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© Historical Novel Society Australasia
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The Imagining the Past podcast series is brought to you by the Historical Novel Society Australasia. We feature authors appearing at our biennial conferences or have been recognised in our $150,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Our HNSA hosts, Greg Johnston and Kelly Gardiner, discuss researching, writing and publishing historical fiction with acclaimed writers of the genre in its many forms from crime to fantasy to literary fiction, set in eras stretching from ancient times to the Swinging Sixties, and for readers of all ages.
Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on our writing programs and the ARA Historical Novel Prize. #writing #history #historicalfiction #fiction #books #podcast
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Our hosts
Greg (G.S. )Johnston is the author of three historical novels – Sweet Bitter Cane (2019), The Cast of a Hand (2015), and The Skin of Water (2012), and a fourth novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, Consumption (2011). After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels. He is the Treasurer of HNSA.
Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction for all ages. Her latest series is The Firewatcher Chronicles. Her other books include Goddess, based on the life of Mademoiselle de Maupin; 1917: Australia’s Great War, shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize and Asher Award; the Swashbuckler pirate trilogy; and a picture book, Billabong Bill’s Bushfire Christmas. Her young adult novels Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, were both shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, while Act of Faith was shortlisted for the ASA’s Barbara Jefferis Award.
Our HNSA hosts, Greg Johnston and Kelly Gardiner, discuss researching, writing and publishing historical fiction with acclaimed writers of the genre in its many forms from crime to fantasy to literary fiction, set in eras stretching from ancient times to the Swinging Sixties, and for readers of all ages.
Subscribe to our newsletter for updates on our writing programs and the ARA Historical Novel Prize. #writing #history #historicalfiction #fiction #books #podcast
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Our hosts
Greg (G.S. )Johnston is the author of three historical novels – Sweet Bitter Cane (2019), The Cast of a Hand (2015), and The Skin of Water (2012), and a fourth novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, Consumption (2011). After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels. He is the Treasurer of HNSA.
Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction for all ages. Her latest series is The Firewatcher Chronicles. Her other books include Goddess, based on the life of Mademoiselle de Maupin; 1917: Australia’s Great War, shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize and Asher Award; the Swashbuckler pirate trilogy; and a picture book, Billabong Bill’s Bushfire Christmas. Her young adult novels Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, were both shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, while Act of Faith was shortlisted for the ASA’s Barbara Jefferis Award.
85 Episodes
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Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.In early December 2025, Shelley Dark launched her second novel, Son of Hydra, with book coach Hayley Saunders at the Noosa Library.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.Alexandria Burnham’s debut novel, Swallow, through Westwords Publication, was launched by Lauren Chater at the HNSA History Unbound Festival dinner, held in Parramatta in November 2025. www.westwords.com.au/product/swallow/
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.Wendy J. Dunn launched her new novel, Shades of Yellow, on November 15th, 2025, at Eltham Library in Melbourne. Dr Anne Casey gave an enthusiastic invocation, followed by Wendy’s response and reading from the novel.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Konrad Muller’s debut novel, My Heart at Evening, is published by a new imprint, Evercreech Editions. In November 2025, Konrad chatted with Rodney Croome at the Devonport Library about the novel’s recreation of the final days of colonial surveyor, artist and amateur botanist Henry Hellyer.
https://www.evercreecheditions.com/shop
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Nicole Alexander travelled a long and winding road to promote her new novel, The Limestone Road. In September, she spoke with Goondiwindi Shire Councillor Susie Kelly at the Goondiwindi Library.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Death at Booroomba is Alison Booth’s ninth novel, a deeply evocative historical whodunnit. It was launched at Gleebooks in Sydney in September 2025. Published through Ventura Press, Jane Curry was the session's convener.
Greg Johnston chats with Jane Harrison about her novel, The Visitors, and its long and winding road to being long-listed for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Greg Johnston chats to Beverley McWilliams about her second CYA novel, Spies in the Sky, which flew into first place in the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize – CYA category.
Greg Johnston chats to Mary-Lou Stephens about her tryptic of Tasmanian novels, all centred around various foods, The Last of the Apple Blossom, The Chocolate Factory, and The Jam Maker.
Greg Johnston chats with David Shield. His manuscript, Blind Dragon, won the 2024 Elizabeth Jane Corbet Mentorship Contest. The young adult novel is set in 17C Japan, rich in details and the drama of the period.
Greg Johnston chats to Stephen Daisley. Originally from New Zealand’s North Island, his first novel, Traitor, won the 2011 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. Coming Rain won the Ockham Prize in 2015. A Better Place was long-listed for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Host Greg Johnston chats with Catherine McKinnon. Her 2017 novel, Storyland, was shortlisted for five literary awards, including, in 2018, the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the Barbara Jefferis Award and the Voss Literary Prize. Her second novel, the complex and textured To Sing of War, was long-listed for the 2024 ARA Hist Novel Prize adult category and highly commended.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.
Greg Johnston chats with Rebecca Lim, an award-winning Australian writer, illustrator, editor and author of over twenty books. Her work has been shortlisted for many awards, including the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and the Queensland Literary Awards. Her CYA novel, Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky, was shortlisted for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.
Greg Johnston chats with Natasha Lester, a New York Times bestselling author. Her novels The Paris Seamstress, The French Photographer, The Paris Secret and The Riviera House, have been translated into many different languages and are published all around the world. The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard was long-listed for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.
Does time run in a straight line? Is history needed to give context to a futuristic novel? Can traditional cultures be highlighted through melding speculative and historical fiction together? What limits should be placed on a genre when encompassing past, present and future? All these questions and more will be explored by Ally Burnham with authors Gina Cole, Jennifer Mills and Kate Mildenhall.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.
How does an author's profession (outside their role as a novelist) inform their books? Cecilia Rice will explore with Leah Kaminsky (a doctor), Alison Booth (an economist and academic) and Sue Williams (a journalist) whether switching ‘right and left’ brains impacts their research and writing. What led them to historical fiction? And what strengths or weaknesses do their 'day jobs' afford them as authors.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.
Fine art, luxury jewellery, espionage, royal scandal and danger. Alexandra Joel, Christine Wells and Belinda Alexandra are expert in interweaving the intrigue of past lives into novels set in cities such as Paris, New York and Cairo. Diane Murray asks what inspired their stories, what methods they use to tease out their mysteries, and the challenges encountered when portraying time periods within living memory.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great and small, are greatly appreciated.
Author Kim Kelly interviews Judy Nunn on her love for historical fiction which have encompassed stories across diverse eras from colonial periods, WW2, the Cold War to more modern times. Her most recent novel, Showtime, features a showdown between rival entrepreneurs in 1880s Melbourne with comedy, tragedy, passion and betrayal; economic depression, the Black Death and the horrors of World War One waiting in the wings.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Kelly Rimmer, Victoria Purman and Nicole Alexander have conjured various characters across their many books. Greg Johnston examines their inspiration for key characters, the methods used to fully develop them, whether unexpected plot twists arose when placing them in predicaments, and if their creations took on a life of their own once delivered to readers.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Mirandi Riwoe's The Sunbirds tests the identities and loyalties between Dutch and Indonesians in colonial Java on the eve of the Japanese invasion. Devika Ponnambalam's I Am Not Your Eve is an imagining of the life of Teha’amana, Paul Gaugin's Tahitian 'child-bride'.
Both authors join Elisabeth Storrs in discussing the complexities of bringing alternative perspectives to previously Euro-centric stories, and the research challenges experienced in delving deeper into such histories.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
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