This week on The ABR Podcast, Peter Goldsworthy shares a poignant account of writing sonnets by a Brisbane poolside in 1987 with the late poet Gwen Harwood and author Vikram Seth. One of Australia’s greatest poets, Harwood was to her friend and fellow poet Goldsworthy an ‘impish, irreverent devil’ whose correspondence over many years, including in her final months, he recently discovered in his attic.

Peter Goldsworthy published a memoir titled The Cancer Finishing School (2024) and is the author of the poetry collection Tomorrow, published earlier this year and reviewed by Lisa Gorton in the July issue of ABR.

‘“He lives eternally who lives in the present”:On lost sonnets and wandering through paradise with Gwen Harwood’ by Peter Goldsworthy is published in the September issue of ABR.

This week on The ABR Podcast, Peter Goldsworthy shares a poignant account of writing sonnets by a Brisbane poolside in 1987 with the late poet Gwen Harwood and author Vikram Seth. One of Australia&rsquo;s greatest poets, Harwood was to her friend and fellow poet Goldsworthy an &lsquo;impish, irreverent devil&rsquo; whose correspondence over many years, including in her final months, he recently discovered in his attic.
Peter Goldsworthy published a memoir titled&nbsp;The Cancer Finishing School&nbsp;(2024) and is the author of the poetry collection Tomorrow, published earlier this year and reviewed by Lisa Gorton in the July issue of ABR.
&lsquo;&ldquo;He lives eternally who lives in the present&rdquo;: On lost sonnets and wandering through paradise with Gwen Harwood&rsquo; by Peter Goldsworthy is published in the September 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, Peter Goldsworthy shares a poignant account of writing sonnets by a Brisbane poolside in 1987 with the late poet Gwen Harwood and author Vikram Seth. One of Australia’s greatest poets, Harwood was to her friend and fellow poet Goldsworthy an ‘impish, irreverent devil’ whose correspondence over many years, including in her final months, he recently discovered in his attic.

‘“He lives eternally who lives in the present”: On lost sonnets and wandering through paradise with Gwen Harwood’ by Peter Goldsworthy

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.

‘Fierce ground: Laying down songline’ by Cheryl Leavy

Today’s episode marks a collaboration between ABR and The Nature Conservancy’s Nature Writing Prize as ABR becomes Media Partner of the prize. In the episode, we consider the notion that theway we write about nature shapes the way we see it, value it, and act on its behalf.

The eighth biennial Nature Writing Prize is now open, and the winning essay, which attracts prize money of $8,000, will be published in the January/February issue of ABR. This year’s judges are Kim Mahood, Dave Witty, and Georgina Arnott. Applications for the prize can be submitted here: https://natureaustralia.submittable.com/submit/358915/2026-nature-writing-prize

Today&rsquo;s episode marks a collaboration between ABR and The Nature Conservancy&rsquo;s Nature Writing Prize as ABR becomes Media Partner of the prize. In the episode, we consider the notion that the way we write about nature shapes the way we see it, value it, and act on its behalf.
The eighth biennial Nature Writing Prize is now open, and the winning essay, which attracts prize money of $8,000, will be published in the January/February issue of ABR. This year&rsquo;s judges are Kim Mahood, Dave Witty, and Georgina Arnott. Applications for the prize can be submitted here: <a href="https://natureaustralia.submittable.com/submit/358915/2026-nature-writing-prize">https://natureaustralia.submittable.com/submit/358915/2026-nature-writing-prize</a>

Today’s episode marks a collaboration between ABR and The Nature Conservancy’s Nature Writing Prize as ABR becomes Media Partner of the prize. Today’s episode considers the notion that the way we write about nature shapes the way we see it, value it, and act on its behalf.  The eighth biennial Nature Writing Prize is now open, and the winning essay, which attracts prize money of $8,000, will be published in the January/February issue of ABR. This year’s judges are Kim Mahood, Dave Witty, and Georgina Arnott. Applications for the prize can be submitted here: https://natureaustralia.submittable.com/submit/358915/2026-nature-writing-prize

‘“He lives eternally who lives in the present”: On lost sonnets and wandering through paradise with Gwen Harwood’ by Peter Goldsworthy

In 1 playlist(s)

The ABR Podcast

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips