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The Book Show

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Your favourite fiction authors share the story behind their latest books.
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Episodes

Ageing and autopsies with Alex Miller and Patricia Cornwell

Alex Miller and Patricia Cornwell talk about ageing and fiction and their novels A Brief Affair and Livid, and we explore the line between fact and fiction with historical novelists Jock Serong, Eleanor Limprecht and Sienna Brown.

Nov 20, 2022•1 hr

Graham Norton and the power of the Irish mammy

Graham Norton, Diana Reid and Holly Throsby discuss why they enjoy writing about women in fiction. Graham Norton's fourth novel Forever Home is about a woman saying a slow goodbye to her partner (and wondering about a weird smell in the basement). Diana Reid's second novel Seeing Other People unapologetically explores the anxieties of young, educated women in Sydney and musician Holly Throsby's novel Clarke is partly inspired by the case of Lynette Dawson, who famously went missing from her fami...

Nov 06, 2022•1 hr

Why Ian Rankin keeps returning to Rebus

Ian Rankin's detective John Rebus has been part of the literary world for 35 years and now his 24th Rebus novel has just landed, A Heart Full of Headstones. Discover the hard centre of Victoria Hannan's new novel Marshmallow and find out what an ear prostitute is with Singaporean writer Clarissa Goenawan's Watersong.

Oct 30, 2022•1 hr

Barbara Kingsolver finds the hillbilly in Charles Dickens

Barbara Kingsolver explains her connection to Charles Dickens and why her latest Demon Copperhead is set in Appalachia, USA. Sophie Cunningham's almost 20 year grapple with her latest book This Devastating Fever and apples, orchards and rabbits in Tasmanian author Robbie Arnott's third novel, Limberlost.

Oct 23, 2022•1 hr

Pod extra with the Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka

Shehan Karunatilaka is the winner of the 2022 Booker Prize for his book The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. He spoke to The Book Show about setting the novel during the Sri Lankan Civil War and the importance of bearing witness to its horrors.

Oct 18, 2022•17 min

Kamila Shamsie and NoViolet Bulawayo on the rise and fall of dictators

Former winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction Kamila Shamsie and Booker Prize-shortlisted author NoViolet Bulawayo reflect on the demise of dictators in their respective countries Pakistan and Zimbabwe and the impact this has had on their lives. Shamsie's new novel is Best of Friends, while Bulawayo has been shortlisted for her book Glory. Also, Australian author Chris Womersley revisits 90s haunts in inner city Melbourne for his gritty novel The Diplomat.

Oct 09, 2022•1 hr

Andrew Sean Greer and Craig Silvey share the joy

Finding joy in fiction with Pulitzer winner Andrew Sean Greer whose lovable character Arthur Less returns in Less is Lost and Craig Silvey's Runt, a book for children and adults young at heart. And the joy of being on the Booker Prize shortlist with Shehan Karunatilaka whose satire The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is set in 1989 during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Oct 02, 2022•1 hr

AM Homes plots an American revolution

Can a book predict the future? AM Homes ' latest novel The Unfolding follows a group of Republicans who plot to take over the government, but Homes says it was written well before the January 6th Capitol riots. Meanwhile, the oldest-ever Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Alan Garner evokes an enigmatic and mysterious world in his book Treacle Walker , and Tracey Lien's impressive debut All That's Left Unsaid explores the death of star student in Cabramatta's Vietnamese community....

Sep 25, 2022

Booker magic with Ian McEwan, Percival Everett and Jay Carmichael

Shortlisted Booker author Percival Everett kicks off our Booker Prize coverage with a discussion of The Trees and former Booker winner Ian McEwan reveals that his latest novel, Lessons, is his most personal work and certainly his longest. Also, Jay Carmichael explains how he went beyond the archive for his second novel, Marlo, on gay relationships in 1950s Australia.

Sep 18, 2022•1 hr

Historical resurrection with Maggie O'Farrell, Robert Drewe and Zaheda Ghani

Maggie O'Farrell says her latest novel The Marriage Portrait came to her in "a lightning bolt moment". The book honours the short life of the 16th century Duchess Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici, who was rumoured to be murdered by her husband. Also, Australian author Robert Drewe's resurrection of the sporting hero you've never heard of in Nimblefoot and Zaheda Ghani's debut Pomegranate and Fig, a book that's been in her mind since childhood.

Sep 11, 2022•1 hr

Sloane Crosley's Cult Classic a rom-com with a twist

American humourist Sloane Crosley explores the dating scene in New York City, but with a twist, in her novel Cult Classic. Also, Neela Janakiramanan takes a break from her hospital rounds to tell you about her Australian medical drama The Registrar and Siang Lu takes on kung fu, comedy, and the history of cinema in The Whitewash.

Sep 04, 2022•1 hr

Star Wars, monks and puffins — Emma Donoghue on Haven

Author of Room, Emma Donoghue questions the zealotry of monks in her latest novel, Haven, set on an inhospitable island in 7th century Ireland (Star Wars fans will recognise this island too!). Also, Pirooz Jafari on his gentle novel, Forty Nights, about war and displacement, and Grace Chan imagines a future dominated by virtual reality in Every Version of You.

Aug 28, 2022•1 hr

Tim Winton on a life of accidents, successes, and the business of 'useless beauty' — bonus episode

It's been 40 years since Tim Winton published his first novel, An Open Swimmer. Today he is the beloved writer of 29 books, a four-time Miles Franklin winner (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and an incomparable observer of the Western Australian landscape. For the Big Weekend of Books , he joined The Book Show's Claire Nichols and a live audience at the ABC studios in Perth....

Aug 23, 2022•1 hr

Spirituality and writing with Ruth Ozeki and Ann Cleeves

Women's Prize for Fiction winner, Ruth Ozeki, is also a Zen Buddhist priest and explains how this practice shapes her writing. Also, British crime writer, Ann Cleeves sets her tenth Vera novel, The Rising Tide, on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne where Christianity first came to the UK.

Aug 21, 2022

Trees in fiction with Richard Powers, Hannah Kent, Elif Shafak and more

Richard Powers, Hannah Kent, Elif Shafak and Michael Christie all use trees in their fiction to touch on themes of roots and connections, growth and rebirth, the family tree. But as our climate changes, is the way novelists use trees also changing to make the natural world the star of the story?

Aug 15, 2022

Sibling rivalry and secrets with Liane Moriarty

Bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty, shares stories from her childhood and how growing up in a big family influenced the theme of sibling rivalry in her latest book, Apples Never Fall. This conversation was recorded at the Castlemaine Town Hall, Victoria, for a joint event between the Castlemaine State Festival and The Wheeler Centre.

Aug 01, 2022•54 min

Surprising journeys with Jessie Burton, Thomas Mayor and Sulari Gentill

Jessie Burton wasn't finished with the main characters in her bestselling debut novel The Miniaturist and returns to the 17th century Dutch setting for the sequel, The House of Fortune. Also, we visit Torres Strait Island writer and advocate for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Thomas Mayor, at his home in Darwin and Sulari Gentill explains the origins of her playful metafictional crime novel, The Woman in the Library.

Jul 25, 2022•54 min

Meet the 2022 Miles Franklin Shortlist

Ahead of the announcement of the winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia's most prestigious book prize, join the shortlisted authors Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Michelle De Kretser, Jennifer Down, Alice Pung and Michael Winkler to find out about their writing rituals, the importance of place in their fiction and how their novels speak to Australia now.

Jul 18, 2022•54 min

'I guess I'm a weirdo' — Benjamin Myers on crop circles and being a loner

British author Benjamin Myers says he likes to be on the margins as a writer and his latest novel, The Perfect Golden Circle, is about the crop circles that appeared in 1989 in the English countryside and explores the type of people who created them. Also Ceridwen Dovey and Eliza Bell explain their genre-bending book, Mothertongues and Noongar author, Claire G Coleman's mysterious and unsettling book, Enclave, set in a walled Australian city.

Jul 11, 2022•54 min

Anita Heiss, Tony Birch and SJ Norman grapple with the past

For NAIDOC Week, three Aboriginal writers who are grappling with the past: Anita Heiss takes the 1852 Gundagai flood as the starting point for her novel Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray, Tony Birch explores his family history in Dark as Last Night and SJ Norman's, Permafrost, a collection of haunted short stories.

Jul 04, 2022•54 min

'They're about real things' — Madeline Miller on the popularity of Greek myths

American author Madeline Miller has found a new audience for her prize winning novel Circe on #BookTok and now she has a new offering based on Greek mythology called Galatea. Also, Lauren Chater's real life inspiration for her third historical novel, The Winter Dress and Carrie Cox asks whether relationships are really meant to go the distance in her latest novel, So Many Beats of the Heart.

Jun 27, 2022•54 min

'I got obsessed with horses' — Geraldine Brooks on her novel Horse

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brookes says she "didn't grow up as a horse obsessed girl" but rather her interest in horses was a result of a midlife crisis which led her to the history of a famous American thoroughbred that was the inspiration for her latest novel, simply called Horse. Also, John Purcell talks about his second official novel, The Lessons, and reveals his brief career writing erotica and Karen Manton explains the inspiration for her evocative novel, The Curlew's Eye, se...

Jun 20, 2022•54 min

Meg Mason's surprise success with Sorrow and Bliss

Meg Mason thought her second novel, Sorrow and Bliss wouldn't be published, it was and is now shortlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction, which will be announced this week. Also Australian writer Ennis Ćehić on his playful collection, Sadvertising, and American writer Leila Motley's debut novel, Nightcrawling, which she wrote at just 17.

Jun 13, 2022•54 min

'I wish I’d had more resolution of character' — Booker winner Damon Galgut on privilege and power

Booker-winning writer Damon Galgut wasn’t always aware of his privilege, growing up as a white man in South Africa. Instead, he describes a ‘slow-shifting of consciousness’, that culminated in The Promise, a book he calls ‘my most South African novel'. Also, The Rosie Project author, Graeme Simsion, gives a tour of his writing space and Hilde Hinton on her second novel, A Solitary Walk on the Moon.

Jun 06, 2022•54 min

Lessons in life, mortality and love from Julian Barnes

British Booker winner Julian Barnes's latest novel, Elizabeth Finch, is about a life-changing teacher and he tells the audience at the Sydney Writers Festival that "you become a writer by not being the child of a writer".

May 30, 2022•54 min