The Garret: Writing & Publishing

Justin Smith is a Melbourne writer, journalist and broadcaster. He is a columnist with the Melbourne Herald Sun  and a weekly guest on Channel Seven’s  Sunrise . He has recently turned his hand to novel writing, publishing Cooper Not Out in 2022 and Babies of the Rose in 2020. Justin has had a long career in radio as a presenter and executive producer. He has hosted national programs, he was embed...

Dr Jackie Huggins , a member of the Bidjara and Birri Gubba Juru peoples, is currently leading the work for Treaty/Treaties in Queensland. Her biography of her mother, Auntie Rita, was published in 1994, and in 2022 she will publish her biography of her father, Jack of Hearts: QX11594 . A new edition of her classic work Sister Girl: Reflections on Tiddaism, Identity and Reconciliation was released...

Omar Sakr is the author of two acclaimed poetry collections,  These Wild Houses  and The Lost Arabs . Son of Sin is his first novel, and in this interview we also find our about his forthcoming poetry collection and a possible fantasy book on the horizon. The Lost Arabs  won the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the John Bray...

We have a bit of a different episode for you today. There are no writers or guests, just our host Astrid Edwards doing a reading audit of what she has read so far this year. About The Garret Follow The Garret: Writing and Publishing and our host Astrid Edwards on Instagram. Explore our back catalogue (and transcripts) at thegarretpodcast.com . Support the show: https://linktr.ee/garretpodcast See...

Omar Musa is a Malaysian-Australian author, poet and woodcutter. His latest work is the one-of-a-kind Killernova . He has also released three poetry books (including Parang  and  Millefiori ), four hip-hop records, written an acclaimed one-man play ( Since Ali Died ), and received a standing ovation at TEDx Sydney at the Sydney Opera House. His debut novel Here Come the Dogs  was published in 2014...

Jennifer Down is a highly awarded writer, named a Sydney Morning Herald  Young Novelist of the Year consecutively in 2017 and 2018. Her third long form work is 2021's Bodies of Light. Our Magic Hour , her debut novel, was shortlisted for the 2014 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript. Her second book,  Pulse Points , was the winner of the 2018 Readings Prize for New Aust...

Emily Bitto is a Melbourne-based writer of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. Her debut novel, ' The Strays' , was the winner of the 2015 Stella Prize, and in 2021 she released her second novel, 'Wild Abandon'. Her fiction, poetry and non-fiction has appeared in various publications, including Meanjin ,  The   Age , the  Monthly , the  Saturday Paper ,  The Big Issue , and  The Sydney Morning Herald...

Andy Jackson is a poet of compassion and intellect. His 2021 collection, 'Human Looking' , explores the voices of the disabled and ill with tenderness and love. Andy's   first collection, ' Among the Regulars' , was shortlisted for the 2011 Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry, and his 2020 collection ' Music Our Bodies Can’t Hold'  was shortlisted for the John Bray Poetry Award. Andy has featured at...

Charlotte Wood is the award-winning and acclaimed author of six novels, a collection of interviews and a book about cooking. She has won the Stella Prize, the Prime Minister's Literary Award, the Indie Book of the Year, and most recently the ABIA for Literary Fiction. This interview explores her 2021 work of non-fiction, The Luminous Solution: Creativity, Resilience and the Inner Life. Charlotte h...

Louise Ryan has been working in the Melbourne Publishing industry for 32 years, ten years at Readings and 22 in publishing houses Allen & Unwin and Penguin Random House. A recent recipient of the George Robertson Award for distinguished service in the publishing industry, she is now the manager of Readings flagship Carlton store. She serves on the Board of Melbourne Writers Festival, and is th...

Winnie Dunn is a writer of Tongan descent from Mount Druitt. She is the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and the editor of several critically acclaimed anthologies, including Sweatshop Women , which is Australia’s first and only publication produced entirely by women of colour. Her work has been published in the Sydney Review of Books , The Saturday Paper , Griffith Review , Meanjin...

Jay Kristoff has such a devoted audience his readers tattoo his characters on their own bodies. Jay writes fantasy, science fiction and YA, and his work repeatedly makes it to the New York Times bestseller list. Jay's latest book is 'Empire of the Vampire', the first in a trilogy that our host Astrid has been waiting for since she was 13 and read Anne Rice's 'Interview with the Vampire'.  Jay has...

Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. She writes fiction, essays, poetry and art writing while either living in Naarm (Melbourne) or on the road. In 2021 she released her first work of non-fiction, Lies, Damned Lies: A personal exploration of the impact of colonisation. During an ext...

Lucia Osborne-Crowley is a journalist, essayist, writer, and legal researcher. Her debut was the 2020 memoir 'I Choose Elena', a work she has followed up in 2021 with 'My Body Keeps Your Secrets'. Her news reporting has appeared in  ABC News, Guardian, Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal , and  Women's Agenda . Her long-form writing has appeared in  The Lifted Brow  and  Meanjin . About The G...

Dr Yves Rees is a Lecturer in History at La Trobe University and co-host of Archive Fever. Rees was awarded the 2020 Calibre Essay Prize for their essay 'Reading the Mess Backwards' and 'All About Yves' is their memoir and debut. Rees has a regular history segment on ABC Radio Melbourne and their writing has featured in the Sydney Review of Books ,  The Age ,  Archer  magazine,  Guardian Australia...

Jennifer Mills  is the author of the novels  The Airways ,  Dyschronia , Gone  and  The Diamond Anchor , as well as a collection of short stories, The Rest Is Weight . In 2019 Dyschronia was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s most prestigious prize for literary fiction, the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, and the Aurealis Awards for science fiction. She has pre...

Terri-ann White is the founder of Upswell Publishing, a new publishing imprint in Australia. Between 2006 and 2020 she was Director and Publisher at UWA Publishing from 2006. In that time published around 450 books, including works of fiction, poetry and narrative non-fiction. Prior to this, she founded and directed a cross-disciplinary research centre at UWA, taught literature and writing in univ...

Briohny Doyle is the author of The Island Will Sink , Echolalia and Adult Fantasy.  Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Monthly, Meanjin, Overland, The Griffith Review, The Good Weekend, The Guardian, and the Sunday Times.  She is a lecturer in writing and literature at Deakin University and a 2020 Fulbright Scholar.  About The Garret Follow The Garret: Writing and Publishing and...

Larissa Behrendt , a Eualeyai and Kamillaroi woman, is a writer, lawyer and academic. She is the Distinguished Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and at the Director of Research and Academic Programs Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research. Larissa won the 2002 David Uniapon Award and a 2005 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for her novel  Home . Her second novel,  Legacy ,...

Mark Brandi's debut novel, Wimmera , won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year. His second novel,  The Rip , was published to critical acclaim and his third...

Amani Haydar is an artist, lawyer and advocate for women's health and safety. Her devastating and yet hopeful debut is 'The Mother Wound'. Amani experienced the unimaginable when she lost her mother in a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. Writing with grace and beauty in 'The Mother Wound' , Amani shares the stories of her mother and grandmother to help other survivors find...

Michael Mohammed Ahmad is the founding director of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and editor of the critically acclaimed anthology ' After Australia' . Mohammed's debut novel, ' The Tribe' , won the 2015 Sydney Morning Herald  Best Young Novelists of the Year Award. His second novel, ' The Lebs', won the 2019 NSW Premier's Multicultural Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin L...

Alice Pung is an award-winning Melbourne writer who found a few minutes to speak to us during Melbourne's latest lockdown. Alice was at home with her newborn child, and you can hear them in the background of this short bonus interview. Alice is the bestselling author of the memoirs Unpolished Gem  and  Her Father’s Daughter , and the essay collection  Close to Home , as well as the editor of the a...

Dr Tony Birch is an activist, historian and essayist. He is the author of three novels - 'The White Girl' ( winner of the 2020 NSW Premier's Award for Indigenous Writing and shortlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin Literary Prize), 'Ghost River' ( winner of the 2016 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing), and 'Blood' (shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award). He is als...

Dr Anita Heiss is an award-winning author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction, children’s novels and blogs. She is a proud member of the Wiradjuri Nation of central New South Wales, an Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, the GO Foundation and Worawa Aboriginal College. Her novel  Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms , set in Cowra during World War II, was the 2...