American writer Rachel Kushner joins Claire Nichols on the stage at Adelaide Writers Week for a conversation about the Booker-shortlisted Creation Lake, her latest philosophical and darkly funny novel involving French eco-activists, a bold and ruthless infiltrator, and a cave-dwelling idealist.

Recorded at Adelaide Writers Week 2025.

In his latest book Twist, New York-based Irish writer Colum McCann dives into the digital age, travelling deep under the ocean into a tangled world of ruptured fibrous connections, its human cost, and repair. And Robert Lukins' Somebody Down There Likes Me takes an acerbic look at the downfall of a rich Connecticut family. Also, Jane Yang tells a story of female empowerment in her historical novel Lotus Shoes, which includes the ancient Chinese practice of binding the feet of young girls.

Penobscot Indian Nation writer Morgan Talty's Fire Exit is a story of family bonds that go beyond bloodlines.

Charles is a white man who must not only confront his past but decide whether to reveal his identity to the daughter he watches from across the river that borders the Native American Reservation of the Penobscot people. 

A compassionate account of family, love, and connections, it also explores the complications that may arise from truth-telling.

In this final episode of My Biggest Book, where prominent authors reflect on their defining books, Markus Zusak reminisces about the literary phenomenon that is The Book Thief.

The story of Liesel, a feisty German girl who finds power in stealing books in a world where words and ideas can both save and destroy lives is full of unforgettable characters and magic moments. 

Markus Zusak reflects on the family stories about life in Austria and Germany during WW 11 told around the kitchen table and how even classroom writing exercises inspired a book that is still popular 20 years after publication.

And the entire series of My Biggest Book is now available on the ABC Listen App. Audrey Niffenegger on The Time Traveler's Wife, Hanif Kureishi on The Buddha of Suburbia, Emma Donoghue on Room, Nikki Gemmell on The Bride Stripped Bare, and Roddy Doyle on The Commitments.

The Yolnu people of the Northern Territory had a fruitful trading relationship with the Makassar people from Indonesia long before Australia was colonised. Yolnu people would even visit Makassar, some never returned.

In A Piece of Red Cloth, Arnhem Land writer Leonie Norrington, who has collaborated with three elders from the region, including Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, evokes some of the stories told about the relationships formed and cultural exchanges. But there are tensions. Some Yolnu people are suspicious of the intentions of the Makassar traders, alcohol is free-flowing and Yolnu women are particularly vulnerable.

In this episode of My Biggest Book, where prominent authors reminisce about the book that defined their career, Roddy Doyle reflects on the times and difficulties of publishing The Commitments.

A comic novel about a group of Irish youth who form a soul band, it's a brash and honest portrayal of working-class Dublin. It was rejected by numerous publishers, but Roddy persisted by self publishing.

The Commitments became a hit, was made into a successful film and stage play. It also formed a trilogy about the same community, including The Snapper and The Van.

Eowyn Ivey is best known for her magical debut novel, The Snow Child, a book set in her home state of Alaska.

Her new book, Black Woods Blue Sky is also set in the beautiful and rugged wilds of Alaska, with magic and an unusual love story at its core, featuring a single mother finding tenderness in the unexpected. But does this love come at a cost?

For journalist and writer Nikki Gemmell her Biggest Book was a huge commercial success, but it had a sensational effect on her life and work.

The Bride Stripped Bare delves into the secret life of a married woman, her frustrations, longings and sexual fantasies with graphic details of her encounters. The woman in her 30s has mysteriously disappeared and her body never found. Like her unnamed character, Nikki Gemmell wanted to embrace what she saw as the subversive freedom of anonymity, when it was first published in 2003. As Nikki tells Claire, her life was stripped bare after it was leaked that she was the author.

Claire speaks to Juhea Kim about her latest novel which centres around an elite Russian ballet dancer returning to the stage after a serious injury.

The City of Night Birds is a meditation on the purity and pain of artistic expression but also investigates its purpose in a fractured world. 

In this episode of My Biggest Book, where prominent authors ponder their breakthrough novels, Emma Donaghue recalls her 2010 novel Room.

Inspired by the famous Fritzl case, it's about a boy and his mother held captive in a small room, the only world the child, Jack, has ever known. 

The book was shortlisted for the Booker and in 2015 the film version was released. That adaptation was also written by Emma Donoghue, and it won an Oscar for Brie Larson, who played Jack's mother, Ma. But these accolades came later in her writing career and Emma has some sage advice for younger authors.