Kobo in Conversation

Nathan Maharaj spoke with novelist Rainbow Rowell. She's the author of books including Eleanor & Park, Fangirl, as well as the novel Slow Dance, which she discussed on the show in 2024. Rainbow Rowell's new book is the novel Cherry Baby. It's about a woman named Cherish, who everybody calls Cherry, at a moment in her life when her marriage seems to have ended and she's figuring out what comes next. 
Why Rainbow Rowell's Cherry Baby had to be her sexiest book yet

Nathan Maharaj spoke with Tara Gereaux, author of the novel Saltus and the novella Size of a Fist. Her new book is called Wild People Quiet. Set in 1946, it's the story of Florence, or Mrs. Banks as she's known down at Pratt's Insurance, the company where she's worked diligently for years. While out for lunch with her colleagues one day, Florence encounters a man whose mere presence threatens to upend the life she's made for herself in the town of Torduvalle, Saskatchewan. 
Tara Gereaux on finding the words for an unspoken identity

Michael Tamblyn spoke with Eliana Ramage, author of To the Moon and Back. It's a novel about Steph, a young Cherokee woman who from the earliest age is obsessed with space and space travel, dreaming about one day becoming a NASA astronaut. 
How Eliana Ramage set her sights on the stars for her debut novel

Nathan spoke with George Newman, psychologist and associate professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. His new book is How Great Ideas Happen: The Hidden Steps Behind Breakthrough Success. It's a guide to generating ideas, hopefully great ideas, and learning about mental habits that often get in the way, and how creativity is a skill you can train and exercise. 
George Newman on getting good at bad ideas—so great ideas can happen | Kobo Books Blog

Joined by a live audience in Kobo's intimate event space, Michael Tamblyn spoke with novelist Leanne Toshiko Simpson, author of Never Been Better and winner of the 2025 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. Never Been Better is the story of a group of three friends who met in a psych ward, but time has passed and now two of whom are about to get married while the third tries to figure out whether to swallow her feelings or let it all out. 
Leanne Toshiko Simpson on self-care and writing a prize-winning rom-com