Ann Packer, author of SOME BRIGHT NOWHERE

When Ann Packer’s latest novel, Some Bright Nowhere, was chosen by Oprah for her book club last November, we saw what an impact this book was making on so many folks and their experiences with dying loved ones. The book was written in a record four months – in contrast to her novel The Dive from Clausen’s Pier which took nearly 10 years. It’s a masterclass in subtle conflict, in putting ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, in compressed dialogue that heightens tension, in character change, in point of view decisions. It gave us a lot to pick apart on the craft level. She joined Marrie Stone to talk about it, as well as her 2015 NYT essay Between Books.  

In addition to Some Bright Nowhere, Ann is the author of three other bestselling novels: The Children’s Crusade, Songs Without Words, and The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, which received the Kate Chopin Literary Award among many other prizes and honors. Her short fiction has been published in two collections — Mendocino and Other Stories and Swim Back to Me — and includes stories that appeared in The New Yorker and in the O. Henry Prize Stories anthologies.

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(Recorded January 13, 2026)

Host: Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
Host: Marrie Stone
Music: Travis Barrett (Stream his music on Spotify, Apple Music, Etc.)