira Wells. Ira’s work has appeared in The Guardian , The New Republic , The Walrus , The Globe and Mail , Literary Review of Canada , Los Angeles…
Apr 20, 2026 · 30:33
My guest on this episode is Meredith Hambrock. Meredith’s debut book was the novel Other People’s Secrets . She has been a finalist for the CBC Short Story Prize and worked…
Apr 13, 2026 · 25:05
My guest on this episode is Ethan Lou. Ethan is a journalist whose work has appeared in the Toronto Star, Toronto Life , The Guardian , the Washington Post , and elsewhere. He is…
Apr 6, 2026 · 30:22
My guest on this episode is Zalika Reid-Benta. Zalika’s debut book was the story collection Frying Plantain, which won the 2020 Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the 2020 Rakuten…
Mar 30, 2026 · 26:14
My guest on this episode is Giles Blunt. Giles is the author of a dozen books, including the six novels in the Cardinal series, which were made into a long-running TV series. He…
Mar 23, 2026 · 27:49
My guest on this episode is Donna Jones Alward. Donna wrote and published dozens of romance novels before shifting to historical fiction in 2024 with the bestselling novel When…
Mar 16, 2026 · 32:43
My guest on this episode is Eddy Boudel Tan. Eddy has been a finalist for the Edmund White Award, the ReLit Best Novel Award, and the Ferro-Grumley Award for his novels After…
Mar 9, 2026 · 28:48
My guest on this episode is Merilyn Simonds. Merilyn is the author of more than 20 books, most recently Woman, Watching: Louise de Kiriline Lawrence and the Songbirds of Pimisi…
Mar 2, 2026 · 26:29
My guest on this episode is Liann Zhang. Liann is a former social media content creator whose debut novel, Julie Chan Is Dead , was published by Simon & Schuster Canada in 2025,…
Feb 23, 2026 · 30:18
My guest on this episode is Karen Solie. Karen is the author of the poetry collections Short Haul Engine , Modern and Normal , Pigeon , The Road In Is Not the Same Road Out , and…
Feb 16, 2026 · 29:51
My guest on this episode is Haley Mlotek. Haley is an author, editor, and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, Bookforum, The Paris Review, The…
Feb 9, 2026 · 29:41
My guest on this episode is Michelle Shephard. Michelle is an award-winning author, journalist, filmmaker, and podcast host and producer. She is the author of Guantanamo’s Child:…
Feb 2, 2026 · 26:51
My guest on this episode is Antonio Michael Downing. Antonio is the author of the memoir Saga Boy and the children’s book Stars in My Crown , and is the current host of CBC…
Jan 26, 2026 · 32:30
My guest on this episode is Timothy Taylor. Timothy is a novelist, journalist, and educator whose books include the novels Stanley Park , Story House , The Blue Light , and The…
Jan 19, 2026 · 27:07
My guest on this episode is Tolu Oloruntoba. Tolu is the author of the poetry collections Manubrium , The Junta of Happenstance , which won the Griffin Poetry Prize and the…
Jan 12, 2026 · 28:02
My guest on this episode is Bonny Reichert. Bonny is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist and author who has been an editor at Today’s Parent and Chatelaine , and a…
Jan 5, 2026 · 29:33
My guest on this episode—the first of 2026—is Robert McGill. Robert’s books include three novels, The Mysteries , Once We Had a Country , and A Suitable Companion for the End of…
Dec 29, 2025 · 5:36
My guest on this episode is... nobody. Instead of a regular episode, I wanted to offer my thanks to everyone connected with this podcast, who have helped to make it a reality.…
Dec 22, 2025 · 25:18
My guest on this episode is Rachel Reid. Rachel is the bestselling author of the Game Changers hockey romance series that includes Heated Rivalry , the TV adaptation of which has…
Dec 15, 2025 · 28:36
My guest on this episode is Renée D. Bondy. Renée’s writing has appeared in Herizons , Bitch , Bearings Online , and the Humber Literary Review . Her debut novel, [non]disclosure…
Dec 8, 2025 · 28:05
My guest on this episode is Rik Emmett. Rik is best known for being in the multi-platinum-selling band Triumph until the late 80s, after which he released many, many solo albums.…
Dec 1, 2025 · 30:43
My guest on this episode is Catherine Bush. Catherine is the author of five novels, including Blaze Island , which was a Globe and Mail and Writers’ Trust of Canada Best Book of…
Nov 24, 2025 · 27:03
My guest on this episode is Oonya Kempadoo. Oonya is the author of four novels, the first of which was longlisted for the Orange Prize, the second was longlisted for the IMPAC…
Nov 17, 2025 · 25:50
My guest on this episode is Maggie Helwig. Maggie has published six books of poetry, two books of essays, a collection of short stories, and three novels, including Girls Fall…
Nov 10, 2025 · 29:03
My guest on this episode is Kenneth Oppel. Kenneth’s books include the Silverwing trilogy, which has sold over a million copies around the world, Airborn , winner of the Governor…
Nov 3, 2025 · 27:00
My guest on this episode is Su Chang. Su’s debut novel is The Immortal Woman , published by House of Anansi Press earlier this year. Publishers Weekly called the novel “a…
Oct 27, 2025 · 32:49
My guest on this episode is Niko Stratis. Niko’s writing has appeared in Xtra , Catapult , Spin , Paste, The Walrus, and more. She is the co-editor of the Lambda Literary…
Oct 20, 2025 · 29:57
My guest on this episode is Chelsea Wakelyn. Chelsea is a musician and author whose debut novel, What Remains of Elsie Jane , was published by Dundurn Press in 2023 and was a…
Oct 13, 2025 · 30:44
My guest on this episode is Phoebe Wang. Phoebe is the author of the poetry collections Admission Requirements and Waking Occupations . Her fiction and nonfiction has appeared in…
Oct 6, 2025 · 25:11
My guest on this episode is Guy Vanderhaeghe. Guy is a three-time winner of the Governor’s-General Award for his collections of short stories, Man Descending and Daddy Lenin, and…
Sep 29, 2025 · 27:50
My guest on this episode is Peter Counter. Peter is an author and culture critic whose first book was the essay collection Be Scared of Everything, and his non-fiction has…
Sep 22, 2025 · 34:14
My guest on this episode is Rachel Giese. Rachel is an author and the deputy national editor at The Globe and Mail . Her writing has appeared in The Walrus , The Globe and Mail ,…
Sep 15, 2025 · 29:43
My guest on this episode is Sean Michaels. Sean is the author of the novels Us Conductors , which won the Giller Prize and the Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize, and The Wagers.…
Sep 8, 2025 · 27:26
My guest on this episode is Jon Klassen. Jon is the creator of beloved, bestselling and award-winning “hat” serious of picture books: I Want My Hat Back , This Is Not My Hat ,…
Sep 1, 2025 · 28:16
My guest on this episode is Chelene Knight. Chelene is the author of the collection Braided Skin , the memoir Dear Current Occupant , which won the Vancouver Book Award, the…
Aug 25, 2025 · 29:43
My guest on this episode is Jason Logan. Jason is an artist, graphic designer, and ink maker, and the founder of the Toronto Ink Company. He is the author of the books If We Ever…
Aug 18, 2025 · 22:32
My guest on this episode is Glenn Dixon. Glenn is an author and former educator whose work has appeared in National Geographic , the New York Post , The Globe and Mail , The…
Aug 11, 2025 · 29:51
My guest on this episode is Aviva Rubin. Aviva is an author and essayist whose work has appeared in the New York Times , the Globe and Mail , Chatelaine , and Toronto Life,…
Aug 4, 2025 · 28:27
My guest on this special live episode is Anne Michaels. Anne is an internationally award-winning novelist whose books have been translated into more than forty-five languages.…
Jul 28, 2025 · 32:19
My guest on this episode is Steve Paikin. Steve is an author, journalist, and broadcaster who hosted TVO’s nightly current affairs show The Agenda for 19 years, until that show…
Jul 21, 2025 · 26:58
My guest on this episode is Valérie Bah. Valérie is a multidisciplinary Québécois artist, filmmaker, documentarian, photographer, and writer whose first book was the collection…
Jul 14, 2025 · 30:14
My guest on this episode is Leanne Toshiko Simpson. Leanne is an author and educator who co-founded a reflective writing program at Canada’s largest mental health hospital and…
Jul 7, 2025 · 25:12
My guest on this episode is Natalie Zina Walschots. Natalie is an author, game designer and journalist whose books include two poetry collections, DOOM: Love Poems for…
Jun 30, 2025 · 27:19
My guest on this episode is Michelle Good. Michelle’s first book, the novel Five Little Indians , won the HarperCollins/UBC Best New Fiction Prize, the Amazon First Novel Award,…
Jun 23, 2025 · 24:49
My guest on this episode is Michael Crummey. Michael is the author of seven books of poetry, a collection of short stories, and a half-dozen novels, all of which have won and/or…
Jun 16, 2025 · 31:06
My guest on this episode is Teresa Wong. Teresa is an author and artist whose work has appeared in The Believer, The New Yorker , McSweeney’s and The Walrus . Her first book, the…
Jun 9, 2025 · 26:59
My guest on this episode is Kerry Clare. Kerry is the author of the novels Mitzi Bytes and Waiting for a Star to Fall and the editor of The M Word: Conversations About Motherhood…
Jun 2, 2025 · 24:46
My guest on this episode is Sid Sharp. Sid is an artist and illustrator whose debut graphic novel for young readers, The Wolf Suit , was featured in Best of the Year lists by the…
May 26, 2025 · 27:19
My guest on this episode is John Lorinc. John is a journalist and editor who writes regularly for places like the Globe and Mail , the Toronto Star , The Walrus , and Spacing…
May 19, 2025 · 30:55
My guest on this episode is Charlie Angus. Charlie is a politician, musician, and author who has published nine books, including Unlikely Radicals , Children of the Broken…
May 12, 2025 · 27:38
My guest on this episode is C.S. Richardson. C.S. Richardson is an award-winning book designer who worked in book publishing for more than forty years, and an author whose first…
May 5, 2025 · 33:04
My guest on this episode is Carol Off. Carol is an author, journalist, and broadcaster who spent almost sixteen years co-hosting the multi-award-winning CBC radio program, As It…
Apr 28, 2025 · 28:02
My guest on this episode is Anne Fleming. Anne is the author of the story collections Pool-Hopping and Gay Dwarves of America , the novel Anomaly , as well as the middle-grade…
Apr 21, 2025 · 29:22
My guest on this episode is Kyo Maclear. Kyo is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and published…
Apr 14, 2025 · 25:42
My guest on this very Toronto-centric episode is Shawn Micallef. Shawn is an author whose books include Full Frontal TO, The Trouble With Brunch, and Frontier City . He’s a…
Apr 7, 2025 · 29:58
My guest on this episode is Eden Boudreau. Eden is an author whose work has appeared in the Globe & Mail, Flare, Today’s Parent, and elsewhere. She is the host and creator of the…
Mar 31, 2025 · 33:20
My guest on this 100th episode is Ayelet Tsabari. Ayelet is the author of the short-story collection The Best Place on Earth and the memoir The Art of Leaving , which won the…
Mar 24, 2025 · 29:34
My guest on this episode is Bob McDonald. Bob has been the host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks since 1992 and is a regular science commentator on the CBC News Network and a…
Mar 17, 2025 · 29:46
My guest on the episode is Jowita Bydlowska. Jowita is the author of four books, including the bestselling memoir Drunk Mom , and the novels GUY and Possessed . She is a…
Mar 10, 2025 · 29:41
My guest on this episode is Amy Stuart. Amy is the author of four bestselling novels, including her first, Still Mine, and her most recent, A Death at the Party , which was…
Mar 3, 2025 · 26:55
My guest on this episode is Anuja Varghese. Anuja is a writer whose debut book, the short-story collection Chrysalis , was published by House of Anansi Press in 2023. That book…
Feb 24, 2025 · 28:25
My guests on this episode are Daniel Innes and Christina Wong. Daniel is an artist whose work includes painting, art installation, graphic and textile design, and illustration.…
Feb 17, 2025 · 27:00
My guest on this episode is Margaret MacMillan. Margaret is a historian and author whose bestselling books include The War That Ended Peace ; Nixon and Mao ; Women of the Raj ;…
Feb 10, 2025 · 31:57
My guest on this episode is Ivan Lesay. Ivan is a senior climate finance advisor at the National Bank of Slovakia and has served as the State Secretary of that country’s Finance…
Feb 3, 2025 · 25:23
My guest on this episode is Sheung-King. Sheung-King’s debut novel, You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked , was published by Book*Hug Press in 2021, and was a finalist for the…
Jan 27, 2025 · 33:06
My guest on this episode is Shashi Bhat. Shashi the author of the novels The Most Precious Substance on Earth , a finalist for the Governor General's Award, and The Family Took…
Jan 20, 2025 · 31:52
My guest on this episode is Derek McCormack. Derek is the author of more than a dozen books, including Dark Rides , The Haunted Hillbilly , and The Well-Dressed Wound . He has…
Jan 13, 2025 · 33:47
My guest on this episode is francesca ekwuyasi. francesca is a writer, artist, and filmmaker whose first book, the novel Butter Honey Pig Bread , was published in 2020 by Arsenal…
Jan 6, 2025 · 28:58
My guest on this episode is Leigh Nash. Leigh has worked as the publisher at House of Anansi Press and Invisible Publishing, and is now the co-publisher at Assembly Press, a…
Jan 4, 2025 · 41:21
This episode was originally uploaded in June 2023. It is a conversation with Andrew Pyper, who died just a few days ago at the age of 56. Andrew was the author of more than a…
Dec 30, 2024 · 31:57
My guest on this episode is Martha Baillie. Martha is the author of multiple works of fiction, including the novel The Incident Report , published by Coach House Books in 2009…
Dec 23, 2024 · 26:38
My guest on this episode is Stephen Maher. Stephen has been writing about Canadian politics for decades as a columnist and investigative reporter at Postmedia News, iPolitics,…
Dec 16, 2024 · 33:18
My guest on this episode is Charlene Carr. Charlene is the author of 10 self-published works of fiction, as well as the novel Hold My Girl , which was published by HarperCollins…
Dec 9, 2024 · 31:31
My guest on this episode is Josh O’Kane. Josh is a reporter at the Globe and Mail whose first book, Nowhere With You: The East Coast Anthems of Joel Plaskett, The Emergency and…
Dec 2, 2024 · 30:01
My guest on this episode is Casey Plett. Casey is the author of A Dream of a Woman , Little Fish , and A Safe Girl to Love , and the co-editor of Meanwhile, Elsewhere: Science…
Nov 25, 2024 · 30:39
My guest on this episode is Alison McCreesh. Alison is a writer, visual artist, and the creator of the graphic novels Ramshackle: A Yellowknife Story , which won the NorthWords…
Nov 18, 2024 · 35:25
My guest on this episode is Lisa Whittington-Hill. Lisa is a writer whose work has appeared in Longreads , Hazlitt , Catapult , The Walrus , and more. She is the publisher of…
Nov 11, 2024 · 31:54
My guest on this episode is Ali Bryan. Ali is the author six novels, including Roost , which was a One Book Nova Scotia selection, The Figgs and The Hill . Her work has won and…
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Your podcast? Get the Podli badge for your site
