The Book Show

British author Onyi Nwabineli explores the scars of a child influencer in Allow Me to Introduce Myself, Ella Baxter writes back to her stalker in Woo Woo, and Melanie Cheng's The Burrow, a gentle novel about grief and a rabbit.  Onyi Nwabineli is a British novelist who tackles the minefield of mumfluencers and child stars in her second novel, Allow Me to Introduce Myself . It's about former child...

Today we take to you to two writers festivals: In Perth, Laura Jean McKay, Laurie Steed and Chemutai Glasheen reflect on what it means to bring their convictions to the page, and by the seaside in Sorrento, Victoria, poet, essayist and short story writer Nam Le retraces his roots as a storyteller. At the Perth Festival Writers Weekend , Claire Nichols spoke to three authors whose recent short stor...

Bestselling author of Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam explores money obsession in his novel Entitlement, plus Jock Serong gets magical in Cherrywood and writer-doctor Jumaana Abdu's debut novel, Translations. American author, Rumaan Alam 's bestselling last book, Leave the World Behind, was adapted to the screen starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke. His new book is Entitlement and while it e...

Richard Osman has followed up his bestselling crime series The Thursday Murder Club with a new series, the first instalment is We Solve Murders. Plus Iranian-American poet Kaveh Akbar explains how dreams are woven into his novel Martyr! and Dylin Hardcastle on their novel that began with the idea of a kiss. Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club and its sequels are so popular that a screen adapt...

Celebrated British-Turkish author Elif Shafak follows a single drop of water through history in her novel There are Rivers in the Sky, Kaliane Bradley on her bestseller The Ministry of Time which has attracted Barack Obama's attention and Nicola Moriarty's latest domestic drama Every Last Suspect. Elif Shafak is a British-Turkish author and activist. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for 10...

Meena Kandasamy is an Indian born poet, novelist, rebel and activist who's been threatened and harassed for her writing. From the Byron Writers Festival she explains why she keeps going despite the threats.   She is also celebrated for her innovative approach to storytelling. Her debut novel The Gypsy Goddess (2015) was about the 1968 massacre of Dalit agricultural workers. Her book When I Hit You...

Award-winning author Evie Wyld on her new book The Echoes, and why there are so many sharks in her fiction. Plus, Catherine McKinnon's epic war novel To Sing of War and Jordan Prosser's band road trip novel, Big Time. Evie Wyld is one of the few Australian writers to win both the Miles Franklin and the Stella Prizes (the Miles for All the Birds, Singing, and the Stella for The Bass Rock). She is d...

Booker Prize shortlisted Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma joined Claire Nichols at Byron Writers Festival to discuss his latest novel The Road to the Country about civil war in Nigeria. Now based in the US, Chigozie Obioma's first two novels The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019) were shortlisted for The Booker Prize. His third novel The Road to the Country is about the Biafran...

For Science Week, The Book Show goes intergalactic in a star themed episode. Ceridwen Dovey, Alicia Sometimes, Nardi Simpson, Max Barry and Emily St John Mandel explore how celestial tales reveal deep truths about our lives on earth. From the fabulously weird stories about space junk in Only the Astronauts (Ceridwen Dovey) to the star dust fuelled poetry of Stellar Atmospheres (Alicia Sometimes) w...

Hollywood star Keanu Reeves and British science fiction author China Miéville reveal how they collaborated to to write the novel The Book of Elsewhere. Plus, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of Fleishman Is In Trouble and Indigenous Australian author, Anita Heiss. The Book of Elsehwere (Del Rey) is based on a comic book series that Keanu Reeves developed called BRZRKR. It's gory and it's novelisation...

Alexis Wright is the 2024 winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel Praiseworthy. She makes history as the only writer to have won both the Stella and Miles Franklin awards twice each. Alexis first won the Miles Franklin in 2007 for her epic novel Carpentaria. Like that novel, Praiseworthy (Giramondo) - which also won the 2024 Stella Prize - is an epic told on a grand scale. It's a...

Samantha Shannon has such power as a bestselling writer that she's reissued her fantasy Bone Season series with new edits. In a revealing conversation she tells Claire Nichols what it takes to reach such heights. Samantha Shannon was just 20 when she won a six-figure publishing deal for this series. She also has another series on the go called Roots of Chaos which begins with the bestselling The P...

'Flabbergasted' and 'surprised' — ahead of the winner announcement, the Miles Franklin shortlisted writers tell you about their books and what it means to be on the shortlist. The Miles Franklin is the most prestigious writing prize in Australia and is awarded to a novel of "the highest literary merit that presents Australian life in any of its phases". This year's shortlisted works cover themes o...

American author R.O. Kwon's novel, Exhibit, explores the taboo topic of female desire; Jenny Ackland exacts feminist revenge in Hurdy Gurdy and Jessie Tu's Honeyeater is a story of translation and miscommunication. Korean-born, American author R.O. Kwon is not afraid of topic topics. She's behind the bestselling 2018 novel The Incendiaries and is co-editor of a story collection called Kink. Her ne...

For NAIDOC week, Indigenous speculative fiction author Claire G Coleman chats to Dylan Coleman about her novel Mazin Grace republished as a UQP First Nations Classic. Also, Ali Cobby Eckermann and Graham Akhurst speak about their latest books. Ali Cobby Eckermann is a Yankunytjatjara woman, a member of the stolen generations, and one of Australia's major living poets. In 2017 she was awarded the W...

Australian writers Bri Lee and Liam Pieper's latest novels expose the unholy connection between money, art and power. Bri Lee is the author of the bestselling 2018 memoir Eggshell Skull and she's the author of two other works of non-fiction, Who Gets to Be Smart and Beauty. Her debut novel The Work is about two characters who represent old and new art but who become embroiled in scandal and contro...

Weddings of the ultra-rich get the Kevin Kwan treatment in his novel Lies and Weddings, Siang Lu's ambitious and complicated novel Ghost Cities and West Australian author Annie de Monchaux's surprising link to Hollywood. Kevin Kwan is the author behind the juggernaut trilogy that began with Crazy Rich Asians which explored the lives of the ultra-ultra rich. His new book is called Lies and Weddings...

Two authors at the top of their game: Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch reveals how his award winning novel Prophet Song came into being and Booker longlisted author Karen Jennings' complicated love letter to South Africa. The Irish writer Paul Lynch is the reigning Booker winner and won the prize for his beautiful, brutal fifth novel Prophet Song . It's about a civil war in modern-day Ireland that h...

Jeanette Winterson asks how AI will give new meaning to ghost stories and Kate Grenville reflects on a lifetime of writing and how accepting failure has been key to her success. Jeanette Winterson is best known for her novels Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, The Stone Gods and Frankissstein. Her long fascination with mortality, religion and technology have come together in a new book of short stori...

American author Celeste Ng shares how her latest novel Our Missing Hearts explores one of her deepest fears.  Celeste Ng is known for her dark realist novels, Everything I Never Told You, and Little Fires Everywhere (which was adapted to the screen in 2020). Our Missing Hearts  is set in a dystopian, near future America, where anti-Asian sentiment has peaked, books are disappearing from the shelve...

Shankari Chandran's follow up to her Miles Franklin award winning book, British author Stuart Turton's complicated murder mystery and Julie Janson's ironically named novel Compassion. Shankari Chandran won the 2023 Miles Franklin for her novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens. Her new novel Safe Haven asks readers to confront the reality of Australia's immigration detention system: the lives of the d...

One of Colm Toibin's most beloved books is Brooklyn and now he's written a sequel, Long Island. Brooklyn was first published in 2009 and it's about Eilis, a young woman who leaves Ireland for America in the 1950s. It was longlisted for the Booker Prize, won the Costa Novel Award and was adapted to the screen in 2015. Now there's a sequel, called Long Island , (Picador) set years later in the 1970s...

Iran's Kafka like book censorship is causing authors to flee, including writer Shokoofeh Azar who now lives in Australia. Banned Books is a new series that looks at what's driving book bans worldwide.  In this last episode, writer Shokoofeh Azar who now lives in Australia and is the author of The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree which is banned in Iran. Guests:  Shokoofeh Azar - Iranian born, A...

Percival Everett, a prolific author known for his versatility across various genres and styles, reinterprets an American classic novel. Percival Everett, a prolific author known for his versatility across various genres and styles, reinterprets the American classic Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,  James, (Pan Macmillan) shifts the focus to Huck's enslaved companion, Jim, challenging the portrayal...

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe is the most banned book in the USA and now it's  being challenged in the courts in Australia.  Banned Books is a new series that looks at what's driving book bans worldwide.  This episode explores Gender Queer, an illustrated memoir which details Maia Kobabe's experience of coming out as non-binary and asexual. The book has been banned in school and public libraries acr...