The Book Show

Celebrated British-Turkish author Elif Shafak follows a single drop of water through history in her novel There are Rivers in the Sky, Kaliane Bradley on her bestseller The Ministry of Time which has attracted Barack Obama's attention and Nicola Moriarty's latest domestic drama Every Last Suspect.Elif Shafak is a British-Turkish author and activist. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World and for the Women's Prize for her novel, The Island of Missing Trees. Her new novel, There are Rivers in the Sky, is an epic in which three key stories are connected by raindrops, rivers and water. The Ministry of Time by British-Cambodian author Kaliane Bradley is listed on former US president Barack Obama annual summer reading list this year. It's a time travel novel in which a handful of (mostly) fictional historical characters who've been transplanted from their time period to a near future England. It's about love, refugees, bureaucracy and the doomed Franklin Arctic expedition.The Moriarty sisters — Liane, Jaclyn and Nicola — are a powerhouse family in Australian publishing. Each sister is a successful author in their own right, including the youngest Nicola. In her latest family drama, Every Last Suspect, as a woman lies dying she decides to use her final moments to figure out who did it.

Meena Kandasamy is an Indian born poet, novelist, rebel and activist who's been threatened and harassed for her writing. From the Byron Writers Festival she explains why she keeps going despite the threats.  She is also celebrated for her innovative approach to storytelling. Her debut novel The Gypsy Goddess (2015) was about the 1968 massacre of Dalit agricultural workers. Her book When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife is about her own experience of domestic violence. Her latest work is a collection of poetry called Tomorrow Someone Will Arrest You. She told Claire Nichols about the importance of ego as a writer, her family background raised in a house of academics and rebels and the challenge of being an activist. 

Award-winning author Evie Wyld on her new book The Echoes, and why there are so many sharks in her fiction. Plus, Catherine McKinnon's epic war novel To Sing of War and Jordan Prosser's band road trip novel, Big Time.Evie Wyld is one of the few Australian writers to win both the Miles Franklin and the Stella Prizes (the Miles for All the Birds, Singing, and the Stella for The Bass Rock). She is drawn to the paranormal and gothic in her fiction and this atmosphere imbues her new book, The Echoes, which is partly narrated by a ghost. Evie shares her go to writing tip (yes, it has to do with sharks) and the appeal of the TV series Neighbours when she was growing up in England.Catherine McKinnon is a playwright, critic and novelist. Her second novel Storyland was shortlisted for the 2018 Miles Franklin. Catherine's third book, To Sing of War, is set during World War 2 and asks what makes this war different. It's a braided story that threads multiple perspectives from characters in different places, including the Australians fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea and those developing of the atomic bomb in New Mexico, USA.Big Time is the debut novel from Australian screenwriter-turned novelist Jordan Prosser. It's a band road trip story set in a futuristic, fascist Australia where a popular drug gives users a glimpse of their future.August is Australian Poetry Month and to celebrate Radio National is bringing you brand new poems commissioned by Red Room Poetry. Laura Panopoulos is a Tasmanian-based poet who also runs Silver Words, a monthly open mic spoken word event in Hobart. Laura's poem is called Perimeter of Rectangles. For more information about Poetry Month, visit Red Room Poetry.

Booker Prize shortlisted Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma joined Claire Nichols at Byron Writers Festival to discuss his latest novel The Road to the Country about civil war in Nigeria.Now based in the US, Chigozie Obioma's first two novels The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019) were shortlisted for The Booker Prize. His third novel The Road to the Country is about the Biafran War that tore through Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. At the Byron Writers Festival, he reflected on the idea imparted by his mother that 'stories of war are never complete', why she hasn't read his book and tells Claire Nichols what it was like growing up in a large family. 

For Science Week, The Book Show goes intergalactic in a star themed episode. Ceridwen Dovey, Alicia Sometimes, Nardi Simpson, Max Barry and Emily St John Mandel explore how celestial tales reveal deep truths about our lives on earth.From the fabulously weird stories about space junk in Only the Astronauts (Ceridwen Dovey) to the star dust fuelled poetry of Stellar Atmospheres (Alicia Sometimes) we pay tribute to the connections between the night sky and literature.Books and authors mentioned:Song of the Crocodile by Nardi SimpsonOnly the Astronauts by Ceridwen DoveyStellar Atmospheres by Alicia SometimesProvidence by Max BarrySea of Tranquillity by Emily St John Mandel

Hollywood star Keanu Reeves and British science fiction author China Miéville reveal how they collaborated to to write the novel The Book of Elsewhere. Plus, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, author of Fleishman Is In Trouble and Indigenous Australian author, Anita Heiss.The Book of Elsehwere (Del Rey) is based on a comic book series that Keanu Reeves developed called BRZRKR. It's gory and it's novelisation by science fiction guru China Miéville is just as gory. Claire finds how how and why they worked together on this project.New York writer, Taffy Brodesser-Akner talks about the difficult second novel. She had a dream run with her debut, Fleishman Is in Trouble, which was longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction and was adapted to the screen. Her second novel, Long Island Compromise (Wildfire), is the saga of the Fletcher family who are a rich, Jewish family that has lived through an unimaginable ordeal and come out the other side, or have they?And Indigenous Australian author Anita Heiss has a new work of historical fiction called Dirrayawadha which is centred around the Wiradjuri Wars. These were the violent conflicts in and around Bathhurst between the Wiradjuri people and white settlers in the 1800s.

Alexis Wright is the 2024 winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel Praiseworthy. She makes history as the only writer to have won both the Stella and Miles Franklin awards twice each.Alexis first won the Miles Franklin in 2007 for her epic novel Carpentaria. Like that novel, Praiseworthy (Giramondo) - which also won the 2024 Stella Prize - is an epic told on a grand scale. It's about a fictional town, a haze cloud, injustice, Indigenous land rights, global warming, and donkeys. Alexis told Claire Nichols that there's "a lot of nutrition in a good story" and in this pod extra, she explains her vision for Australian fiction and why writing this novel was daunting. Listen to The Book Show's guide to the Miles Franklin shortlist here. 

Samantha Shannon has such power as a bestselling writer that she's reissued her fantasy Bone Season series with new edits. In a revealing conversation she tells Claire Nichols what it takes to reach such heights.Samantha Shannon was just 20 when she won a six-figure publishing deal for this series. She also has another series on the go called Roots of Chaos which begins with the bestselling The Priory of the Orange Tree.Samantha Shannon spoke to Claire Nichols at the recent Sydney Writers Festival to find out how she's navigated being published from such a young age, the challenge of being compared to J.K. Rowling and the influence of the film DragonHeart on her beginnings as a fantasy author. 

'Flabbergasted' and 'surprised' — ahead of the winner announcement, the Miles Franklin shortlisted writers tell you about their books and what it means to be on the shortlist.The Miles Franklin is the most prestigious writing prize in Australia and is awarded to a novel of "the highest literary merit that presents Australian life in any of its phases".This year's shortlisted works cover themes of art, obsession, colonialism, time, fathers, and the self.These are the authors - and their books - in contention for the $60 000 prize:Hossein Asgari, Only Sound Remains (Puncher & Wattmann)Jen Craig, Wall (Puncher & Wattmann)Andre Dao, Anam (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin Random House)Gregory Day, The Bell of the World (Transit Lounge)Sanya Rushdi, Hospital (Giramondo Publishing)Alexis Wright, Praiseworthy (Giramondo Publishing)

American author R.O. Kwon's novel, Exhibit, explores the taboo topic of female desire; Jenny Ackland exacts feminist revenge in Hurdy Gurdy and Jessie Tu's Honeyeater is a story of translation and miscommunication.Korean-born, American author R.O. Kwon is not afraid of topic topics. She's behind the bestselling 2018 novel The Incendiaries and is co-editor of a story collection called Kink. Her new novel Exhibit is about two women who run deep with desire and find in each other a way to get what they want. Reese explains why this novel was such a challenge to write.Hurdy Gurdy is the third novel by Melbourne writer Jenny Ackland whose previous novel Little Gods was shortlisted for the Stella Prize. Hurdy Gurdy imagines a future Australia ravaged by climate change and poverty and follows an all-female travelling circus while a conservative preacher trails them with his warmings of fire and brimstone. Jenny shows off her writing space to The Book Show where she also records her podcast My Mum's Bad Diaries.Continuing the theme of female desire, Jessie Tu made a splash with her debut novel A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing which centred a young woman and her various desires. Jessie's new novel The Honeyeater is about a young translator, her complicated relationship with her mum and an even more complicated relationship with a married man. Jessie shares why she was thinking about her mother while writing this book. 

For NAIDOC week, Indigenous speculative fiction author Claire G Coleman chats to Dylan Coleman about her novel Mazin Grace republished as a UQP First Nations Classic. Also, Ali Cobby Eckermann and Graham Akhurst speak about their latest books.Ali Cobby Eckermann is a Yankunytjatjara woman, a member of the stolen generations, and one of Australia's major living poets. In 2017 she was awarded the Windham Campbell prize which is the richest writing prize in the world. She discusses her latest verse novel, She is The Earth which is a story of recovery amongst nature. It's also an award winner and at the 2024 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards it won the Indigenous Writers Prize and the overall Book of the Year. This interview was first published in 2023.Claire G Coleman is a writer of essays and non-fiction and is the author of three genre bending novels — Terra Nullius, The Old Lie and Enclave. Most recently, Claire has written the introduction to the novel Mazin Grace by Dylan Coleman which was first published in 2011 and has just been republished as part of the UQP First Nations Classics series. Claire G Coleman finds out more about the background to Dylan Coleman's novel.Graham Akhurst is an academic, Fulbright scholar and Kokomini writer and his debut YA novel Borderland (UWAP) is a thriller about an Indigenous teen who has visions of a terrifying dog man. He tells Sarah L'Estrange about the extensive sensitivity reading he commissioned for his novel. This interview was first published in 2023.

Australian writers Bri Lee and Liam Pieper's latest novels expose the unholy connection between money, art and power.Bri Lee is the author of the bestselling 2018 memoir Eggshell Skull and she's the author of two other works of non-fiction, Who Gets to Be Smart and Beauty. Her debut novel The Work is about two characters who represent old and new art but who become embroiled in scandal and controversy.Liam Pieper is the author of five books including his memoir The Feel Good Hit of the Year and his novels The Toymaker and Sweetness and Light. He's also a ghostwriter. His latest novel is Appreciation and it's a satire about a darling of the art scene who is cancelled and is encouraged to resurrect his career by writing a memoir.They spoke to Sarah L'Estrange at Melbourne Writers' Festival 2024.Journalist Molly Schmidt shares her coming-of-age debut novel Salt River Road (Fremantle Press) which is about two siblings dealing with grief and loss. Molly Schmidt won the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award for an unpublished manuscript. This interview was first published in 2023.

Weddings of the ultra-rich get the Kevin Kwan treatment in his novel Lies and Weddings, Siang Lu's ambitious and complicated novel Ghost Cities and West Australian author Annie de Monchaux's surprising link to Hollywood.Kevin Kwan is the author behind the juggernaut trilogy that began with Crazy Rich Asians which explored the lives of the ultra-ultra rich. His new book is called Lies and Weddings and it's travel-in-a-book as you follow the ultra rich to weddings around the world. Siang Lu is the author of the silly but serious novel The Whitewash which was a satire, presented as an oral history, about the making of a disastrous movie. Siang's second novel is Ghost Cities and it's equally ambitious, complicated and fun as it weaves between a storyline set in the modern day and another set in ancient China.And meet West Australian author Annie de Monchaux. Her first novel Audrey's Gone AWOL takes inspiration from the older women in Annie's own life and the years she has spent living in France.

Two authors at the top of their game: Booker Prize winner Paul Lynch reveals how his award winning novel Prophet Song came into being and Booker longlisted author Karen Jennings' complicated love letter to South Africa.The Irish writer Paul Lynch is the reigning Booker winner and won the prize for his beautiful, brutal fifth novel Prophet Song. It's about a civil war in modern-day Ireland that has echoes with other conflicts around the world. Paul Lynch tells Claire Nichols that he wants readers to be transported by his fiction and why his biggest fear as a writer is mediocrity.South African author Karen Jennings shares her hopes for the future of the rainbow nation. Crooked Seeds is Karen's seventh book and follows her 2021 Booker Prize longlisted novel An Island. In Crooked Seeds, she paints a portrait of a crumbling country. The main character - a middle aged white woman - feels like she's been left behind since the historic 1994 elections that brought an end to Apartheid. She's bitter and resentful and can only move forward by confronting the past.

Jeanette Winterson asks how AI will give new meaning to ghost stories and Kate Grenville reflects on a lifetime of writing and how accepting failure has been key to her success.Jeanette Winterson is best known for her novels Oranges are Not the Only Fruit, The Stone Gods and Frankissstein. Her long fascination with mortality, religion and technology have come together in a new book of short stories, Night Side of the River (Jonathan Cape), which considers what technology might mean for the future of ghost stories. First broadcast 2 October 2023Celebrated Australian author Kate Grenville (Secret River, A Room Made of Leaves) won the prestigious Orange Prize for her novel The Idea of Perfection in 2001, that prize is now called the Women's Prize for Fiction and Kate is again shortlisted for the award with her latest novel, Restless Dolly Maunder (Text), her fictional biography of her grandmother. Producer, Sarah L'Estrange visited Kate in her Melbourne worker's cottage to discuss her writing career. First broadcast 21 August 2023