Jennifer Nelson

Kathryn interviews Author Lisa Gornick.Nine years have passed since Ana Koehl had sex with her pot-addicted anesthesiologist husband, seven since she began an affair with a gonzo journalist. She’s gratified by her work as a book doula, but burdened by her belief that she need always be on call. Her elderly mother’s birthday greeting is an inflation-adjusted calculation of the cost of raising Ana in a mice-infested house, her brother has hijacked the will of their recently deceased starchitect father, her adult child is changing rapidly before her eyes, and her best friend advocates for “the truth in lies.” Gazing out at the dark moat of Central Park from behind her desk, Ana sees that she can no longer postpone making peace with her past or confronting her present. Hailed by NPR as “one of the most perceptive, compassionate writers of fiction in America, Lisa Gornick brings us this engaging novel. Her essays have appeared widely, including in the NY Times, the Paris Review, Real Simple, and the Wall Street Journal.Kathryn also interviews Author Jennifer Nelson.We hear so much about teacher shortages, burnout, and the messy transition from pandemic Zoom learning back to the classroom. Ask fifty teachers and you’ll likely get fifty answers but Jennifer Nelson brings perspective as someone who lived in Morocco (where she learned French as a child – the subject she teaches), served in the Peace Corp in Niger, and as the daughter of an international diplomat experienced more than American schools. Her tenure as a teacher also encompasses private, parochial, and public schools. Nelson brings a broader-than-usual view of what works and what doesn’t in the classroom. She is a highschool French teacher and holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley and Vermont College of Fine Arts.