Irma and Karen chat about juggling jobs to survive while writing. Then Karen talks to Nardi Simpson about how writing songs differs from writing books, why she decided to start writing novels, how writing helps her to explore larger questions, how her writing mentors inspired her, what she learned from the Year of the Novel course, how sending a story out into the world is like throwing a boomerang, how she opens herself to playing with ideas and language, why she no longer writes lists of rules...
Mar 10, 2025•49 min•Season 5Ep. 60
Karen and Irma chat about the challenges of being able to accept praise. Then Irma talks with Katherine Collette about how co-hosting The First Time podcast was life-changing, her most excruciating experience with the podcast, the excitement of overseas deals for her debut novel and the huge low that followed, how the US market differs from the ANZ market, the secrecy around book sales, the challenges in moving from writing books for adults to writing for kids, how to write humour on the page, h...
Feb 17, 2025•44 min•Season 5Ep. 59
Irma and Karen chat about the changing shape of the Australian publishing industry as small publishers are bought up by larger publishing houses. Then Karen talks to short-story maestro Cate Kennedy about how she came to be a writer and then a teacher of writing, how writing (and reading) a short story is like plunging deep into a diving pool, how her career took off after having a story published in a 9/11 commemorative edition of the New Yorker, how she wrote a novel because of an offer she co...
Feb 03, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Season 5Ep. 58
Irma and Karen chat about their top books from the last 12 months. Then Karen chats with lifelong activist and former politician Bob Brown about why writing is so important to activism, why storytelling with intent is important, how he approached writing his memoir, why the practice of writing notes while out in nature is key, the ways in which writing fiction is important in getting people to think about other lives and issues, why he’s given up writing his speeches, the ways in which hope sust...
Jan 13, 2025•56 min•Season 5Ep. 57
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) Omar Musa chats with Irma about how growing up in an artistic family set his course, why he stopped reading and writing during a dark period and how a new form of expression saved him, the ways in which earning a living from the thing you love can be deeply problematic, why winning the Australian Poetry Slam took him to UWRF and was a gateway into the literary world, why he wants to challenge his own assumptions and bia...
Nov 26, 2024•58 min•Ep. 56
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Bora Chung chats with Irma about how she wrote her first short story solely for prize money but it eventually led to a short fiction collection that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, why her publisher thought an approach from Anton Hur to translate her collection into English was a scam, what it was like to be at the Booker Prize ceremony and the strange thing every judge said to her, how the Booker has impacted her career...
Nov 18, 2024•33 min•Ep. 55
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Laura Jean McKay chats with Irma about the experience of touring her books to the UK, why she threw up in a caravan sink after finishing her novel, how the publishing landscape for short fiction has changed over the last two decades, a disastrous book event that ended up in an Oscar-winning performance, writing about big political themes, the surreal experience of recording her audiobook during the pandemic, why winning prizes...
Nov 11, 2024•50 min•Ep. 54
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Aube Rey Lescure chats with Irma about how she initially followed a friend’s advice not to become a writer but then ditched law to pursue it anyway, how being multilingual impacts the way she writes, why she refused to follow the career trajectory her creative writing course advised, why she got fixated on publishing a book before she was 30 – and then was forced to let go of it, how her mum’s April Fool’s joke led to an impor...
Nov 04, 2024•42 min•Ep. 53
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Nam Le chats with Irma about why his first unpublished novel was a spectacular failure but still worthwhile, why for a long time he was a secret writer and the renowned Iowa Writers Workshop was him ‘coming out’ to the world, how he naively thought the crazy success of The Boat was what all writers experienced, why Nam made a pact with himself that he would find the good in every publicity question, how his publisher felt abou...
Oct 28, 2024•46 min•Ep. 52
Irma and Karen chat about writers festivals they’ve recently attended, as well as the joys and challenges of being a panel moderator and interviewing other authors. Then Karen talks to JP Pomare about how he didn’t know he was writing crime until it was marketed that way, why his goal is to transcend the genre, how he’s managed to publish seven books in six years, why we’re so fascinated with crime fiction, how writing an Audible original taught him valuable lessons about writing, why research c...
Oct 06, 2024•50 min•Season 5Ep. 51
Irma and Karen chat about the upcoming Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Then Karen talks to Kylie Needham about how a short story turned into her debut novel, the joys and challenges of writing for television and the screen, the collaboration of the writers’ room and the vulnerabilities of the process, what writing scripts taught her about moving the narrative forward, whether authors should get involved with screen adaptions of their work, the inequality and sexism of television in the 2000s,...
Sep 16, 2024•49 min•Season 5Ep. 50
Irma and Karen chat about audio books. Then Karen speaks with Finegan Kruckemeyer about how he got his first break as a playwright, the difference between writing for young people and adult audiences, how much freedom there is in the parameters of commissioned works, why he acts out his scripts, why a school production of one of his plays blew him away far more than the professional production, how he goes about writing both comedy and big issues, why he doesn’t enter the rehearsal space, advice...
Aug 26, 2024•50 min•Season 5Ep. 49
Irma chats to agent Jacinta di Mase about what agents do to earn their 15%, the intricacies of contracts – including rights reversion, world rights, backlists and rising royalties, how an agent can fight for an author over cover design and choosing a title, the dos and don’ts of submitting to agents, the extent of editorial feedback to expect from agents, how the submission process to publishers works, the ins and outs of foreign rights, what a co-agent is and why they’re important, how film/TV ...
Aug 05, 2024•57 min•Season 5Ep. 48
Karen and Irma chat about the ins and outs of contracts. Then Irma talks to Hilde Hinton about the way her work polarises people, how an argument with her brother (actor Samuel Johnson) led to her first novel, why Lego is an important part of her writing process, how novels can make space for important conversations about big topics like mental illness and suicide through joy rather than the sadness, how AI has revolutionised the way she researches, the ways in which writing her debut changed he...
Jul 16, 2024•47 min•Season 5Ep. 47
Irma and Karen reveal exciting new partnerships with Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and Writers Victoria. Then Karen chats with Beejay Silcox about literary criticism in Australia – what good critics endeavour to do, the blowback from a tough review, what is lacking in Australian criticism, the impact of shrinking page space, the inability to make a sustainable career out of criticism, and her deep regret over one particular review. And then on judging the Stella Prize – how the process works...
Jun 26, 2024•52 min•Season 5Ep. 46
Irma tries to convert Karen to writing program Scrivener. Then Irma chats to children’s creators Anna Walker and Andrea Rowe about how authors and illustrators work together (or don’t!), why illustrator notes are a no-no, the profound impact of picture books on both adults and children, the biggest mistakes that new writers and illustrators make, what to expect from the editing and publishing process, how to network and build connections in the industry, the effects of crippling self-doubt, why ...
May 15, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 4Ep. 45
Irma and Karen discuss author websites. Then Karen chats with Kris Kneen about writing into deeply uncomfortable spaces and confronting issues like fatness and identity, how to write sex well, why they’re always switching up genres, how to deal with disappointment over missing out on awards, why they almost gave up writing entirely, and the moment that changed their life. About Kris Kris Kneen has written erotica, fiction, short-stories, poetry, memoir, non-fiction and scripts for film and docum...
Apr 23, 2024•53 min•Season 4Ep. 44
Irma and Karen talk about prepping for radio interviews. Then Karen chats to Diana Reid about how writing scripts has informed the way she works as a novelist and her approach to being edited, what it was like to be thrown into the spotlight with her bestselling debut novel, how its extraordinary success affected her, advice on how to handle publicity interviews, why writing her second novel was so much harder, how she feels about being called Australia’s Sally Rooney, why COVID was such a posit...
Apr 02, 2024•46 min•Season 4Ep. 43
Karen and Irma chat about point of view and writing from multiple perspectives. Then Irma talks to Peter Papathanasiou about his very long and convoluted journey to publication, how his debut was rejected by 100 agents and took 10 years to get published, why his goal was to get published in the UK first and advice for other writers about how to do the same, how he successfully pitched his own book for screen, the challenges of the book-to-screen process, the devastating impact of being dropped b...
Mar 12, 2024•53 min•Season 4Ep. 42
'Irma and Karen talk about the ins and out of book marketing. Then Karen chats with Melinda Smith about winning the Prime Ministers Literary Award for poetry, the potential of TikTok for poets, how arts grants have sustained her writing and how to write a good application (all the details), how form (or lack thereof) influences the writing of a poem, why poets are not featured much in festival line-ups, sources of inspiration, the important art of poetry editing, and advice for how to get p...
Feb 21, 2024•52 min•Season 4Ep. 41
Irma and Karen chat about the highs and lows of podcasting. Then Irma talks to Niq Mhlongo about what it was like growing up in Soweto, South Africa, how sleeping in a tiny room with seven brothers got him hooked on reading, why he ditched law to become a writer, how Dan Brown made him think he’d become a millionaire from writing, how his debut novel went from being deemed ‘unpublishable’ to being accepted by the same publisher, why he is sceptical about literary prizes, why living from Berlin g...
Jan 30, 2024•47 min•Season 4Ep. 40
Karen and Irma talk about ten awful publishing truths. Then Karen chats to Daniel O’Malley about writing humour in books and how to develop this skill, how he lost the first 150 pages of his bestseller The Rook , the potential pitfalls of finding an agent, the process of his novel being made into a mini-series, how he used to tweet as one of his characters, and what it’s like to go to a fantasy book conference. About Daniel Daniel O’Malley is an internationally bestselling fantasy/sci fi author....
Jan 09, 2024•47 min•Season 4Ep. 39
Karen and Irma chat about what makes a good book title. Then Irma talks to Kate Mildenhall about how she organised (and survived!) a massive book tour, the brutal experience of her second book being rejected, why writing retreats are invaluable for her creative practice, the challenges of not sticking to one genre, how she approached the writing of her structurally complex third novel, how she sees Australia’s reviewing culture and her new theory about the impact of reviewing momentum, the highs...
Nov 28, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 4Ep. 38
Karen and Irma discuss the challenges of author photo shoots. Then Irma chats with Christos Tsiolkas about how reading Monkey Grip cross-legged in a bookstore was a seminal moment, and how his father – who couldn’t read – made him the patient reader he is today, how the poor reception to his second novel The Jesus Man deeply bruised him and the overwhelming success of The Slap was the reverse experience, how acting techniques have influenced the way he writes characters, how he approached writin...
Nov 08, 2023•50 min•Season 4Ep. 37
Karen and Irma chat about one star reviews and Goodreads. Then Karen talks to Anita Heiss about why she writes across so many genres and which is her favourite, what she learned from writing the script for the 'Tiddas' live-show and how it feels to have your work performed on stage, how she creates sexy, sassy First Nations female characters, how she still feels self-doubt even after writing so many books, how she survived a personal attack from a certain right-wing shock jock, and how...
Oct 18, 2023•37 min•Season 4Ep. 36
Karen and Irma chat about the impact of AI technologies on authors. Then Irma chats with Chris Flynn about exactly how Bookscan works and how he uses the data to monitor his own sales and make decisions about where to invest time with publicity, why publishing is operating on an outdated business model and how it should change, how to organise a book tour yourself, the ways in which both Ireland and Australia have impacted him as a writer, the challenges of writing humorous literary fiction, an ...
Aug 24, 2023•50 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Karen and Irma discuss how to craft a good sentence. Then Irma talks to Eliza Henry-Jones about why ‘paddock beanbagging’ is her preferred way to write, how writing a novel every year since she was 14 helped her understand her world, how difficult it was to first be published at the age of 25, why as a writer she is a ‘chaos demon’, how having a child changed her as a writer, why she wrote Salt and Skin from a place of rage, the challenges of writing ‘unlikeable’ female characters, why she resis...
Aug 01, 2023•56 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Karen and Irma discuss book tours. Then Irma chats with Aaron Fa’Aoso and Michelle Scott Tucker about the process of ghostwriting (or co-writing) Aaron’s memoir, how they tackled sensitive subjects like suicide, racism and Aaron’s domestic violence history, the decision-making process on what to include and what to not, why Aaron almost pulled the project many times but ultimately never did, how Michelle captured Aaron’s voice, and why recording the audiobook sent Aaron into a dark place. About ...
Jul 12, 2023•59 min•Season 3Ep. 33
Karen and Irma talk about presenting at sales conferences. Then Irma chats with Robbie Arnott about his ‘chaotic’ writing process, how landscapes inspire him and how he approaches writing about climate change to avoid being preachy, why his first book rejection really knocked his confidence, the way he fictionalised family history to avoid friction with family members, how a background in advertising helps him with the editing process, the pressure he puts on himself to get the writing perfect, ...
Jun 20, 2023•48 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Irma and Karen chat about festivals and events they’ve been attending. Then Karen talks to former Canberra Writers Festival Artistic Director Jeanne Ryckmans about how a literary festival is programmed, the role of publicists and why sometimes they don’t work in the author’s best interests, how a writer should pitch themselves to an artistic director, the positive developments as a result of COVID, the writer Jeanne would have donated a kidney to get on her program (and did!), and crazy festival...
May 30, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 31
