Author Madeleine L'Engle discusses her novel "A Severed Wasp," about a retired concert pianist (Katherine Forrester, who appeared in L'Engle's first novel, "The Small Rain") who puts on a benefit concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine at the request of her old friend, Felix Bodeway. Like Katherine, L'Engle is a pianist and the interview is interspersed with Bach fugues throughout. In addition to discussing the plot, Terkel and L'Engle discuss several of the book's characters and their histories and motivations.

Author Madeleine L’Engle discusses her book “A Wrinkle in Time”, a young adult novel that wrestles with spirituality, science fiction, and fantasy. L’Engle discusses how difficult it was for publishers to see her writing as young-adult, as she was often told adolescence would not be able to handle these challenging topics. This program includes an excerpt of a 1961 interview with Madeleine L’Engle in which she discusses the difference between fact and fiction, or lack thereof, in children’s literature.

Newberry Award winner Madeleine L'Engle did not set out to write good literature when she wrote "A Wrinkle in Time". Children's book publisher Elizabeth M. Riley also said of L'Engle's book, it's a good story for both children and adults. L'Engle shared her experience that when she writes, often times, she'll read what she's written to her children & if they say, "get back to the typewriter and write more," she knows she's onto something good.

Madeleine L'Engle discusses her book, Ring of Endless Light, and how she doesn't often think of writing for particular age levels even though publishers seem intent on drawing distinctions between children's literature and adult fiction.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations