Final Draft - Great Conversations

The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Today's show features Linda Jaivin discussing her new book The Shortest History of China Linda Jaivin is an internat...

The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. On today's show Felix Shannon taking over the microphone joined by Michael Burge discussing his new novel Tank Water...

The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Today's show features Michelle de Kretser discussing her new novel Scary Monsters Lili is teaching in southern Franc...

The Final Draft Great Conversations podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Today's show features Michelle Kalus and Ali Berg discussing their new novel Fancy Meeting You Here Evie Berry worri...

For the final book club of the year Andrew sat down after listening to Xmas music to reflect on the way we tell Xmas stories. Whether you celebrate the holiday or just need a break after the year that was, Xmas stories celebrate our survival and our coming together. However you are spending the holiday, we wish you happy reading and and a safe denouement to the year! Final Draft is produced and pr...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Omar Musa discussing Killernova Today on the show... Omar Musa is a Malaysian-Australian author, poet and hip hop artist. His debut novel Here Come the Dogs was longlisted for the 2015 Miles Franklin award. Omar is celebrated for his...

We are absolutely at the book end of the year. And I don’t mean that simply as a kind of fun book pun (although it did inadvertently turn out that way). No I meant that this is the time of the year when you finally have the time to do a little reading, our best of lists are coming out (does anyone want a book club best of btw?) and we are buying and reading Xmas stories. Now ghosts and tiny tims a...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today on the show we feature part two of Jennifer Down discussing her new novel Bodies of Light Today on the show... Holly has a simple, but happy life. It’s uncomplicated for a reason and Holly would prefer it stay that way. When a message out of the blue d...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Jennifer Down discussing her new novel Bodies of Light Today on the show... Holly has a simple, but happy life. It’s uncomplicated for a reason and Holly would prefer it stay that way. When a message out of the blue drags Holly into...

Jennifer Down is the award winning author of Our Magic Hour and Pulse Points. Jennifer is one of my favourite Australian authors and so there was quite a bit of anticipation around her new novel Bodies of Light. Suffice to say it’s a complex and moving story. This is the sort of book that takes you on a journey and really, if it’s not too much of a cliche to say, you wonder if you’re the same at t...

Dr Denise Chapman is a counternarrative storyteller, digital media-creator, and spoken word artist who lectures in children’s literature and early literacy at Monash University. Here on Final Draft each week I speak with Australian writers and we explore the ways their stories reflect, explode or are just in conversation with our everyday world. A central thesis is that stories play an integral ro...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Inga Simpson discussing her new novel The Last Woman in the World Today on the show... Rachel leads a reclusive life on the land. She has an art studio where she blows exquisite collectors pieces. Her daily needs are delivered to her...

Today I’ve brought you in a novel that completely surprised me. There’s just something about the concept and the realisation... I ultimately came to view the narrative as… well maybe I won’t tell you too much just yet, suffice to say it skirted through so many ideas and narrative twists that the true nature of Inga Simpson’s The Last Woman in the World really crept up on me Inga Simpson's first no...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features part two of the conversation with Mark Smith discussing his new novel If Not Us and just a warning there are some spoilers for the plot of If Not Us coming up Today on the show... The beautiful coastal town of Shelbourne is full of c...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Mark Smith discussing his new novel If Not Us Today on the show... The beautiful coastal town of Shelbourne is full of contradictions. For seventeen year old Hesse it’s the only home he knows. Hesse lives for the waves that break off...

Mark Smith is the award winning author of the Winter Trilogy of novels. In these books Mark established himself as a writer of exciting and insightful young adult fiction. The collection spans a post apocalyptic Australian coastline. Finn must continue surviving after the breakdown of society following a devastating virus… and ok, this isn’t a discussion about The Road to Winter and it’s follow up...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Kay Kerr discussing her new novel Social Queue Today on the show... Zoe life is looking up. High school’s over and she’s landed her dream job, interning at online media company Bubble. Getting here took work though. High school left...

Usually I’m bringing you the best new Australian fiction to brighten your day, help bolster your beach reads and update you on the important stories. But stories are everywhere in our culture. Over on Final Draft through November I’m doing a special series on the ways storytelling works in our daily lives. I’m taking new books and speaking to their authors; journalists, historians and commentators...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Karen Manton discussing her debut novel The Curlew's Eye Today on the show... Greta and Joel have a good life travelling with their boys, they go where the work is and enjoy the adventure of the road. As they return to the land where...

Kay Kerr is a former journalist and newspaper editor from Brisbane. Her debut novel is the widely acclaimed Please Don’t Hug Me. Social Queue introduces us to Zoe. Zoe has Autism and that means her everyday can be tough. Social spaces aren’t designed for her and this forces her to navigate a world of noise, bustle and crowds that leaves her exhausted. Worse, people just expect her to be ok with th...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Maxine Beneba Clarke discussing her new poetry collection How Decent Folk Behave Today on the show... Maxine Beneba Clarke is an author of short fiction, non fiction and poetry. She won the Victorian Premier’s literary award for poet...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Maxine Beneba Clarke discussing her new poetry collection How Decent Folk Behave Today on the show... Maxine Beneba Clarke is an author of short fiction, non fiction and poetry. She won the Victorian Premier’s literary award for poet...

Maxine Beneba Clarke is an author of short fiction, non fiction and poetry. She won the Victorian Premier’s literary award for poetry in 2017 for her collection Carrying the World, Her short story collection Foreign Soil, masterfully captures voices from marginalised communities, winning the ABIA for Literary Fiction Book of the Year 2015 and the 2015 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction. Maxine Ben...

Larrikins occupy a revered space in Australian culture. Variously knockabout blokes, outlaws or rebels, larrikins can seemingly get away with anything and do it with a smile. A larrikin is the sort of bloke who'd steal the wool off your sheep and then ask you to knit him a jumper he'd quickly pull over your eyes. Lech Blaine is the author of the new Quarterly Essay 'Top Blokes - The Larrikin Myth,...

Great Conversations features interviews with authors and writers, exploring books, writing and literary culture from Australia and the world. Today's episode features Sarah Bailey discussing her new thriller The Housemate Today on the show... In 2005 Oli Groves’ life is a hot mess. She’s comfortably bouncing between partying and life as a junior reporter. So it is one morning when she stumbles int...