Petra Mayer
Petra Mayer (she/her) is an editor (and the resident nerd) at NPR Books, focusing on fiction, and particularly genre fiction. She brings to the job passion, speed-reading skills, and a truly impressive collection of Doctor Who doodads. You can also hear her on the air and on the occasional episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour.
Previously, she was an associate producer and director for All Things Considered on the weekends. She handled all of the show's books coverage, and she was also the person to ask if you wanted to know how much snow falls outside NPR's Washington headquarters on a Saturday, how to belly dance, or what pro wrestling looks like up close and personal.
Mayer originally came to NPR as an engineering assistant in 1994, while still attending Amherst College. After three years spending summers honing her soldering skills in the maintenance shop, she made the jump to Boston's WBUR as a newswriter in 1997. Mayer returned to NPR in 2000 after a roundabout journey that included a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University and a two-year stint as an audio archivist and producer at the Prague headquarters of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She still knows how to solder.
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Earlier in the summer, we asked you to vote for your favorite science fiction and fantasy reads of the past decade — so here are 50 fabulous reads, curated by our expert judges and you, the readers. -
We're excited to bring you an exclusive prepublication excerpt of Kazuo Ishiguro's new novel Klara and the Sun, a gentle fable about a world in which androids serve as companions to children. -
The $35,000 prize honors fiction that "illuminates vital contemporary issues." This year's finalists deal with everything from Native American land ownership to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. -
Nominees for the 2021 Golden Globes were announced today via a livestream. Past winners Sarah Jessica Parker and Taraji P. Henson revealed the first few nominees in a simulcast with the Today show. -
The singer says she was offered the honor by the Trump administration but was unable to accept, first because her husband was ill and then because the pandemic made traveling to the ceremony unsafe. -
Gorman's debut poetry collection and an illustrated kids' book are first and second on the list — on the strength of pre-orders, since both titles won't be out until September. -
January 1st is Public Domain Day. That's the day creative works over a certain age enter the public domain.
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The bestselling author of The Spy Who Came in from the Coldand Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spydied Saturday at age 89; his work was informed by his own years as a spy during the Cold War. -
The beloved local chain, founded in 1971, has had a rough year, including severe revenue losses during the pandemic. Its new owners are led by two Denver natives and self-described high school rivals. -
People looking for holiday gift ideas have a resource: the NPR Book Concierge. The interactive book finder has hundreds of titles selected by NPR critics and staff.
