Fine art, luxury jewellery, espionage, royal scandal and danger. Alexandra Joel, Christine Wells and Belinda Alexandra are expert in interweaving the intrigue of past lives into novels set in cities such as Paris, New York and Cairo. Diane Murray asks what inspired their stories, what methods they use to tease out their mysteries, and the challenges encountered when portraying time periods within living memory.

Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support.  Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website. 

All contributions, great and small, are greatly appreciated.

Author Kim Kelly interviews Judy Nunn on her love for historical fiction which have encompassed stories across diverse eras from colonial periods, WW2, the Cold War to more modern times. Her most recent novel, Showtime, features a showdown between rival entrepreneurs in 1880s Melbourne with comedy, tragedy, passion and betrayal; economic depression, the Black Death and the horrors of World War One waiting in the wings.

Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.  

Kelly Rimmer, Victoria Purman and Nicole Alexander have conjured various characters across their many books. Greg Johnston examines their inspiration for key characters, the methods used to fully develop them, whether unexpected plot twists arose when placing them in predicaments, and if their creations took on a life of their own once delivered to readers.

Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.  

Mirandi Riwoe's The Sunbirds tests the identities and loyalties between Dutch and Indonesians in colonial Java on the eve of the Japanese invasion. Devika Ponnambalam's I Am Not Your Eve is an imagining of the life of Teha’amana, Paul Gaugin's Tahitian 'child-bride'.  

Both authors join Elisabeth Storrs in discussing the complexities of bringing alternative perspectives to previously Euro-centric stories, and the research challenges experienced in delving deeper into such histories.

Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.  

View from the East—Christopher Cheng, Daryl Lim and Siang Lu discuss with Claudia Chan Shaw their novels, Asian histories, and the challenges of being an Asian writer within the current publishing industry.

Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.  

Writer and critic Stephen Romei is in conversation with Jock Serong and Fiona McFarlane. Jock discusses part three of his Furneaux trilogy, The Settlement, which was short listed for the 2023 ARA Historica Novel Price. Part two of the trilogy, The Burning Island, won the ARA Prize in 2021.  Fiona discusses her second novel, The Sun Walks Down, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize, and long-listed for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize.

Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.  

In our Summer/Autumn season, we present selected sessions from our 2023 HNSA Conference. Enjoy RN's The Bookshelf host, Kate Evans, in conversation with Guest of Honour, Anna Funder, about the challenges of writing a blend of fiction and non-fiction in 'Wifedom', a book about George Orwell's wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy.

Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.  

Alison D Stegert discusses with Greg Johnston her YA novel, Her Majesty’s League of Remarkable Young Ladies.  She also discusses her win of HNSA’s inaugural 2020 Elizabeth Jane Corbett Mentorship and its great consequences.  

Gail Jones chats with Greg Johnston about her complex novel, Salonika Burning, which won the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category. 

Suzanne Leal chats with Greg Johnston about her 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize, CYA shortlisted novel, Running with Ivan, some of the differences between writing CYA and Adult fiction, and her interesting methods of research.