Imagining The Past

Jackie Ballantyne explores how each author approaches common themes of revenge, love, betrayal, isolation and treachery from these very different perspectives.

Renee Otmar discusses Writing the Other with Rachel Bin Saleh, Tim Darcy Ellis and Indrani Ganguly why questions of representation and appropriation matter, and whether respectful research is the answer to successfully ‘writing the other’. 

Stephen Romei speaks with Pip Williams and Steven Carroll to tease out the intersections within their novels of hidden women’s histories.

HNSNA Chair Jenny Quinlan in conversation with Kate Forsyth and Kate Quinn. 

HNSA Chair Elisabeth Storrs in discussion with Geraldine Brooks.   Geraldine Brooks’ first historical novel, Year of Wonders, has proved to be a portent of a world in lockdown. Her subsequent novels have restored or reimagined many lost histories. Elisabeth Storrs, HNSA Chair, explores the HNSA 2021 conference theme with Geraldine by discussing these award-winning books.

Kim Kelly discusses her latest novel, The Rat Catcher: A Love Story , with Greg Johnston , delving into technical decisions around Point of View and Voice, sensitivities required writing Australian History, and her long publishing history.  

Stephanie Parkyn discusses her latest novel, The Freedom of Birds with Greg Johnston , delving into research, technical decisions, and an antipodean writing about Europe. 

Felice Arena discusses with Greg Johnston his path to CYA Historical Fiction and his latest novel, The Unstoppable Flying Flanagan.  

Anita Heiss discusses her landmark and groundbreaking novel, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray—River of Dreams —shortlisted for the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize—with Greg Johnston. 

Katrina Nannestad , winner of the 2021 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE—CYA CATEGORY , discusses We are Wolves with Greg Johnston, and the challenges of writing CYA Historical Fiction. 

Jock Serong , winner of the 2021 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE—ADULT CATEGORY , discusses The Burning Island with Greg Johnston, and some of the challenges of writing his series set in the Furneaux Group of islands.  

Pip Williams discusses The Dictionary of Lost Words with Greg Johnston and they gather up stories about her writing process and some of her choices.   

Steven Conte speaks about planning and executing The Tolstoy Estate (2020), writing ‘behind the enemy lines’, the risks of shaking up a novel’s structure, and the Gurya Ghost and the Little Boy Lost with Greg Johnston.  

CYA author Susanne Gervey discusses her new time-slip novel, Heroes of the Secret Underground , migration, sculpting stories from WWII for CYA, and Pálinka with Greg Johnston 

Julie Janson is a Burruberongal woman of Darug nation.  She discusses her recent novel, Benevolence, the challenges of writing First Nation's Historical Fiction, and of First Nation's writers finding publishers with Greg Johnston. 

Shortlisted for the inaugural ARA Historical Fiction Prize 2020, author Sienna Brown discusses writing, multifaceted research, constructing Jamaican patois, and Master of My Fate with Greg Johnston.

Author and inaugural winner of the ARA Historical Fiction Prize 2020 Mirandi Riwoe discusses writing, research, gender-bending, sea-cucumbers and Stone Sky Gold Mountain with Greg Johnston. 

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our  fourteenth episode explores the allure of France has often inspired historical novelists to conjure the romance and tumult of its history. Kate Forsyth’s latest novel, The Blue Rose, transports the reader to the perils of the French Revolution and the exotic...

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our episode thirteenth explores the challenges faced in researching pre-history when there are no written records? How do you approach interpreting Middle Age chronicles? Or choose between a plethora of conflicting primary sources when delving into modern history...

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our twelfth episode explores History and Mystery: weaving a web of truth and lies in detective fiction.  Writing historical crime fiction is like a treasure hunt for authors who dig up nuggets from the past to recreate old crimes and mysteries, both real and imag...

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our eleventh episode explores the silver screen: scriptwriting and adaptations.  More and more historical novels are being adapted for screen with lavish production values and high profile stars. What is the secret to writing scripts compared to books? How do scr...

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our tenth episode explores Parramatta, the second penal settlement established in Australia. When Thomas Keneally and Meg Keneally decided to set their Monsarratt detective series there, Meg sought the assistance of local historian, Gay Hendrikson, to dig into th...

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our ninth episode explores the survival of the fittest: challenging interior and exterior landscapes.  A stark Australian landscape is both menacing and beautiful in Rachel Leary’s Bridget Crack with a protagonist who must overcome physical and psychological thre...

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our eighth episode explores Regency madness and inspiration.  The Regency period lasted a mere nine years while Prince Regent George ruled as his temporarily mad father’s proxy. The glamour and charm of the era has lasted far longer with a plethora of novels set...

Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our seventh episode is a personal history session: In conversation with Nicole Alexander and Ella Carey.  Nicole Alexander writes sweeping epics evoking the grandeur of Australian landscapes, the hardships of rural life, and the turmoil of historic events. Ella C...