Backstory

This week on Backstory, host Mel Cranenburgh talks to author, Emily Brewen, about her latest novel, Small Blessings, a poignant and uplifting tale of secrets, motherhood, innocence and heartache, and ultimately what were willing to do for love. Small Blessings is Emilys second book following up from her first novel, Hello, Goodbye, which was described as a powerful debut that will capture your heart. In the interview, she and Mel discuss the genesis of the novel, her writing process and what it takes to kill off a character before they make it to the final draft.

Mel is then joined by filmmaker Charlie Turnbull, whose documentary The Bikes of Wrath (http://bikesof.wrath.squarespace.com) retraces the journey the fictional Joad family undertook in John Steinbecks The Grapes of Wrath. Armed with 420 dollars, 5 bikes and 2 guitars, Charlie, co-conspitator Leon Morton and several friends travelled 2600kms from Oklahoma to California talking to real Americans about the same themes that characterised Steinbecks novel: migration, inequality, the wealth gap and their experiences of the so-called American Dream.

In this episode of Backstory, Melissa Cranenburgh is joined by Elise Valmorbida, the author of the novels Matilde Waltzing, The TV President, and The Winding Stick, as well as The Book of Happy Endings.Her most recent work, The Madonna of the Mountains received the Prize for Fiction at the 2019 Victorian Literary Awards.

Mel is then joined by Sam Cooney, head of the not-for-profit independent publishing organisation that produces the quarterly literary magazine The Lifted Brow, publishes books under its Brow Books imprint, posts new pieces of commentary and criticism online every day or two, stages events, awards writing prizes, and does a whole lot more.

On this episode, host Mel Cranenburgh talks to Markus Zusak, the author of six books, including the international bestseller, The Book Thief, which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list, and is translated into more than forty languages - establishing Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia.

His latest book, the much-anticipated Bridge of Clay was released in October 2018 in the USA, the UK and Australia, with foreign translations to follow.

Mel Cranenburgh returns to Backstory and catches up with award winning author Toni Jordan to talk about her latest book The Fragments, a superbly crafted and captivating literary mystery about a lost book and a secret love.

Mel is then joined by The Small Press Network's General Manager Tim Coronel and Dr Rebecca Giblin, an ARC Future Fellow and Associate Professor within Monash University's Law Faculty, to talk about all things independent publishing including the challenges facing small presses in the digital age.

In this episode of Backstory, while Mel takes a short break, the lovely Mia Timpano takes the reins to interview some heroes of local independent magazine publishing. Kimberley Thomson (co-founder/editor of @swamplandmag - and one-half of punk band @shrimpwitch); Isabella Trimboli (co-editor/co-founder of @gushermagazine, joined her over the phone from Sydney); and Pino Demaio (editor-and-chief and creative director of @mattersjournal).

On Backstory this week, Mel Cranenburgh is joined by author, Moreno Giovannoni, whose book The Fireflies of Autumn:And Other Tales of San Ginese explores tales of war and migration, feasts and misfortunes - of a people and their place over the course of the twentieth century in a Tuscan village. Moreno Giovannoni was born in San Ginese but grew up in a house on a hill, on a tobacco farm at Buffalo River in north-east Victoria. He is a freelance translator of long standing.

https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/fireflies-autumn

Mel then speaks to Michael Veitch, performer, writer and broadcaster, about his latest work Hellship which documents the fate of the emigrant clipper Ticonderoga and its passengers. Shortly after crossing the equator, typhus had erupted throughout her decks, and in just a few weeks, one hundred of her mainly Highland Scots emigrants had perished, hastily buried at sea with what little ceremony could be afforded. Forbidden to enter Melbourne, the Ticonderoga was made to offload her human cargo onto a small beach inside the heads where, for the next six weeks, a makeshift quarantine hospital was established. Through the tireless efforts of the ship's young surgeon, Veitch's great-grandfather, aided by a handful of passengers, including a courageous young Scots woman from the Isle of Mull (his great-grandmother), many lives were saved. Hellship is a book, a play and has a soundtrack by Veitch's son, Thomas Veitch and Rose Hampton.

https://www.hellshipticonderoga.com/

On this episode, host Mel Cranenburgh is joined by celebrated author, Rosalie Ham, whose book The Dressmaker was turned into a successful, international film. Her latest book, The Year of the Farmer, also explores the vageries of life in a small Australian country town.

Mel is then joined by Melanie Cheng, author of 'Australia Day', and the facilitator of the opening event at the Brimbank Writers & Readers Festival, Celebrating Migrant Voices.The Festival is an annual event that encourages a love of reading and literature, celebrates creativity and diversity, and promotes lifelong learning. Read more about the festival here - https://www.brimbanklibraries.vic.gov.au/writersfestival

In this episode, Mel Cranenburgh is joined by singer, songwriter and novelist, Holly Crosby, to talk about her new novel Cedar Valley, a follow up to her bestselling 2016 novel Goodwood. Described as a "distinctly Australian coming-of-age story...balancing carefully evoked dread with genuine warmth", Holly and Mel explore the influence that Holly's love of TV series Northern Exposure has had on her storytelling and the mystery of the Somerton man, a gentleman found dead in Adelaide in 1948 whose case fascinated her because of its bizarre circumstances.

Mel is then joined by David Innes, one half of comedy duo Innes Lloyd, to talk about their upcoming performance of The War of the Worlds Anniversary Broadcast at The Butterfly Club on 29 October.

On this episode, Mel Cranenburgh discusses with Krissy Kneen her latest book, Wintering, a supernatural thriller set in a remote community in Tasmania. Krissy Kneen is the award-winning author of memoir-Affection-and fiction: An Uncertain Grace, Steeplechase, Triptych, The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine, as well as the Thomas Shapcott Award-winning poetrycollection Eating My Grandmother. She has written and directed broadcast documentaries for SBS and ABC Television.

Mel is joined by Artistic Director of the The Digital Writers Festival, Izzy Roberts-Orr. The Digital Writers Festival is an online writers' festival dedicated to celebrating the work of writers from Australia and across the world, and fostering new relationships through collaboration between writers, where ever they may be. It is a product of the Emerging Writers' Festival, a not-for-profit organisation whose foundations are built on supporting emerging writers. The 2018 Digital Writers' Festival runs from Tuesday 30 October - Saturday 3 November http://2018.digitalwritersfestival.com/program/

This week, Mel Cranenburgh spends some time, metaphorically, in New York, New York.

Mel speaks to Alice Nelson about her novel The Children's House, which has been described as "a love song to the idea of families in all their mysteries and complexities, their different configurations and the hope that creates them".

She is then joined by Madelaine Lucas on the line from New York, whose short story Ruins won the Australian Book Review's (ABR) 2018 Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. Madelaine wrote Ruins while living in Brooklyn but it is very much set in Australia.