Santa Monica, Calif. — Ana Castillo, a celebrated Mexican-American author, appeared on the weekly public radio program Bookworm, where the host did something unusual. He had read her entire body of work and engaged her with insightful, thoughtful questions.
For 30 minutes, Castillo discussed topics ranging from the similarities and differences between her poetry and novels, to the role of irony in romantic scenes, to the influences of telenovelas and 16th-century Spanish literature on her writing. While her appearance might have been intended to promote her new novel, Peel My Love Like an Onion, the depth of conversation reflected something far more significant. In the world of serious poetry and fiction, where technique and text are more important than plot or typical book tour chatter, Bookworm has become a cherished resource. It offers a refuge from the superficiality of mainstream pop fiction and the celebrity-driven literary scene.
Despite being a low-budget show broadcast to just 50 or so public radio stations, Bookworm has gained the respect of the literary world over its 10-year run. The show has featured luminaries such as Tom Wolfe, E.L. Doctorow, Joyce Carol Oates, Salman Rushdie, and Toni Morrison, to name just a few.
The creator, producer, and host of Bookworm, Michael Silverblatt, a tall, round-faced man in his 40s with a somewhat nasal but captivating voice, runs the show out of a small recording studio at KCRW, a public radio station in Santa Monica.
“The purpose of the show,” Silverblatt says in his modest Hollywood apartment filled with books, “is to help my listeners see the world through the eyes of writers. To show them how writers re-enchant the world, how they surround us with the miraculous. That’s what books do to me, and I want my show to remind people of the wonder of writers’ imaginations.”
Silverblatt’s goal is not just to discuss the book at hand but to offer a new way of looking at the world. “The ideal,” he adds, “is for listeners to experience something that feels completely unfamiliar, but to find it fascinating.”
While Bookworm doesn’t boast a large mainstream audience (it was even recently dropped by its only New York City station, WNYE), the program has earned tremendous praise in literary circles. Jeff Seroy, vice president of publicity at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, calls the show “the best interview program in America,” citing Silverblatt’s ability to engage with writers on a deeper level than anyone else. Author Art Spiegelman, a frequent guest, describes Bookworm as “an oasis” for writers tired of superficial book tours.
Silverblatt spends around six hours a day reading and claims his primary goal is to create a space for meaningful, unscripted conversations. “I aim to derail the expected course of an interview,” he explains. “The subject of the book often gets reduced to predictable answers, so I try to create a conversation that feels more like human talk.”
For example, when Tom Wolfe appeared on the show to discuss A Man in Full, Silverblatt steered the conversation away from the book’s details to delve into Wolfe’s admiration for 19th-century French writers like Flaubert and Zola. Similarly, when Salman Rushdie visited to promote The Ground Beneath Her Feet, the discussion veered toward mythological themes and the complexities of writing about love, largely bypassing the topic of the death threats that had once hung over Rushdie’s life.
James Galvin, a poet and novelist, was interviewed on Bookworm about his debut novel Fencing the Sky. After the interview, Galvin remarked that Silverblatt’s questions were more intelligent and focused than any other interview he had experienced, noting that “Most people capable of that kind of insight are writing criticism or teaching at universities.”
Silverblatt’s unconventional career path has played a significant role in shaping the tone of the show. Born in Brooklyn, he developed a love of books early in life, inspired by his parents and his poor eyesight, which made reading a comforting, immersive experience. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he studied under influential writers and critics like Dwight MacDonald and Leslie Fiedler.
However, Silverblatt grew disillusioned with academia and, after dropping out of graduate school at Johns Hopkins University, he moved to New York. There, he found the publishing world to be too insular, prompting him to relocate to Los Angeles in 1980 to pursue screenwriting. While his scripts were occasionally optioned, Silverblatt supported himself through various jobs, including working as a publicist and bookstore employee.
Ultimately, his deep love of books and writers led to the creation of Bookworm, a program that remains a rare and valuable platform for serious literary conversation, where both authors and listeners can escape the noise of commercialized culture and reconnect with the essence of literature.