The life of beloved children’s author Julia Lawrinson is stranger than fiction – and she draws on all her power as a storyteller to turn a life of intense headlines into a wild, marvellous tale. In the penultimate episode, memoirist Julia Lawrinson discusses the notion of rootlessness by taking a look at her peripatetic childhood […]

In this fascinating podcast Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes talks about ‘Teret Teret’ – the ceremonial phrase for introducing stories in Ethiopian culture – and the importance of poetry to the act of storytelling itself. Yirga says, ‘I like to write about the sacred places, holy people and beautiful stories from my country. This for me is an expression of gratitude for my becoming, and guilt for failing to give back as much as I wanted. This is an unusual story that breaks the boundaries of time, place and cultures. As a person, I love crossing multiple worlds and languages with a […]

In this podcast Fiona Wilkes, who, unusually, doesn’t have a writing mentor, isn’t doing a creative writing degree and isn’t a member of a writing group, talks about how she wanted to challenge depictions of queer stories. Fiona says, ‘Honestly, part of the drive to write this novel was a dissatisfaction at the way queer […]

Howard McKenzie-Murray says his main character was inspired by a road trip, Huckleberry Finn and his own sister. He says, ‘Far From Wonderful is somewhere between a coming-of-age and a journey-home story set in Perth and narrated by 21-year-old med student Maud Tarkington. Maud brings you with her through a 24-hour period spanning her 21st birthday and her […]

In this podcast you get to hear the voice of Screech, Jodie Tes’ titular character. What might surprise you is that Screech is a sulphur-crested cockatoo. Jodie says, ‘I was on a morning walk, listening to Radio National, when an interview with a hilarious and passionate wildlife ecologist sparked the idea for Screech. She was […]

About the episode The life of beloved children’s author Julia Lawrinson is stranger than fiction – and she draws on all her power as a storyteller to turn a life of intense headlines into a wild, marvellous tale. In the fourth episode of this six-part series, Julia returns to her hometown in the south-eastern suburbs […]

About the show The life of beloved children’s author Julia Lawrinson is stranger than fiction – and she draws on all her power as a storyteller to turn a life of intense headlines into a wild, marvellous tale. In the third episode of this six-part series, Julia delves into her family history to examine the generation gap between herself and her grandparents – and in particular how the role of domesticity divided them. Julia explores the makings of a generation defined by their ‘put up and shut up’ attitude and how it played a role in her upbringing. About the […]

About the show The life of beloved children’s author Julia Lawrinson is stranger than fiction – and she draws on all her power as a storyteller to turn a life of intense headlines into a wild, marvellous tale. In episode two of this series, Julia takes us back to her rowdy youth and the start […]

About the show The life of beloved children’s author Julia Lawrinson is stranger than fiction – and she draws on all her power as a storyteller to turn a life of intense headlines into a wild, marvellous tale.  In the first episode of this 6-episode series, Julia immerses herself in the history of her own […]

What happens when two writers of literary fiction get together for a chat? Find out in the latest Fremantle Press podcast as 2021 Fogarty Literary Award winner Brooke Dunnell interviews shortlisted writer Katherine Allum. Katherine has a one in six chance of winning $20,000 and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press and she’ll find out […]