Ground Zero For Our Nation’s Pain (with Ronlyn Domingue)

About this episode

Ronlyn Domingue discusses her debut novel and its themes while addressing contemporary issues such as reproductive rights and technology's impact on connection.

On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of her hit debut novel THE MERCY OF THIN AIR, Ronlyn Domingue talks to Greg Olear about the story’s timeless themes of love and loss, the significance of New Orleans as a backdrop, her unusual creative process, the Trump Administration and SCOTUS’s retrograde position on reproductive rights, the importance of the novel in modern society, nature as an antidote to doomscrolling, the impact of technology on human connection, and more. Plus: a song from the war zone in DC. Ronlyn Domingue’s critically acclaimed debut novel THE MERCY OF THIN AIR was published in ten languages. It was a fiction finalist for the 2005 Borders Original Voices Award and 2006 SIBA Book Award, a long list nominee for the 2005 James Tiptree, Jr. Award (now known as the Otherwise Award), and a 2010 Costco Pennie’s Pick. Her “Keeper of Tales” Trilogy, which can be read in any order, includes The Mapmaker’s War, The Chronicle of Secret Riven, and The Plague Diaries. Her essays and short stories have appeared in New England Review, Clackamas Literary Review, and Lion’s Roar (formerly Shambhala Sun) as well as on mindful.org, The Nervous Breakdown…

People in this episode

Host: Greg Olear

Guest: Ronlyn Domingue

Topics covered

• love and loss
• New Orleans
• reproductive rights
• technology and human connection
• creative process
• nature
• doomscrolling

Keywords

• Ronlyn Domingue
• THE MERCY OF THIN AIR
• reproductive rights
• New Orleans
• creative writing
• doomscrolling
• technology
• love and loss

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Borders Original Voices Award, SIBA Book Award, James Tiptree, Jr. Award, Costco

Books & works: THE MERCY OF THIN AIR

Places: New Orleans, Deep South, Lo

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