Show Notes
In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Matt Cahill about Radioland, his mesmerizing 2022 literary thriller where music, fame and magic wind together in an eerie mystery.
There are whispers about murders on the scene in Toronto, from bartenders, hairdressers and others who trade in rumours. When the bodies are found they are altered in disturbing ways. No one knows who the killer could be. Perhaps it is Kris, a troubled musician who has just reached a level of fame only to have his life collapse around him. Perhaps it is Jill, a sensitive with a dangerous magic that calls strangers to her.
As Kris struggles to deal with a childhood experience of sexual abuse he finds a strange advertisement on a hydro pole. By answering it he begins texting Jill, another lost soul reaching out for connection. In bits and pieces, they share their stories, discovering truths about themselves and the people surrounding them, until they must face the danger that is stalking them both.
Matt Cahill is the author of two published novels and several published short stories and essays. His debut novel, The Society of Experience, was picked as a must-read by Harper’s Bazaar magazine and was longlisted for the Sunburst Award. His short stories have appeared online and in print in Canada and the United Kingdom. His essay, On Madness Within Imagination, was selected for The Best Canadian Essays 2017. His second novel, Radioland, was released in 2022 and was a finalist for the Foreward INDIES.
Hollay Ghadery is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian multi-genre writer living in Ontario on Anishinaabe land. She has her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Guelph. Fuse, her memoir of mixed-race identity and mental health, was released by Guernica Editions in 2021 and won the 2023 Canadian Bookclub Award for Nonfiction/Memoir. Her collection of poetry, Rebellion Box was released by Radiant Press in 2023, and her collection of short fiction, Widow Fantasies, was released with Gordon Hill Press in fall 2024 and was longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. Her debut novel, The Unraveling of Ou, was released with Palimpsest Press in 2026, and her children’s book, Being with the Birds, with Guernica Editions in 2027. Hollay is a host on The New Books Network, as well as a co-host on HOWL on CIUT 89.5 FM. She is also a book publicist, the Founder of River Street, and the co-chair of the League of Canadian Poets BIPOC committee, as well as the Poet Laureate of Scugog Township. She is also a member of The National Book Critics Circle, The Creative Nonfiction Collective, and The Writers Union of Canada. Hollay was also featured on the cover of issue 10 of The Ampersand Review. Learn more about Hollay here.
More from New Books in Literature
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In this NBN episode, host Hollay Ghadery speaks with Christine Fischer Guy about her novel, The Instrument Must Not Matter (Wolsak & Wynn, 2026).