This week on The ABR Podcast, Nadia Wheatley reviews Sisters in Arms by Sarah Cochrane Ridout, the ‘powerful’ story of two Australian women who worked tirelessly to campaign for constitutional change in the 1967 referendum: Kath Walker, who later changed her name to Oodgeroo Noonuccal, and Kathie Cochrane. With its story of female resilience, creativity, and enduring friendship, Ridout’s book is one that ‘should be read’, Wheatley writes. ‘The characters and story are so strong, the Cold War surveillance so spooky, and the message (in the wake of the unsuccessful Voice referendum) so timely’.

Nadia Wheatley is the author of The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift, which won The Age Book of the Year in 2001 and the Australian History Prize at the New South Wales Premier’s History Awards in 2002.

‘Fact and fiction: A story of two legendary women’ by Nadia Wheatley is published in the October issue of ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Nadia Wheatley reviews Sisters in Arms by Sarah Cochrane Ridout, the &lsquo;powerful&rsquo; story of two Australian women who worked tirelessly to campaign for constitutional change in the 1967 referendum: Kath Walker, who later changed her name to Oodgeroo Noonuccal, and Kathie Cochrane. With its story of female resilience, creativity, and enduring friendship, Ridout&rsquo;s book is one that &lsquo;should be read&rsquo;, Wheatley writes. &lsquo;The characters and story are so strong, the Cold War surveillance so spooky, and the message (in the wake of the unsuccessful Voice referendum) so timely&rsquo;.
Nadia Wheatley is the author of The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift, which won The Age Book of the Year in 2001 and the Australian History Prize at the New South Wales Premier&rsquo;s History Awards in 2002.
&lsquo;Fact and fiction: A story of two legendary women&rsquo; by Nadia Wheatley is published in the October issue of ABR.

Welcome to The ABR Podcast, produced by Australian Book Review. Released every Thursday, The ABR Podcast features a range of literary highlights, such as reviews, poetry, fiction, interviews, and commentary. Subscribe on iTunes, Google, or Spotify Podcasts, or whichever app you use to listen to your favourite podcasts.

For more information about ABR, visit our website, www.australianbookreview.com.au

Welcome to The ABR Podcast, produced by Australian Book Review. Released every Thursday, The ABR Podcast features a range of literary highlights, such as reviews, poetry, fiction, interviews, and commentary. Subscribe on iTunes, Google, or Spotify Podcasts, or whichever app you use to listen to your favourite podcasts.
For more information about&nbsp;ABR, visit our website, <a href="http://www.australianbookreview.com.au">www.australianbookreview.com.au</a>

Welcome to The ABR Podcast, produced by Australian Book Review. Released every Thursday, The ABR Podcast features a range of literary highlights, such as reviews, poetry, fiction, interviews, and commentary. Subscribe on iTunes, Google, or Spotify Podcasts, or whichever app you use to listen to your favourite podcasts.

The ABR Podcast

ABR is delighted to introduce its brand-new podcast, The ABR Podcast.

Released fortnightly every Wednesday, The ABR Podcast will feature a range of literary highlights, such as reviews, poetry, fiction, interviews, and commentary. Subscribe on the iTunes, Google, or Spotify Podcasts, or whichever app you use to listen to your favourite podcasts.

ABR&nbsp;is delighted to introduce its brand-new podcast,&nbsp;The ABR Podcast.
Released fortnightly every Wednesday,&nbsp;The ABR Podcast&nbsp;will feature a range of literary highlights, such as reviews, poetry, fiction, interviews, and commentary. Subscribe on the iTunes, Google, or Spotify Podcasts, or whichever app you use to listen to your favourite podcasts.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Nadia Wheatley reviews Sisters in Arms by Sarah Cochrane Ridout, the ‘powerful’ story of two Australian women who worked tirelessly to campaign for constitutional change in the 1967 referendum: Kath Walker, who later changed her name to Oodgeroo Noonuccal, and Kathie Cochrane. With its story of female resilience, creativity, and enduring friendship, Ridout’s book is one that ‘should be read’, Wheatley writes. ‘The characters and story are so strong, the Cold War surveillance so spooky, and the message (in the wake of the unsuccessful Voice referendum) so timely’.  Nadia Wheatley is the author of The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift, which won The Age Book of the Year in 2001 and the Australian History Prize at the New South Wales Premier’s History Awards in 2002. Here is Nadia Wheatley with ‘Fact and fiction: A story of two legendary women’, published in the October issue of ABR.

‘Fact and fiction: A story of two legendary women’ by Nadia Wheatley

This week on The ABR Podcast, Anthony Macris reviews Rachel Cusk’s fictional autobiography, Life of M, finding it ‘particularly strange and compelling’. Interrogating the uncomfortable relationship between selfhood and celebrity, Cusk’s novel questions how human identity ‘warps and buckles under pressure’. Life of M is a novel that makes an ‘enigma’ of both its narrator and its author, Macris writes: it is ‘like watching two sphinxes circle one another … guarding at all costs their essential unknowability’.

Anthony Macris is Adjunct Professor of Writing at the University of Technology Sydney. His best-selling autism memoir, When Horse Became Saw (2011), was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and The Age Book of the Year. 

‘Sphinx and her double:A Woolfian celebration of the moment’ by Anthony Macris is published in the October issue of ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Anthony Macris reviews Rachel Cusk&rsquo;s fictional autobiography, Life of M, finding it &lsquo;particularly strange and compelling&rsquo;. Interrogating the uncomfortable relationship between selfhood and celebrity, Cusk&rsquo;s novel questions how human identity &lsquo;warps and buckles under pressure&rsquo;. Life of M is a novel that makes an &lsquo;enigma&rsquo; of both its narrator and its author, Macris writes: it is &lsquo;like watching two sphinxes circle one another &hellip; guarding at all costs their essential unknowability&rsquo;.
Anthony Macris is Adjunct Professor of Writing at the University of Technology Sydney. His best-selling autism memoir,&nbsp;When Horse Became Saw&nbsp;(2011), was shortlisted for the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Literary Awards and&nbsp;The Age&nbsp;Book of the Year.&nbsp;
&lsquo;Sphinx and her double: A Woolfian celebration of the moment&rsquo; by Anthony Macris is published in the October issue of&nbsp;ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Anthony Macris reviews Rachel Cusk’s fictional autobiography, Life of M, finding it ‘particularly strange and compelling’. Interrogating the uncomfortable relationship between selfhood and celebrity, Cusk’s novel questions how human identity ‘warps and buckles under pressure’. Life of M is a novel that makes an ‘enigma’ of both its narrator and its author, Macris writes: it is ‘like watching two sphinxes circle one another … guarding at all costs their essential unknowability’. Anthony Macris is Adjunct Professor of Writing at the University of Technology Sydney. His best-selling autism memoir, When Horse Became Saw (2011), was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and The Age Book of the Year.  Here is Anthony Macris with ‘Sphinx and her double: A Woolfian celebration of the moment’, published in the October issue of ABR.

‘Sphinx and her double: A Woolfian celebration of the moment’ by Anthony Macris

This week on The ABR Podcast, Emma Dawson surveys Bernard Keane’s Seize the Moment, in which Keane grapples with the 2025 Australian federal election result. Australia handed the Albanese government a huge majority in that election and, Dawson writes, ‘disproved the assumptions that have underpinned Keane’s political analysis for years’. Keane presents merely a ‘well-intentioned’, ‘tinkering’ approach to policy in his book: ‘none of this is new, let alone bold, thinking’.

Emma Dawson is Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre. She was previously a senior policy adviser in both the Rudd and Gillard governments.

‘To kill the pig: Politics that misses the moment’ by Emma Dawson is published in the October issue of ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Emma Dawson surveys Bernard Keane&rsquo;s&nbsp;Seize the Moment, in which Keane grapples with the 2025 Australian federal election result. Australia handed the Albanese government a huge majority in that election and, Dawson writes, &lsquo;disproved the assumptions that have underpinned Keane&rsquo;s&nbsp;political analysis for years&rsquo;. Keane presents merely a &lsquo;well-intentioned&rsquo;, &lsquo;tinkering&rsquo; approach to policy in his book: &lsquo;none of this is new, let alone bold, thinking&rsquo;.
Emma Dawson is Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre. She was previously a senior policy adviser in both the Rudd and Gillard governments.
&lsquo;To kill the pig: Politics that misses the moment&rsquo; by Emma Dawson is published in the October issue of ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Emma Dawson surveys Bernard Keane’s Seize the Moment, in which Keane grapples with the 2025 Australian federal election result. Australia handed the Albanese government a huge majority in that election and, Dawson writes, ‘disproved the assumptions that have underpinned Keane’s political analysis for years’. Keane presents merely a ‘well-intentioned’, ‘tinkering’ approach to policy in his book: ‘none of this is new, let alone bold, thinking’. Emma Dawson is Executive Director of the Chifley Research Centre. She was previously a senior policy adviser in both the Rudd and Gillard governments. Here is Emma Dawson with ‘To kill the pig: Politics that misses the moment’, published in the October issue of ABR.

‘To kill the pig: Politics that misses the moment’ by Emma Dawson

This week on The ABR Podcast, Cheryl Leavy reviews Julie Janson’s ‘unsettling and powerful’ poetry collection, My Kaathi Sister, calling it a brand of truth-telling that is ‘embodied, tactile, and troubling’, but ‘never performative’. Janson’s work positions the reader as ‘outcry witness’, Leavy writes, pushing them ‘to the edge of their psychological, social, and political readiness’ to hear her testimony.

Cheryl Leavy is from the Kooma and Nguri nations in western and central Queensland. She is the 2026 winner of the Peter Porter Poetry Prize and its inaugural First Nations winner. In 2022, Cheryl was awarded the Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize. She has been published by Cordite, Griffith Review, Southerly, and The Guardian.

‘Fierce ground: Laying down songline’ by Cheryl Leavy is published in the September issue of ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Cheryl Leavy reviews Julie Janson&rsquo;s &lsquo;unsettling and powerful&rsquo; poetry collection, My Kaathi Sister, calling it a brand of truth-telling that is &lsquo;embodied, tactile, and troubling&rsquo;, but &lsquo;never performative&rsquo;. Janson&rsquo;s work positions the reader as &lsquo;outcry witness&rsquo;, Leavy writes, pushing them &lsquo;to the edge of their psychological, social, and political readiness&rsquo; to hear her testimony.
Cheryl Leavy is from the Kooma and Nguri nations in western and central Queensland. She is the 2026 winner of the Peter Porter Poetry Prize and its inaugural First Nations winner. In 2022, Cheryl was awarded the Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize. She has been published by Cordite, Griffith Review, Southerly, and The Guardian.
&lsquo;Fierce ground: Laying down songline&rsquo; by Cheryl Leavy is published in the September issue of&nbsp;ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Cheryl Leavy reviews Julie Janson’s ‘unsettling and powerful’ poetry collection, My Kaathi Sister, calling it a brand of truth-telling that is ‘embodied, tactile, and troubling’, but ‘never performative’. Janson’s work positions the reader as ‘outcry witness’, Leavy writes, pushing them ‘to the edge of their psychological, social, and political readiness’ to hear her testimony. Cheryl Leavy is from the Kooma and Nguri nations in western and central Queensland. She is the 2026 winner of the Peter Porter Poetry Prize and its inaugural First Nations winner. In 2022, Cheryl was awarded the Oodgeroo Noonuccal Indigenous Poetry Prize. She has been published by Cordite, Griffith Review, Southerly, and The Guardian. Here is Cheryl Leavy with ‘Fierce ground: Laying down songline’, published in the September issue of ABR.

‘Fact and fiction: A story of two legendary women’ by Nadia Wheatley

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