The Readers & Writers Podcast

Recorded Live - Join Gina Chick , the inaugural winner of  Alone Australia  for the Margaret River launch of her dazzling memoir,  We Are the Stars .     After surviving 67 days of unforgettable moments of searing vulnerability, Gina was the last person standing and won both  Alone Australia  and the nation’s heart with her combination of grit, warmth, and preference for going barefoot wherever po...

In conversation with Bri Lee recorded live as part of the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival 2024 out-of-season events. Multi-award-winning author, academic, and activist Bri Lee joins host Gillian O’Shaughnessy to launch her new book  The Work. A stunning debut novel about art, power, love and money from the acclaimed and bestselling author of  Eggshell Skull . The Work  is an ambitiou...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Siang Lu to talk about his new novel, the allegorical and imaginative,  Ghost Cities. Ghost Cities  – inspired by the vacant, uninhabited megacities of China – follows multiple narratives, including one in which a young man named Xiang is fired from his job as a translator at Sydney’s Chinese Consulate after it is discovered he doesn’t speak a word of Chine...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Kirsty Iltners to talk about her debut novel Depth of Field . Told through alternating perspectives, Kirsty Iltners’ debut novel examines the lives of two isolated individuals to reveal the fragility of life and the fallibility of our memories. Winner of the 2023 Dorothy Hewett Award,  Depth of Field  is a gripping novel where the mechanisms of photography...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by crime author and Fremantle local, David Whish-Wilson, to talk about his new novel I Am Already Dead . Trainee private investigator Lee Southern finds himself drawn into a web of danger and deceit as he investigates a series of bribery attempts targeting a wealthy entrepreneur. Under the expert tutelage of retiring PI Frank Swann, Lee uses all of his develop...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by author, musician and screenwriter Dave Warner, to talk about his new gripping crime fiction Summer of Blood. Two Australian police officers travel to San Francisco and Los Angeles in the summer of 1967 in search of a missing young man, only to find themselves fully immersed in the world of music, free love, drugs and hippie counterculture. They soon realise...

Author Wendy Harmer joined Curtin Radio’s Jenny Seaton for a lovely long chat about her memoir ‘Lies My Mirror Told Me’. Wendy Harmer will be appearing at The Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival 2024. For more information on her sessions and the full Festiva program head to MRRWFestival.com

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Graham Akhurst, to talk about his debut YA novel Borderland. Borderland  is a modern-day exploration of race, identity, and self-discovery with a suspenseful undertone of Australian Gothic. The story follows Jono on an epic quest to find himself in the face of unbelievable challenges and grips you from start to finish. Published by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ UWAP⁠ ⁠ Find out mo...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Gareth Brown, to talk about his novel The Book of Doors. Addictive, brilliantly written and utterly irresistible,  The Book of Doors  is the spell-binding, mind-bending, heart-pounding new adventure that is perfect for fans of  The Binding ,  The Midnight Library  and  A Discovery of Witches . . . Published by ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Penguin ⁠ Find out more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠ Gareth...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by poet Lisa Collyer, to talk about her new poetry collection How to Order Eggs Sunny Side. The collection is a conversation in poems on the taboo and abject bodies of women. Collyer disrupts selflessness, tackling the disquieting dilemmas of feminine space with erotic and comic freedom. How to Order Eggs Sunny Side Up  was shortlisted for the Dorothy Hewett A...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Emma Young, author of the new novel, The Disorganisation of Celia Stone. An engaging snapshot of the contemporary experience that has become all too familiar for many  young  women. Published by ⁠⁠ Fremantle Press⁠⁠ Find out more about ⁠⁠ Emma Young

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Kate Mildenhall, author of the spellbinding and genre-defying novel, The Hummingbird Effect. An epic, kaleidoscopic story of four women connected across time and place by an invisible thread and their determination to shape their own stories, from the acclaimed author of  The Mother Fault . Published by  ⁠Simon and Schuster⁠ Find out more about  ⁠Kate Milde...

  In this episode we are joined by highly acclaimed science and environmental writer, Jill Griffiths to launch her timely new book,  What’s for Dinner? Our food, our choice, our planet. What’s for Dinner?  delves into the way our food is grown and our responsibilities as eaters. Weaving together science, history and lived experience, What’s for Dinner? takes readers on a journey to meet the plants...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Molly Schmidt, winner of the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award for her debut novel Salt River Road. Salt River Road  is a compelling coming-of-age novel about grief and healing set in a small town in the 1970s. It's a poignant exploration of healing and resilience, small-town racism and the power of human connection. Published by  Fremantle Press...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Steven Hawke, author of The Brothers Wolfe , a family saga about loyalty, love, risk, redemption and the ties that bind. Meet the Brothers Wolfe.  Elliot Wolfe - ambitious, ruthless and living for the thrill of the deal. Athol Wolfe- a young man trying to find a place outside his big brother's shadow. Include a maiden aunt with a long memory, a mild-man...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Australian Gothic novelist Kathy George, to talk about her new book Estella . Estella is a haunting and darkly beautiful retelling of Dicken's Great Expectations, in which the icily enigmatic anti-hero, Estella, tells her own story ... and changes the ending in this beguiling feminist take on a classic. Estella  is published by  Harper Collins Find out...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Australian novelist and short story writer, Laurie Steed to talk about his new book  Love, Dad: Confessions of An Anxious Father. The father of two young boys, Laurie reflects on how his own experiences have defined the kind of man he is and the kind of parent he would like to become.  A must-read for all new parents,  Love, Dad: Confessions of An Anxious F...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Josh Kemp. Josh is an author of  Australian gothic fiction and his novel Banjawarn was joint winner of the 2021 Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and is his debut novel. Unsettling and darkly funny, Banjawarn explores love, friendship and how hope is often found in the strangest places. Banjawarn  is published by  UWAP Find out more about J...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Australian journalist and author, Carrie Cox to talk about her new book  Storylines. Deeply moving and sharply funny,  Storylines  is a novel about how we see ourselves in an age of distortion. Storylines  is published by  Affirm Press You can find out more about Carrie Cox  here.

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by debut crime writer, Matthew Spencer to talk about his book Black River. Black River is a taut, suspenseful and utterly compelling thriller that will keep you guessing to the final pages. A long, burning summer in Sydney. A young woman is found murdered in the deserted grounds of an elite boarding school. A serial killer preying on victims along the banks of...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by fellow Brit Michelle Upton, author of Terms of Inheritance, a funny, moving and brilliantly observed story about letting go of the past. Four sisters. A vast fortune. And a mother who thinks she knows best ...Where there's a will, there's a way! Terms of Inheritance is published by Harper Collins. You can find out more about Michelle Upton and her writing h...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Chris Flynn, author of Here Be Leviathans. A dazzling collection of funny, brilliant, boundary-pushing stories from the bestselling author of Mammoth. The stories in Here Be Leviathans take us from the storm drains under Las Vegas to the Alaskan wilderness; the rainforests of Queensland to the Chilean coastline. Narrated in Chris Flynn’s unique and hil...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Chris Hammer, author of THE TILT. Gripping and atmospheric, The Tilt is a stunning multi-layered novel by the acclaimed and award-winning author of the international bestsellers Scrublands , Silver , Trust and Treasure & Dirt. THE TILT is published by Allen & Unwin. https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Chris-Hammer-Tilt-9781761067419

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Shelley Burr, author of WAKE. WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO YOUNG EVIE McCREERY? A searing debut crime novel where the grief and guilt surrounding an unsolved disappearance still haunt a small farming community . . . and will ultimately lead to a reckoning. Compulsively readable, with an unforgettable setting and cast of characters,  WAKE  is a powerful...

In this episode, Jen Bowden is joined by Holden Sheppard, author of The Brink. A group of school-leavers: free at last, ready to party, expectations high. A remote island on the Western Australian coast wasn’t exactly the plan, but they’re not going to let that hold them back. Whoever survives the week will never be the same again. The Brink is a raw, powerful novel that pulls no punches in its au...