[Content warning: Sensitive themes] Listen to former Australian of the Year Grace Tame as she talks about The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner, her sharply intelligent, deeply felt and at times blisteringly funny memoir that shares her story – in her own words and on her own terms. In conversation with Abigail Ulman, Tame talks about the hard-won journey to finding her voice, what her experience reveals about a culture of abuse in our society and institutions, the writing and editing process behind her memoir, and the values and passions that have helped her become a leading advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse who has inspired countless people from all walks of life. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023 Please note, this conversation explores sensitive topics including child sexual abuse and domestic violence. 

A world-renowned expert in American literature and culture, Sarah Churchwell (The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells) delivers the 2023 John Button Oration. Examining one of the most popular stories of all time, Gone with the Wind, Churchwell shows how histories of mythmaking have informed America’s racial and gender politics, the resurgence of white nationalism, the Black Lives Matter movement, the enduring power of the American dream, and the violence of Trumpism. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by the John Button Fund, Melbourne School of Government and the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne

"You can’t really interview a ghost." – Shehan Karunatilaka Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for his dazzling magic-realist satire The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Set during his homeland’s long civil war, the story follows its title character, a self-described photographer, gambler and ‘closet queen’, who wakes up as a ghost with a week to discover who killed him. One of the great literary voices of our times, Karunatilaka joins ABC RN’s Kate Evans (The Bookshelf) to discuss the novel's genesis and international success, the ethics of photography, and how Sri Lanka's history and culture informed the novel – with some cricket and daddy issues thrown in.   Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by ARA Group This event was presented in partnership with ABC RN This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

Which stories made you 'different'? What makes writing queer? And what books brought about a break up with the gender binary?  Join a stellar group of queer writers as they share heartfelt (and hilarious) insights into the stories that shaped how they think and write about sexuality and gender, from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Ringsto Adrienne Rich's TheDream of a Common Language to Ellen van Neerven's Throat. Dipping into the queer canon are Noongar writer Claire G. Coleman (Enclave, Terra Nullius); author of Dreyer’s English (and Twitter's most loved grammar expert) Benjamin Dreyer; photographer and writer Bill Hayes (Insomniac City); writer of poetry, fiction and memoir Kris Kneen (Fat Girl Dancing, The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen); proud Gunai woman and multidisciplinary artist Kirli Saunders (Kindred); and host Maeve Marsden (Queerstories).  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023 

For millennia, reciprocal relationships with plants have provided both sustenance to First Nations communities and many of the materials needed to produce a complex array of technologies. In this wide-ranging discussion, learn more about this fascinating relationship and how it forms the basis of everything – respect, connection and our future survival. Featuring co-authors of Plants: Past, Present and Future – Barkandji researcher and storyteller Zena Cumpston, Wiradjuri geographer and scientist Michael-Shawn Fletcher, and geographer Lesley Head – and prize-winning Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian writer Bruce Pascoe, with Sally Warhaft. “If we don’t learn to relate to each other, we’ll continue to destroy the earth.” – Bruce Pascoe

The 2023 Boisbouvier Conversation The Writers on Writers series is an indispensable fixture in the literary calendar, with leading authors penning their reflections on Australian writers who have inspired and influenced them. In one of the most loved sessions of the festival, enjoy this discussion about the importance of having generous and compassionate conversations; what readers gain from having fresh light shone on past treasures; and the future of Australian literature – and what literature is for. Featuring Black Inc publisher Chris Feik; contributor to the series, Nam Le (On David Malouf); and ABC Radio National’s The Bookshelf host Kate Evans as they speak with the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature, author Tony Birch. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne

Enjoy listening to two of 2023's most talked about novelists – and possibly the only two people to have ever become friends over Zoom – Emma Straub (This Time Tomorrow) and Gabrielle Zevin (Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow). With Brodie Lancaster, they discuss their approaches to crafting fiction, writing a different kind of love story and the idea of wanting to hit restart.  From the geeky committee that informed Emma Straub’s rules of time travel and why she dedicated her book to Peter Straub’s ‘nemesis’ to Gabrielle Zevin’s Emily Dickinson–inspired video game and why she chose to set her novel in the 90s, this is a brilliant conversation between two wildly talented friends.   Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by United States Consulate Melbourne

Hear from New York Times–bestselling author and millennial food icon Alison Roman as she joins Benjamin Law to discuss her career, recipes and latest cookbook, Sweet Enough. Roman shares her journey from working as a chef in professional kitchens and becoming a much-discussed food writer at Bon Appétit and The New York Times to eventually freeing her voice from mastheads in a creative move that would change her life – as well as her readers. She is now renowned for unfussy, flavourful dishes – exemplified by hit recipes like her Caramelised Shallot Pasta and #TheStew – that tap into the culinary zeitgeist for studied imperfection over aspirationally haute cuisine.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

Authors Tracey Lien (All That’s Left Unsaid) and Nina Wan (The Albatross) gripped readers across the country with their spectacular debut novels on family, love and identity. Listen in as ABC RN’s Sarah L’Estrange (The Book Show) joins Lien and Wan for a wide-ranging conversation on the craft of storytelling and power of representation. Together, they discuss early influences on their writing (The Baby-sitters Club, Dolly Magazine and Judge Judy, to name a few); what it means to have 'conditional citizenship'; the poetry of golf; and the need for more Asian thirst traps.  “I wanted to make a point to readers that we are just like everyone else. Which is to say, we are just as complicated as anyone else. Within a community, we’re just as wonderful and petty and stubborn and flawed. We’re just as capable of success as we are of failure. And if you realise we are just like you, whoever you are, then how can you justify treating us differently?” – Tracey Lien  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was presented in partnership with ABC RN This event was proudly supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund

Casting fresh light on Australia's colonial past, the latest novels by award-winning journalist Paul Daley (Jesustown) and acclaimed author Fiona McFarlane (The Sun Walks Down) tell stories that upend the usual depictions in history books. Listen in as they speak to bestselling author and First Nations Curator Tony Birch about their approach to writing narratives that probe the enduring myths and brutal realities of settler-colonial life, the importance of place in their storytelling, and how they explore relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in their novels. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  Content warning: Please note, this discussion includes references to sensitive topics including colonial massacres of First Nations peoples and frontier violence.  This event was proudly supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund

"A few months before he died at 82…Oliver [Sacks] looked up from his notepad one evening in our apartment and said to me: 'The most we can do is to write – intelligently, creatively, critically, evocatively – about what it is like living in the world at this time.' So, I did." – Bill Hayes  The last few years have changed us all in profound ways. How have we been surprised, unsettled and enlivened as we return to once-familiar relationships, routines and realities? How are storytellers making sense of how life has changed? For our Opening Night event, some of the most remarkable writers in the world delivered their unique takes on the 2023 Festival theme: ‘I’ve been away for a while’. Listen to author and photographer Bill Hayes (Insomniac City, Sweat) as he shares his experiences of living in New York City throughout the pandemic, and how our cities are like our bodies. He also shares a note he received from a reader in a remote part of Australia that illuminated the power of stories to leap across time and space to connect strangers, intimately and empathetically.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

“…There is nothing more important than communicating to the Australian public the truth about our world.” – Marcia Langton  Sophisticated systems of law, cultivated over millennia, have enabled First Nations peoples to survive and thrive for more than 2,000 generations – laws that "haven't just survived colonisation but they've survived the last sea level rise of 10,000 years ago" (Aaron Corn).  Hear from the authors of Law: The Way of the Ancestors, Professor Marcia Langton and Professor Aaron Corn, as they shine a light on the enduring expertise of First Nations peoples. Speaking with Dr Eddie Cubillo, they discuss how Indigenous law has been historically unrecognised; how Australians can understand and respect Indigenous law; and how it can inform our understanding of treaty, native title, sovereignty and much more.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023 

“It was, after all, a time of great noticing.” – Sarah Krasnostein  The last few years have changed us all in profound ways. How have we been surprised, unsettled and enlivened as we return to once-familiar relationships, routines and realities? How are storytellers making sense of how life has changed? For our Opening Night event, some of the most remarkable writers in the world delivered their unique takes on the 2023 Festival theme: ‘I’ve been away for a while’. Listen to Sarah Krasnostein (author of The Believer and The Trauma Cleaner) as she seeks to measure what it means to be apart from others, and wonders if writers aren’t always just a little bit away from the world. Discover the books that became her life-rafts in testing times and what she has noticed about the world since.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

"It's a very human thing to be an actor, a storyteller. It’s pre-historic."  – Sam Neill By his own account, the career of celebrated actor Sam Neill has been a series of unpredictable turns of fortune. From discovering acting at boarding school in Christchurch, to treading the boards in amateur Shakespeare productions, to finding his lucky break and going on to star in films such as The Piano, Jurassic Park and Peaky Blinders. Listen in as Neill shares true tales from his storied life, chronicled in his new memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?, in conversation with comedy legend Jane Kennedy. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by ARA Group. It was also supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne. 

The last few years have changed us all in profound ways. How have we been surprised, unsettled and enlivened as we return to once-familiar relationships, routines and realities? How are storytellers making sense of how life has changed? For our Opening Night event, five of the most remarkable writers in the world delivered their unique takes on the 2023 Festival theme: ‘I’ve been away for a while’. Enjoy listening to Jazz Money, a Wiradjuri poet and artist and author of the award-winning how to make a basket, on how some journeys can change your life – and for the first time, allow you to hear the call towards home and community.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

“Things happen, people leave us, the world shuts down and the world reopens. We realise over time, sooner or later, that we’re never going back to anything. We’re only going forward and finding a new way.” – Benjamin Dreyer The last few years have changed us all in profound ways. How have we been surprised, unsettled and enlivened as we return to once-familiar relationships, routines and realities? How are storytellers making sense of how life has changed?  For our Opening Night event, five of the most remarkable writers in the world delivered their unique takes on the 2023 Festival theme: ‘I’ve been away for a while’. Benjamin Dreyer – author ofDreyer’s English and vice president, executive managing editor and copy chief, of Random House – delivers a sweeping oration on finding your way through life, sharing profound wisdom and advice from writers across time including Virginia Woolf, Robert Frost and Elizabeth Strout.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023 This event was supported through the Melbourne City Revitalisation Fund – a $200 million partnership of the Victorian Government and the City of Melbourne.

Queen Elizabeth came to the throne at the height of the British Empire and died with the world at a tipping point. Stan Grant’s timely new book, The Queen is Dead, considers how, in the wake of her passing, we might more fully reckon with our colonial past and redefine our future. Listen to Grant in conversation with Anne Pattel-Gray about our place in the monarchy and the necessity of a just settlement with First Nations people. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023  This event was proudly supported by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers

How do First Nations writers work through the legacies of our histories to create new stories while honouring those we inherit? Stella Prize 2022 winner Evelyn Araluen (Dropbear) and Koori and Lebanese writer, teacher, community researcher and This All Come Back Now editor Mykaela Saunders come together to discuss their roles as both custodians and creators of meaning and memory, in this conversation with Wiradjuri writer, teacher and academic Jeanine Leane, brought together by 2022 First Nations Curator Jazz Money.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2022. 

Critically acclaimed Canadian author Sheila Heti has tackled some of modern day's greatest conundrums, including whether to have children (Motherhood) and how to live an authentic life (How Should a Person Be?). Hailed 'the most timely, urgent book of 2022' (Los Angeles Times), her latest novel, Pure Colour, considers how love and art can heal. Heti speaks with Sarah Krasnostein about a genre-defying story that, like her previous works, refreshes our perception of the world and what a book can be. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2022.  This event was proudly supported by Consulate General of Canada, Sydney

When it comes to the climate, how can we replace despair with optimism, ambition and purpose, even as experts warn that we are fast running out of time? A panel of the country's leading thinkers on the climate crisis consider how climate fatalism can be as harmful as denialism and why hope might be our greatest tool in mitigating environmental catastrophe. Featuring award-winning climate scientist Joëlle Gergis (Humanity's Moment), First Nations environmental justice campaigner Tishiko King and Walkley Award–winning writer Jeff Sparrow (Crimes Against Nature), in conversation with Environment Reporter at The Age Miki Perkins. This event was proudly supported by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning

[Content warning: Sensitive themes] From being booed off a football field to being booed out of the country, people of colour who take a stand against racism draw swift and severe censure in our public debate.  Hear from a panel of speakers brought together by First Nations Curator Chelsea Watego as they explore the works of First Nations creatives who have ambitiously critiqued the construction of so-called Australia and the costs of doing so in the settler-colonial state. Gunditjmara, Bindal, Yorta Yorta and Torres Strait Islander filmmaker, writer and community organiser Tarneen Onus-Williams; Brinja Yuin Koori police scientist and prison abolitionist Amanda Porter; and prize-winning Koori and Lebanese writer Mykaela Saunders (This All Come Back Now), join Watego in conversation. Content warning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners are advised that this episode contains the names of people who have died.  This episode also includes references to topics such as mental illness, the deaths of First Nations peoples in custody, and suicide. 

[Content warning: Sensitive themes and mature content] Showcasing unexpected tales of pride, prejudice, love and resilience, Queerstories invites leading LGBTQI+ voices to share the story they’ve always wanted to tell, but have never been asked to. Hosted by Maeve Marsden, hear stories from drag artist Shane Jenek aka Courtney Act (Caught in the Act), Kamilaroi woman and astrophysicist Krystal De Napoli (Astronomy: Sky Country), bestselling author CS Pacat (Dark Rise), writer, historian and podcaster Yves Rees (All About Yves), and award-winning poet and novelist Omar Sakr (Son of Sin). Please note this event includes content recommended for mature audiences. There are also sensitive topics referenced, including mental illness and death. 

The ABC has survived numerous crises in recent times – funding cuts, internal tensions and attacks by commercial media rivals chief among them. As it enters its 90th year, a panel of experts discuss how our national broadcaster arrived at its current plight and what its future role will be in a shifting media, technology and political landscape. Featuring Emeritus Professor of Politics at La Trobe University Judith Brett, Culture News Editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald Osman Faruqi, former Media Watch host and chair of ABC Alumni Jonathan Holmes and co-authors of Who Needs the ABC? Matthew Ricketson and Patrick Mullins, in conversation with Sophie Black. This event was proudly supported by The Australia Institute

[Content warning: Sensitive themes] The ripple effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are reshaping the world. Hear from a panel of experts as they discuss the conflict and its ongoing repercussions, from the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine to the far-reaching economic fallout and a realignment of the world order. The Age's foreign affairs correspondent Anthony Galloway; who has recently reported from Ukraine, international criminal and humanitarian law expert Carrie McDougall; Ukrainian ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko; physicist and science communicator Suzie Sheehy; and international politics and economics expert Andrew Walter, in conversation with Lydia Khalil. Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2022.  Content warning: Please note, sensitive themes are referenced in this episode, including sexual assault and torture. 

Beauty is a central theme in the latest novels of Australian author Christos Tsiolkas (Seven and a Half) and British author and actor Sarah Winman (Still Life). The award-winning, bestselling writers join The Monthly Editor Michael Williams to discuss their unique approaches to the topic, and what their stories reveal about the capacity of beauty to flourish – be it in art, nature or human connection – even in the shadow of conflict and chaos. This event was proudly supported by the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne.  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2022. 

As a master of nonfiction, Helen Garner wields forensic scrutiny and trademark compassion to zero in on the humanity of her subjects, including herself. Described by the New Yorker as ‘a recording angel at life’s secular apocalypses’, Garner has drawn international acclaim for a body of work spanning books, long-form journalism and her recently published diaries. Hailed as ‘the antipodean Joan Didion, the Truman Capote of our times’ (New York Times), the nonfiction writing of Chloe Hooper is equally unsparing yet sympathetic in its approach. She brings a sharp, novelistic eye to stories such as The Tall Man and The Arsonist, ingenious storytelling that ‘gathers force like a river after rain’ (The Age). The two authors come together for a special conversation about their crafts, careers and award-winning literary non-fiction writing, with Beejay Silcox.  This event was proudly supported by ARA Group  Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2022. 

[Content warning: Sensitive themes] How can we safeguard our mental wellbeing amidst incessant uncertainty, anxiety and isolation wrought by the pandemic, lockdowns and natural disasters? Is there ambition to reshape a mental health system in which out-of-pocket costs exclude so many? And what possibilities lie within First Nations methodologies for improving mental health in young people? Sarah Krasnostein, author of the Quarterly Essay Not Waving, Drowning: Mental Illness and Vulnerability in Australia; Antoinette Lattouf, journalist and Gidget Foundation ambassador; Rick Morton, journalist and author of My Year of Living Vulnerably; and Cammi Murrup-Stewart, an Aboriginal academic with close ties to Wurundjeri Country, and a social and emotional wellbeing researcher, consider the path forward. They are joined by Astrid Edwards (The Garret). This event was proudly supported by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2022.  Content warning: Please note, sensitive themes are discussed in this episode, including anxiety, post-partum depression, suicide and infanticide. 

One of the nation’s most trusted voices during the pandemic, much–loved ABC broadcaster and physician Dr Norman Swan, discusses his first health book, So You Think You Know What’s Good for You? With his trademark clarity and wit, he cuts through medical myths and half-truths to set the record straight on the things we need to know to make better decisions about how to eat, live and preserve good health, in conversation with interviewerRaf Epstein. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

One of the breakout literary stars of 2020 for his Booker Prize–shortlisted novel Real Life, American writer Brandon Taylor talks to Adolfo Aranjuez about his captivating new short story collection, Filthy Animals. Hailed as ‘a writer who wields his craft in absolutely unforgettable ways’ (Roxane Gay), he has produced a high-wire act of interlinked stories about young creatives navigating the blurry territories of fear, longing, violence and desire. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

In characteristically genre-defying style, Sigrid Nunez‘s What Are You Going Through melds fiction and criticism to tell a powerful story of multiple endings: the end of a friendship, the end of a life, and the end of humanity itself. The follow-up to the American writer’s National Book Award–winning The Friend, it has been hailed a ‘gloriously meditative story’ that ‘[bursts] with wit, warmth, and human empathy’ (The Independent). She speaks with Astrid Edwards about the meaning of life, the nature of death, the power of art and the purpose of friendship. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

The Committed is Viet Thanh Nguyen‘s keenly awaited follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Sympathizer. A journey through the underworld of 1980s Paris, it shares the same narrator, a Vietnamese-French communist spy, as its predecessor and has drawn praise as ‘a treatise of global futurity in the aftermath of colonial conquest’ (Ocean Vuong) and ‘a deep, compelling and humorous portrait of how we are shaped by fictions others have for us’ (Laila Lalami). He speaks with Leah Jing McIntosh about a literary thriller spiked with absurdist humour that shines a forensic light on empire and capitalism. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Pulitzer Prize–winning Jhumpa Lahiri’s new novel, Whereabouts, is a meditative portrait of a woman wavering between stasis and movement as she wanders the parks, piazzas and cafes of an unnamed European city she calls home. Originally composed in Italian and translated into English by Lahiri herself, it depicts a narrator whose outwardly tranquil life belies deeper unrest, estrangement and longing. Hear from Lahiri as she sheds light on an aching and hypnotic work of fiction in conversation with Emma Alberici. Supported by ARA Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Celebrated Irish-Nigerian author Emma Dabiri’s What White People Can Do Next cuts through the noise of online discourse to offer a robust and nuanced examination of race and class. Drawing from lived experience and academic study, Dabiri expertly outlines how the idea of race was constructed to bolster capitalism, while articulating a powerful vision of how to forge a future that works for us all. Listen to her in conversation with Santilla Chingaipe about a deeply practical treatise told with intellectual rigour and razor-sharp wit. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Rachel Cusk’s breakaway Outline trilogy was heralded as nothing short of a reinvention of the novel, unfolding across a series of conversations with a withholding narrator. Her newest work, Second Place, extends the themes of female fate and male privilege to encompass the murky link between art and evil. Cusk speaks with interviewer Sophie Black about a dazzling and psychologically exacting fable of human destiny and decline, and her prolific career at large. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Natasha Brown’s Assembly has earned impressive praise as ‘the literary debut of the summer’ (Vogue) and a ‘book that doesn’t just mark the moment things change, but also makes that change possible’ (Ali Smith). She speaks in conversation with Areej Nur about her virtuosic novel, narrated by a Black British woman preparing to attend a lavish party at her boyfriend’s family estate, exploring issues of race, class and assimilation in the shadow of Britain’s colonial legacy. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Travel through time to hidden realms with fantasy writer Karen Ginnane (When Days Tilt), in conversation with Amie Kaufman. The teen hero of Ginnane’s debut novel swoops through Victorian-era London to a parallel city to solve her mother’s disappearance.  Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Join acclaimed writers Kathryn Heyman and Clem Bastow as they reflect on their unsparing and hopeful memoirs in conversation with moderator Erina Reddan. Bastow’s wise and witty Late Bloomer examines being diagnosed with autism at age 36, the challenges she faced growing up, and broader cultural stigma around autism, especially for women and gender-diverse people. Heyman’s Fury has been described as a ‘searing, thrilling and redemptive’ (Anna Funder) account of her year-long stint on a fishing trawler in the Timor Sea at age 20 that raised her out of poverty and abuse to become her own hero. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

One of the year’s most talked-about books, Rumaan Alam‘s Leave the World Behind is a tautly dystopic story of a family vacation interrupted by unexpected visitors and unseen disaster. Hailed a darkly witty page-turner set against the end of the world, its fans include Carmen Maria Machado, who wrote, ‘I have not been this profoundly unnerved since Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go.’ Alam speaks with Osman Faruqi about a novel seemingly tailor-made for our times, exploring race, class and privilege in a world undone by catastrophe. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

The Dark Lady by author and hip-hop artist Akala tells the magic-laced adventure of teen orphan and thief, Henry, who makes his way through Shakespearean London’s toughest slum. Taking you to a time when boys like Henry relied on their wits and secret powers to survive, Akala tackles themes of identity and inequality familiar to readers of his bestselling book Natives. Join journalist and ABC RN’s Stop Everything! co-host Beverley Wang as she speaks with an author described by The Guardian as ‘the kind of disruptive, aggressive intellect that a new generation is closely watching’. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Prize–winning novelists Larissa Behrendt and Steven Carroll reflect on how literature from long ago can lead us to truths once left unsaid. Behrendt sets the Western literary canon beside First Nations storytelling in After Story, in which an Indigenous lawyer and her mother tour England’s most revered literary sites. Carroll’s O reimagines the infamous French novel Story of O, shining a light on the preoccupations and wartime past a country would rather forget. With moderator Clare Wright. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Join two of the year’s most impressive debut novelists, Sophie Overett and Emily Spurr, as they talk about capturing the confusion, grief and resilience of characters grappling with the disappearance of loved ones. Overett won the Penguin Literary Prize for The Rabbits, a magic-realism-infused story of a family grieving the disappearance of a son, who they soon learn has turned invisible. Shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award, Spurr’s A Million Things is the enthralling and wrenching tale of a brave, spiky young girl who must fend for herself in her mother’s absence. With Elizabeth Flux. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Nearly half of Australians live with a chronic illness, but many of these conditions are invisible and endured in secrecy. Triple J presenter and How to Endo author Bridget Hustwaite teams up with ABC Radio presenter and Unseen author Jacinta Parsons to speak with Jamila Rizvi about living with hidden illness. They reflect on the challenging path to diagnosis—Hustwaite with endometriosis, and Parsons with Crohn’s disease—how the medical system ignores women, and the complex dynamic between those living with illness, their bodies, and society at large. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Hear from acclaimed new talents Ella Baxter and Allee Richards as they speak to Elizabeth McCarthy about their debut novels, which each brings unique perspective to the story of a young woman navigating sudden loss and grief. Baxter’s New Animal is the ‘profound, profane and darkly hilarious’ (Bri Lee) story of a young cosmetician in a family mortuary who falls in with a Tasmanian BDSM community after experiencing tragedy. Exploring friendship, desire and grief, Richards’ Small Joys of Real Life follows a woman reeling from the death of a fleeting romantic encounter and has been described as Sally Rooney meets Helen Garner. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Known to some 150,000 Instagram followers as Flex Mami, Lillian Ahenkan is a presenter, podcaster and influencer who uses her platform to explore everything from therapy to DIY decorating to racism. She chats with Matilda Boseley about her debut book The Success Experiment—detailing how she transformed herself from a two-time uni drop-out and a career that paid in burnout into a highly sought-after media personality—and the formula that will make you think differently about the way you live and work. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Australian writers Steven Carroll and Rebecca Starford speak to Sarah L'Estrange about two of the most riveting historical novels of the year, each featuring characters with shifting identifies, set against the backdrop of WWII. A Miles Franklin–winning author, Carroll’s O travels to occupied France to reimagine the infamous Story of O and the life of its pseudonymous protagonist, offering insight into power, surrender and the expectations of women. Starford’s debut novel The Imitator is a page-turning thriller that draws from the true story of a woman who became an undercover agent for MI5, exploring courage, loyalty, and sacrifice. Recorded for MWF in 2021. Supported by the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne 

The new novels of Miles Franklin–winning writer Sofie Laguna (Infinite Splendours) and Walkley–winning journalist Erina Reddan (The Serpent’s Skin) each depict childhood trauma and its reverberations into adulthood. In this podcast, they speak with Ellen Cregan about the corrosive power of toxic masculinity, the betrayal of a child by the adults in their life, the strength of sibling bonds, and the ways in which hope and redemption are salvaged later in life. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

The first Muslim woman to sit in an Australian parliament, Greens senator and life-long feminist and anti-racism activist Mehreen Faruqi tells her story in the no-holds-barred memoir Too Migrant, Too Muslim, Too Loud. Join her as she recounts arriving from Pakistan in 1992 with a young family and two suitcases, her career as a civil and environmental engineer, and her ascent as a political outsider in a white man’s world, striving to change it without being changed. Faruqi is joined by moderator Tasneem Chopra.

Acclaimed writers Paige Clark (She Is Haunted) and Chloe Wilson (Hold Your Fire) chat about their short story collections, both bound by fantastical and unsettling elements, in conversation with Veronica Sullivan. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

Two authors confront the impossibility of untangling the enduring racism of Australia without seriously reckoning with the ongoing dispossession and genocide of First Nations people. Join Gunai/Kurnai writer Veronica Heritage-Gorrie (Black and Blue) and activist and thinker Randa Abdel-Fattah (Coming of Age in the War on Terror) as they examine how modern-day racism is bound to the violence and traumas of colonisation, and how we can forge a path forward. With moderator Roj Amedi. Recorded for MWF in 2021.

In an intimate conversation featuring two of literary Australia’s brightest young talents, Madeleine Ryan (A Room Called Earth) and Yves Rees (All About Yves) speak to Adolfo Aranjuez about laying bare the messiness of bodies, gender and identity, and navigating shifting selfhood. Rees discusses writing their account of coming to understand they were transgender at the age of 30, while Ryan shares her own experience of being diagnosed with autism while writing her novel, a first-person story following a neurodivergent young woman over the course of a night. Recorded for MWF in 2021.