The winner of Allen & Unwin’s prestigious Vogel Award for 2021, Emma Batchelor, dropped by on the show to discuss her Vogel-winning novel, ‘Now That I See You’.

TRIGGER WARNING: We touched on a great many topics and issues, including trans/non-binary transitioning, gender identity, use of pronouns, depression, suicide/suicidal ideation etc.

Topics discussed include:

- Emma’s real-life experience inspiring and framing the story, the inherent complexities and difficulties of writing such a novel and how she went about that.

- Love – the double-edged sword – how it can be splendorous and allow us to achieve amazing things, but also, how one can destroy themselves with futilely trying to keep a love or relationship that could be already over.

- Communication – the unique way in which the story is told, largely through emails and diary entries – but also exemplify both good and communication between partners and a disintegrating relationship. How communication, much like love, progresses in stages.

- Societal misconceptions – exemplified in a few characters, what they include and how they could be changing in real life.

- Education – how educating and the desire to learn and generally be better is on the rise.

- Mental health – the beautiful hospital analogy – what that means for the story and what it says about mental health in general.

- And so much more!

Thanks so much to Emma for appearing on the show, you can pick up your copy of ‘Now That I See You’ here:

https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/fiction/Now-That-I-See-You-Emma-Batchelor-9781760879761

For a wealth of information on trans/non-binary issues, please check out the excellent site listed below:

https://www.transhub.org.au/