The Fremantle Press Podcast

In this podcast, David Harris discusses his shortlisted manuscript that follows two best friends who leave Kalgoorlie to head into the far north of Western Australia to work on a cattle station, and says, ‘What it’s about is toxic friendship, generational trauma, survivorship, and the reasons why young men struggle to become men in truth.’ Fremantle Press Publisher Cate Sutherland said the judges loved the visceral evocation of country life and cattle-mustering. She said, ‘It is hot and dirty and a useful environmental to explore relationships between mates, and between a father and son in particular.’ Tune in here, or on […]

Hungerford shortlister Jessica Kennedy is one of four writers in the running to win a $15,000 cash prize, a publishing contract and a writing fellowship. In this podcast, Jessica tells host Holden Sheppard how a fascination with the thoughts and ideas of the formerly reviled archaeologist Marija Gimbutas led to writing her shortlisted manuscript. It’s a hopeful and fascinating story that tracks how DNA advances might change our thinking and our history. Fremantle Press Publisher Cate Sutherland said the book was like seating yourself at a kitchen table with a nice big pot of tea and being told a story by […]

Fiona Wilkes’s debut novel I Remember Everything was shortlisted for the 2024 Hungerford Award. Beginning in Bristol and moving to 1980s London, the novel follows Billie, a young queer woman, as she navigates the highs and lows of life, coming out, and finding her chosen family, only to lose them again during the AIDS epidemic.  In the first episode of our author’s live series, publisher Georgia Richter interviews Fiona about the love story at the heart of her novel – not a romance but a story about the love between friends. Recorded live at Planet Books Mount Lawley. About Fiona Fiona […]

What if we could approaching ageing not with dread, but with curiosity and humour? Brigid Lowry’s insights into ageing gracefully and gratefully are a warm embrace for the soul. From navigating the quirks of creaking joints to pondering life’s mysteries, A Time of Living Graciously reminds us to approach life with humour and kindness. Ageing is unavoidable, so what if we could make it wonderful and interesting? In this episode, Brigid shares how we can embrace life’s ups and downs with a light heart, and yes, even approach death with honesty and grace. Show notes About Brigid Brigid Lowry was […]

Nestled between Albany and Denmark, the Eungedup wetlands teem with life. It is also the setting of author Giles Watson’s latest novel, Eungedup: A wetland summer diary. Part memoir, part poetry, Eungedup explores Giles’ journey to understanding his chronic illness as Eungedup awaits the coming of rain. In this episode, Giles dives deeper into the writing process and the wildlife that drew him to Eungedup, shares why poets should record the natural world, and reads poems from the book. Show notes About Giles Giles is a writer and teacher of English and Drama who lives in Albany/Kinjarling, WA. Born in England, […]

Winner of the 2024 Hungerford Award, Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, joins the Fremantle Press podcast to talk about his award-winning manuscript, Trials of Hope (የተስፋ ፈተና). A unique blend of memoir and poetry, written in both English and Amharic, Trials of Hope tells the story of how Yirga grew up in Ethiopia before moving to Western Australia. Yirga reads poems from the book in both Amharic and English, and takes us deeper into the structure of the novel as mirrored by the four forces of nature, and he reflects on our relationship with place and the value of stories. Show notes […]

Writer and academic Prema Arasu joins the podcast to talk about their debut poetry collection, Vampire Squid. The collection, written during Prema’s post-doc fellowship at the UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, explores how we imagine the deep sea – a place we often perceive as eerie and unknowable. Prema explains why they were drawn to poetry, the ways in which they relate to the elusive vampire squid, and reads some poems from the book. Show notes About Prema Prema Arasu is a writer and academic at the Deep-Sea Research Centre at the University of Western Australia. Their research utilises transdisciplinary and […]

In Glimmers in the Sea Glass Chuckie Raven shares the stories of Sarah and Owen, two queer characters existing two decades apart. In this podcast the Fogarty Shortlister tells Katherine Allum how they wrote two novels then wove them into one – discovering some important lessons about their writing in the process. Tune in here or on your favourite podcast app to find out more. Show notes About Chuckie Chuckie Raven (they/them) is a youth worker and craftsperson living in Nollamara, WA. They’re the founder and lead of the Perth Pride Shed, Perth’s first LGBTQIA+ community shed. They are passionate […]

When she heard she’d been shortlisted regional writer Serena Moss said she’d been inspired to enter after seeing another ‘Gero’ writer, Holden Sheppard (also from Geraldton), build a writing career. The comparison is apt because this Waggrakine resident gives an equally unapologetic take on small town Australia: from the burn-outs to the booze and from the massive highs of living fast to the irreparable lows of being a young man making bad choices. In this conversation with Katherine Allum she shares that grief is messy – and while you must own your bad decisions, it is what you build from […]

In Out There, In Here, Jessica Baker explores whether we can solve our internal problems by being ‘out there’. In this fascinating conversation she and Katherine Allum discuss the fantasy of escaping the day-to-day vs its reality, and bond over writing manuscripts in the in-between spaces of expat London. Tune in here or on your favourite podcast app to find out more. Show notes About Jessica Jessica Baker (she/her) is a writer based in Kununurra, WA. Her work explores abstract concepts like consent and love, and the intricacies of human emotion. She commenced her career as a journalist in 2020, […]