StorySALOON

We're wrapping up our first year of growing the audience for Australian short stories and writers. Check out the 24 episodes we've produced this year and head to our website to subscribe to our e-news for updates on the new live shows, regional tours and podcast episodes which we're underway planning for in 2026. StorySALOON: Short Stories, Centre Stage was made possible in 2025 with the support o...

In our latest 'In the SALOON with…', host Jane Messer talks with writers Luke Johnson and Michelle Hamadache. We delve into their short stories 'Ferocious Animals' and 'The Crane Flies', their creative processes, writing craft, and discuss why literary journals have a key role for creative writers and readers. Luke Johnson is the author of the short-story collection Ferocious Animals (Recent Works...

In this episode we’re going to hear the short story ‘The Crane Flies’ by Michelle Hamadache, read by Charlotte Salusinszky at StorySALOON's Nov 4, 2025 show. Michelle Hamadache is a writer of short stories, essays and reviews, with publications in Australian, British and US journals. She’s had short stories long listed for the Elizabeth Jolley and short-listed for the Neilma Sidney Short Story Pri...

In this episode we’re going to hear the short story ‘Ferocious Animals’ by Luke Johnson, read by Bayley Prendergast. Johnson is the author of the short-story collection Ferocious Animals (Recent Works Press) which takes its title from today’s short story, and an acclaimed poetry collection titled Kangaroo Unbound (Puncher & Wattman). He has won or been listed for numerous national prizes over...

In this episode we hear 'Zucchini' written and read by Monikka Eliah. Eliah is a talented emerging writer and playwright from Fairfield, located Sydney's western suburbs.  Monikka has published short stories, poetry and essays in Australian literary journals and sites including SBS Voices, Meanjin, Southerly, and Kill Your Darlings, and as an emerging playwright and fiction writer has received new...

In our latest 'In the SALOON with…', host Jane Messer talks with writer Ren Wyld and actor and playwright Katie Beckett. Together, we delve into Wyld's short story 'Clatter Tongue' which Katie Beckett read at StorySALOON Live on Oct 7, 2025. We explore the two artists' creative processes, challenges and pleasures of writing, what's current in  contemporary First Nations narrative and theatre, and...

In this episode we’re going to hear ‘The Couples Therapist, by Abigail Ulman from our October 7 show.    Abigail Ulman is a talented short story writer whose first book Hot Little Hands received rave reviews. Her stories have appeared in Australian and international journals including The Monthly where this story was first published, and New England Review, Best Australian Stories, BBC Radio 4, El...

In this episode we’re going to hear ‘Golden Hour’ by Claire Aman, from our October 7 show. Claire is the consummate short story writer, and ‘Golden Hour’ is just one of it’s just one of her many prize-winning stories.  The story was first published in the journal Overland, and she’s published an acclaimed collection of short stories, Bird Country . In this story we meet Faye and Dawn, two neighbou...

In this episode we’re going to hear ‘Clatter Tongue’, by K.A. Ren Wyld, from our October 7 show. Ren Wyld is a South Australian writer of Martu descent. This prize-winning short story combines realism with the fantastic. The young girl Treanna finds herself struggling to speak; instead of words other things come out and as the story unfolds we come to understand how her Aboriginal voice is profoun...

In our latest 'In the SALOON with…', host Jane Messer talks with writer Jake Dean and actor and film writer Adam Dunn.   We take a deep dive into Jake Dean's short story ‘Apocalypse, then?’, performed by Adam Dunn at StorySALOON’s September 2025 live show.  Dean speaks about the writing of ‘Apocalypse, then?’, the unique aspects of the short story as a genre, while Dunn discusses acting and prepar...

In this week's episode we're going to hear 'Apocalypse, then?' by Jake Dean, read by Adam Dunn. Jake Dean writes shorts stories and rides waves on Kaurna Country in South Australia. His writing is razor sharp, and not surprisingly he’s been published widely in Australian journals including Griffith Review, Going Down Swinging, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Overland, Kill Your Darlings, Crikey,...

In this week's episode we're going to hear 'Dance Hall Days' by Christos Tsiolkas, read by Alex Dimitriades. Tsiolkas is the Melbourne-born, Greek-Australian author, playwright, essayist, and screenwriter internationally known for his award winning novels, Dead Europe, Loaded, The Slap, and Barracuda.   In this story, we meet Dimitri and Marlene, former friends who haven’t seen each since the 1980...

In this week's episode we're going to hear 'The Skit' by Roanna Gonsalves, read by Vinaya Elijala. Gonsalves’ short story ‘The Skit’ is from her collection titled The Permanent Resident , winner of the 2018 Multicultural NSW Award. Roanna is a writer of short stories, long fiction and radio essays, and has been published widely in Australian and international journals and anthologies. She is a lec...

In our latest 'In the SALOON with…', host Jane Messer talks with writer Margo Lanagan and performer, Paul Capsis.   We take a deep dive into Margo's short story ‘Singing My Sister Down’ which was performed by Paul at StorySALOON’s June live show. In this episode, Margo speaks about the original writing of 'Singing My Sister Down', and the unique aspects of the short story as a genre. Paul discusse...

In this week's episode we’re going to hear ‘In Disguise, Lying Low’ by Anne Casey-Hardy, read by Esha Jessy. The story is taken from Anne’s debut collection of short stories, wickedly titled Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls (published by Scribner https://shorturl.at/Wk1To ). Her acclaimed short stories are wonderfully sharp, irreverent tales of sisterhood, motherhood and friendships. In the wo...

In this episode we’re going to hear Margo Lanagan’s short story ‘Singing My Sister Down’, read by Paul Capsis. This is a story with a big heart that may well move you to tears. Margo Lanagan is one of Australia’s most outstanding writers of short stories and novels for adults and young adults. Her work has been published widely in Australia and internationally. For those amongst you who’re unused...

In this episode we present three flash fictions by West Australian writer Gillian O'Shaughnessy, from our June live show. Gillian is an award-winning writer whose flash fictions and short stories have been published widely in Australian and international journals and anthologies.  The reading is by Monica Sayers, returning to StorySALOON a second time. Sayers is a proud Australian born Chinese act...

Welcome to 'In the Saloon With...', where StorySALOON host Jane Messer meets with an author and actor from the live show for a deep-dive into the writing of the short story and the actor's performance of it. In this episode we talk with Paddy O'Reilly, author of 'Baggage Claim' and Monica Sayers, who read the story live for StorySALOON's May 2025 show.  Paddy's novels and short stories have been p...

Our final story from StorySALOON's live 6 May show is 'Baggage Claim' by Paddy O'Reilly. Paddy's novels and short stories have won and been shortlisted for a number of major awards, and been published, anthologised and broadcast in Australia, Europe, China, the UK and the USA.  'Baggage Claim' was read by Monica Sayers, a proud Australian born Chinese artist who works as an actor, director, and vo...

This week's short story is 'GPS' by Cate Kennedy. It's a short story for lovers of twisted fairy tales and bushland suspense. Every girl should have a grandmother like this one in their lives. Cate Kennedy has been writing and publishing short stories, along with poetry, novels and essays for over three decades. Recent short stories have been published in The Saturday Paper, and the anthologies Th...

This week's short story is 'Aitu' by Oliver Coulter, was performed live by Chris Alosio for StorySALOON on May 6, 2025 at The Vanguard, Newtown. A young man of Samoan heritage is driving along a Northern Territory highway carrying special cargo. It's a road story that's both spiritual and darkly funny, and is about the importance of knowing your culture. In Polynesian languages the word 'aitu' ref...

Welcome to the first of our in-depth conversations, 'In the Saloon With...', where StorySALOON host Jane Messer meets with an author and actor from the live show for a deep-dive into the writing of the short story and the actor's performance of it. In this episode we talk with Nic Low, author of 'Octopus' and Taofia Pelesasa, who read the story live for StorySALOON's April 2025 show.   Based in Me...

This week's short story is 'Protocols of Transference' by Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker, a Nyungar technologist, writer, and digital rights activist living on Whadjuk Noongar boodjar, Western Australia. Build a mechanical brain to hold and remember First Nations stories. 'Protocols of Transference's' narrator is a First Nation person who is gathering and saving Indigenous stories. They do this by buildi...

This week's short story is 'Octopus' by Nic Low, a writer of Ngāi Tahu Māori and European heritage. Based in Melbourne and New Zealand, Nic is the author of three acclaimed books, Arms Race, Uprising, and Little Doomsdays. 'Octopus' is set on New Zealand's South Island. It is about a rowdy road gang and an octopus, a story in which myth and reality energetically collide. It is read by Taofia Peles...

This week's short story is "Tinder Date", written by Sydney fiction and travel writer Monique Choy. It's an inner city - rural love story. Set in a Marrickville bar. City Celia meets farmer Alistair. It’s hilarious and excruciating. How will the date go?  Performed live by Zoe Carides at The Vanguard, Newtown. Zoe Carides' TV and film career includes Death in Brunswick, the Netflix TV drama Pieces...