How a Pulitzer winner gets past the fear of starting a new book | Barbara Kingsolver

Since 1993, every book by Barbara Kingsolver has made The New York Times bestseller list. Her last novel, “Demon Copperhead,” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Her latest, “Partita,” the story of a Tennessee piano teacher, is the book Kingsolver says she’s been waiting her whole life to write. 0:00 Intro 1:26 Book No. 19: Does It Ever Get Easier? 2:25 Digging for Gold: Throwing Out 100 Pages 4:36 Meet Partita's Piano Teacher 6:27 The Substack Post That Sparked the Novel 9:27 How Do You Follow Demon Copperhead? 12:11 A Novel Told in Seven Days 14:32 Young Love vs. Mature Love 18:34 Lying on the Floor With Her Father's Records 20:06 "Music Is Made of Tension" 22:41 Why She Left Music School 26:46 What "Partita" Means and the Toni Morrison Quote 28:34 Writing About Her Mother 31:24 Carrying Grief on the Page 33:13 Outlines, Excel Spreadsheets and Dickens 36:57 Characters Who Serve the Plot 39:44 The "Thrift Shop File" 41:47 Living With Dupuytren's Contracture 45:08 Why She Won't Use Speech-to-Text 48:12 Wendell Berry and What's Next ——— New episodes of Alchemy every Wednesday. 🟠 Sign up for our newsletter: https://www.alchemy.show/ 🟡 Stay connected with Anthony Mason: YouTube:    / @alchemywithanthonymason   Instagram:   / alchemywithanthony   &   / anthonymasoncbs   TikTok:   / alchemywithanthony   🟢 If you’re interested in sponsoring Alchemy: partnerships@collective.media 🔵 For press inquiries: dawn@thepresshouse.com 🟣 For bookings: rebecca@alchemy.show About our Founding Sponsor, The FLAG Art Foundation: Alchemy with Anthony Mason is presented by our founding sponsor, the FLAG Art Foundation. It is a nonprofit contemporary art exhibition space in New York's Chelsea Arts District. Since 2008, FLAG has staged more than 100 exhibitions celebrating nearly 1,000 artists, with innovative partnerships including the Parrish Art Museum, the Serpentine Galleries in London, and the Harlem Children's Zone. FLAG is free and open to the public. In this episode, I’m highlighting two exhibits: 🖼️ FRESH PAINT: Chase Hall The newest iteration of FRESH PAINT, featuring Chase Hall, is now on view. A curatorial collaboration between the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, NY, and FLAG, the series includes a rotating exhibition of a single artwork accompanied by a commissioned text. Hall’s work is presented alongside a text from writer and curator Ekow Eshun. Known for his exploration of Black life, culture, and history as well as his use of untraditional materials, Hall's new, never-before-seen work in the East End will be on view through January 25, 2027. 📍 Parrish Art Museum More info → https://parrishart.org/exhibitions/fr... 🎨 Modernity and Opulence: Women of the Wiener Werkstätte Showcasing the work of 30 female artists across mediums, the Jewish Museum’s Modernity and Opulence: Women of the Wiener Werkstätte shines a light on the female artists of the Wiener Werkstätte, a design collective active between 1902 and 1932. Established with the goal to create and further the relationship between art and life, the Jewish Museum’s presentation is the first of its kind in its appreciation of the contributions made by Jewish designers and artists participating in the movement. On view through through November 15, 2026 📍 Jewish Museum Check it out → https://thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitio... Learn more about the FLAG Art Foundation → https://www.flagartfoundation.org 📍 545 W 25th Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10001 | Wed–Sat, 11AM–5PM 📸 Follow FLAG on Instagram →   / flagartfoundation   About Anthony Mason: Anthony Mason, the host of Alchemy, is also a Special Correspondent with CBS News. One of the most versatile and experienced television journalists, Anthony co-hosted CBS This Morning: Saturday for seven years (2012-2019), and then the weekday CBS This Morning broadcast for two more. But he may be best known for his interviews with artists like Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Annie Leibovitz, Judi Dench, David Hockney, and André 3000. He has won a dozen Emmy Awards. In 2023, the Songwriters Hall of Fame presented him their Patron of the Arts Award. And for the past three years he has hosted the GRAMMY Hall of Fame Gala.