Reading Around the Margins
Reading Around the Margins
Podcast Description
In each episode of Reading Around the Margins, Naomi Washer talks with writers, readers, translators, publishers, and booksellers about how they interact with their books as objects; how their own marginalia consciously or unconsciously informs the books they come to write; and how the experience of reading brings a book into existence.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast delves into themes such as the influence of marginalia, the interplay between reading and writing, and the inherent connections between literature and personal experience. Episodes include discussions on Roland Barthes' A Lover's Discourse and the act of self-annotation, along with explorations of specific literary works like Diane Seuss's sonnets and trauma's manifestation in literature.
In each episode of Reading Around the Margins, Naomi Washer talks with writers, readers, translators, publishers, and booksellers about how they interact with their books as objects; how their own marginalia consciously or unconsciously informs the books they come to write; and how the experience of reading brings a book into existence.
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, Rodrigo Fresán
Breakfast of Champions, Kurt Vonnegut
Lesser Ruins, Mark Haber
Reinhardt’s Garden, Mark Haber
Saint Sebastian’s Abyss, Mark Haber
Pre-order Haber’s new novel ADA, out July 14, 2026 with Coffee House Press here.
Other Selected writing by Mark Haber
César Aira Makes the Impossible 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, New York University Press, or your local independent bookstore. Subscribe to Process Notesfor further reflections on reading, subjectivity, and psychoanalysis.
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