ABC Australia

The Book Show

Arts EN ↓ 247 episodes

Your favourite fiction authors share the story behind their latest books.

Author

ABC Australia

Category

Arts

Podcast website

www.abc.net.au

Latest episode

Jul 5, 2026

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Episodes

Booker Prize winner: Margaret Atwood 18.09.2023

It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Margaret Atwood who won the prize for a second time in 2019, sharing the prize with Bernardine Evaristo for her novel The Testaments, a sequel to her popular The Handmaid's Tale.

Booker Prize winner: Damon Galgut 18.09.2023

It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's South African writer Damon Galgut who won the prize in 2021 for The Promise, a novel which explores recent South African history through the changing fortunes of a white family.

Booker Prize winner: Shehan Karunatilaka 18.09.2023

It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka who won the prize in 2022 for his second novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, set during the Sri Lankan civil war with a ghost for a narrator. 

Booker Prize winner: George Saunders 18.09.2023

It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's American short story writer, essayist and novelist George Saunders who won in 2017 for his novel Lincoln in the Bardo, set in the cemetery where Abraham Lincoln's son is buried. 

Booker Prize winner: Douglas Stuart 18.09.2023

It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Scottish author Douglas Stuart who won in 2020 for his devastating novel Shuggie Bain, set in the poverty stricken housing estates of 1980s Glasgow. 

Booker Prize winner: Bernardine Evaristo 18.09.2023

It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Bernardine Evaristo who shared the prize with Margaret Atwood in 2019 for her novel Girl, Woman, Other.

Feel good fiction with Anita Heiss, Marlon James, Monica Ali and more 18.09.2023

Literary fiction is good at the hard stuff – grief, pain and conflict - but what about the books that make you feel good? Authors Joan Silber, Toni Jordan and Andy Weir bring joy to The Book Show for ABC Arts Week, talking about the radical act of writing optimistic fiction. You'll also hear from Richard Ford, Douglas Stuart, Jennifer Down, Anita Heiss, Marlon James and Monica Ali.

Zadie Smith on Jamaica, delusion and Dickens 11.09.2023

Two historical novels with colonialism as their backdrop: one by the famous UK writer Zadie Smith and the other a debut novel by Fijian Australian author, Nilima Rao. And Molly Schmidt shares the story that was bubbling inside her since she was a teenager.

"We love the people we damage" — Anne Enright 04.09.2023

Former Booker Prize winner Anne Enright says she's drawn to life's contradictions and in her latest The Wren, The Wren she explores the complicated, messy relationships at the heart of one family. Also, Marija Peričić on one man's love of a dead woman, and Laura Elizabeth Woollett's changing relationship with her hometown, Perth.

Coming of age with Chris Womersley, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Zeynab Gamieldien 28.08.2023

Chris Womersley exposes the dark side of suburbia in his sixth novel Ordinary Gods and Monsters, Maxine Beneba Clarke shares the joy of poetry for young readers and Zeynab Gamieldien explores the lives of members of a university Muslim Students' Association in her debut novel. 

"Trinidad writes itself" — Kevin Jared Hosein's Hungry Ghosts, plus Kate Grenville 21.08.2023

Australian author Kate Grenville reflects on her lifetime of writing and how accepting failure Kate Grenville reflects on a lifetime of writing and how accepting failure has been key to her success, and Caribbean author Kevin Jared Hosein on his devastating novel Hungry Ghosts.

Crime fiction queen Jane Harper on what she'll do next 14.08.2023

Since 2016 Jane Harper has published five bestselling crime novels including The Dry and The Lost Man. Her latest novel Exiles sees a return of financial crimes investigator Aaron Falk but Jane says it will be the last time he has a starring role in her books. So what's next for Jane Harper?  

Ann Patchett and Tracy Sorensen on famous friends and talking organs 07.08.2023

American author Ann Patchett believes contentment is a radical idea in today's busy world and in her latest novel Tom Lake reflects on the joy of stillness. Also when Tracy Sorensen's novel about cancer, The Vitals, was published Tracy was given the terrible news that her own cancer has re-emerged. She is now undergoing chemotherapy while spruiking her book.

Melancholy in the library with Patrick deWitt, Josh Kemp and Ali Cobby Eckermann 31.07.2023

Stories of redemption and healing: Canadian author Patrick deWitt's latest novel The Librarianist is about a lonely, former librarian. Claire takes a walk in Perth bushland with WA author Josh Kemp to discuss his dark and feral novel and Indigenous poet Ali Cobby Eckermann on the healing power of nature.

Pod Extra with 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Shankari Chandran 25.07.2023

Shankari Chandran has won this year's Miles Franklin Literary Award for her third novel Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, a Trojan horse of a novel that lures you in with the promise of a cosy read but is also about racism and trauma.

Anna Funder and Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life 24.07.2023

Anna Funder's fourth book Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life interrogates why George Orwell's wife, Eileen Blair has been written out of his biography. Also debut author Kerry Taylor and her sensitive portrayal of a North Queensland jockey who lived his life as a man while carrying a secret about his identity until his death in 1975.

Richard Ford says goodbye to his creation 17.07.2023

American author Richard Ford says, "I write for the audience today" and not for immortality. Now 79, and with Be Mine, his fifth Frank Bascombe novel, Ford also shares his ideas about death and dying and why he's not scared. Also, New Zealand author Stephanie Johnson on her novel Kind featuring villainous and duplicitous characters.

Myth-busting and Judge Judy with Tracey Lien and Nina Wan 10.07.2023

Tracey Lien watched Judge Judy as a child and Nina Wan learnt English at 10 when she migrated from China to Australia. Now they have both published entertaining and moving debut novels: All That's Left Unsaid and The Albatross. 

Writer to writer with Larissa Behrendt, Anita Heiss and Ellen van Neerven 03.07.2023

Indigenous writer, lawyer and filmmaker Larissa Behrendt speaks to writers Anita Heiss and Ellen van Neerven about the past and the future of First Nations writing in Australia.

Miles Franklin Literary Award shortlist 2023: pod extra interview special 29.06.2023

Interviews with all six shortlisted authors for the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award from RN's The Bookshelf and Book Show (in alphabetical order). The shortlist was announced on 20 June; the winner will be announced on 25 July.

Booker winners Shehan Karunatilaka and Damon Galgut 26.06.2023

A double bill of Booker Prize winners with reigning champion Shehan Karunatilaka and previous winner Damon Galgut. 

Lisa See's portrait of female friendship in Ming dynasty China 19.06.2023

American author Lisa See's Lady Tan's Circle of Women set during the Chinese Ming dynasty, Robert Gott's comedy of manners, Saman Shad's contribution to the rom-com and a tour of Mark Brandi's writing space. 

Home, art and love with Kate Morton, Stephanie Bishop and Zoya Patel 12.06.2023

Bestselling Australian author Kate Morton's personal story of home and her latest novel Homecoming, Stephanie Bishop's psycho thriller The Anniversary and Zoya Patel's story of a migrant family torn apart by a romantic relationship which took inspiration from her own, difficult experience. 

Max Porter and Barbara Kingsolver's lost boys 05.06.2023

Pulitzer Prize winner Barbara Kingsolver and British author Max Porter turn their attention to lost boys failed by society.

Don Winslow, plus Fakes and Frauds #5 Wanda Koolmatrie hoax 29.05.2023

My Own Sweet Time was a memoir said to be written by Wanda Koolmatrie, a member of the Aboriginal stolen generation. But it was a hoax and this final episode of Fakes and Frauds explores its long lasting impacts. Plus, American author Don Winslow explains why he's stepping away from writing fiction. 

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