The Wheeler Centre

Take Home Reading is a new short-form audio series for readers and writers – shining a spotlight on Australian writers with recently released books. In each instalment, you’ll be introduced to a writer, learn a little about what they’ve been reading lately, and hear a short reading from their latest work.

For the first batch of episodes, we’ve partnered with our friends at the Emerging Writers’ Festival to spotlight four brilliant new voices from around Australia writing across fiction, memoir and poetry.

In this episode we’re talking to Holden Sheppard about his debut novel, Invisible Boys.

Invisible Boys is an authentic and energetic young adult novel about three teenage boys coming to terms with their homosexuality in a small Western Australian town.

'In this town we have three teenageboys: Zeke, Charlie and Hammer. They’re very different 16-year-old boys: Zeke is a nerd, Charlie’s a punk, Hammer is your classic footy jock and they all seem very different but we discover that all three boys are in the throes of grappling with their sexuality. They’re all gay, and they’re all coming to terms with it in different ways.'

With characters that leap off the page, Invisible Boys offers an unflinching and challenging perspective on Australian teen life that has resonated strongly with teenage and adult readers alike.

Invisible Boys is out now through Fremantle Press.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Take Home Reading is a new short-form audio series for readers and writers – shining a spotlight on Australian writers with recently released books. In each instalment, you’ll be introduced to a writer, learn a little about what they’ve been reading lately, and hear a short reading from their latest work.

For the first batch of episodes, we’ve partnered with our friends at the Emerging Writers’ Festival to spotlight four brilliant new voices from around Australia writing across fiction, memoir and poetry.

In this episode we’re talking to Vivian Pham about her debut novel, The Coconut Children.

The Coconut Children tells the fierce and moving story of Sonny and Vince, both children of refugees living in Cabramatta in 1998.

'They’re both growing up and trying to figure out who they are, but they’re also trying to understand their parents. It's through the stories that their parents tell them that they feel a connection towards their culture and their ancestors... It’s equally about how the stories that are withheld from them shape who they are, and the way they see themselves.'

The Coconut Children is out now through Penguin Random House.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From left to right: Santilla Chingaipe, Jackie Huggins, Yin Paradies and Lee Carnie — Photo: Jon Tjhia

While overt forms of racism in Australian workplaces are outlawed, many people from Indigenous and migrant backgrounds argue that racism is still pervasive – before and after joining a workplace. Last year, a major company’s employment listing overtly preferenced ‘candidates who are Anglo Saxon’. Multiple studies have shown that anglicising names on job applications improves a jobseeker’s prospects, prompting recent government trials of anonymous job applications.

So, how does racism manifest itself in the workplace – overtly, and covertly – and what impact does this have on both employee and employer? What can employers and governments do to address racial and religious discrimination at work? Santilla Chingaipe hosts a discussion of these issues and more, with Yin Paradies, Jackie Huggins and Lee Carnie.

Support the Wheeler Centre: https://www.wheelercentre.com/support-us/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.