Imagining The Past

Author Kim Kelly interviews Judy Nunn on her love for historical fiction which have encompassed stories across diverse eras from colonial periods, WW2, the Cold War to more modern times. Her most recent novel, Showtime , features a showdown between rival entrepreneurs in 1880s Melbourne with comedy, tragedy, passion and betrayal; economic depression, the Black Death and the horrors of World War On...

Kelly Rimmer, Victoria Purman and Nicole Alexander have conjured various characters across their many books. Greg Johnston examines their inspiration for key characters, the methods used to fully develop them, whether unexpected plot twists arose when placing them in predicaments, and if their creations took on a life of their own once delivered to readers. Imagining the Past is listed in the Top...

Mirandi Riwoe's The Sunbirds tests the identities and loyalties between Dutch and Indonesians in colonial Java on the eve of the Japanese invasion. Devika Ponnambalam's I Am Not Your Eve is an imagining of the life of Teha’amana, Paul Gaugin's Tahitian 'child-bride'.   Both authors join Elisabeth Storrs in discussing the complexities of bringing alternative perspectives to previously Euro-centric...

View from the East—Christopher Cheng, Daryl Lim and Siang Lu discuss with Claudia Chan Shaw their novels, Asian histories, and the challenges of being an Asian writer within the current publishing industry. Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts .  

Writer and critic Stephen Romei is in conversation with Jock Serong and Fiona McFarlane. Jock discusses part three of his Furneaux trilogy, The Settlement , which was short listed for the 2023 ARA Historica Novel Price. Part two of the trilogy, The Burning Island , won the ARA Prize in 2021.  Fiona discusses her second novel, The Sun Walks Down , which was shortlisted for the 2023 Walter Scott His...

In our Summer/Autumn season, we present selected sessions from our 2023 HNSA Conference. Enjoy RN's The Bookshelf host, Kate Evans, in conversation with Guest of Honour, Anna Funder, about the challenges of writing a blend of fiction and non-fiction in 'Wifedom', a book about George Orwell's wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy. Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts .   

Alison D Stegert discusses with Greg Johnston her YA novel, Her Majesty’s League of Remarkable Young Ladies .  She also discusses her win of HNSA’s inaugural 2020 Elizabeth Jane Corbett Mentorship and its great consequences.  

Gail Jones chats with Greg Johnston about her complex novel, Salonika Burning , which won the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category. 

Suzanne Leal chats with Greg Johnston about her 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize, CYA shortlisted novel, Running with Ivan , some of the differences between writing CYA and Adult fiction, and her interesting methods of research. 

Lauren Chater chats with Greg Johnston about all things beautiful, including the research and writing of her new novel, The Beauties . 

Melissa Lucashenko discusses with Greg Johnston the research and writing of her novel,  Edenglassie. 

Robbie Arnott discusses with Greg Johnston the many intricacies of writing the novel Limberlost , based on his family folklore and longlisted for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category.  

Fiona Kelly McGregor discusses with Kelly Gardiner the many intricacies of writing her novel, Iris, shortlisted for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category.  

Amelia Mellor discusses with Greg Johnston the intricacies of writing CYA Historical Fiction, and her novel, The Bookseller’s Apprentice, winner of the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—CYA Category.  

Thomas Keneally discusses his long literary career with Greg Johnston, and his novel, Corporal Hitler’s Pistol , which won the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category

Claire Saxby discusses with Greg Johnston the intricacies of writing CYA Historical Fiction, and her novel, The Wearing of the Green, shortlisted for the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize—CYA Category.  

In this warm discussion, Robyn Mundy takes us to chilly Svalbard in the Norwegian archipelago to discuss her 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize, short-listed, Cold Coast . 

Monty Soutar is an historian and author writing a trilogy— Kāwai—which tells the history of New Zealand through nine successive generations of a Maori family. With Greg Johnston, he discusses the particular features and challenges of this writing.  

In this discussion, Robyn Cadwallader tells of her writing process, the research of Medieval England, and the making of myths.  

Brian Falkner discusses his YA series, Kapito Joe — Blitzkrieg , Spycraft and Wolf’s Lair with Greg Johnston, exploring the slings and arrows of the research, planning and writing of the series.  

Geraldine Brooks discusses her latest novel, Horse , with Greg Johnston, delving into many of the technical decisions taken to write this complex novel.  

Kate Murdoch chats with Karen Brooks, Melissa Ashley and Lauren Chater of Midwives, Storytellers and Witches: Wise Women in History

The Inside Story: A Novel’s Journey through a Publishing House. Nadine Davidoff discusses with Mandy Brett, Jamila Khodja and Kate Lloyd

Paula Morris discussed with Julie Janson and Cassandra Pybus, the idea that History is written by the victors. But when such accounts are challenged, who then gets to define history in the context of a shared past?  

Richard Lee, founder of the Historical Novel Society, joins international bestselling authors, Ben Kane and Colin Falconer to discuss how these authors approach writing epic novels, and the challenges encountered in finding new angles to depict stories within well traversed eras of history.