Alle afleveringen
250 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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01 | The Agatha Christie Murder Club: Who was Agatha?
25 oktober 2026 · 18 min
At the first meeting of The Agatha Christie Murder Club we investigate the life of Agatha Christie to find out what led to a lifetime of writing detective fiction. How did her failed ambitions as an opera singer force her to pivot? What really happened when she was the subject of her own missing persons case? Lees meer
Also, Agatha Christie is officially the best-selling novelist of all time. She was the author of 66 detective novels, 14 short story collections and she wrote The Mousetrap, the world's longest running play. Did she revel in this fame or try to protect her privacy?
Laura Thomspon, author of Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life, helps solve the case.
David Astle, the ABC's resident puzzle master has devised devious cryptic puzzles inspired by Agatha Christie's books. Each episode he'll provide a new clue and the answer will be the title of one of Agatha Christie's books.
Episode #1 Clue: Unsure hint? Delve on the rocks
David Astle will be back next time with the answer, and a new mystery for you to solve.
Email thebookshow@abc.net.au if you know the answer to the puzzle.
Find out more about the five-part series here.
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Why R.F. Kuang won't stay in the world of Yellowface
25 oktober 2026 · 23 min
Is there any genre RF Kuang can't master? Her work continually surprises readers and for her latest novel, Taipei Story, she explains why she's shifted gears to tell a quiet story infused with subtle humour. Lees meer
Taipei Story follows a Chinese American student trying to connect with her heritage while uncovering some confronting family secrets. The novel's origins lie in RF Kuang's own experience of attending an intensive Mandarin course in Taiwan when her grandfather died. As she describes to Claire Nichols, as well as mourning his loss, his death was a profound blow to her search for a meaningful connection with her Chinese heritage and she struggled to find the right language to express her feelings. And she wondered, how much harder it would be for a younger person from the diaspora seeking a link to their heritage?
Listen to Claire's interview with RF Kuang about Katabasis and Yellowface.
Love Agatha Christie mysteries? Dive into The Book Show's new series The Agatha Christie Murder Club as we solve mysteries about Christie, her books and legacy. Each week you'll have a chance to solve a cryptic puzzle devised by puzzle master, David Astle.
Relive your favourite moments of the Top 100 Books countdown. Download a printable Top 100 Australian Books 1-100 ranked and also, the list from 101-200.
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The Top 100 Australian Books afterparty
19 oktober 2026 · 55 min
You voted, we counted and now we know: Tim Winton's Cloudstreet is our favourite-ever Australian book. In this Top 100 Australian Books afterparty we relive the highs, the lows and the controversies of the countdown. Lees meer
Claire Nichols and Hilary Harper take a deep dive into conversations from The Book Show with your favourite Top 100 Books authors. Tim Winton reflects on how Cloudstreet saved him, Markus Zusak shares the stories that made The Book Thief and we hear from other favourites: Melissa Lucashenko on Too Much Lip and Charlotte McConaghy on Wild Dark Shore.
We also dig into the ABC archives for a 1987 interview with Sally Morgan on her seminal memoir, My Place.
Download a printable Top 100 Australian Books 1-100 ranked.
Relive your favourite moments of the weekend countdown.
Tune into our sister show, The Bookshelf, for the ones that got away (and the 101-200 list).
Donate to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, our Top 100 Australian Books partner.
Top 100 Australian Books: Ranks 1–100
1. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton2. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak3. Boy Swallows Universe by Trent Dalton4. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent5. A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey6. Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden7. The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams8. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan9. The Secret River by Kate Grenville10. The Dry by Jane Harper
11. Possum Magic by Mem Fox and Julie Vivas12. Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe13. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta14. Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks15. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas16. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy17. Storm Boy by Colin Thiele18. My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin19. Magic Beach by Alison Lester20. Wifedom by Anna Funder
21. My Place by Sally Morgan22. The Australian Women's Weekly Children's Birthday Cake Book by Maryanne Blacker and Pamela Clark23. Stasiland by Anna Funder24. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay25. Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner26. Pic…
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INTRODUCING — The Agatha Christie Murder Club
15 oktober 2026 · 2 min
Before Knives Out, escape rooms and true-crime podcasts, there was Agatha Christie. The 'Queen of Crime' perfected the murder-mystery format and, 50 years after her death, we still can't get enough of her trailblazing take on cosy crime. Lees meer
Each episode we solve a case together. What made her mysteries so propulsive? What happened when she was the star of her own missing-persons case? And would The Thursday Murder Club, or Only Murders in the Building exist, without Agatha Christie?
Plus, each episode we'll put your little grey cells to work with a cryptic puzzle brought to you by David Astle, the ABC's resident Puzzle Master.
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Min Jin Lee and Bonnie Garmus: After Pachinko and Lessons in Chemistry
11 oktober 2026 · 41 min
The surprising Australian links in Min Jin Lee's latest novel American Hagwon. And Bonnie Garmus stresses the importance of poetry in Peck and Peck, the follow up to Lessons in Chemistry. Lees meer
Why did it take ten years to write American Hagwon, the third novel exploring the Korean diaspora after Pachinko? Find out as Korean American author Min Jin Lee describes to Claire Nichols the ideas behind this family saga set just after the Asian financial crisis. The novel which centres on the sacrifices parents make to educate their children, but is also about expectations, class, migration and ultimately a celebration of family unity. While tackling the endemic Korean private cram academies called Hagwon, the story takes us to Korea, Sydney and California. And as a regular visitor to these shores, Min Jin Lee has some interesting conclusions about Australia's education and health systems.
And while Bonnie Garmus tells Claire Nichols the themes in her latest novel are very different from Lessons in Chemistry, the idea for Peck and Peck also came to her after a bad day at work. This time though it was a poem on the radio that sparked a story about a young man with an ear for identifying good poetry. And the complexities of twins.
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Jeffrey Archer's final Australian interview
6 oktober 2026 · 21 min
Conservative politician and bestselling author, Jeffrey Archer has died at 86. In one of the final interviews of his life, he recounts how his changing financial, personal and political fortunes propelled his writing career. Lees meer
Jeffery Archer's own life story was just as colourful as those in the pages of his books. He was a British MP until he went bankrupt, then in 1976 he published the novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less which began his 50 year career as a novelist. He was made a British Lord, worked for Margaret Thatcher and went to jail for perjury.
With his days in politics long behind him, Jeffrey Archer was in a reflective mood for this interview. He told Claire Nichols that his new novel, Adam and Eve, was the best thing he'd written and it would be his last.
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Shaun Micallef gets silly
4 oktober 2026 · 41 min
Why Shaun Micallef's latest novel DeAth Takes a Holiday features a cast of gothic characters including a vampire suffering from ennui, zombie slaves and the resurrection of the skeletal remains of Queen Victoria's husband. Lees meer
What happens when you have to step in to a gig at the last minute? With almost zero preparation Claire Nichols had to draw on all her skills to fill in as host at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival. But with a guest like comedian, author, TV presenter Shaun Micallef perhaps even the most rigorous research can never prepare you for what's about to unfold. Thank goodness Claire had actually read and interviewed him about his new book DeAth Takes a Holiday, a unique perspective on the Gothic romance horror where the harbinger of Dracula attempts mortality. You can hear that interview here. From his hilarious description of the font used, to the inspiration for the book; the 19th century satirical utopian novel Erewhon, Shaun pokes affectionate fun at the format of books, reprises his favourite historical figures and ponders more serious questions about the current state of the world. And is that Trump making an appearance?
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Geraldine Brooks on 25 years of wonder and Zoe Foster Blake's girlfriend getaways
28 september 2026 · 44 min
Geraldine Brooks explains how she stumbled across the story that inspired her 17th century plague novel, Year of Wonders and Zoe Foster Blake channels her favourite getaways and strong female friendships in her latest novel Group Chat. Lees meer
For Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, Geraldine Brooks takes Claire Nichols back to the beginnings of her beloved debut Year of Wonders and reflects on whether it's an Australian novel despite being set in 17th century England. Now, 25 years after publication, Geraldine is amused by how she depicted horses in the novel (she's now a keen horserider), but she's still proud of it and offers wise words about the importance of accepting our younger selves.
Will you be voting for Year of Wonders? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books.
Zoe Foster Blake describes to Claire Nichols how holidays in her favourite Greek island of Mykonos and her enduring friendships with women over decades inspired her latest novel. Group Chat is about five women in their forties who gather for a week of extravagance to support a girlfriend who's discovered her husband is cheating. As they dance till dawn, sip cocktails at beach bars or on luxury yachts, the women also question their own suburban lives and ask themselves, is that all there is?
We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.
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Kim Scott and Kate Grenville went to the library, and came away with a story
20 september 2026 · 46 min
Kim Scott was so disturbed by how Noongar people were depicted in the Western Australian archive that he wrote Benang: From the Heart. Plus Kate Grenville explains the origins of her latest genre-bending book and how The Secret River became a novel. Lees meer
In 2000, Kim Scott's Benang won the Miles Franklin Literary Award making him the first Indigenous author to win the prestigious prize (shared with Drylands by Thea Astley). In this special interview for Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, he tells Claire Nichols why he wrote Benang as a reckoning with his own Noongar identity. Kim shares the rage he felt reading the work of A.O. Neville, the notorious WA "Chief Protector of Aborigines" and his reaction to the photos of Indigenous people used throughout Neville's racist manifesto "Australia's Coloured Minority".
Will you be voting for Benang: From the Heart? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books.
Kate Grenville is the author of many books that explore Australian history including her celebrated novel, The Secret River. Her latest The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters is a genre-bending exploration of the archive and asks where does truth lie? Kate also tells Claire about how The Secret River began its life and why the book is still special to her.
Kate Grenville is a regular guest on The Book Show and you can listen to Kate and Claire discuss the novel A Room Made of Leaves, a fictionalised account of the life of Elizabeth Macarthur. Or listen to Kate discussing her novel Restless Dolly Maunder.
We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.
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Tim Winton returns to Cloudstreet while Holly Ringland pines for the 90s
13 september 2026 · 51 min
Tim Winton explains why his beloved Cloudstreet is not a nostalgic novel, while Holly Ringland admits she was "nostalgia sick" for the 1990s while writing The World Beneath Her Feet. Lees meer
Cloudstreet follows the Lamb and Pickles families, who live under the same roof but move in very different circles. Loosely based on the two sides of Tim Winton's family, the novel's distinctive vernacular grew from the stories he heard as a child. In this interview for Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books, Tim tells Claire Nichols why the book's enduring popularity remains a mystery to him more than 30 years after its publication. Ahead of the release of his memoir, Songs from the Firefront, Tim also shares some of the true stories that feature in this classic including the heartbreaking story of his grandmother.
Will you be voting for Cloudstreet? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books.
Holly Ringland's debut The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart was voted into the inaugural Top 100 Books in 2025 and now she's published her third novel The World Beneath Her Feet. It's about the troubled past of a gemstone expert growing up in the 1990s which is significant to Holly as the last time teenagers grew up unrecorded without social media and a camera in their pocket
Listen to Claire's interview with Holly about her second novel The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding.
We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.
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Why Helen Garner won't read Monkey Grip again
6 september 2026 · 49 min
Helen Garner finds it painful to think back to the time when she wrote her autobiographical novel, Monkey Grip, about a young mum and her love affair with a heroin addict. Lees meer
Monkey Grip was published in 1977 and was famously inspired by her own life in 1970s inner-city Melbourne. It recounts the turmoil of living in share houses and being in love but also revels in the joys of bike riding and swimming at the local Fitzroy pool. In this special conversation with Claire Nichols for ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote, Helen reflects on the criticism the book received at the time and why writing a diary (that others want to read) is an exercise in craft.
Will you be voting for Monkey Grip? Vote now in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books.
Jordan Prosser's second novel Blue Giant is an unlikely reading companion for Monkey Grip; it's also about young people living in an inner city Melbourne share house, but this book is about millennial ennui and moving to Mars. Listen to Claire's interview with Jordan about his debut novel Big Time here (it's the third interview).
We want to know what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Help us understand what's working, what's not, and how we can make our book programs even more useful, relevant and unmissable. Please take this quick survey.
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Top 100 Australian Books is here. Three Aussie stars pick their fave reads
30 augustus 2026 · 41 min
Omar Musa, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Nadine Garner share the Australian books that shaped their reading life. Find out what they want to do with problematic classics like My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin. Lees meer
The event was recorded with The Book Show's Sarah L'Estrange at Melbourne Writers Festival for ABC Radio National's Top 100 Australian Books vote which is now open.
In the Top 100 Australian Books you can choose any ten Australian titles from fiction to non-fiction, kids books to cookbooks, history, biography or memoir.
Be part of the countdown and cast your vote for your favourite Australian books here.
Tune in to ABC Radio National for the countdown weekend: Saturday, 17 and Sunday, 18 October.
Guests:
Maxine Beneba Clarke is a poet, a children's book author and illustrator. She's also the author of the memoir The Hate Race and an award winning book of short stories, Foreign Soil. Her latest book is Beautiful Changelings.
Nadine Garner has been on our screens since the 1980s and The Henderson Kids. She's also starred in The Doctor Blake Mysteries, won Best Actress at the 1988 Australian Film Institute Awards and appeared in many TV roles and on the stage.
Omar Musa is a visual artist, poet, spoken word performer, playwright, novelist, short story writer and rapper. He's the author of two novels, Here Come the Dogs and his latest Fierceland won the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Listen to his interview on The Book Show with Claire Nichols here.
Books discussed
Omar Musa's favourites:
The Magic Pudding by Norman Lindsay
The Monster that Ate Canberra by Michael Salmon
Tiddalick the Frog Who Caused a Flood by Robert Roennfeldt
Strange Objects by Gary Crew
Obernewtyn by Isabelle Carmody
Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden
Kim Scott's True Country
The Boat by Nam Le
The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch
Shadow boxing by Tony Birch
The Monkey's Mask by Dorothy Porter
Nadine Garner's favourites:
Playing Beatty Bow by …
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The Big Little Lies sequel Liane Moriarty never planned to write
23 augustus 2026 · 41 min
Liane Moriarty reveals why she finally wrote the Big Little Lies sequel after being very resistant. And Garth Nix combines mystery with science fiction in his latest novel, Massif. Lees meer
After the success of the Big Little Lies TV adaptation starring Reece Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, Liane Moriarty brings the story back home to Sydney with the sequel Big Little Truths. Set ten years after the events of the first novel, it's the same group of school mums but the focus has shifted from primary to high school...and there's a severed finger. Liane tells Claire's about the challenges of writing a sequel set in Australia, after the TV sequel was set in America and starred Meryl Streep.
Science fiction fans will gobble up Garth Nix's latest novel which features giant sentient mountain ranges travelling through space. While the Australian writer is known for his fantasy novels for young adults (The Old Kingdom series), he's just published his first science fiction novel for adults. Massif is about soldiers who travel on these mountain ranges to fight rolling wars between Earth and Mars. Garth tells Claire how his years in the Army Reserve shaped the book and why the characters drink so much tea.
Tell us what you think of Radio National's book podcasts (The Book Show and The Bookshelf). Take this quick survey.
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Slumdog Millionaire's Vikas Swarup wants to get your attention
16 augustus 2026 · 41 min
Indian author Vikas Swarup explains the key to his success with Slumdog Millionaire; he believes his new book has a winning premise too. Plus venture capitalist turned novelist Jessy Wu's Good Intentions. Lees meer
Former Indian diplomat Vikas Swarup's debut novel Q&A was a hit with with readers around the world and was adapted into the blockbuster film Slumdog Millionaire. His fourth novel, The Girl With the Seven Lives, opens with a gun pressed to a woman's head as she recounts a tumultuous life marked by changing identities, slums, scams, and revenge. Describing the book as "Slumdog Millionaire meets Scheherazade," Swarup explains why he is drawn to attention-grabbing story premises. Speaking with Claire Nichols, he also discusses his belief that novels can help us better understand ourselves.
Claire mentioned she's interviewed three former diplomats on The Book Show this year. In addition to Vikas Swarup, the other two are Ian Kemish about Two Islands and Miles Franklin shortlisted author Konrad Muller about My Heart at Evening.
From venture capitalist to novelist, Jessy Wu explains why writing fiction feels like coming home. Her debut novel Good Intentions introduces us to idealistic student journalists Nadia and Jake. When we meet them a decade later the reality of grown-up life, love and business has made things a lot more complicated. Jessy also demystifies the world of venture capital and how this novel allowed her to reconnect with her true calling of being a writer.
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Meg Mason's Sorrow and Bliss follow up is about obsession
9 augustus 2026 · 41 min
In Sophie, Standing There bestselling author Meg Mason channels the good and bad of writers' festivals and author fandom. Plus, Bobuq Sayed's journey from Afghanistan to the US via Perth; their novel No God But Us is about two gay men in Istanbul and their dreams of a better life. Lees meer
Meg Mason's third novel Sophie, Standing There is an exploration of a lonely book lover who develops an obsession with a superstar author. Meg tells Claire Nichols about her own experience of fandom (from both sides) and explains her connection to Janet Frame's Owls Do Cry and the solace it provided in her own times of loneliness.
You can listen to Meg Mason's interview on The Book Show about her previous bestselling novel Sorrow and Bliss here.
Australian raised and US based Bobuq Sayed reflects on their life as an Afghan migrant and how travel helped them embrace their cultural background. Their debut novel No God But Us is about two queer Afghan men who find themselves isolated and looking for connection in Istanbul at a time when the number of refugees seeking asylum in Europe from countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan has intensified.
Both authors share the solace of reading in difficult times.
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Omar Musa celebrates his 2026 Miles Franklin win for Fierceland
5 augustus 2026 · 23 min
Discover why the forests sing in Fierceland, Omar Musa's Miles Franklin Literary Award winning novel. Lees meer
Poet, visual artist, hip-hop musician and author Omar Musa finds magic in Italian beads, vengeful ghosts and the sound of the Borneo forest in his award winning novel, Fierceland. The Miles Franklin judges described Fierceland as "a psychologically layered and storied reckoning with the world we have inherited."
In this bonus episode Claire Nichols congratulates Omar and revisits her earlier conversation with him about the writing of Fierceland. Omar explains the family connection to this story of palm oil, deforestation and language.
Omar's latest book is The Vape Lord of Queanbeyan.
He will also be a guest at the London Literature Festival curated by the pop star Dua Lipa.
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Dave Eggers draws on his lifelong friendships in Contrapposto
2 augustus 2026 · 41 min
Why American author Dave Eggers' new novel Contrapposto has taken over 20 years to write. Plus Australian writer Maria Takolander explains the link between Elon Musk, her son and her novel The End of Romance. Lees meer
Firstly, Dave Eggers is the celebrated author of the memoir A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius and his many novels, including The Circle and You Shall Know Our Velocity! There are also children's books and he's the founder of the publishing house and literary journal McSweeney's. But did you know that he's also an artist? His novel Contrapposto is about two friends in the American Midwest with big artistic dreams and what it takes to realise their ambitions. The book includes a number of nude illustrations and Eggers tells Claire Nichols why he wants to maintain the mystery about who created them.
Then, Australian poet Maria Takolander explains how Elon Musk's plans for the Moon and Mars fuelled her debut novel The End of Romance. It's a haunting dystopian novel set in a future world, where a mother and son struggle to survive in an abandoned house amid societal collapse.
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We've read every book on the 2026 Miles Franklin shortlist. Who will win?
26 juli 2026 · 41 min
From hopping zombies to singing forests and a lot of queer characters, we break down the 2026 Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist and pick our favourites from strong contenders including Randa Abdel-Fattah, Omar Musa and more. Lees meer
The Miles Franklin is Australia's most prestigious literary award. It carries a cash prize of $60,000 and the winning author goes in to the history books alongside previous winners including Thea Astley, Tim Winton, Peter Carey, Melissa Lukashenko and the 2025 winner, Siang Lu (listen to our interview with the author).
Claire Nichols and producer Sarah L'Estrange have read through all of the 2026 shortlist and are excited by what's on offer: there's a book that brought down a writers' festival, a Tasmanian colonial detective story, one with walking zombies, one where the forests of Borneo sing, a mysterious child saint in the Kimberley and one where dementia is the inspiration for the story structure.
We discuss what we do and don't like about each book and at the end, pick our favourite. Who do you think will win?
These are the six books on the shortlist:
Discipline by Randa Abdel-Fattah (University of Queensland Press)
First Name Second Name by Steve MinOn (University of Queensland Press)
My Heart At Evening by Konrad Muller (Evercreech Editions)
Fierceland by Omar Musa (Penguin Random House Australia)
Little World by Josephine Rowe (Black Inc)
You Must Remember This by Sean Wilson (Affirm Press)
The 2026 Miles Franklin winner is announced in Sydney on 5th August.
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Mick Herron and the losers, misfits and boozers of Slow Horses
19 juli 2026 · 41 min
Mick Herron reveals how the first of his Slow Horses series almost didn't get published. He joined Claire Nichols and a packed audience at the State Library of Western Australia, to discuss this famous series and his latest thriller. Lees meer
The now hugely successful series is about a batch of failed MI5 operatives, led reluctantly by Jackson Lamb, a grumpy, unkempt former cold-war era super spy. The mismatched group are shunted into a rundown building called Slough House and expected to eventually slink off into the ether, but embarrassingly for HQ, they crack major terrorist plots or uncover historic internal and political corruption.
The series has been adapted for the screen with Gary Oldman channelling a particularly gross Jackson Lamb; where did those dirty, sloppy gaffer taped socks come from? Mick Herron's latest in the popular series, Clown Town involves a covert op during the Troubles and a mysterious missing book.
Recorded at the State Library of Western Australia And Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival Event.
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Spritz and bubble tea with Andrew Sean Greer and Naomi Ishiguro
12 juli 2026 · 41 min
Pulitzer Prize-winner Andrew Sean Greer makes the case for the 'charm novel' with his latest, Villa Coco, about an eccentric Italian baroness and a young American in rural Tuscany. And, as Naomi Ishiguro tells Claire Nichols she channels Japanese folklore, anime, Pokémon as well as themes of migration, slavery and corruption in Rainshadow Orphans, the first of a fantasy trilogy. Lees meer
Andrew Sean Greer reveals how his time at an Italian writers' retreat lead by an unforgettable aristocrat inspired his novel Villa Coco. But he's quick to point out that Coco, the elderly eccentric Italian Baronessa of the novel is a vastly different character from the real person. The book's Coco lives in a crumbling villa in the Tuscan hills where a hapless young American takes a job as her assistant. But his vision of what that entails has to undergo a radical rethink; there is chaos, secrets revealed, grandiose visitors sweep through the faded halls and many misunderstandings and mishaps occur. Andrew also makes a case for writing uplifting books (echoing Ann Patchett who spoke with Claire on The Book Show recently about the importance of joy in her writing life).
Like her father Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro, growing up in Britain has shaped Naomi Ishiguro's understandings and connections with her Japanese heritage. As she describes to Claire her latest novel Rainshadow Orphans, the first of a trilogy of fantasy fiction is partly drawn from her readings of traditional Japanese folklore mixed with contemporary anime, and flavoured with a splash of bubble tea. But in creating the mythical archipelago populated with dragons, sun spirits, high tech underworld criminals and a cast of brave revolutionaries, she is also tapping into perennial issues of discrimination, exploitation, the impact of AI as well as corporate and political greed.
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Holden Sheppard brings footy out of the closet
5 juli 2026 · 41 min
Holden Sheppard grew up gay and closeted in the regional town of Geraldton, WA and now he writes characters like himself into his award winning books — Invisible Boys and Yeah the Boys. Plus for NAIDOC week, Kalkadoon writer John Morrissey tells Claire Nichols about his debut science fiction Bird Deity. Lees meer
Holden Sheppard's bestselling novel Invisible Boys was adapted to the screen and now its sequel, Yeah the Boys has a TV deal in the works too. The stories follow three teenage boys who love football and are also gay. In front of a live audience at Perth ABC, Holden told Claire about the joy of writing stories about same sex attracted men who love cars, footy and heavy metal.
In NAIDOC week, meet award winning Melbourne based Kalkadoon author John Morrissey whose debut novel Bird Deity uses science fiction to explore the lingering impacts of colonisation and trauma.
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Bryan Brown comes bob-bob-bobbin' along
28 juni 2026 · 41 min
Settle in for some classic storytelling with actor Bryan Brown who's written his third novel, Hidden. Plus Angela O'Keefe tells Claire Nichols about Phantom Days, a book about a book. Lees meer
Bryan Brown has been a fixture of our screens since the 1970s but he recently became a writer too. In 2021 his first book of short stories, Sweet Jimmy came out and he's now penned two novels including his latest, The Hidden. He joined Claire Nichols at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival and shared his path to writing. He had the audience laughing at "hello".
Claire also speaks to Angela O'Keefe whose award winning second novel The Sitter was told from the perspective of a painting. In her new novel Phantom Days, another object is a character, in this case, a book. Angela speaks about the importance of letting go after a book is published and how she found the "voice" for the book character in her latest.
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Why Flashlight's Susan Choi can't stop writing about her dad
21 juni 2026 · 41 min
How Susan Choi took her own family — and dialled up the tension — in her Booker shortlisted novel, Flashlight. Lees meer
Flashlight traces the fallout from the disappearance of Serk, a Japanese born Korean on his family, including his American wife and daughter. In the process, the novel powerfully traverses the intersecting 20th century histories of Japan, Korea and the US.
Susan Choi joined Claire Nichols at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival.
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How Maggie O'Farrell's inner 'neek' came out with Land
14 juni 2026 · 40 min
Fresh from the Oscars for Hamnet, Maggie O'Farrell joins Claire Nichols to discuss her book Land. Plus, Robert Forster of iconic indie band The Go-Betweens shares the musical influences behind his debut novel Songwriters on the Run. Lees meer
Maggie O'Farrell is best known for her novels Hamnet, The Marriage Portrait and her memoir I Am, I Am, I Am. Her new novel Land takes place soon after the 19th century Irish famine and follows an Irish map maker and his son as they take part in the first official mapping of the country. Maggie shares her personal connection to this venture and how she's now obsessed with maps (and identifies as a 'neek') and the Irish tradition of holy wells. She shares some Oscars gossip too.
Before Robert Forster's (The Go-Betweens) debut novel Songwriters on the Run was a book, it was a song from his solo album, Songs to Play. The story follows a couple of jailbreaking musicians evading the law. Robert shares the genesis of the song and how it became a story he couldn't let go.
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Yann Martel flips the script on a Greek classic
7 juni 2026 · 54 min
In Son of Nobody, Yann Martel tells Claire Nichols how he reimagines The Iliad, shifting the epic from heroic legend to life as an ordinary foot soldier. Lees meer
Twenty-five years after Life of Pi changed his life, he also reflects on the enduring power of myth, storytelling, and why animals continue to resonate in fiction.
Yann spoke to Claire Nichols at the Sydney Writers Festival.
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Why joy matters in Ann Patchett's Whistler
31 mei 2026 · 41 min
Bestselling author Ann Patchett joins Claire Nichols to discuss her novel Whistler and its unexpected take on step-parents, while Romy Ash unpacks her intimate, sexy and strange new book, Mantle. Lees meer
American author Ann Patchett is the bestselling author of Commonwealth, Bel Canto and Tom Lake. She tells Claire Nichols how her own experience of growing up in a large, blended family influenced her new novel Whistler which is about a reunion between a woman and her stepfather, 40 years after losing touch.
Ann Patchett is also a bookseller and shares the books she's excited about this year: John of John by Douglas Stuart and Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li.
Skin, strange rashes, the climate crisis and salmon farming all come together in Romy Ash's follow up to her Miles Franklin shortlisted novel, Floundering. Mantle is about a woman who's travelled to Tasmania to care for her dying mother, meanwhile a bizarre skin rash is spreading through the population. Romy shares her love of geology and why fiction is the perfect avenue to explore this passion.
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Booker Prize winner David Szalay on the risk and reward of writing Flesh
24 mei 2026 · 41 min
Why Booker Prize winner David Szalay once thought Flesh was a vulgar title and why he's glad he kept it. Lees meer
He joined Claire Nichols at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival to discuss his award winning novel and its complicated relationship to masculinity.
With the fall of the USSR, the novel charts István's changing fortunes from his humble beginnings in Hungary to a lavish life in the UK.
David also tells Claire about why his first Booker Prize award ceremony for All that Man Is in 2016 was so nerve wracking, but the second time around was much more enjoyable (winning helps).
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Siri Hustvedt's love letter to Paul Auster
17 mei 2026 · 30 min
Why Siri Hustvedt wants Paul Auster to return as a ghost. Lees meer
American novelist and essayist Siri Hustvedt speaks with Claire Nichols about her partner of 43 years, writer and poet Paul Auster. When Auster died in 2024 from complications of lung cancer, Hustvedt began writing in the depths of grief. Her new memoir, Ghost Stories, reflects on a life both with and without him, offering rare insight into their creative partnership. It draws on journal entries, correspondence between the two, and letters Auster wrote to his newborn grandson in the final months of his life.
Plus, Lee Lai has won the 2026 Stella Prize for her graphic novel Cannon, marking the first time a graphic novel has been awarded the $60,000 prize. She tells Claire Nichols why she was surprised to win and why the project of growing up is never finished. Listen to the pod extra interview with Lee Lai, the 2026 Stella Prize winner here.
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Lee Lai's graphic novel makes Stella Prize history
13 mei 2026 · 11 min
Lee Lai has won the 2026 Stella Prize for her graphic novel Cannon, marking the first time a graphic novel has been awarded the $60,000 prize. She tells Claire Nichols why she was surprised to win and why the project of growing up is never finished. Lees meer
Running since 2013, the Stella Prize is an Australian award for women and non-binary writers. The judges praised Lai for her "elegant artistry" that "evokes horror and poignancy, shock and delight, and Cannon is an incontestable reminder that — in the hands of a masterful artist and storyteller — the very best graphic novels can do what prose alone cannot. And Cannon is absolutely one of the best."
It's about Luce Cannon who feels her life falling apart as the pressures of being queer, a well behaved second generation Chinese migrant and a carer collide in an epically bad night at work in the kitchen of a Montreal restaurant.
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Can we escape fate? Veronica Roth and Amitav Ghosh on past lives and destiny
10 mei 2026 · 41 min
What do fate and past lives reveal about who we are? Claire Nichols speaks with Veronica Roth and Amitav Ghosh on Seek the Traitor's Son and Ghost Eye. Lees meer
Award-winning, Indian-born American author Amitav Ghosh explores the mysteries of past lives in his latest novel Ghost Eye. Drawing on international case studies of reported reincarnation, Ghosh brings these stories to life through a narrative set in 1960s Calcutta. When a three-year-old girl from a wealthy, strictly vegetarian family wakes up insisting on eating fish, the question is raised: could she be remembering a previous life as a fisherwoman from a rural community? In conversation with Claire Nichols, Ghosh explains why such accounts of past-life memories shouldn't be dismissed outright as they say something profound about what it means to be human.
Amitav Ghosh is visiting Australia in May and will be a guest at the Sydney Writers Festival, Saturday 23 May and the Wheeler Centre, Melbourne, Wednesday 27 May.
Bestselling author Veronica Roth speaks with Claire Nichols about writing her debut novel Divergent while still a university student and how the book and series went on to sell more than 35 million copies worldwide. Now, Roth turns to adult speculative fiction with her new novel Seek the Traitor's Son, the first in an epic series set in a divided world. The story follows a young woman destined to save her people in a society fractured between those who worship the mysterious force known as the "fever" and those who reject it.
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Elizabeth Strout and Amanda Lohrey on aliens and a man called Artie
3 mei 2026 · 40 min
Readers have lovingly followed the fictional lives of Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton for more than a decade. Now their creator, Elizabeth Strout introduces a new character to embrace and Claire Nichols finds out why. Plus Amanda Lohrey explains her fascination with the belief in aliens. Lees meer
Artie Dam is an unassuming Massachusetts high school history teacher who seems to have it all, but is facing internal turmoil, even doubting the notion of free will. As Pulitzer Prize winning author Elizabeth Strout reveals in this interview, The Things We Never Say is a story reflecting our recent volatile times.
And Miles Franklin winner Amanda Lohrey also dissects the idea of certainty in her latest novel. Capture is about a psychiatrist, Jim, who interviews people who say they've been abducted or visited by aliens. While assumptions may be challenged a truth is out there. Or is it? Amanda Lohrey explores life's mysteries with Claire Nichols.
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Kae Tempest and Michael Winkler talk poetry and pooches
26 april 2026 · 41 min
British poet, performer and novelist Kae Tempest explains why writing his second novel, Having Spent Life Seeking, was so necessary and Michael Winkler tells Claire Nichols why life might be better as a dog. Lees meer
Michael Winkler's second novel, Griefdogg follows his lauded genre-bending debut Grimmish about a boxer and a talking goat. It also made Australian literary history in 2022 as the first self-published novel to ever be shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Griefdogg is about a man who makes the unexpected decision to live as the family pet when the pressures of modern life get too much for him; in the conversation, Michael reflects on the appeal of "a dog's life".
Kae Tempest is a British musician, poet, playwright and novelist who - since he was a teenager - has built an international reputation in rap and spoken word poetry. Kae's second novel, Having Spent Life Seeking follows Rothko who's newly released from prison and has returned to the hometown where everything fell apart. Claire also speaks to Kae about the challenges of writing a novel while maintaining a demanding schedule of live performances and musical projects.
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Vale David Malouf
23 april 2026 · 24 min
David Malouf was a giant of Australian writing who was known and loved for his iconic debut novel, Johnno, about a young Brisbane man during World War 2; a book partly inspired by his own life. Lees meer
In a career spanning more than 50 years, David wrote plays, poetry, libretto, and more novels, including The Great World, and his Booker Prize shortlisted, Remembering Babylon.
And today, on this special episode of The Book Show, we're remembering David who has died at the age of 92.
Claire Nichols revisits her very special interview with David in 2025 in which he discusses his early life, sharing books with his mother, that first novel and the benefits of a daily walk on the beach.
This interview was first broadcast on 25 September 2025.
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Steve Toltz rolls the dice in his new dark comedy
20 april 2026 · 41 min
Steve Toltz talks to Claire Nichols about his comic novel A Rising of the Lights, and former diplomat Ian Kemish reflects on his tender debut, Two Islands, exploring the long tail of war. Lees meer
Twins separated by the role of a dice, the rise of AI, and a mystery behind lives trying to hold it together in a lonely fractured world. These are just a few of the themes discussed with Claire Nichols about A Rising of the Lights, the latest darkly comic novel from the Booker Prize shortlisted author Steve Toltz.
Ian Kemish has used his considerable knowledge as a former Australian diplomat to write a debut that is ultimately about compassion. In Two Islands a young man flees the Balkan conflict to an isolated island on the west coast of Scotland. What does he find there and is he safe?
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Shaun Micallef and Jenny Tinghui Zhang deliver K-Pop thrills and vampire chills
13 april 2026 · 41 min
A fun wild ride here on the Book Show where Claire Nichols embraces the silly with Shaun Micallef and K-Pop with Chinese American writer Jenny Tinghui Zhang. Lees meer
Jenny Tinghui Zhang has tapped into the K-Pop phenomenon with her latest novel Superfan. A knock-off American K-Pop group are set to make history, but at what cost to them and their loyal fans? It's an affectionate but covert satire on obsession, loneliness and fame.
And prepare for supreme silliness and a lot of blood letting when comedian, author, TV presenter Shaun Micallef debates vampires, zombie slaves and a cast of dead historical figures. His new book De'ath Takes a Holiday is a unique perspective on the Gothic romance horror where the harbinger of Dracula attempts mortality.
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Yael van der Wouden on sex, history and an incredible year
6 april 2026 · 55 min
For this Easter special an opportunity to revisit Yael van der Wouden the 2025 Women's Prize for Fiction winner. Lees meer
Her celebrated debut The Safekeep also made the 2024 Booker Prize shortlist. The Safekeep is set in the Netherlands, 15 years after the end of World War II and is about an uptight woman, an unpredictable house guest, loneliness, repression and desire. The novel confronts the prevailing narrative about the Dutch experience of World War II and its treatment of Jewish people.
Claire Nichols spoke to Yael at the Sydney Writers Festival in 2025
This conversation was first broadcast 23 June 2025
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Debra Adelaide on the life and death of Gabrielle Carey
30 maart 2026 · 41 min
Debra Adelaide reflects on her pain and helplessness in the wake of writer and friend, Gabrielle Carey's death, and Emma Styles aptly takes Claire Nichols to the beach to discuss her thriller The Shark. Lees meer
Australian author Debra Adelaide's latest book is her most personal to date. As she reveals to Claire Nichols, writing When I am 64 was a way of coming to terms with the death, at age 64, of writer Gabrielle Carey, most known as the co-author of Puberty Blues. It's neither memoir nor fiction, but a blend of the two which gave Adelaide more freedom to reflect on her lifelong close friendship with Carey.
If this conversation raises issues with you or those close to you Lifeline 13 11 14
In her latest thriller The Shark, Emma Styles takes the reader to the height of a Perth summer. It's hot and as she tells Claire Nichols, a season sizzling with danger. But who is the shark circling on the beach and how can two teenage girls net them?
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Colm Tóibín can't stop naming his characters Paul
23 maart 2026 · 41 min
Irish author of Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín shares with Claire Nichols the stories that have shaped his latest collection that travels continents and times, and Patmeena Sabit tests assumptions about the death of a young woman in her inventive novel, Good People. Who do you believe? Lees meer
Colm Tóibín's collection of short stories, The News from Dublin is a glimpse into people living a life away from their homeland, from sisters wanting to return to Catalonia, the undocumented worker facing a decision, a mother receiving shocking news of the death of a son or the haunted Irishman seeking anonymity in Spain.
Using the noise and commentary around the death of a young woman, Afghan-born, Canadian based author Patmeena Sabit speaks with Claire Nichols on the ways she draws on her family roots and academic research to not just tell a story, but test assumptions around migrant communities. Good People is about an Afghan family living the American dream, but cultural tensions, gossip, envy and conjecture swirl around following the death of their daughter.
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Daniyal Mueenuddin's changing Pakistan
16 maart 2026 · 41 min
This is Where the Serpent Lives from Pakistani-US writer Daniyal Mueenuddin, is an elegy to a changing Pakistan where contemporary life and technology jostles with feudal social hierarchy, privilege, corruption and ambition. Lees meer
The protagonist in Australian writer Claire Thomas's latest novel On Not Climbing Mountains travels through grief on Swiss trains through the Alpine Way. It's a journey that inspires art, stories and captures moments of connection.
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Howard Jacobson embraces being a Jewish writer
8 maart 2026 · 54 min
Howard Jacobson joins Claire Nichols to unpack Howl, and Australian authors Eva Hornung and Omar Musa discuss their latest novels. Lees meer
Booker Prize winner Howard Jacobson has long written about Jewish identity, but only recently has he begun describing himself as a Jewish writer. He says the shift was prompted by the protests in England after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. His darkly comic novel, Howl, explores the Gaza conflict from a Jewish perspective and he reflects on the promise of fiction to foster debate about this long running conflict.
Award‑winning Australian author Eva Hornung continues her exploration of our fragile bond with nature in her new novel, The Minstrels, where a dramatic landscape becomes the site of tragedy for siblings, Gem and Will. Eva tells Claire how learning an Indigenous language shaped the book and how her love of farm machinery also found its way into the narrative.
Poet, visual artist, hip-hop musician and author Omar Musa finds magic in Italian beads, vengeful ghosts and the sound of the Borneo forest in his second novel. Fierceland exposes the dark side of Malay politics and the palm oil trade but is also a story of family and love. It also won the 2026 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for fiction. First broadcast 12 October 2025
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Francis Spufford's Nonesuch shows World War II as you've never it seen before
1 maart 2026 · 40 min
In his new novel, Nonesuch, British author Francis Sufford introduces a fabulously spiky heroine fighting fascism and mysterious moving statues during London's Blitz. Plus, bestselling author Kathy Lette is in Australia touring her latest novel The Sisterhood Rules and urges women to embrace a "sensational second act" with plenty of laughter along the way. Lees meer
British author Francis Spufford, is celebrated for his historical fiction but Nonesuch marks his first foray into fantasy. Set in World War II London, the story includes demons, living statues, and a heroine who doesn't play nice. Francis discusses the fun of writing flawed female heroines - and villains - and why he wants to subvert his readers' expectations about World War II fiction.
Kathy Lette, the bestselling Australian author who burst onto the literary scene at just 17 with the iconic Puberty Blues, returns with her 21st book, The Sisterhood Rules. The novel celebrates the power of the sisterhood through the story of estranged twin sisters unexpectedly reunited when their mother goes missing. Kathy Lette talks with Claire about her lifelong writing journey, her signature pun‑filled humour, and why she delights in writing novels that mirror the stages of a woman's life (from puberty to menopause).
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Tayari Jones on her beautiful new novel Kin
22 februari 2026 · 41 min
Tayari Jones, author of the Women's Prize-winning An American Marriage, returns with Kin, a work of historical fiction that illuminates the inner lives of two motherless girls growing up in the American South during the Jim Crow era. And former Survivor contestant Steven Fishbach reveals the hidden world of reality television in his debut novel, Escape. Lees meer
In her new novel Kin, award‑winning American author Tayari Jones unpacks her parents' experiences living under segregation in the American South. The book follows two motherless girls whose tightly bound childhood eventually gives way to very different futures. Tayari also reflects on growing up in the post-Jim Crow American South and how reproductive rights have fundamentally changed women's lives.
Former Survivor contestant, Stephen Fishbach was the self-declared nerd and fan favourite during his 2009 and 2015 appearances on the American series. But he always wanted to be a writer and now he's released his first novel Escape. Unsurprisingly, it's about a reality show on an island but in this game, the stakes are higher and the producers will go to any lengths to create groundbreaking TV.
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Patrick Ryan and Sita Walker on seances, secrets and school rooms
15 februari 2026 · 41 min
A stolen kiss propels Patrick Ryan's American epic, Buckeye, which traces the loves, loss and lies of two Ohio couples. And Sita Walker on her inventive debut novel, In a Common Hour, which unfolds over a single school lunch break as a troubled but beloved teacher confronts his demons. Lees meer
Patrick Ryan's bestselling sixth book, Buckeye, traces America's shifting social landscape from the end of World War II to the Vietnam War and explores the idea of the "kind lie". At its heart are two Ohio couples whose lives become irrevocably intertwined when a secret is left to fester for decades. Patrick shares how the story began with an unbelievable anecdote about his grandmother and he reflects on how his own experience as a gay man shaped the narrative.
Brisbane based English teacher Sita Walker brings classroom life to the page in her spellbinding debut novel, In a Common Hour. It explores the fragile bonds between students and teachers and the unexpected revelations that unfold over one lunchtime, when they scatter into the forest bordering the school and are forced to reckon with their actions. Read this profile of Sita Walker.
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George Saunders on angels and the afterlife
8 februari 2026 · 41 min
American author George Saunders reflects on why death is such fertile ground for fiction and how it shapes his haunting new novel Vigil. Plus, Australian writer Michael Mohammed Ahmad discusses writing through childhood trauma in his courageous and confronting novel Bugger. Lees meer
Booker Prize-winning author George Saunders (Lincoln in the Bardo) talks about his haunting new novel Vigil. Beginning with an angel's fall to Earth to usher an oil tycoon toward death, the book continues Saunders' exploration of mortality and the strange spaces between worlds. Saunders explains the challenge of writing this novel and why he enjoys getting stuck.
Michael Mohammed Ahmad is a fearless Australian writer known for placing his own life at the centre of his work. He is best known for his acclaimed autobiographical trilogy — The Tribe, The Lebs, and The Other Half of You — and as the founder of the Sweatshop Literacy Movement in Western Sydney. Ahmad discusses his unflinching new novel, Bugger, a confronting exploration of child sexual abuse that draws on his own lived experience.
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Adam Kay on how medicine and comedy shaped his debut novel
1 februari 2026 · 40 min
Doctor‑turned‑memoirist‑turned‑comedian Adam Kay makes his fiction debut with A Particularly Nasty Case, a medical murder mystery set inside a hospital. And Perth based author Jay Martin discusses her debut novel, Boom Town Snap, a story that shifts between the snowfields of Canada and outback Western Australia. Lees meer
Adam Kay's medical memoir, This Is Going to Hurt, was a global bestseller and made Radio National's Top 100 Books of the 21st Century list. Now, Kay has released his first novel, A Particularly Nasty Case, a crime story that blends his medical background with fiction. Set inside a hospital, the book follows a doctor‑turned‑detective who might be one of the most unreliable narrators you'll ever meet.
Jay Martin's first novel Boom Town Snap follows Georgie from Western Australia to the Canadian oil fields in pursuit of her dreams and love life (mirroring Jay's own journey). All the while, she grapples with working in the mining sector as her values pull her towards a different lifestyle.
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Trent Dalton and Gregory Maguire on why there's no place like home
25 januari 2026 · 52 min
Bestselling author Trent Dalton reveals how The Wizard of Oz appears in every book he's written — from Boy Swallows Universe to his latest novel, Gravity Let Me Go. Plus, Wicked author Gregory Maguire revisits the inspiration behind his iconic series with the release of Elphie: A Wicked Childhood. Lees meer
Australia's favourite novelist, Trent Dalton joins Claire Nichols in front of a Perth crowd to discuss why his personal story is such a rich source of inspiration in his storytelling and also how imagination became a form of escape during a difficult childhood growing up in crime‑affected 1980s Brisbane. His latest novel, Gravity Let Me Go is about a middle-aged crime journalist and the incredible murder mystery that lands in his letterbox.
Wicked author Gregory Maguire revisits the inspiration behind his landmark 1995 novel Wicked, which re‑imagined The Wizard of Oz through the eyes of the so‑called Wicked Witch of the West, exploring her childhood and life before Dorothy arrived in Oz. Thirty years on, and with the Wicked film adaptation continuing its global success, Maguire speaks to Claire Nichols about returning to the world of Oz with the release of Elphie: A Wicked Childhood. This interview was first broadcast 14 April 2025, listen to the full interview here.
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Philip Pullman's enduring legacy
18 januari 2026 · 41 min
Philip Pullman's 30 year enchantment with his heroine Lyra Belacqua and His Dark Materials continues with The Rose Field. And Zoe Terakes takes a queer view of the Ancient Greek myths in Eros. Lees meer
Northern Lights, the first book in Philip Pullman's beloved fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, was published in 1995 and the series has gone on to define him. His new book is the latest in a companion trilogy he started in 2017, The Book of Dust. The last instalment, The Rose Field, has been billed as the final adventure for his heroine Lyra Belacqua. Philip also tells Claire about his time in Woomera, SA, in the 1950s and whether he'll be able to step away from Lyra's story.
Australian actor-turned author Zoe Terakes (Wentworth, Talk to Me, Marvel) takes a fresh look at Greek myths in their first book of short stories, Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers, and brings the queer and trans undertones of these stories into the spotlight.
Find Radio National's Arts Hour interview with Randa Abdel-Fattah on the ongoing implications of the cancellation of Adelaide Writers' Week here.
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Summer highlights: David Nicholls and Liane Moriarty on their starry screen adaptations
11 januari 2026 · 55 min
From Sydney Writers Festival, two bestselling writers, David Nicholls and Liane Moriarty, reveal what it's like to see their stories go from the page to the screen. Lees meer
The British writer David Nicholls is best known for his novel One Day, which has been adapted to film and to television.
While Australia's Liane Moriarty has seen every one of her books optioned for the screen and hit the big time with the starry TV adaptation of her novel Big Little Lies.
David and Liane also discuss their latest novels, You Are Here and Here One Moment.
First broadcast 26 May 2025
Presenter: Claire Nichols
Producer: Sarah L'Estrange
Sound engineer: Carey Dell and David Le May
Executive producer: Rhiannon Brown
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Summer highlights: Arundhati Roy, Colum McCann and Morgan Talty
4 januari 2026 · 54 min
God of Small Things author Arundhati Roy on her monstrous mother and becoming a writer, Colum McCann dives into the digital age with Twist and Penobscot Indian Nation writer Morgan Talty on his story of family bonds, Fire Exit. Lees meer
Arundhati Roy is a giant of literature. She's published two novels, including the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things and is a prolific author of non-fiction, much of which confronts injustice in her home country of India. Her latest book is a memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, which examines her complicated relationship with her mother, Mary Roy. Mary was a trailblazer in education and in fighting for equality for women but as a mum, she could be cruel and even violent. She died in 2022, and in the book, Arundhati Roy writes, "perhaps more than a daughter mourning the passing of her mother, I mourn her as a writer who has lost her most enthralling subject."
In his latest book Twist, New York-based Irish writer Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin, Apeirogon) dives into the digital age, travelling deep under the ocean into a tangled world of ruptured fibrous connections, its human cost, and repair.
Penobscot Indian Nation writer Morgan Talty's Fire Exit is a story of family bonds that go beyond bloodlines. Charles is a white man who must not only confront his past but decide whether to reveal his identity to the daughter he watches from across the river that borders the Native American Reservation of the Penobscot people. A compassionate account of family, love and connections, it also explores the complications that may arise from truth-telling.
Presenter: Claire Nichols
Producer: Sarah L'Estrange
Sound engineer: Carey Dell and David Le May
Executive producer: Rhiannon Brown
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Summer highlights: Samantha Harvey's accidental prize winner
28 december 2025 · 55 min
British author Samantha Harvey joined Claire Nichols at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival for a revelatory conversation about dreams, insomnia and publishing a book she didn't expect to write. Lees meer
Her 2024 Booker Prize winning novel, Orbital can be described as a "space pastoral" and it's about six astronauts on the International Space Station contemplating the wonder and beauty of the earth.
First broadcast 9 June 2025.
Presenter: Claire Nichols
Producer: Sarah L'Estrange
Sound engineer: Carey Dell and David Le May
Executive producer: Rhiannon Brown