Paige Lewis — Canon - with Kaveh Akbar
June 1, 2026
1 hr 1 min
Full
639 of 672

June 1, 2026
Paige Lewis — Canon - with Kaveh Akbar
0:00 / 1:01:17
Excerpt playback isn’t available for this episode — use the full-episode link.
Search the Record
Moment search isn’t open for this episode yet
When it opens, you’ll be able to type any phrase and jump straight to the second it was said.
Politics and Prose Episodes Around June 1, 2026
Episode 639 of 672 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
1:01:17This episodePaige Lewis — Canon - with Kaveh Akbar
Summary
<p><strong>Two unlikely heroes embark on quests to win God’s favor in this outrageously entertaining, profoundly heartfelt novel that announces an ingenious new voice in the tradition of </strong><em><strong>Chain-Gang All-Stars</strong></em><strong>, </strong><em><strong>No One Is Talking About This</strong></em><strong>, and </strong><em><strong>Martyr!</strong></em><br />Yara can’t comprehend why God has chosen them to slay Dominic, the ruthless leader of the army of Bad Guys. Cast out by their family and reeling from a destructive relationship, Yara has never felt weaker—but with nothing left to lose, they strike a deal. Abandoning their solitary days of embroidery and obsessive cleaning, Yara reluctantly embarks on a perilous odyssey designed to prepare them for the daunting mission ahead.<br />Meanwhile, Adrena, a disillusioned prophet with a terrifying secret power, is determined to become the hero of this story. Desperately seeking the glory of God’s approval and the promise of heaven, where she hopes to reunite with her beloved mother, Adrena must first persuade Harpo, the leader of the Good Guys, that her plan is God’s will.<br />As their journeys unfold in a series of unforgettable adventures, Yara and Adrena are propelled toward each other and transformative revelations about life, death, and destiny in this intensely captivating, irreverent epic from a singularly brilliant new voice in fiction.</p><p><strong>Paige Lewis</strong> is the author of the poetry collection <em>Space Struck</em> and coeditor of <em>Another Last Call: Poems on Addiction and Deliverance</em>. Lewis teaches at the University of Iowa; <em>Canon </em>is their first novel.</p><p>Lewis is in conversation with <strong>Kaveh Akbar</strong>, whose poems appear in the <em>New Yorker</em>, <em>New York Times</em>, <em>Paris Review</em>, <em>Best American Poetry</em>, and elsewhere. He is the author of two poetry collections: <em>Pilgrim Bell </em>(Graywolf 2021) and <em>Calling a Wolf a Wolf</em> (Alice James 2017), in addition to a chapbook,<em> Portrait of the Alcoholic</em> (Sibling Rivalry 2016). He is also the editor of <em>The Penguin Book of Spiritual Verse: 100 Poets on the Divine</em> (Penguin Classics 2022). <em>Martyr! </em>(Knopf, 2024), Kaveh’s first novel, was a <em>New York Times </em>Bestseller, the 2024 recipient of the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize for Fiction, a 2024 Discover Prize Finalist, and a 2024 National Book Award Finalist. </p><p>PURCHASE:</p><p>https://politics-prose.com/book/9798217059362?ic_referral=1tOdCWuxGnAwIJnuknWJ6Y9xCuHl5L3MCfkBQUEf-TkwM0LmnnirCLlT1tb6HjbN9tSjhRXrPmBFqHixp7YZegMB7LQNauwicbFOwlPiKay7_S_JgPpn63rBuPJzztQzrAQedrQ</p>
Episode details and artwork are published by the show’s own feed. Sentinel plays short cited excerpts and links every episode back to its publisher.