The Book Show

By ABC listen

Arts

What's The Book Show about?

Your favourite fiction authors share the story behind their latest books.

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The Book Show episodes:

04.15.2024
Sunjeev Sahota, Vanessa Chan and Winnie Dunn bring us stories from home
Booker-shortlisted author Sunjeev Sahota argues that class is more important than identity, Vanessa Chan draws on her grandmother's stories of Japanese occupied Malaya and Winnie Dunn channels her own experience of growing up Tongan in Western Sydney.
04.08.2024
André Aciman and Anjali Joseph on the joy of doing nothing
Known for his sumptuous novel Call Me By My Name, André Aciman's latest book also explores love and beauty in Italy. Plus, Indian author Anjali Joseph on the allure of Assam, India, which is known for its unique cultural heritage.
03.31.2024
Melissa Lucashenko on writing through flood, fire and pestilence
At Adelaide Writers' Week, Melissa Lucashenko explains how understanding that "all history is fiction" allowed her to write her historic novel Edenglassie.
03.24.2024
Jane Smiley and Louise Milligan on stories they couldn't let go
Award winning Australian journalist Louise Milligan on her debut crime novel inspired by police and PTSD and Pulitzer Prize winning Jane Smiley on why she wants her books to be banned and her latest novel A Dangerous Business.
03.17.2024
Jonathan Lethem returns to Brooklyn
Bestselling American author Jonathan Lethem explains why he returned to Brooklyn in his fiction after 20 years.
03.10.2024
Anne Enright on motherhood, Irish poets and famous parents
At Adelaide Writers' Week, Booker-winner Anne Enright speaks about the contradictions at the heart of families.
03.03.2024
RF Kuang and Nam Le on Yellowface, mums and minorities
RF Kuang speaks about her bestseller Yellowface and Nam Le, Australian author of The Boat, explains why his latest is a book of poetry.
02.25.2024
Jennifer Croft, Imbi Neeme and Mykaela Saunders on translation, chewing and the Tweed
Award-winning literary translator Jennifer Croft imagines what happens when translators get together in a primeval forest, Imbi Neeme's exploration of misophonia and Mykaela Saunders' love-hate relationship with Mad Max.
02.18.2024
Jasper Fforde, Amy Brown and Leo Vardiashvili on surprises, fairytales and rickrolling
Jasper Fforde's sequel to Shades of Grey, Amy Brown introduces us to Miles Franklin's sister and Leo Vardiashvili's missing persons quest through the forests of Georgia.
02.11.2024
Kristin Hannah, Jodi McAlister and Sharlene Allsopp on women, war and love
Bestselling American author Kristin Hannah digs into the little known stories of US nurses during the Vietnam War, Jodi McAlister's comic take on The Bachelor and Sharlene Allsopp reckons with Australia's history.
02.04.2024
Hisham Matar and Ela Lee on the friendships that save you
Pulitzer Prize winning Libyan author Hisham Matar on friendship in political exile and British author Ela Lee on the power of friendship at times of personal crisis.
01.28.2024
Kiley Reid, Rachael Johns and Iain Ryan on money, love and corruption
Kiley Reid's follow up to Such a Fun Age in a campus novel that she says isn't a campus novel, Rachael Johns' love story about a woman called Bridget Jones and Iain Ryan's hardboiled take on Gold Coast corruption in...
01.21.2024
Michael Cunningham and Madeleine Gray on romance and relationship breakdown
Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham's latest novel Day explores a bromance, Madeleine Gray on writing a funny "sad girl novel" and Jessica Zhan Mei Yu on Sylvia Plath and up-ending the coming of age story.
01.16.2024
Fakes and Frauds 05 | A big hoax — Wanda Koolmatrie and My Own Sweet Time
My Own Sweet Time was a memoir said to be written by Wanda Koolmatrie, a member of the Aboriginal stolen generations. But it was a hoax and this episode of Fakes and Frauds explores the long lasting impacts of the...
01.14.2024
Pip Williams, Shankari Chandran and Josh Kemp on bookbinding, bushwalking and book awards
Pip Williams' follow up to her bestselling novel The Dictionary of Lost Words, Josh Kemp on how bushwalking helps his writing and the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award winner, Shankari Chandran.
01.08.2024
Fakes and Frauds 04 | Fake identity and Helen Demidenko's The Hand that Signed the Paper
The Helen Demidenko scandal tore the Australian literary community apart in the 1990s. This episode of Fakes and Frauds charts the rise and downfall of Helen Demidenko and the impacts on the book world.
01.07.2024
John Boyne, Esther Freud, Louise Kennedy and the Irish voice
Is there such thing as an Irish voice in fiction?
01.02.2024
Fakes and Frauds 03 | Fabrication and lies in Marlo Morgan's Mutant Message Down Under
Cannibalism, telepathy and celibacy are just some of the false claims about Australian Aboriginal people that Marlo Morgan made in her 1990s new age hit, Mutant Message Down Under, and this episode of Fakes and Frauds exposes the lies.
12.31.2023
Ian McEwan's most personal novel, plus Booker winner Paul Lynch
Booker winner Ian McEwan explores his 1960s childhood in his latest novel and reigning Booker winner Paul Lynch on his unflinching dystopian novel set in Ireland.
12.26.2023
Fakes and Frauds 02 | Fact or fiction in Norma Khouri's Forbidden Love
Find out how to catch a con-artist in this episode of Fakes and Frauds that delves into the fake memoir Forbidden Love by Norma Khouri 20 years after the book was first published.
12.24.2023
Pulitzer Prize winners Barbara Kingsolver and Hernán Diaz
The two winners of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction are both about money but at opposite ends of the spectrum — Barbara Kingsolver's is about poverty while Hernán Diaz's is about astronomical wealth.
12.19.2023
Fakes and Frauds 01 | Plagiarism scandal in The Dogs by John Hughes
Fakes and Frauds is a new series that unpacks famous Australian literary scandals. The first and most recent controversy was the discovery of plagiarism in the work of award winning Australian writer John Hughes. Find out how the plagiarism was...
12.17.2023
Ego and creativity with Anna Funder and Paul Jennings
Australian writers Anna Funder and Paul Jennings on what it takes to be a writer.
12.10.2023
Naomi Alderman and Charlotte Wood on bunkers, billionaires and nuns
Naomi Alderman takes on tech giants and survivalists in a novel that imagines the end of the world, and an atheist joins a monastery in Charlotte Wood's meditative new book.
12.03.2023
Amanda Lohrey, Matthew Reilly and Katherine Brabon on the sacred, swimming and Einstein
Miles Franklin winner Amanda Lohrey asks where we find community in our secular world, Matthew Reilly's latest adventure and the restorative power of the pool with Katherine Brabon.
11.27.2023
Pod extra with the Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch
Paul Lynch is the 2023 Booker Prize winner for his novel Prophet Song. Prophet Song (Bloomsbury) is an unflinching dystopian novel set in Ireland where a populist government has taken control and becoming increasingly authoritarian. Activists are being disappeared and the...
11.26.2023
Richard Flanagan on the atomic bomb, HG Wells and a kiss
Booker winner Richard Flanagan on why writing his latest book Question 7 "felt like a strange dream". Also, the artist's muse in fiction and how a mistake led to Laura Jean McKay's latest book.
11.19.2023
Tony Birch and Christos Tsiolkas on love, shame and dangerous dinner-parties
Two very different writers explore the dynamics of family and violence: Tony Birch in a 1960s working class, Catholic family and Christos Tsiolkas in middle-aged gay relationships.
11.12.2023
Booker Prize shortlist — mythical, profound and lyrical
In the lead up to the 2023 Booker Prize award, we dive into the six shortlisted novels and meet the authors.
11.05.2023
"We don't come from nowhere" — Melissa Lucashenko on her historical novel Edenglassie
Brisbane is in the spotlight with Melissa Lucashenko exploring the early days of the colony in time for the city's bicentenary and debut novelist Melanie Saward's story of a troubled teen with an attraction to fire.
10.29.2023
Haunting fiction with Shehan Karunatilaka, Steve Toltz and many more
Things are getting spooky on The Book Show, as we explore ghostly fiction. Booker winner Shehan Karunatilaka and Australian Steve Toltz will imagine the afterlife with their beyond-the-grave novels. Jennifer Mills, SJ Norman and Kevin Jared Hosein will tell you...
10.22.2023
Between two worlds with Jesmyn Ward, Graham Akhurst and Anna McGahan
Three authors on the spirits and spirituality at the heart of their novels - award winning US author Jesmyn Ward's lyrical novel about slavery, Indigenous author Graham Akhurt's terrifying dog man in his debut novel, and Anna McGahan on her former...
10.15.2023
"It began with a crime" — Cassandra Clare's latest fantasy fiction
Bestselling fantasy author Cassandra Clare draws on her Jewish background in her first novel for adults, Kareem Abdulrahman on translating Kurdish Iraqi author Bachtyar Ali and Mirandi Riwoe's jasmine drenched historical novel.
10.08.2023
Trent Dalton on homelessness, hope and the tyrannosaurus waltz
Trent Dalton's foray into Brisbane's underworld in his third novel, Leah Kaminsky's story of dolls and exile and Peter Polities on mothers and sons.
10.01.2023
Jeanette Winterson on avatars and the afterlife, plus Kate Mildenhall
Two writers imagine how technology will shape our future: Jeanette Winterson talks about how AI will give new meaning to ghost stories and Australian writer Kate Mildenhall imagines an algorithm to save the world.
09.25.2023
Sebastian Faulks and what makes us human
Sebastian Faulks on what makes us human, Emily Perkins takes on female rage and Jane Harrison digs into Australian history to bring us The Visitors.
09.18.2023
Booker Prize winner: Margaret Atwood
It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Margaret Atwood who won the prize for a second time in 2019, sharing the prize with Bernardine Evaristo for her...
09.18.2023
Booker Prize winner: Damon Galgut
It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's South African writer Damon Galgut who won the prize in 2021 for The Promise, a novel which explores recent South...
09.18.2023
Booker Prize winner: Shehan Karunatilaka
It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka who won the prize in 2022 for his second novel The Seven Moons of...
09.18.2023
Booker Prize winner: George Saunders
It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's American short story writer, essayist and novelist George Saunders who won in 2017 for his novel Lincoln in the...
09.18.2023
Booker Prize winner: Douglas Stuart
It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Scottish author Douglas Stuart who won in 2020 for his devastating novel Shuggie Bain, set in the poverty stricken housing...
09.18.2023
Booker Prize winner: Bernardine Evaristo
It's Booker Prize season so The Book Show has gathered interviews with some of the most recent winners for you. Here's Bernardine Evaristo who shared the prize with Margaret Atwood in 2019 for her novel Girl, Woman, Other.
09.18.2023
Feel good fiction with Anita Heiss, Marlon James, Monica Ali and more
Literary fiction is good at the hard stuff – grief, pain and conflict - but what about the books that make you feel good? Authors Joan Silber, Toni Jordan and Andy Weir bring joy to The Book Show for ABC Arts...
09.11.2023
Zadie Smith on Jamaica, delusion and Dickens
Two historical novels with colonialism as their backdrop: one by the famous UK writer Zadie Smith and the other a debut novel by Fijian Australian author, Nilima Rao. And Molly Schmidt shares the story that was bubbling inside her since...
09.04.2023
"We love the people we damage" — Anne Enright
Former Booker Prize winner Anne Enright says she's drawn to life's contradictions and in her latest The Wren, The Wren she explores the complicated, messy relationships at the heart of one family. Also, Marija Peričić on one man's love of a...
08.28.2023
Coming of age with Chris Womersley, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Zeynab Gamieldien
Chris Womersley exposes the dark side of suburbia in his sixth novel Ordinary Gods and Monsters, Maxine Beneba Clarke shares the joy of poetry for young readers and Zeynab Gamieldien explores the lives of members of a university Muslim Students'...
08.21.2023
"Trinidad writes itself" — Kevin Jared Hosein's Hungry Ghosts, plus Kate Grenville
Australian author Kate Grenville reflects on her lifetime of writing and how accepting failure Kate Grenville reflects on a lifetime of writing and how accepting failure has been key to her success, and Caribbean author Kevin Jared Hosein on his...
08.14.2023
Crime fiction queen Jane Harper on what she'll do next
Since 2016 Jane Harper has published five bestselling crime novels including The Dry and The Lost Man. Her latest novel Exiles sees a return of financial crimes investigator Aaron Falk but Jane says it will be the last time he has a starring...
08.07.2023
Ann Patchett and Tracy Sorensen on famous friends and talking organs
American author Ann Patchett believes contentment is a radical idea in today's busy world and in her latest novel Tom Lake reflects on the joy of stillness. Also when Tracy Sorensen's novel about cancer, The Vitals, was published Tracy was given the terrible news...
07.31.2023
Melancholy in the library with Patrick deWitt, Josh Kemp and Ali Cobby Eckermann
Stories of redemption and healing: Canadian author Patrick deWitt's latest novel The Librarianist is about a lonely, former librarian. Claire takes a walk in Perth bushland with WA author Josh Kemp to discuss his dark and feral novel and Indigenous poet...

What's The Book Show about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

The Book Show episodes:

Sunjeev Sahota, Vanessa Chan and Winnie Dunn bring us stories from home

André Aciman and Anjali Joseph on the joy of doing nothing

Melissa Lucashenko on writing through flood, fire and pestilence

Jane Smiley and Louise Milligan on stories they couldn't let go

Jonathan Lethem returns to Brooklyn

Anne Enright on motherhood, Irish poets and famous parents

RF Kuang and Nam Le on Yellowface, mums and minorities

Jennifer Croft, Imbi Neeme and Mykaela Saunders on translation, chewing and the Tweed

Jasper Fforde, Amy Brown and Leo Vardiashvili on surprises, fairytales and rickrolling

Kristin Hannah, Jodi McAlister and Sharlene Allsopp on women, war and love

Hisham Matar and Ela Lee on the friendships that save you

Kiley Reid, Rachael Johns and Iain Ryan on money, love and corruption

Michael Cunningham and Madeleine Gray on romance and relationship breakdown

Fakes and Frauds 05 | A big hoax — Wanda Koolmatrie and My Own Sweet Time

Pip Williams, Shankari Chandran and Josh Kemp on bookbinding, bushwalking and book awards

Fakes and Frauds 04 | Fake identity and Helen Demidenko's The Hand that Signed the Paper

John Boyne, Esther Freud, Louise Kennedy and the Irish voice

Fakes and Frauds 03 | Fabrication and lies in Marlo Morgan's Mutant Message Down Under

Ian McEwan's most personal novel, plus Booker winner Paul Lynch

Fakes and Frauds 02 | Fact or fiction in Norma Khouri's Forbidden Love

Pulitzer Prize winners Barbara Kingsolver and Hernán Diaz

Fakes and Frauds 01 | Plagiarism scandal in The Dogs by John Hughes

Ego and creativity with Anna Funder and Paul Jennings

Naomi Alderman and Charlotte Wood on bunkers, billionaires and nuns

Amanda Lohrey, Matthew Reilly and Katherine Brabon on the sacred, swimming and Einstein

Pod extra with the Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch

Richard Flanagan on the atomic bomb, HG Wells and a kiss

Tony Birch and Christos Tsiolkas on love, shame and dangerous dinner-parties

Booker Prize shortlist — mythical, profound and lyrical

"We don't come from nowhere" — Melissa Lucashenko on her historical novel Edenglassie

Haunting fiction with Shehan Karunatilaka, Steve Toltz and many more

Between two worlds with Jesmyn Ward, Graham Akhurst and Anna McGahan

"It began with a crime" — Cassandra Clare's latest fantasy fiction

Trent Dalton on homelessness, hope and the tyrannosaurus waltz

Jeanette Winterson on avatars and the afterlife, plus Kate Mildenhall

Sebastian Faulks and what makes us human

Booker Prize winner: Margaret Atwood

Booker Prize winner: Damon Galgut

Booker Prize winner: Shehan Karunatilaka

Booker Prize winner: George Saunders

Booker Prize winner: Douglas Stuart

Booker Prize winner: Bernardine Evaristo

Feel good fiction with Anita Heiss, Marlon James, Monica Ali and more

Zadie Smith on Jamaica, delusion and Dickens

"We love the people we damage" — Anne Enright

Coming of age with Chris Womersley, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Zeynab Gamieldien

"Trinidad writes itself" — Kevin Jared Hosein's Hungry Ghosts, plus Kate Grenville

Crime fiction queen Jane Harper on what she'll do next

Ann Patchett and Tracy Sorensen on famous friends and talking organs

Melancholy in the library with Patrick deWitt, Josh Kemp and Ali Cobby Eckermann