The Writer and the Critic

The Writer and the Critic

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The Writer and the Critic episodes

  • Episode 47: 'Satin Island' and 'Lament for the Afterlife'
    Things gets a little highbrow on this episode of The Writer and the Critic, when your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond enthusiastically tackle Satin Island by Tom McCarthy [5:35] and Lament for the Afterlife by Lisa L. Hannett [59:45]. The words 'semiotic' and 'taxonomy' may appear with alarming regularity. Also, mosaic fiction, people. Let's make it a thing.



    During the course of the discussion, mention is made of the following articles, reviews and books:
    • "The Death of Writing" by Tom McCarthy
  • "Technology and the Novel" by Tom McCarthy
  • Review of Satin Island by Marc Mewshaw in The Atlantic
  • Review of Lament for the Afterlife in Publishers Weekly
  • The United Stories of America by Rolf Lunden
  • Clade by James Bradley
  • Things We Didn't See Coming by Steven Amsterdam

    • If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:47:45 for final remarks.

    The next episode will air in February 2016 and will mark the shift to a more curatorial phase of the podcast. The books up for discussion will be Slade House by David Mitchell along with House of Small Shadows by Adam Nevill. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!


    1 hr 52 min
  • Episode 46: 'Day Boy' and 'Viper Wine'
    On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, open with a brief preamble -- or perhaps a pre-ramble -- detailing some exciting new developments for next year. They then jump straight into a discussion of the two nominated books, Day Boy by Trent Jamieson [4:20] and Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre [49:10].



    For those who want more vampire goodness, the full interview with Trent Jamieson on Fantasy Book Review is well worth a read!

    If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:28:40 for final remarks.

    For the next episode, Kirstyn has chosen Lament for the Afterlife by Lisa L. Hannett while Ian is recommending Satin Island by Tom McCarthy. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!




    1 hr 34 min
  • Episode 45: 'The Godless' and 'The Book of the Unnamed Midwife'
    On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts,
    Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, open with a discussion about gender, publishing and awards, focused around the following articles:
    • "Books About Women Don't Win Big Awards" by Nicola Griffith (see also the follow-up post on this project)
  • "Homme de Plume: What I Learned Sending My Novel Out Under a Male Name" by Catherine Nichols
    • They then move on to the two chosen books, The Godless by Ben Peek (31:55) and The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison (1:12:45).


    The reviews, blogs and podcasts mentioned during the discussion can be found via the following links:

    • Pembroke Lecture on Fantasy Literature by Kij Johnson (podcast)
  • "The Godless by Ben Peek" reviewed on Pornkitsch
  • "Book Review: The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison" by Ian Mond
  • "Ending the World with Hope and Comfort" by Matthew Cheney

    • If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:54:00 for final remarks.

    For the next episode, Kirstyn has chosen Day Boy by Trent Jamieson while Ian is recommending Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!

    1 hr 58 min
  • Episode 44: 'The King of Attolia' and 'Growing Rich'
    [We regret to advise that there is some questionable audio for the first five minutes or so of this episode due to an unnoticed fault somewhere in the recording equipment. We sincerely apologise and ask that our lovely listeners persevere regardless. Thankfully, it doesn't last for long.]

    This episode of The Writer and the Critic was recorded live at Continuum 11: Southern Skies
    -- the Melbourne speculative fiction and pop culture convention. In keeping with tradition, the special guests on the
    podcast were the convention's Guests of Honour, Tansy Rayner Roberts and R.J. (Rebecca) Anderson, who each recommended a favourite novel to talk about.

    After introductions and some entertaining banter concerning Doctor Who fan fic, chocolate-mousse-filled cronuts and secret author identity crises, the discussion moves on to the books. Rebecca's pick was The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (15:40) while Tansy chose Growing Rich by Fay Weldon (59:20).



    Fans of Fay Weldon might also be interested to know that the 1992 mini-series of Growing Rich is available to view in full on YouTube. You're welcome.

    If you'd skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, it's safe to come back at 1:31:30 for final remarks.

    For the next episode, Kirstyn has chosen The Godless by Ben Peek while Ian is recommending The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!

    1 hr 35 min
  • Episode 43: 'The Well' and 'Clade'
    On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, open with a short discussion of the Hugo Awards and other matters. Inevitably, there are puppies. Sorry. The discussion centres around the following websites and online articles:
    • "Some comments on the Hugos and other SF awards" by Eric Flint
  • Chaos Horizon by Brandon Kempner
  • "Blogging For Rockets" and others posts on Not A Blog by George R. R. Martin
  • File 770 by Mike Glyer

    • Thankfully, they then move on to talking about books! On the slab this time around are The Well by Elizabeth Jolley (18:50) and Clade by James Bradley. (57:50).

    This obituary of Elizabeth Jolley in the New York Times as well as this interview with James Bradley in the Sydney Morning Herald are both mentioned.

    If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers (or puppies), it's safe to tune back in at 1:46:40 for final remarks.

    In June, The Writer and the Critic will be recorded live at Continuum 11: Southern Skies

    -- the Melbourne speculative fiction and pop culture convention. As has become traditional, the special guests for the
    podcast will be the convention's Guests of Honour, Tansy Rayner Roberts and R.J. (Rebecca) Anderson, who will each be recommending a favourite book to talk about. Tansy has picked Growing Rich by Fay Weldon while Rebecca has chosen The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner.

    Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun! And if you'll be at Continuum 11, we'd love to see you in the audience!

    1 hr 51 min
  • Episode 42: 'The Bitterwood Bible' and 'How to Be Both'

    On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin with the enthralling tale of How Mondy Got Pneumonia on New Year's Eve, followed by a small rant from Kirstyn about Colleen McCullough and the Obituary That Should Hide its Head in Absolute Shame. The two then move on to discuss awards ballots and eligibility posts, the sometimes uncomfortable practice of self-promotion, and sad puppies in general.

    The two books up for dissection this episode are The Bitterwood Bible by Angela Slatter (27:40) and How to be Both by Ali Smith (58:40).

    Highly recommended as a companion read to The Bitterwood Bible is the previous Angela Slatter collection published by Tartarus Press, Sourdough and Other Stories.

    If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:32:00 for final remarks.

    For the next episode, Kirstyn has chosen The Well by Elizabeth Jolley while Ian is recommending Clade by James Bradley. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!

    1 hr 42 min
  • Episode 41: 'Hild' and 'Station Eleven'
    On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, kick things off with a debate about cultural cringe, tall poppy syndrome, big girl pants and why all these elements may have contributed to a dearth of Australian content on this podcast of late. Things, they will be a changing. This episode of The Coode Street Podcast focusing on Australian Science Fiction is mentioned, as is Kirstyn's love of The Babadook, an Australian film about which she recently talked at length with Terry Frost on The Martian Drive-In Podcast.

    The two novels up for dissection this episode are Hild by Nicola Griffith (12:30) and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (58:30).



    The reviews, blogs, podcasts and books mentioned during the discussion can be found via the following links:
    • Gemaecca, the ongoing Hild research blog kept by Nicola Griffith (her regular blog lives here)
  • Nicola Griffith talking about Hild on The Coode Street Podcast
  • The Wake by Paul Kingsnorth
  • Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality by Hanne Blank
  • Review of Hild by T.S. Miller at Strange Horizons
  • Review of Station Eleven at The Skeptical Reader
  • Review of Station Eleven by Sigrid Nunez at The New York Times
    • If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:35:30 for final remarks.

    For the next episode, Kirstyn has chosen The Bitterwood Bible by Angela Slatter while Ian is recommending How to be Both by Ali Smith. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!


    1 hr 43 min
  • Episode 40: 'Dust Devil on a Quiet Street' and 'We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves'
    On this episode of The Writer and the Critic your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin with a lengthy discussion about authors, reviewers, and fans in view of the rapidly changing dynamics of author/reader relationships and power structures in publishing. This was sparked off by an excellent and thoughtful essay, "Don't Attack Reviewers", written by Jonathan McCalmont and published on his Ruthless Culture blog. You should go off and read the entire essay. Seriously.

    This two books up for critique this time are Dust Devil on a Quiet Street by Richard Bowes (beginning at 24:30) and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (1:03:10). During the discussion of the Fowler novel, this review by Dan Hartland is mentioned.



    If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, then it's safe to return at 1:38:50 for some brief final remarks.

    The books that will be featured on the next episode are Hild by Nicola Griffith, chosen by Kirstyn, and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, which Ian has recommended. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!
    1 hr 42 min
  • Episode 39: 'We See A Different Frontier' and 'Long Hidden'
    On this episode of The Writer and the Critic, your hosts, Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond, begin by addressing listener feedback about high fantasy and narratives of power which followed on from the discussion at the end of the last episode recorded at Continuum 10. They would also like to draw your attention to some Links of Relevant Interest:
    • Amberlin Kwaymullina's Guest of Honour speech from Continuum 10
  • Jim C. Hine's Guest of Honour speech from Continuum 10
  • An Indigenous Speculative Fiction Reading List provided by Amberlin Kwaymullina
    • Ian then provides a brief but thoughtful (and spoiler-free) review of War Stories: Modern Military Science Fiction, a crowd-funded anthology edited by Jaym Gates and Andrew Liptak, which he highly recommends.

    The two books up for critique on this episode are We See a Different Frontier: A Postcolonial Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Fabio Fernandes and Djibril al-Ayad (beginning around 22:05) and Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older (1:01:35).



    The reviews and articles mentioned during the discussion can be found via the following links:
    • Review of Long Hidden by Katherine Farmer on Strange Horizons
  • "Reviewing the Other: Like Dancing about Architecture" by Nisi Shawl on Strange Horizons
  • "Inclusive Reviewing: A Discussion" on Strange Horizons
  • "Escaping Ethnocentricity?" by Samuel R. Delany on Strange Horizons
  • Response to "Literary Trick" comment by Troy L. Wiggins
  • "MFA vs POC" by Junot Diaz on The New Yorker
    • If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please come back at 1:53:05 for final remarks.

    For the next episode, Kirstyn has chosen We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler while Ian is recommending Dust Devil on a Quiet Street by Richard Bowes. Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!


    1 hr 57 min
  • Episode 38: 'The Lives of Tao' and 'The Curse of Chalion'
    This very special episode of The Writer and the Critic was recorded live at Continuum 10
    -- the Melbourne speculative fiction and pop culture convention --
    which this year doubled as the 53rd National Science Fiction
    Convention. In keeping with tradition, your hosts Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond have invited the convention's fabulous Guests of Honour, Jim C. Hines and Ambelin Kwaymullina, to come along and recommend a favourite book each for everyone to talk about.


    Minimum Safe Distance (photograph by Terry Frost)

    After chatting with Ambelin and Jim about their current work, why they write the stories they do, matters of censorship and the problems which arise from writing within a culture which may or may not be your own, the discussion moves on to the novels at hand. Jim has picked The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu (beginning around 22:15) while Ambelin has chosen The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (50:40).



    If you've skipped ahead to avoid spoilers, please listen in again from 1:15:15 mark for some energetic questions from the audience as well as final remarks.

    Due to the new bimonthly schedule, the next episode of The Writer and the Critic will not air until August -- but it will be well worth the wait! Kirstyn and Ian have chosen to look at two recent speculative fiction anthologies which have sparked some discussion of late: We See a Different Frontier: A Postcolonial Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Fabio Fernandes and Djibril al-Ayad, and Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History edited by Rose Fox and Daniel José Older.

    Read ahead and join in the spoilerific fun!


    1 hr 28 min

About The Writer and the Critic

From the publisher's feed

A monthly podcast devoted mostly to speculative fiction books, reviews and the odd bit of idle gossip. Hosted by Kirstyn McDermott and Ian Mond.