The Writer and the Critic

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, plunge straight into discussing two short story collections, Get in Trouble by Kelly Link [1:30] and What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours by Helen Oyeyemi [40:10].  Listeners might like to check out the following links mentioned during the podcast: Get in Trouble reviewed by David Ulin in the Los Angeles Times What is No...

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, have decided to look at two books honoured in the recent Shirley Jackson Awards . After some brief words about the Awards themselves, the discussion moves stealthily on to the books themselves: the winner of the Novel category, Experimental Film by Gemma Files [8:45] and the winner of the Edited Anthology category,...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, start things off with a discussion about cultural appropriation, bouncing off a now infamous keynote speech given by Lionel Shriver at the Brisbane Writers Festival. Pertinent links are as follows: Full transcript of Lionel Shriver's speech in The Guardian Response to Shriver speech by Yassmin Abdel-Magied in...

It's Patron's Choice this month on The Writer and the Critic where your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, spend the episode discussing two books as voted on by their lovely supporters on Patreon . But first, they quickly go through the list of other nominated titles that were pipped at the post: The Dead Lake by Hamid Ismailov     Borderline by Mishell Baker          Defying Doomsday edited b...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, spend a few minutes talking about the New York Times Bestseller lists before jumping straight into the discussion of two novels which have been on the lists in some form for, oh, about a squillion weeks: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr [11:45] and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins [46:45]. He...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, spend a mercifully few brief minutes talking about kittens and stolen skeletons before diving straight into the two books which are up for discussion: The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing [9:00] and Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler [55:40]. If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:36:...

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, turn their attention to the 2015 Aurealis Awards which were announced in late March 2016. Sadly, there was no shortlist for the Best Horror Novel this year, although the category was won by Trent Jamieson's most excellent Day Boy, a book which was previously discussed on this podcast . There is much lamenting and s...

It's the 50th Episode of The Writer and the Critic and to celebrate, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, have made a list of 50 of their favourite books. This is not a Best Books list or even an Important Books list ... it's simply a bunch of beloved books that have made an impact on them over their lives. But first ... some feedback. Bouncing off a most excellent email from one of their li...

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, offer some brief words of gratitude to the lovely and generous folks who have so far supported the podcast on Patreon. Ian and Kirstyn love you all to bits and pieces! They then dive straight into a meldy - but definitely not moldy! - discussion of both the books at hand Afro SF: Science Fiction by African Writers...

*** Breaking news! The Writer and the Critic is now on Patreon! There are all sorts of exciting milestone goals and rewards for patrons with pledges starting at just $1.00 per podcast. If you enjoy the podcast and can spare some change, Ian and Kirstyn would be immensely grateful for your support. They might even be able to afford to upgrade the increasingly unreliable equipment which would be lov...

Things gets a little highbrow on this episode of The Writer and the Critic, when your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond enthusiastically tackle Satin Island by Tom McCarthy [5:35] and Lament for the Afterlife by Lisa L. Hannett [59:45]. The words 'semiotic' and 'taxonomy' may appear with alarming regularity. Also, mosaic fiction, people. Let's make it a thing. During the course of the discussi...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, open with a brief preamble -- or perhaps a pre-ramble -- detailing some exciting new developments for next year. They then jump straight into a discussion of the two nominated books, Day Boy by Trent Jamieson [4:20] and Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre [49:10]. For those who want more vampire goodness, the full int...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, open with a discussion about gender, publishing and awards, focused around the following articles: "Books About Women Don't Win Big Awards" by Nicola Griffith (see also the follow-up post on this project) "Homme de Plume: What I Learned Sending My Novel Out Under a Male Name" by Catherine Nichols They then mov...

[We regret to advise that there is some questionable audio for the first five minutes or so of this episode due to an unnoticed fault somewhere in the recording equipment. We sincerely apologise and ask that our lovely listeners persevere regardless. Thankfully, it doesn't last for long.] This episode of The Writer and the Critic was recorded live at Continuum 11: Southern Skies -- the Melbourne s...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, open with a short discussion of the Hugo Awards and other matters. Inevitably, there are puppies. Sorry. The discussion centres around the following websites and online articles: "Some comments on the Hugos and other SF awards" by Eric Flint Chaos Horizon by Brandon Kempner "Blogging For Rockets" and others po...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin with the enthralling tale of How Mondy Got Pneumonia on New Year's Eve, followed by a small rant from Kirstyn about Colleen McCullough and the Obituary That Should Hide its Head in Absolute Shame. The two then move on to discuss awards ballots and eligibility posts, the sometimes uncomfortable practice o...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, kick things off with a debate about cultural cringe, tall poppy syndrome, big girl pants and why all these elements may have contributed to a dearth of Australian content on this podcast of late. Things, they will be a changing. This episode of The Coode Street Podcast focusing on Australian Science Fiction is...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin with a lengthy discussion about authors, reviewers, and fans in view of the rapidly changing dynamics of author/reader relationships and power structures in publishing. This was sparked off by an excellent and thoughtful essay, "Don't Attack Reviewers" , written by Jonathan McCalmont and published on his...

On this episode of The Writer and the Critic, your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin by addressing listener feedback about high fantasy and narratives of power which followed on from the discussion at the end of the last episode recorded at Continuum 10 . They would also like to draw your attention to some Links of Relevant Interest: Amberlin Kwaymullina's Guest of Honour speech from Co...

This very special episode of The Writer and the Critic was recorded live at Continuum 10 -- the Melbourne speculative fiction and pop culture convention -- which this year doubled as the 53rd National Science Fiction Convention. In keeping with tradition, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond have invited the convention's fabulous Guests of Honour, Jim C. Hines and Ambelin Kwaymullina , to com...

This month on The Writer and the Critic, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond spend a few minutes chatting about their recent HUGO AWARD NOMINATION ... ahem ... and awards in general. Just a few minutes, we promise! Instead of recommending books themselves this episode, Ian and Kirstyn have chosen to critique two novels which were honoured at the recent Aurealis Awards for excellence in Austr...

This month on The Writer and the Critic, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond fritter away a few precious minutes talking about carving out time for reading, vomiting on public transport, and anti-social lunchtime habits, before jumping straight into the books at hand. The books chosen for discussion this episode are Love is the Law by Nick Mamatas (beginning at 3:50) -- recommended by Ian --...

This month on The Writer and the Critic, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond spend a little time up front talking about political correctness and why the very phrase makes Kirstyn's brain glaze over. The pair then move on to the books up for discussion this month. Kirstyn has chosen Bearded Women by Teresa Milbrodt . (beginning at 20:20) while Ian is recommending -- and is slightly angry abo...

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, throw out a handful of pocket reviews for books which they have recently read but which may not end up being given the full podcast treatment. No spoilers for these right now, though, just some recommendations for your reading pleasure: Dare Me by Megan Abbott Twelve Conversations and the Teashop by Zoran Zivkovic...

This month on The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, have decided to start with a handful of pocket reviews for books which they have recently read but which may not end up being given the full podcast treatment. Or maybe they will. No spoilers for these right now, though, just some hearty recommendations: Two Worlds and in Between: The Best of Caitlin R. Kiernan, (V...