Meet the Writers

We head to the heart of London’s cultural scene as the senior programmer for literature and spoken word at the Southbank Centre gives us a tour and talks about this year’s exciting line-up.

Barker has been shortlisted for the Man Booker prize and is a winner of the Goldsmiths prize. She discusses experimental fiction with Georgina Godwin.

As Hay Festival approaches, we speak to one of its founders about what makes it such an important event on the literary calendar.

Jeremy Bailenson is one of the most influential architects of virtual reality. He talks to Georgina Godwin about his latest book ‘Experience on Demand’, and how VR can transform education, environmental conservation, empathy and health.

Gunaratne’s freshly published debut novel ‘In Our Mad and Furious City’ has seen him compared to Irvin Welsh, Jim Kellman and Ryan Gattiss. Here the author talks about how his second-generation immigrant narrative fed into his compelling first effort.

Renowned Estonian writer Mikhel Mutt is a former head of propaganda for the government, as well as a former theatre and literary critic. He made his writing debut in the 1970s and has now published more than 40 titles. He takes Georgina Godwin through his varied career.

Ayres was widely known in Australia as Emma, a celebrated radio presenter. Unhappy in his own body, he gave it all up to travel to Afghanistan and teach music in a school. However an incident there led him to return to Australia and begin his transition from female to male. He tells Georgina Godwin that story.

The British-Canadian journalist and author – co-founder of ‘Boing Boing’, one of the most influential blogs in the world – talks about his vision for our digital world.

Critically acclaimed and award-winning author Aminatta Forna tells us about her life in Sierra Leone and London, her memoir on the killing of her father and her four novels, including her latest, ‘Happiness’.

We head to Adelaide Writers’ Week to hear from those behind the scenes, meet the directors, and befriend a kangaroo or two.