Ambition is a tricky subject for Australians - our Tall Poppy Syndrome is alive and well, and when you combine that with lingering Cultural Cringe, for an Australian writer to say they have ambitions/that they are ambitious can be seen as cringey in and of itself.

Well, we decided that it’s too bad if anyone sees us as cringey - or, rather, we don’t care, because we do have ambition and we wanted to talk about it. Partly because we hope that by naming it, by talking about it, other writers (especially female writers, since girls and women tend to be socialised to not have or own up to ambition) may feel that they can claim their own ambition. And also consider what they’re ambitious for.

So in this, the first episode of the second season of Dear Rach & Soph - a podcast that exists partly because we have ambitions: to make interesting stuff, to communicate with other writers, to be useful - we discuss our ambitions, what forms ambition can take and how it can affect writing.

As with last season, this season’s episodes are released out of recording order, so don’t attach too much to the timing of what’s in the intro for each …

We hope you enjoy this episode, and this season, and while we’ve already had some listener questions to cover, we welcome more. Either send one of us a DM or email [email protected]

Thanks in advance for listening! And for another take on 'grand ambition', go here.

For more about Rachael Johns: https://www.rachaeljohns.com

Rachael's latest book is The Other Bridget

Her next book is The Work Wife (to be published in January 2025)

For more about Sophie Green: https://sophie-green-author.com

Sophie's latest book is Art Hour at the Duchess Hotel (published in August 2024)

For more information about Rachael Johns: https://www.rachaeljohns.com

For more informationabout Sophie Green: https://sophiegreenauthor.com

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