The acclaimed author Kevin Patterson discusses his new novel News From the Red Desert (Random House, 2016), the war in Afghanistan, writing, and his upcoming appearances at the Vancouver Writers Fest, with Joseph Planta.

News From the Red Desert by Kevin Patterson (Random House, 2016). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: News From the Red Desert

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

Kevin Patterson joins me again. The acclaimed author’s latest novel News From the Red Desert was recently published, and as he makes the festival circuit, Vancouver’s Writers Fest is no exception. He’ll be participating in at least three events. Visit www.writersfest.bc.ca for tickets and information. The new book is considered the definitive novel of the Afghanistan war. It begins in late 2001 and follows the people caught in the conflict there. Among the characters in the book is American Deirdre O’Malley, a journalist and war correspondent. There’s Rami Issay, a Pakistani who runs the café in Kandahar’s airfield. These are but two characters in the book, all who encounter the violence of war, and the moral battles that are clear and the ones that are a little blurry thanks to conflict and turmoil all around. Kevin Patterson was last on the program in 2006 when his previous novel Consumption was published. His other books include the award-winning Country of Cold, The Water in Between, and the co-edited collection Outside the Wire: The War in Afghanistan. He is an internist, and served in the Canadian Army. The Twitter handle is @kevinlpatterson. News From the Red Desert is published by Random House. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program from Salt Spring Island today, Kevin Patterson; Dr. Patterson, good morning.

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