Secrets from the Green Room

Karen and Irma chat about the challenges of being able to accept praise.  Then Irma talks with Katherine Collette about how co-hosting The First Time podcast was life-changing, her most excruciating experience with the podcast, the excitement of overseas deals for her debut novel and the huge low that followed, how the US market differs from the ANZ market, the secrecy around book sales, the chall...

Irma and Karen chat about the changing shape of the Australian publishing industry as small publishers are bought up by larger publishing houses.  Then Karen talks to short-story maestro Cate Kennedy about how she came to be a writer and then a teacher of writing, how writing (and reading) a short story is like plunging deep into a diving pool, how her career took off after having a story publishe...

Irma and Karen chat about their top books from the last 12 months.  Then Karen chats with lifelong activist and former politician Bob Brown about why writing is so important to activism, why storytelling with intent is important, how he approached writing his memoir, why the practice of writing notes while out in nature is key, the ways in which writing fiction is important in getting people to th...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) Omar Musa chats with Irma about how growing up in an artistic family set his course, why he stopped reading and writing during a dark period and how a new form of expression saved him, the ways in which earning a living from the thing you love can be deeply problematic, why winning the Australian Poetry Slam took him to U...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Bora Chung chats with Irma about how she wrote her first short story solely for prize money but it eventually led to a short fiction collection that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, why her publisher thought an approach from Anton Hur to translate her collection into English was a scam, what it was like to be at the Booker...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Laura Jean McKay chats with Irma about the experience of touring her books to the UK, why she threw up in a caravan sink after finishing her novel, how the publishing landscape for short fiction has changed over the last two decades, a disastrous book event that ended up in an Oscar-winning performance, writing about big politic...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Aube Rey Lescure chats with Irma about how she initially followed a friend’s advice not to become a writer but then ditched law to pursue it anyway, how being multilingual impacts the way she writes, why she refused to follow the career trajectory her creative writing course advised, why she got fixated on publishing a book befo...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Nam Le chats with Irma about why his first unpublished novel was a spectacular failure but still worthwhile, why for a long time he was a secret writer and the renowned Iowa Writers Workshop was him ‘coming out’ to the world, how he naively thought the crazy success of The Boat was what all writers experienced, why Nam made a pa...

Irma and Karen chat about writers festivals they’ve recently attended, as well as the joys and challenges of being a panel moderator and interviewing other authors.  Then Karen talks to JP Pomare about how he didn’t know he was writing crime until it was marketed that way, why his goal is to transcend the genre, how he’s managed to publish seven books in six years, why we’re so fascinated with cri...

Irma and Karen chat about the upcoming Ubud Writers and Readers Festival.  Then Karen talks to Kylie Needham about how a short story turned into her debut novel, the joys and challenges of writing for television and the screen, the collaboration of the writers’ room and the vulnerabilities of the process, what writing scripts taught her about moving the narrative forward, whether authors should ge...

Irma and Karen chat about audio books. Then Karen speaks with Finegan Kruckemeyer about how he got his first break as a playwright, the difference between writing for young people and adult audiences, how much freedom there is in the parameters of commissioned works, why he acts out his scripts, why a school production of one of his plays blew him away far more than the professional production, ho...

Irma chats to agent Jacinta di Mase about what agents do to earn their 15%, the intricacies of contracts – including rights reversion, world rights, backlists and rising royalties, how an agent can fight for an author over cover design and choosing a title, the dos and don’ts of submitting to agents, the extent of editorial feedback to expect from agents, how the submission process to publishers w...

Karen and Irma chat about the ins and outs of contracts. Then Irma talks to Hilde Hinton about the way her work polarises people, how an argument with her brother (actor Samuel Johnson) led to her first novel, why Lego is an important part of her writing process, how novels can make space for important conversations about big topics like mental illness and suicide through joy rather than the sadne...

Irma and Karen reveal exciting new partnerships with Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and Writers Victoria. Then Karen chats with Beejay Silcox about literary criticism in Australia – what good critics endeavour to do, the blowback from a tough review, what is lacking in Australian criticism, the impact of shrinking page space, the inability to make a sustainable career out of criticism, and her...

Irma tries to convert Karen to writing program Scrivener. Then Irma chats to children’s creators Anna Walker and Andrea Rowe about how authors and illustrators work together (or don’t!), why illustrator notes are a no-no, the profound impact of picture books on both adults and children, the biggest mistakes that new writers and illustrators make, what to expect from the editing and publishing proc...

Irma and Karen discuss author websites. Then Karen chats with Kris Kneen about writing into deeply uncomfortable spaces and confronting issues like fatness and identity, how to write sex well, why they’re always switching up genres, how to deal with disappointment over missing out on awards, why they almost gave up writing entirely, and the moment that changed their life. About Kris Kris Kneen has...

Irma and Karen talk about prepping for radio interviews.  Then Karen chats to Diana Reid about how writing scripts has informed the way she works as a novelist and her approach to being edited, what it was like to be thrown into the spotlight with her bestselling debut novel, how its extraordinary success affected her, advice on how to handle publicity interviews, why writing her second novel was...

Karen and Irma chat about point of view and writing from multiple perspectives. Then Irma talks to Peter Papathanasiou about his very long and convoluted journey to publication, how his debut was rejected by 100 agents and took 10 years to get published, why his goal was to get published in the UK first and advice for other writers about how to do the same, how he successfully pitched his own book...

'Irma and Karen talk about the ins and out of book marketing. Then Karen chats with Melinda Smith about winning the Prime Ministers Literary Award for poetry, the potential of TikTok for poets, how arts grants have sustained her writing and how to write a good application (all the details), how form (or lack thereof) influences the writing of a poem, why poets are not featured much in festiva...

Irma and Karen chat about the highs and lows of podcasting. Then Irma talks to Niq Mhlongo about what it was like growing up in Soweto, South Africa, how sleeping in a tiny room with seven brothers got him hooked on reading, why he ditched law to become a writer, how Dan Brown made him think he’d become a millionaire from writing, how his debut novel went from being deemed ‘unpublishable’ to being...

Karen and Irma talk about ten awful publishing truths. Then Karen chats to Daniel O’Malley about writing humour in books and how to develop this skill, how he lost the first 150 pages of his bestseller The Rook , the potential pitfalls of finding an agent, the process of his novel being made into a mini-series, how he used to tweet as one of his characters, and what it’s like to go to a fantasy bo...

Karen and Irma chat about what makes a good book title. Then Irma talks to Kate Mildenhall about how she organised (and survived!) a massive book tour, the brutal experience of her second book being rejected, why writing retreats are invaluable for her creative practice, the challenges of not sticking to one genre, how she approached the writing of her structurally complex third novel, how she see...

Karen and Irma discuss the challenges of author photo shoots. Then Irma chats with Christos Tsiolkas about how reading Monkey Grip cross-legged in a bookstore was a seminal moment, and how his father – who couldn’t read – made him the patient reader he is today, how the poor reception to his second novel The Jesus Man deeply bruised him and the overwhelming success of The Slap was the reverse expe...

Karen and Irma chat about one star reviews and Goodreads.  Then Karen talks to Anita Heiss about why she writes across so many genres and which is her favourite, what she learned from writing the script for the 'Tiddas' live-show and how it feels to have your work performed on stage, how she creates sexy, sassy First Nations female characters, how she still feels self-doubt even after wr...

Karen and Irma chat about the impact of AI technologies on authors. Then Irma chats with Chris Flynn about exactly how Bookscan works and how he uses the data to monitor his own sales and make decisions about where to invest time with publicity, why publishing is operating on an outdated business model and how it should change, how to organise a book tour yourself, the ways in which both Ireland a...