Dutch author Yael van der Wouden unpacks her Booker Prize-shortlisted debut novel The Safekeep.

Van der Wouden sits down to discuss her masterful, genre-defying work with Tali Lavi. 


Supported by ARA.


Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2025.

Dutch author Yael van der Wouden unpacks her Booker Prize-shortlisted debut novel The Safekeep.
Van der Wouden sits down to discuss her masterful, genre-defying work with Tali Lavi.&nbsp; 
Supported by ARA. 
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2025.

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Melbourne Writers Festival

Conversations from Australia's boldest literary festival.

Conversations from Australia's boldest literary festival.

Yael van der Wouden: The Safekeep

Santilla Chingaipe (Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia), Sita Sargeant (She Shapes History) and Steve Vizard (Nation, Memory, Myth: Gallipoli and the Australian Imaginary) come together to bring to light misunderstood, mythologised or lesser-known dimensions of Australian history.

From the global slave trade and Gallipoli to the women who shaped our country but were omitted from the history books, this discussion addresses how the stories we choose to tell – and those that are left out – shape our national identity.

Hosted by ABC Radio National's Natasha Mitchell. 

Supported by ARA.

Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

Santilla Chingaipe (Black Convicts: How Slavery Shaped Australia), Sita Sargeant (She Shapes History) and Steve Vizard (Nation, Memory, Myth: Gallipoli and the Australian Imaginary)&nbsp;come together to bring to light misunderstood, mythologised or lesser-known dimensions of Australian history.
From the global slave trade and Gallipoli to the women who shaped our country but were omitted from the history books, this discussion addresses how the stories we choose to tell &ndash; and those that are left out &ndash; shape our national identity.
Hosted by ABC Radio National's Natasha Mitchell.&nbsp;
Supported by ARA.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

The Past is a Foreign Country

Hannah Kent has won legions of fans with works like Burial Rights, The Good People and Devotion. Now, she presents her debut work of non-fiction – a tender, diaristic love letter to her muse, Iceland.

Always Home, Always Homesick is both a memoir of Kent’s experiences of living in Iceland, and a wider consideration of how literature forms the heart of the nation's culture and identity.

Speaking with ABC Radio National’s Richard Fidler, Kent explores distance and belonging, writing place and the self, and how Iceland has shaped the person she is today.

Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

Hannah Kent&nbsp;has won legions of fans with works like&nbsp;Burial Rights,&nbsp;The Good People&nbsp;and&nbsp;Devotion. Now, she presents her debut work of non-fiction &ndash; a tender, diaristic love letter to her muse, Iceland. Always Home, Always Homesick&nbsp;is both a memoir of Kent&rsquo;s experiences of living in Iceland, and a wider consideration of how literature forms the heart of the nation's culture and identity. Speaking with ABC Radio National&rsquo;s&nbsp;Richard Fidler, Kent explores distance and belonging, writing place and the self, and how Iceland has shaped the person she is today.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

Hannah Kent: Always Home, Always Homesick

When an artist does something that appals us – politically, legally or ethically – does that mean we should turn our backs on their art? Is it ever possible to separate the art from the artist? And more pressingly – is it right to?

Journalist Osman Faruqi, philosopher A. C. Grayling and cultural critic Tara Kenny debate one of the most divisive issues of our time: how we should respond to great artists who do bad things.

Listen to this lively debate with three sharp thinkers as they consider legacy, celebrity, transgression and accountability, with host Beejay Silcox.

Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

When an artist does something that appals us &ndash; politically, legally or ethically &ndash; does that mean we should turn our backs on their art? Is it ever possible to separate the art from the artist? And more pressingly &ndash; is it right to? Journalist Osman Faruqi, philosopher A. C. Grayling and cultural critic Tara Kenny debate one of the most divisive issues of our time: how we should respond to great artists who do bad things. Listen to this lively debate with three sharp thinkers as they consider legacy, celebrity, transgression and accountability, with host Beejay Silcox.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival.

Yael van der Wouden: The Safekeep

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