AustLit

'A conversations between Raimond Gaita & his nephew Ari about the photography anthology, Heart Middle Park.'

'Young adult author Ann Liang in conversation with Angela Crocombe and the Readings Teen Advisory Board. They discuss Liang’s recent novel If You Could See the Sun and her upcoming novel This Time It’s Real as well as her pathway to becoming a published author.' 

'Sasha Kutabah Sarago in conversation about her new book, Gigorou.'

'Today’s episode is the second instalment of The Comics Question series. In these podcasts we discuss comics, graphic novels, and the place they inhabit within the broader books and publishing world.

'In this episode, we sit down with Charlie Hill-Smith, who, among many talents and pursuits like filmmaking, has produced a new comic, Crime Scene Australia.' (Publication summary)

'In this episode, hear Margaret Simons in conversation with Tim Dunlop about his book, Voices of Us.

'The book is a reflection on the most recent Australian federal election, and an analysis of the transformation Australian politics is capable of — to potentially become a progressive, open, economically stable and egalitarian nation.' (Introduction)

'A recording of the launch for Kate Auty’s book, O’Leary Of The Underworld: The Untold Story of the Forest River Massacre. This book is a powerful investigation that reveals the deep injustices inflicted on Aboriginal people in the Kimberley in the 1920s.

'Please note, this episode contains discussion topics and readings from Auty’s work that some listeners may find distressing.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, enjoy a discussion with author Katherine Kovacic about her latest work, Seven Sisters.

'Seven Sisters is a twisty, intriguing crime novel for fans of The Mother and The Family Doctor.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, a conversation with Hugh Mackay, social psychologist and bestselling author.

'Mackay’s latest book, The Therapist, is a powerful and poignant story of deception, ambiguity, lust and love – and the challenge of living with the consequences of our actions.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, a recording taken from the launch of Gregory Day’s novel, The Bell of The World.

'The Bell of the World is both a song to the natural wonders that are not yet gone and a luminous prehistory of contemporary climate change and its connection to colonialism.

'Bell is in conversation with writer and broadcaster Elly Varrenti.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, a conversation with Kate J. Armstrong, author of the new YA novel, Nightbirds.

'Set in a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but three girls with unusual gifts have the chance to change it all. Filled with sumptuous, cinematic writing and dazzling details, Nightbirds is a fiercely feminist fantasy debut where the most potent magic lies not in a kiss, but in the truth.'(Introduction)

'This episode features a live event recording taken of a conversation between Alexis Wright and Ivor Indyk, to celebrate the publication of Wright’s new novel, Praiseworthy.

'Alexis Wright is a remarkable writer, originally hailing from the from the Waanyi nation in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Her novel Carpentaria won the 2007 Miles Franklin award, and Wright was awarded the 2018 Stella Prize for her biography of “Tracker" Tilmouth. Praiseworthy is Wright’s fourth novel.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, a conversation with Mikki Brammer.

'Her new novel, The Collected Regrets of Clover, is a big-hearted and life-affirming novel that turns the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life. It's a sparkling debut which reminds us all to live life with fewer regrets.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, a conversation with Sarah Street, author of the new book, A Curse of Salt.

'Drawing comparisons to Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreakers series and Sarah J Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses, Street’s debut novel is a reworking of the time-old tale of Beauty and The Beast set amidst the high seas.' (Introduction)

'In today’s episode, booksellers Justin Amalimal Cantrell and Nico Callaghan are joined by Aurelia Guo, a writer and researcher based in London, for a conversation centred on her book, World of Interiors.

'Of the book, Guo writes: “In World of Interiors I use collage and appropriation to destabilise the first-person ‘I’. I also write directly about the inescapable condition of being perceived and positioned by other people. Our lives take place in time and space, meaning in history and geography, as well as in relation to one another – not just interpersonally, but intergenerationally, with all the baggage of race, class, gender and nation that this implies. I write about economic cycles of wealth and poverty at the levels of the individual, group and state. The book is about travel and immigration: migrants, tourists and refugees. It is about the work of survival and the cost of survival. It is also a hopeful book – about how strong and indomitable the will can be.”' (Introduction)

'In this episode, a conversation with author Tegan Bennet Daylight, centred around her new YA novel, Royals.

'A group of teenagers alone in an empty shopping centre, with everything they could possibly want ... and a baby? With no phones, no internet and no way out, Shannon and five other trapped teens are completely disconnected from the outside world ... and their online lives. It’s hard to say whether they’ll be driven to delinquency, or – even worse – forced to make friends irl.

'This conversation took place as part of the Readings Teen Advisory Board program.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, hear Om Dhungel and James Button in conversation with Elly Varrenti, to celebrate the publication of Om’s memoir, Bhutan to Blacktown.

'This book tells Om Dhungel’s remarkable story — his journey from a remote village to a senior position in the Bhutanese Civil Service, to life as a human rights activist in Nepal and, eventually, to his work as a community leader in Blacktown, western Sydney.

'Every step prepared Om for the central role he would play in settling more than 5000 Bhutanese refugees, in one of the most successful refugee initiatives in Australia’s history. Written with Walkley Award-winning journalist James Button, Bhutan to Blacktown is a story of grit and struggle, humour and irrepressible optimism — and how losing nearly everything shaped one man’s character and fate.' (Production summary)

'In this episode, a discussion with author Angela O’Keeffe about her new novel, The Sitter.'

'In today’s episode, from one of Australia’s most wryly funny writers comes an original and utterly hilarious memoir of reaching for the stars while lying in a ditch.' (Production summary)

'This episode is the fourth instalment of The Comics Question series. In these podcasts, Bernard Caleo and Nico Callaghan discuss comics, graphic novels, and the place they inhabit within the broader books and publishing world.

'For this episode, Bernard and Nico sat down with Michael Fikaris, a central figure in both the comic book and street art movements of the early 2000s in his hometown of Melbourne. Fikaris has exhibited in professional and guerrilla contexts locally and abroad. His artwork is held in numerous private collections along with the National Gallery of Victoria, State Library of Victoria, and National Gallery of Australia.' (Production summary)

'In this episode, a recording taken from the launch for Eugen Bacon’s most recent novel, Serengotti.

'This is a novel bathed in sensuous, original language, a love letter to the strong women who bind families together despite everything. It’s also a tender remembrance of the many who haven’t or couldn’t survive the dislocations and tragedies of their turbulent pasts.

'For the launch, Bacon was in conversation with award-winning author and translator Dominique Hecq.' (Introduction)

'In this episode, hear David Meagher, author of Secrets and Lies, in conversation.

'Secrets and Lies is a story about child sexual abuse; the culture that enabled it; how the perpetrator groomed his victims; how the abuse came to an end; and how, four decades after the crimes were committed, his victims embarked on a successful two-year journey to bring the offender to justice.

'To interview David about this book, and this story, we’re joined by Stephen Brook, deputy editor of The Sunday Age.' (Introduction)

'In this episode of The Comics Question, Bernard Caleo interviews Sarah Firth on the topic of Eventually Everything Connects.

'Eventually Everything Connects is Firth's debut graphic novel, a collection of interconnected visual essays created over eight years. Firth invites you into her wild mind as she explores ways to see with fresh eyes, to face the inevitability of change, and to find freedom in sensuality.' (Production summary)

'In this episode, The Dominatrix Next Door: when a cash-strapped single mother of two in suburban Melbourne has a fun idea to start a side hustle running workshops for hens' parties, she has no idea it will lead her on a surreal adventure (or twenty) through the underground world of kink clubs and swingers' parties. Nor does she know that it will bring her out on the other end as one of Australia's most recognised Dominatrixes.

'Mistress Jane has penned a memoir that is both a salacious tell-all and a love letter to Melbourne's BDSM community. Complete with celebrity encounters, exciting opportunities, and lessons in kink, love, and parenthood, she shows us how having multiple identities is not only possible, but incredible, and that some mums really are superheroes – they might just use their rope and masks in a different way than you'd expect.' (Production summary) 

'In this episode, another instalment of The Comics Question, with Bernard Caleo.

'Bernard spoke with Steve Mushin, an industrial designer, illustrator and inventor, and, writer and illustrator of Ultrawild: an illustrated science and design book about tackling climate change with hilarious engineering ideas and extreme rewilding. Ultrawild has been created in collaboration with experts ranging from climate scientists and marine biologists to mechanical engineers and soil scientists. The book contains over 100 ludicrous sounding, scientifically possible inventions illustrated with over 1000 drawings. It’s packed with curious facts on everything from how plants and fungi share resources and the soil engineering power of megafauna, to insect and mechanical flight, high-tech microbe-powered toilets and the carbon-sequestering power of algae. Ultrawild is an optimistic book about creative thinking and the potential for change. Filled with laugh-out-loud design-ridiculousness, it aims to empower and excite a new generation of designers, scientists, engineers and wild thinkers.' (Production summary)

'In this episode, a conversation with Sara M Saleh, author of the new poetry collection, The Flirtation of Girls/Ghazal el-Banat. Saleh is not only a poet; she is a human rights lawyer, and is the author of a novel, Songs for the Dead and the Living, which was published only a couple of months ago.

'Saleh is the daughter of Palestinian, Lebanese and Egyptian migrants, a lineage very much alive in her work, advocacy, and craft. She also co-edited the 2019 anthology Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity, and Saleh is the first and only poet to win both the Peter Porter Poetry Prize and the Judith Wright Poetry Prize.' (Production summary)

'In this episode, a conversation with author, speechwriter and poet Joel Deane, on his eagerly-awaited new novel, Judas Boys.

'Deane’s protagonist (of sorts) Pinnock is, as the title suggests, a Judas Boy – a private schoolboy gone to seed. He's lost his job as a political staffer. He sleeps in the garage of his estranged wife. He has finally run out of friends and must face his accusers – both the living and the dead.

'This book is a searing de profundis that reads like the secret history behind today's political headlines. Deane brings the aftermath of professional catastrophe, personal betrayal, and public disgrace to life with a poet's ear for the human voice fractured in extremis.' (Introduction)