Compulsive Reader talks

Kris Kneen joins us to read from and talk about their new book Rite of Spring. We talk about such things as lighthouses, Stravinsky, voices in harmony, transformation/becoming, menopause, Spring, metaphors, the more-than-human, the book's two main characters, their projects-in-hand, and lots more. Visit Kris' website here: https://www.krissykneen.com/ Get a copy of Rite of Spring here: htt...

Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss joins us to read from and talk about his latest poetry book, Hybrid Heaven. We talk about the books key themes, how it came together as a collection, the nature of hybridity, the book's sonics, history, language, humour and lots more. Andrew's website: https://www.agkmoss.com Find a copy of Hybrid Heaven here: https://recentworkpress.com/product/hybrid-heaven-o...

Multi-talented, multimedia Canberra-based lecturer, visual artist, philosopher and writer Sarah Rice joins us to read from and talk about her newest book Alight on all things precious .  We talk about how the book came together, about the way it brings together seemingly disparate things - disciplines like art, music and words, life and death, light and darkness, and even things like breath and du...

Mandy Sayer reads from and talks about her latest book No Dancing in the Lift. We talk about such things as the book and how it came to her, the legend of her father, jazz drummer Gerry Sayer, with the reality as she cared for him through his illness and death, her mother and often violent stepfathers, her ongoing conversation with her father even post-mortem, and lots more. Find out more about Ma...

Anne Casey drops by to read from and talk about her latest book Seang (Hungering) . Anne talks about how the book came about including how she found her "girls" at the Newcastle Industrial School for Girls, pathway to PhD thesis, importance of the mother tongue (Gaeilge, which she speaks so beautifully), the ongoing impact of the Irish famine, the connections between Irish and First Nati...

In this guest interview between publicist David Carriere and author Zach Taylor, Zach reads from and talks about his new book ROCKSTAR: Echoes . They talk about the genesis of the book and the broader series, the ways that Zach, a NASA Engineer, manages to squeeze in writing time (even amidst the Artemis II launch), his inspiration for ROCKSTAR : Echoes , it’s ‘book-within-a-book’ format, his char...

The author of A Blink of Time's Eye reads from and talks about his most recent poetry book. We discuss how the book came together as a collection, the book's key themes like time, death, trauma, healing and the human condition, conversations between poems, readers, and selves, parenting, entropy, love, personal growth and gratitude. Find a copy of the book here: https://www.5islandspress.c...

The author of The Victoria Principle joins us to read from and talk about his latest book. We talk about such things what drew him to fiction and why it gives him the "ick", the nature of genre and storytelling, collage, memoir, the real and the counterfeit, trickery, humour and lots more. You can get a copy of the book here: https://giramondopublishing.com/books/michael-farrell-the-vict...

Judith Nangala Crispín reads from and talks about her stunning new book The Dingo's Noctuary . Purchase a copy of the book here: https://puncherandwattmann.com/product/the-dingos-noctuary/ Find out more about Judith here: https://judithcrispin.com/ Find out more about the book’s publisher, David Musgrave, who Judith mentions in the conversation: https://davidmusgrave.com/ Read my review of The...

The author of Through the Trapdoor reads from and talks about her new short story collection. We cover such things as how the collection came together, the interconnectivity of the stories, the title and the many trapdoors in the book, some of the key themes especially migration, memory, transformation, and the epiphany. We also discuss the publication process, the book's illustrations, the short...

Angela Costi joins us to read from and talk about her latest poetry book The Heart of the Advocate . We talk about many things including how the book came together, the hybrid nature of the book, the nexus between poetry and law, her use of language, point and counterpoint or strophe and antistrophe, layers of ekphrasis - including the book T he Art of the Advocate by Richard Du Cann, her use of G...

Bob Rich joins us to read from and talk about his new book, The Hole in Your Life: Grief and Bereavement. He talks about the narrative of the book which is a combination of personal and clinical experience, about the 7 magic bullets which underpin the book, about why he defines himself as everyone's grandfather and the nature of empathy, about the mess we're in and why, about universal lov...

Katia Ariel reads from and talks about her new book Ferryman: The Life and Deathwork of Ephraim Finch. We talk about her unique way of engaging with her subject, about creating biographies that are respectful, open, and true, about Ephraim's role in the community and the way in which Ariel universalises it, about ancestry and inheritance, grief, death and love, and lots more. Find out more about K...

Ashley Kalagian Blunt joins us again to read from and talk about her book Cold Truth . We talk about such things as the Winnipeg climate which is such a feature in the book, along with other aspects of the city and fun facts, the relationships between characters, about becoming the cyber crime/tech noir queen, the optioning of her previous book Dark Web , the new book out very soon, Like, Follow,...

Paris Rosemont reads from and talks about her new poetry book Barefoot Poetess . We cover such topics as how and why she began writing, the notion of poetic 'play', the balance between confession and performance, the joy of theatre and its relationship to poetry, her work-in-progress, and lots more. Find out more about Paris her website: https://www.parisrosemont.com/ Buy a copy of Barefoot Poetes...

Terri-ann White, founder of Upswell Publishing, reads from and talks about her own book Finding Theodore and Brina . We talk about how the book came about, how her relationship with the book and its characters have changed over time, notions of memoir, memory, writing place, on what can and can't be known, the power of stories, reclamation, The Swan River, time, and lots more. To obtain a copy...

In this episode, Phillis Levin, the author of six poetry collections, offers an in-depth look at her newest book, An Anthology of Rain , published by Barrow Street Press. A “poet’s poet,” Levin discusses her career, including her previous works such as Mr. Memory & Other Poems (Penguin) and her accolades, which include the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award, a Fulbright...

Andrea Goldsmith reads from and talks about her. new novel The Buried Life . We talk about the delicate dance between death and life in the book, about the characters and their arcs, the importance of friendship, Mahler, cheese, rapture, and lots more. Find more about Andrea's work at: http://andreagoldsmith.com.au Grab a copy of the book at: https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/the-buried-life/...

Dr Karen Pearlman, director of the new film Breaking Plates, talks about the making of her latest film, the inventive ways she engages with Cinemas First Nasty women archive, her use of dance, song, visual collage, slapstick, splicing, intertextually , feminist theory, humour, her excellent actors, on working with her talented family team, and lots more. More on Breaking Plates: http://physicaltv....

Damen O'Brien reads from and talks about his latest poetry book Walking the Boundary . We talk about such things as the way the book came together as a collection, the joy (and horror) of wriggling creatures, inheritance, apocalypse, humour, and lots more. Find out more about Damen at his website: https://www.dameno.org/ Buy a copy of Walking the Boundary at: https://pittstreetpoetry.com/book/walk...

PS Cottier and NG Hartland, authors of The Thirty-one Legs of Vladimir Putin, read from and talk about their new book, which won the Finlay Lloyd 20/40 publishing prize for fiction. We talk about some of the key themes in the book like identity, semblance, what's real and what isn't, the book's prescience in dealing with power dynamics and image, their writing process, characters, works-in-progres...

John Kinsella reads from and talks about his new short story collection Beam of Light . We talk about the use of furniture in this book, the connective themes, its malevolent undercurrent, the importance and beauty of a sentient landscape, his characters and their struggles against the colonial mindset, what poetry and fiction can do and why he might choose one form or another, and lots more. For...

This was a special zoom session of poetry to mark the 10th anniversary of Girls on Key featuring Sophia Wilson, Mikaela Nyman, Kiri Piahana-Wong, Patricia Sykes, Nancy Holland-Shroder, and open mic readings from Anna Forsyth (GoK founder), Lou Steer, and Magdalena Ball (host) Video link: https://www.facebook.com/830439988/videos/1307289250655911/ Girls on Key: https://girlsonkey.wixsite.com/.../co...

Sarah Temporal is a prize-winning poet, producer, and educator who runs the well-respected regional arts initiative Poets Out Loud. She joins us to read from and talk about her debut book Tight Bindings . Visit Sarah’s website at: https://sarahtemporal.com/ Watch videos of Sarah performing and order Tight Bindings : https://puncherandwattmann.com/product/tight-bindings/ Damien Becker’s Instagram:...

Patti Miller joins us to read from and talk about her book Writing True Stories which has just been extensively updated and extended. She talks about what has changed in the 30+ years since she started teaching Life Writing, the impact of technology, her best tip, her own work in progress, and lots more. Find out more about Patti and Writing True Stories at her website: https://lifestories.com.au...