'I don't start a novel thinking I have things to show you or tell you. I always start a novel because there are things I want to discover." - Kamila Shamsie.
The author of seven novels, Kamila Shamsie has built an acclaimed career crafting explorations of the personal impacts of political, cultural and historical shadows. Now, the multi-award-winning writer turns her attention to the everchanging nature of female friendship, and the forces that bring people together, or tear them apart.
Following the story of two best friends from Karachi to London, Best of Friends is Shamsie’s first novel since Home Fire, for which she won the Women’s Prize for Fiction, was shortlisted for the Costa Best Novel Award and longlisted for the Booker Prize.
In this episode, Kamila Shamsie speaks with Love and Virtue author Diana Reid about her latest work and explores our shifting perspectives on friendships, from fickle flings to the fiercely faithful.
With thanks to UNSW Centre for Ideas
Presented in partnership with RMIT Culture
This event was recorded on Wednesday 9 November 2022 at The Capitol as part of the Wheeler Centre’s Spring Fling program.
Featured music is Johannes Bornlöf - Friend of Mine. Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kamila Shamsie: Best of Friends

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Bestselling author Dervla McTiernan discusses her suspenseful new novel about two families at war with host J.P. Pomare at Geelong Library.
Nina and Simon are the perfect couple. Young, fun and deeply in love. Until they leave for a weekend at his family’s cabin in Vermont, and only Simon comes home.
Dervla McTiernan is the critically acclaimed author of five novels, including The Murder Rule, which was a New York Times thriller of the year. Dervla has won multiple prizes, including a Ned Kelly Award, Davitt Awards, a Barry Award, and an International Thriller Writers Award. She is also the author of four novellas, and her audio novella, The Sisters, was a four-week number one bestseller in the United States.
This event was presented in partnership with Geelong Regional Libraries. It was supported by Sorrento Writers Festival. The official bookseller was Torquay Books.

It was recorded on Wednesday 24 April 2024 at Geelong Library and Heritage Centre.

Featured music is ‘Different Days’ by Chill Cole. Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dervla McTiernan: What Happened to Nina? [Geelong]

Steve Albini was a legendary audio engineer and musician. The frontman of Big Black and Shellac, Albini saw the machinations of the industry up close and from multiple vantage points, working with huge international acts including PJ Harvey, Nirvana and Pixies. Despite recording with some of the biggest names in the business Albini continued, throughout his career, to collaborate with countless experimental bands. He passed away last week, aged 61.
On the eve of Meredith Music Festival in December 2015 – where he played with his band, Shellac – Albini joined host Woody McDonald at The Wheeler Centre to reflect on his storied career, his thoughts on the current state of music and predictions for the future.

This event was recorded on Thursday 15 December 2015 at The Wheeler Centre.
Featured music is 'Riding Bikes' by Shellac. Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Steve Albini

Paul Auster was a true giant of American literature. Acclaimed for his best-selling works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry, including The New York Trilogy, Invisible, and The Brooklyn Follies, Auster wrote complex and daring tales of humans experiencing, anticipating or searching for something lost, something they are struggling to comprehend. 
In his 2021 book, Burning Boy, he turned his eye to the 19th-century bad boy of American literature, Stephen Crane. Crane is known for popularising American naturalism, a literary movement that has influenced generations of writers (including Auster himself). But he was as daring off the page as he was on it. 
Throughout his short life, Crane cavorted from one high-stakes situation to the next: from engaging in political journalism that disrupted the course of the 1892 presidential campaign, to entering a common-law marriage with the proprietress of Jacksonville’s most elegant bawdyhouse, to surviving a shipwreck that nearly drowned him, and eventually relocating to England, where Joseph Conrad became his closest friend and Henry James wept over his tragic, early death. 
In November 2021, Auster joined host Corrie Perkin for a conversation about Burning Boy and the nature of creative legacy. What are the questions one master chooses to ask of another? And what is there to learn from a life lived so bright it burned?
This conversation was originally released as a digital event as part of The Wheeler Centre’s 'Postcard’s From Abroad' series on Wednesday 3 November 2021.

The official bookseller was Hill of Content bookshop.

Featured music is 'Traveling again' by Sarah the illstrumentalist. Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Paul Auster: Burning Boy

Fern Brady, one of the UK’s most exciting stand-ups, visited The Wheeler Centre to discuss her bestselling book Strong Female Character as part of the 2024 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Hosted by Australian stand-up comedian and writer Laura Davis, Brady discussed her writing process, Catholic upbringing and late diagnosis of autism.

This event was recorded on Wednesday 3 April 2024 at The Wheeler Centre.

It was presented in partnership with the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. 

The official bookseller was Mary Martin Bookshop.
Featured music is ‘Lucy’s Trail’ by Sarah the illstumentalist. Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Conversation with Fern Brady: Strong Female Character

Chanel Contos has led a powerful movement to include consent education in the national curriculum, and was recently appointed by Julia Gillard to chair the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership’s Youth Advisory Committee.
Her debut book, Consent Laid Bare: Sex, Entitlement & the Distortion of Desire, is a battle cry from a generation no longer prepared to stay silent. In it, Contos explores the political, legislative and cultural changes required to combat Australia’s culture of misogyny and normalisation of sexual violence, and outlines steps to achieve true gender equality. Consent Laid Bare advocates for intimacy, consent and enjoyment to be centred in all sexual relationships.
At this exclusive Melbourne event hosted by Madison Griffiths, Contos discussed the vital role of consent amidst a culture influenced by porn, the patriarchy and male entitlement.

The event recorded on Tuesday 5th March 2024 at The Wheeler Centre. It was presented in partnership with the Victorian Women's Trust. The official bookseller was Readings.

Featured music is 'Different Days' by Chill Cole.
Content note: 
This event includes references to sexual abuse and assault. If you need support relating to these topics, you can learn more and seek advice via the below resources.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Headspace: 1800 650 890
Sexual Assault Crisis Line: 1800 806 292 Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chanel Contos: Consent Laid Bare

The Wheeler Centre

Kamila Shamsie: Best of Friends

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