Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist whose work has been translated into fifty-five languages. She is a self-described “citizen of the world” and has become a notable public intellectual and human rights activist. Elif's latest novel, There are Rivers in the Sky, stretches across millennia, following a single drop of water. This week, Michael chats with Elif about her new book and why she is not just a storyteller but a silence teller, too.

Reading list:

The Bastard of Istanbul, Elif Shafak, 2006

The Forty Rules of Love, Elif Shafak, 2009

Honour, Elif Shafak, 2011

10 Minutes 38 Seconds In this Strange World, Elif Shafak, 2019

The Island of Missing Trees, Elif Shafak, 2021

There are Rivers in the Sky, Elif Shafak, 2024

Orlando: A Biography, Virginia Woolf, 1928

When Cops Are Criminals, Veronica Gorrie, 2024

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

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Guest: Elif Shafak

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Eric Beecher is a news man. As a journalist, he’s worked for some of the most well-respected newspapers in the world, including the Sydney Morning Herald and the Wall Street Journal. As his career progressed, Eric climbed the media ladder: he’s currently the head of Private Media, which runs the website, Crikey. This week, Michael sits down with Eric to discuss his new book, The Men Who Killed the News.

Reading list:

The Men Who Killed the News, Eric Beecher, 2024

Woo Woo, Ella Baxter, 2024

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

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Guest: Eric Beecher

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Alexis Wright’s 2023 novel Praiseworthy has just been awarded the Miles Franklin Award. It also won the Stella Prize and has been described as “an astonishing feat of storytelling and sovereign imagination.” In this special episode, Alexis joins Michael for a conversation about Praiseworthy and reveals why she decided very early on in her literary career that she wasn't going to be trapped in anyone’s box.

Reading list:

Carpentaria, Alexis Wright, 2006

The Swan Book, Alexis Wright, 2013

Tracker, Alexis Wright 2017

Praiseworthy, Alexis Wright, 2023

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

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Guest: Alexis Wright

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Evie Wyld writes dark and often trauma-informed books, but she also has a remarkable capacity to capture the tenderness of memory. Her novels have been a critical and commercial success, with her second, All The Birds Singing, winning the Miles Franklin and her third, The Bass Rock, taking home the 2021 Stella Prize. This week, Michael sits down with Evie for a conversation about her latest book The Echoes, which explores how we tell stories around, and into the absences that define us.

Reading list:

After the Fire, A Still Small Voice, Evie Wyld, 2009

All The Birds, Singing, Evie Wyld, 2013

The Bass Rock, Evie Wyld, 2020

The Echoes, Evie Wyld, 2024

Only Sound Remains, Hossein Asgari, 2023

Wall, Jen Craig, 2023 

Anam, Andre Dao, 2023

The Bell of the World, Gregory Day, 2023

Hospital, Sanya Rushdi, 2023

Praiseworthy, Alexis Wright, 2023

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

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Guest: Evie Wyld

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Michael Robotham began his career as a ghost writer, working on more than a dozen bestselling books for people like Tony Bullimore and Geri Halliwell, before he published a novel under his own name. Twenty years later, he has just released his 18th book, a new crime novel titled Storm Child. This week, the two Michaels sit down together for a conversation about crime writing, truth wizards and what’s next.

Reading list:

The Suspect, Michael Robotham, 2004

Life or Death, Michael Robotham, 2014

Good Girl, Bad Girl, Michael Robotham, 2019

When She Was Good, Michael Robotham, 2020

Storm Child, Michael Robotham, 2024

Stalking the Feature Story, William Ruehlmann, 1977

For Life, Ailsa Piper, 2024

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

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Guest: Michael Robotham

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Dylin Hardcastle has been publishing their writing since they were 21, having now completed a memoir, a book of YA fiction and two novels. In their latest work, Dylin takes the reader back to 1972, and across three decades, explores the parallel lives of two women, shaped by their contrasting experiences of desire. This week, Michael sits down with Dylin Hardcastle for a wide-ranging conversation about this new novel, A Language of Limbs.

Reading list:

A Language of Limbs, Dylin Hardcastle, 2024

Below Deck, Sophie Hardcastle, 2020

Breathing Underwater, Sophie Hardcastle, 2016

Running Like China, Sophie Hardcastle, 2015

In the Dream House, Carmen Maria Machado, 2019

Voice of the Fish: A Lyric Essay, Lars Horn, 2022

The List, Yomi Adegoke, 2023

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

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Guest: Dylin Hardcastle

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Gerald Murnane doesn’t have readers, he has acolytes. The New Yorker described him as “the reclusive giant of Australian letters”. He’s written 10 novels, several collections of short stories and essays, and a memoir about horse racing. Together these books represent one of the most formidable and singular bodies of work in literature. This week, Michael drives out to the Goroke golf course to chat with Gerald on his home turf.

Reading list:

Tamarisk Row, Gerald Murnane, 1974

A Lifetime on Clouds, Gerald Murnane, 1976

The Plains, Gerald Murnane, 1982

Inland, Gerald Murnane, 1988

Emerald Blue, Gerald Murnane, 1995 

Barley Patch, Gerald Murnane, 2009 

A History of Books, Gerald Murnane, 2012

A Million Windows, Gerald Murnane, 2014

Something for the Pain: A Memoir of the Turf, Gerald Murnane, 2015 

Border Districts, Gerald Murnane, 2017 

A Season on Earth, Gerald Murnane, 2019 

Last Letter to a Reader, Gerald Murnane, 2021

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

Articles on Gerald Murnane

Is the Next Nobel Laureate in Literature Tending Bar in a Dusty Australian Town?

An Idiot in the Greek Sense

The Reclusive Giant of Australian Letters

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Guest: Gerald Murnane

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Sri Lankan-born Canadian essayist, poet, and Booker Prize-winning novelist Michael Ondaatje has just released a stunning collection of poems. Ondaatje is now 80 years old and it’s almost half a century since he published his first novel; even longer since he first published poetry. This week, Michael joins Read This for a conversation about A Year of Last Things and why writing remains such a joyful act of discovery.

Reading list:

Coming Through Slaughter, Michael Ondaatje, 1976

In the Skin of a Lion, Michael Ondaatje, 1986

The Cinnamon Peeler: Selected Poems, Michael Ondaatje, 1989

The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje, 1992

Handwriting, Michael Ondaatje, 1998

Anil's Ghost, Michael Ondaatje, 2000

Divisadero, Michael Ondaatje, 2007

The Cat's Table, Michael Ondaatje, 2011

Warlight, Michael Ondaatje, 2018

A Year of Last Things, Michael Ondaatje, 2024

The Collected Poems of W. S. Merwin, 2013

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Guest: Michael Ondaatje

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Paul Murray’s last two novels, Skippy Dies and The Mark and the Void, were both modern masterpieces of institutional failure. In his 2023 Booker Prize shortlisted novel, The Bee Sting, the failing institution Paul turns his comedic eye to is the family. This week, Michael and Paul sit down for a discussion about fraudulence, empathy, and the beautiful opera of life.

Reading list:

An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Paul Murray, 2003

Skippy Dies, Paul Murray, 2010

The Mark and the Void, Paul Murray, 2015

The Bee Sting, Paul Murray, 2023

Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, Naomi Klein, 2023

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter

Guest: Paul Murray

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For many years, Irish writer Paul Lynch was a household name…in France. And while his work was popular in translation, and received numerous French literary awards, it was still considered niche. This all changed in 2023, following the release of Prophet Song, which was critically lauded and eventually won the holy grail of English language literary awards: the Booker Prize. This week we return to the Melbourne Writers’ Festival to hear a conversation between Michael and Paul about how Paul became a writer, and why he doesn’t think Prophet Song is a political novel.

Reading list:

Red Sky in Morning, Paul Lynch, 2013

The Black Snow, Paul Lynch, 2014

Grace, Paul Lynch, 2017

Beyond the Sea, Paul Lynch, 2020

Prophet Song, Paul Lynch, 2023

The Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope, 1894

King Solomon's Mines, H. Rider Haggard, 1885

The Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy, 1886

The Heart in Winter, Kevin Barry, 2024

You can find these books and all the others we mentioned at your favourite independent book store. 

Socials: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twitter

Guest: Paul Lynch.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.