Two Book Nerds Talking

We had the chance to interview Guy Gunaratne at URWF'19 where he chatted about his book The Mad and Furious City. We talked about belonging, extremism and finding the inspiration to write a book in vernacular and language that feels true to yourself. It's a great little interview folks! We also put in some excerpts of him reading some passages and bits of another interview he had with Kate Evans from Australia's ABC Radio National. Audio was courtesy of Ubud Readers and Writers Festival.

During the Ubud Writers Festival we checked out new emerging writers especially from Indonesia. For the next few months we will be featuring an emerging writer each month starting with the lovely Chandra Bientang. A philosophy major and content writer based in Jakarta, she was one of the five selected to be in the UWRF anthology. We caught up with her to talk about stories that need to be told such as the fate of street children and women's reproductive rights.

We are on a hiatus but we have plenty of good stuff for you to keep you company from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. We caught up with the powerhouse behind one of the world's best Lit Fest, Janet Deneefe and talked about the festival this year, what she hopes for it and also her favourite Balinese food.

We are back! From the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and it was fabulous. As we are busy sorting out the interviews and crafting cool episodes for you constant listeners, have a listen to our festival roundup. It will give you a taste of what went on, the writers that we met and also our impressions of UWRF'19

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It's been 8 long years for Erin Morgenstern fans since The Night Circus captivated readers and dreamers alike all over the world. Now finally, her second novel, The Starless Sea is out. Come with us into her underground labyrinth of stories complete with hidden stairways, masquerade balls and tales within tales. There's a lot to sink your teeth into...

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Imaging sitting in a darkened room and listening to a really good ghost story, the thrill of fear licking down your spine, the hairs on the back of your neck rising as the tale builds up to its final fright. For as long as we have been telling stories, there have been ghost stories, its in our DNA because fear is universal and those that haunt us (be it ghostly or otherwise) never really leaves us...

So. . .John Connolly popped by the studio for a conversation on all things Charlie Parker. Book of Bones is book 17 of the series (imagine that) and Honey who has been following it from the very beginning was beside herself because she could ask all those burning questions about the series.

The Testaments, is the much-awaited sequel to The Handmaid's Tale (fans have waited over 34 years for it!) It follows three different women 15 years after the incidents of The Handmaid's Tale and aims to answer all your burning questions about Gilead. Does it? Listen on to our episode this week.