To celebrate the end of 2018, we've re-released our highest rating fiction interviews of the year: #1 is Tony Martin.

Tony is one of Australia’s best known comedians. He has been writing and performing comedy for TV, radio and the big screen for almost thirty years, as well as performing his own stand-up shows.

Tony’s first book, Lolly Scramble (2005) is collection of humorous autobiographical essays, and was followed by the sequel A Nest of Occasionals (2009). Tony published his first novel, Deadly Kerfuffle, in 2017.

Tony co-wrote Childproof with Sarina Rowell, a TV sitcom about a young couple who decide not to have children. But after three years of pitching the idea, they were unable to sell the project to any of the Australian TV networks as it was considered ‘too niche’. Instead, Childproof was performed as a live podcast at the 2017 Melbourne Fringe Festival and won Best Comedy Podcast in the 2018 Australian Podcast Awards.

Tony was a member of the D-Generation and has been involved with Working Dog Productions throughout his career. His screen writing credits include (but are in no way limited to) The Late Show, Bag Eggs and Boy Town Confidential. Tony has written and performed sketch comedy for the iconic radio shows Martin/Molloy and Get This. 

Read the complete transcript of our interview with Tony at thegarretpodcast.com.

You can find more than 80 interviews with writers talking about writing at thegarretpodcast.com. The Garret is hosted by Astrid Edwards, who you can follow on Twitter or Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate the end of 2018, we've re-released our highest rating fiction interviews of the year: #2 is David Malouf.

David is an internationally recognised Australian writer. He has received the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the International Dublin Literary Award, the Australian Literature Society Gold Award, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. He was also shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Booker International Prize, and in 2011 was a finalist in the Man Booker International Prize for services to literature.

His body of work is long and distinguished, and includes:

Johnno (1975)

An Imaginary Life (1978), awarded the NSW Premier’s Literary Award

Fly Away Peter (1982), awarded The Age Book of the Year

12 Edmonstone Street (1985)

The Great World (1990), awarded the Miles Franklin Literary Award

Remembering Babylon (1993), awarded the inaugural International Dublin Literary Award and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Miles Franklin Literary Award

The Conversations at Curlow Creek (1996), shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and The Age Book of the Year Award

The Complete Stories (2007)

Ransom (2009), shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award

The Writing Life (2014)

An Open Book (2018).

Read the complete transcript of our interview with David at thegarretpodcast.com.

You can find more than 80 interviews with writers talking about writing at thegarretpodcast.com. The Garret is hosted by Astrid Edwards, who you can follow on Twitter or Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate the end of 2018, we've re-released our highest rating fiction interviews of the year: #3 is Michelle de Kretser.

Michelle was born in Sri Lanka and emigrated to Australia when she was 14. Educated in Melbourne and Paris, Michelle was an editor for Lonely Planet and founding editor of the Australian Women's Book Review before devoting herself to literary fiction.

This interview was recorded shortly before Michelle received the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award. Michelle's works include:

The Life to Come (2017), awarded the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the 2018 Stella Prize

Springtime (2014)

Questions of Travel (2012), awarded the 2013 Miles Franklin Literary Award, the ALS Gold Medal, and the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction

The Lost Dog (2007), longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize for Fiction, awarded the 2008 NSW Premier's Book of the Year Award, the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the 2008 ALS Gold Medal

The Hamilton Case (2003), awarded the Commonwealth Prize (SE Asia and Pacific region) and the UK Encore Prize

The Rose Grower (1999).

Related episode:

Michelle appeared in our bonus episode featuring four of the writers shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Read the complete transcript of our interview with Michelle at thegarretpodcast.com.

You can find more than 80 interviews with writers talking about writing at thegarretpodcast.com. The Garret is hosted by Astrid Edwards, who you can follow on Twitter or Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate the end of 2018, we've re-released our highest rating non-fiction interviews of the year: #1 is Scott Pape.

Scott broke every non-fiction publishing record in Australia with his first book, The Barefoot Investor. First published in 2016, it has sold more than 1.3 million copies and been updated three times. With an initial print run of 300,000 copies, Scott’s second book, The Barefoot Investor for Families, is likely to have the same impact in 2018.

In addition to writing two books, Scott has been writing to his audience via email for more than a decade. He also writes a weekly syndicated column for News Ltd and appears on radio on Triple M and television on Channel 7. In 2018, Scott consults to the Australian Government about financial eduction in schools.

Read the complete transcript of our interview with Scott at thegarretpodcast.com.

You can find more than 80 interviews with writers talking about writing at thegarretpodcast.com. The Garret is hosted by Astrid Edwards, who you can follow on Twitter or Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate the end of 2018, we've re-released our highest rating non-fiction interviews of the year: #2 is Leigh Sales.

Leigh is one of Australia’s most respected journalists. She has anchored the ABC’s current affairs program 7.30 since 2011 and previously hosted Lateline.

She has received two Walkley Awards, Australia's highest journalism honour. The first was for Best Radio Current Affairs reporting on Guantanamo Bay in 2005, and the second was for Broadcasting and Online Interviewing (for interviews with Tony Abbott, Scott Morrison and Christine Milne) in 2012.

Leigh has also published three books, Any Ordinary Day (2018), On Doubt (2009), and Detainee 002 (2007). Detainee 002 received the George Munster Award for Independent Journalism in 2007.

Read the complete transcript of our interview with Leigh at thegarretpodcast.com.

You can find more than 80 interviews with writers talking about writing at thegarretpodcast.com. The Garret is hosted by Astrid Edwards, who you can follow on Twitter or Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To celebrate the end of 2018, we've re-released our highest rating non-fiction interviews of the year: #3 is Clementine Ford.

Clementine is a writer, broadcaster and feminist thinker speaker.

She has been writing freelance for more than a decade, including a weekly columns for Fairfax’s Daily Life. She is also a regular contributor to The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Clementine has published two best-selling non-fiction works, Fight Like A Girl (2016) and Boys Will Be Boys (2018).

You can find more than 80 interviews with writers talking about writing at thegarretpodcast.com. The Garret is hosted by Astrid Edwards, who you can follow on Twitter or Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Garret LIVE at the Library

In partnership with the State Library of Victoria, The Garret hosted a series of live events with leading Australian writers in 2018.

In our final event, Clementine Ford, Hannah Kent and Alice Pung discussed the status of women writers and the challenges they face.

Clementine Ford is a writer, broadcaster and feminist thinker and speaker. She has been writing freelance for more than a decade, and has published two bestselling non-fiction works: Fight Like A Girl (2017) and Boys Will Be Boys (2018).

Hannah Kent made waves in Australia's literary scene in 2013 with her first novel, Burial Rites. It won the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and the Victorian Premier's People's Choice Award, and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. Her second novel, The Good People (2016), received similar acclaim. Hannah is also the co-founder of the literary journal Kill Your Darlings.

Alice Pung is a writer, editor, teacher and lawyer. She has won numerous awards for her memoirs, and her writing has appeared in The Monthly, The Age, Meanjin, Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Essays. Her long-form works include: Unpolished Gem (2007), Her Father's Daughter (2011) and Laurinda (2014). Alice also edited Growing Up Asian in Australia (2008).

About The Garret

The Garret is supported by the Australia Council of the Arts and partners with the State Library of Victoria. The Garret is hosted by Astrid Edwards, who you can follow on Twitter or Instagram.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

David has been a journalist, non-fiction author and social commentator for more than four decades. He has written for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian and The Monthly, and received three Walkley Awards and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award.

His books include My Country (2018), Panic (2011), Dark Victory (with Marian Wilkinson in 2004), The High Price of Heaven (2000) and Patrick White: A Life (1991). He has also written six Quarterly Essays: The White Queen (2017), Faction Man (2015), The Prince (2013), Political Animal (2012), Power Trip (2010) and His Master’s Voice (2007).

Previously David served as editor of the National Times, reporter for Four Corners and presenter of the ABC’s Media Watch. He has been awarded Honorary Doctor of Letters from both the University of Sydney and the University of Newcastle, as well as an Honorary Fellowship in the Australian Academy of Humanities.

Read the complete transcript of our interview with David at thegarretpodcast.com.

About The Garret

Follow The Garret on Twitter or Facebook, and follow our host Astrid Edwards on Twitter or Instagram. The Garret is supported by the Australia Council of the Arts and partners with the State Library of Victoria. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shokoofeh Azar was born in Iran seven years before the Islamic revolution. Shokoofeh's early interest in literature and art developed into a successful career in writing and art in Iran, including 14 years as an independent journalist. Her 'Companion in Writing and Editing Essays', written in Farsi, won The Best Book in Iran award in 1997.

Following an increasing crackdown on independent journalism, Shokoofeh was jailed three times, the last time being three months in isolation, which left her no choice in 2011 but to flee her country by boat, ending up on Christmas Island. She was accepted as a political refugee by Australia. The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, also written in Farsi, is her first novel to be translated into English. The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree was shortlisted for the 2018 Stella Prize. It is also being re-released in Farsi.

Read the complete transcript of our interview with Shokoofeh at thegarretpodcast.com.

About The Garret

Follow The Garret on Twitter or Facebook, and follow our host Astrid Edwards on Twitter or Instagram. The Garret is supported by the Australia Council of the Arts and partners with the State Library of Victoria. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chloe Hooper is a highly-awarded writer of fiction and non-fiction.

She received a Walkley Award for articles in The Monthly on the death in custody of Cameron Doomadgee on Palm Island. These articles became the basis for The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island (2008), which won the Victorian, New South Wales, West Australian and Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, as well as the John Button Prize for Political Writing and a Ned Kelly Award for crime writing.

The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire (2018) was published to similar acclaim. It was shortlisted in the Victorian's Premier's Book Awards and longlisted for The Stella Prize and The Indie Book Awards in 2019.

Chloe is also the author of two novels, A Child’s Book of True Crime (2002), which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Literature in the United Kingdom and The Engagement (2014).

Read the complete transcript of our interview with Chloe at thegarretpodcast.com.

About The Garret

Follow The Garret on Twitter or Facebook, and follow our host Astrid Edwards on Twitter or Instagram. The Garret is supported by the Australia Council of the Arts and partners with the State Library of Victoria. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.