This is a very special instalment of the podcast, as we have not one, not two nor three, but four interviews with four award winners – the 2024 winners of the four categories of The Reading Prize. First presented in 2014, The Readings Prize supports new and outstanding Australian voices across three separate categories of fiction: Children’s, Young Adult and New Australian Fiction. The Readings Prize is unique in the Australian literary landscape as it’s the only prize currently run by an independent bookshop and supporting emerging Australian voices. Winners of each category are awarded $5000 and the winner of the Gab Williams Prize, which is judged by the Readings Teen Advisory Board, wins $1000. To celebrate The Readings Prize in 2024 we have brought together short interviews with each of the winners and the respective Chair of Judges for your listening pleasure.

In this episode, we have a recording taken from the launch of Follow Your Gut, with co-creators Briony Barr & Gregory Crocetti, writers Lisa Stinson & Ailsa Wild and illustrator Ben Hutchings. In this graphic novel, one meets the ecosystem inside them ... A timid Bifidobacterium named Biffy is forced to leave their family and become part of a new community, in the gut of a newborn human baby. Follow Your Gut is a comic that ate a biology textbook. It's an epic adventure set over the first three years of a new life, exploring one of the most important relationships you will ever have - the one with your gut microbiome.

A new instalment of The Comics Question, a series where Bernard Caleo and I discuss comics, graphic novels, and all manner of illustrated books, zines, and other associated productions. In this episode, Bernard spoke with Li Chen, author and illustrator of the graphic novel Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat.

In this episode, a recording taken from the launch of Emma Hakansson’s Sub-Human. The book delves into what it means to be an animal, how our view of other animals impacts our view of other people, oppressions, and the planet, how we got here, as well as how we can move forward together. The event was opened with a launching speech by Georgie Purcell MP of the Animal Justice Party, followed by a reading from Emma Hakansson, and audience questions.

In this episode, Andy McCarthy, author of Here Comes the Sun, in conversation. Misunderstood, tormented and bullied for years, Andy McCarthy was unable to find his pack. When he dropped out in Year 10, his prospects weren't good. He had no idea then that his personal drive and dogged determination would lead to incredible success. At 19, Andy connected his first solar panel and suddenly found himself powered by a purpose: to accelerate the world's transition to renewable energy. Where best to make that happen? Coal country, and a place that has provided Victoria with most of its energy for a century, the Latrobe Valley. From tiny beginnings in his home garage, Andy overcame a tide of ridicule, setbacks and opposition to build one of Australia's largest employers in the renewable energy sector: Gippsland Solar.

In this episode, Jordan Prosser, author of Big Time, in conversation. The book is set in a not-too distant future Australia, where the eastern states have become the world's newest autocracy – a place where pop music is propaganda, science is the enemy, nationalism trumps all, and moral indecency is punishable by indefinite detention. Big Time is an anti-fascist ode to the power of pop music and a satire about art in the face of entropy, all wrapped up in an unforgettable road trip. Jordan Prosser was joined in conversation by Jacinta Parsons, broadcaster and author of Unseen and A Question of Age. To introduce, here's the publisher of Big Time, Aviva Tuffield of University of Queensland Press.

In this episode, returning guest, Sarah Street, author of A Curse of Salt, in conversation to discuss their new book, A Sea of Wolves. The book is billed as a sapphic romantasy inspired by Little Red Riding Hood. It features an enemies-to-lovers fairytale twist set upon the stormy seas. It’s perfect for fans of Lies We Sing to the Sea and Marissa Meyer. Sarah Street is interviewed by Lucie Dess, the Readings Marketing and Events Coordinator.

In this episode, a conversation with Paul Ham, author of The Soul: A History of the Human Mind. Almost everyone thinks they have a soul, but nobody knows quite what it is. For thousands of years the soul was an 'organ', an entity, something that was part of all of us, that survived the death of the body and ventured to the underworld, or to heaven or hell. The soul could be saved, condemned, tortured, bought. And then, mysteriously, the 'soul' disappeared. The Enlightenment called it the 'mind'. And today, neuroscientists demonstrate that the mind is the creation of the brain. The 'religious soul' lives on, in the minds of the faithful, while the secular 'soul' means whatever you want it to mean. In The Soul: A History of the Human Mind critically acclaimed historian Paul Ham embarks on a journey that has never been attempted: to restore the idea of the soul to the human story and to show how belief in, and beliefs arising from, the soul/mind have animated and driven the history of humankind. The Soul is much more than a mesmerising narrative and uniquely accessible way of explaining our story. It transforms our understanding of how history works. It persuasively demonstrates that the beliefs of the soul/mind are the engines of human history. Paul Ham was interviewed by Mark Rubbo, chairman of Readings. I hope you enjoy their conversation.

In this episode, a conversation with Khin Myint, author of a new memoir, Fragile Creatures. Khin's sister Theda has a strange illness and a euthanasia drug locked in a box under her bed. Her doctor thinks her problem is purely physical, and so does she, but Khin is not so sure. He knows what they both went through growing up in Perth - it wasn't welcoming back then for a Burmese-Australian family. With Theda's condition getting worse, Khin heads off to the United States. He needs to sort things out with his ex-partner. Once there, events take a very odd turn, and he finds himself in court. This is a family story told with humour, wonderment and complete honesty. It's about care, truth and the hardest choices - and what happens when realities clash. How do we balance responsibility for others with what we owe ourselves?

In this episode, recorded live at Readings Carlton, a talk and a Q&A session with public intellectual and widely published author Clive Hamilton. Hamilton’s most recent book is Living Hot, a collaborative effort written with George Wilkenfeld. The book tells the blunt truth about our current climate change predicament: it’s time to get cracking on making Australia resilient to intensifying climate extremes. If we prepare well, we can give ourselves a fighting chance to preserve some of the best of what we have, build stronger and fairer communities, find a path through the escalating pressures of a warming world – and even find new ways to flourish.

In this episode, a conversation with Emma Kowal, anthropologist and physician and author of the book Haunting Biology: Science and Indigeneity in Australia. The book recounts the troubled history of Western biological studies and Indigenous Australians. The stories Kowal tells feature a variety of ghostly presences: a dead anatomist, a fetishised piece of hair hidden away in a war trunk, and an elusive white Indigenous person. By linking this history to the contemporary moment, Kowal outlines the fraught complexities, perils and potentials of studying Indigenous biological difference in the twenty-first century.

In this episode, something a little different, and a little bit special. Recorded live at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne, author and literary columnist Jane Sullivan interviewed Mark Rubbo, legendary bookseller, past president of the Australian Booksellers Association, and founding chair of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Of course, Mark Rubbo is also chairman of Readings, formerly Managing Director.

In this episode, a conversation with Francesca de Tores, author of Saltblood. The book is a work of historical fiction; it is a wild adventure, a treasure trove, and it weaves an intoxicating tale of gender and survival, passion and loss, journeys and transformation, through the story of Mary Read, a truly remarkable historical figure.

A new instalment of the Readings Kids Podcast. In this episode, Readings Prize and Readings Foundation coordinator Angela Crocombe – who is also senior buyer for Readings Kids – was joined by members of the Teen Advisory Board for a discussion with author Lili Wilkinson. Wilkinson is the award-winning author of nineteen books for young people, including The Erasure Initiative and A Hunger of Thorns. She has a PhD from the University of Melbourne, and is a passionate advocate for YA and the young people who read it, establishing the Inky Awards at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. Her latest book is Deep is the Fen.

In today’s episode, a conversation with Rebecca Strating and Joanne Wallis, authors of Girt By Sea: Re-Imagining Australia’s Security. Australia has drawn closer to many of its Asia-Pacific neighbours in recent years, but 'when push comes to shove, it continues to look well beyond the oceans and regions that surround it to the distant horizons of Europe and North America for its ultimate security guarantee'. In Girt by Sea, international-relations experts Strating and Wallis instead turn their gazes to Australia's near region, focusing on the six maritime domains central to its national interests: the north seas.

In this episode, a recording taken from the launch of Judith Bishop’s Circadia. These fiercely empathetic poems range deep into the woods of present, past and future time. With visionary imagination and rapt musicality, this concluding volume in Bishop's award-winning trilogy on time sings in the mind long after reading.

In this episode, a conversation with Stuart Kells, author of the new book, Alice(TM). This book is the extraordinary story of Alice Corporation, a company created to reimagine financial markets, that brings together an unlikely cast of characters: renowned author Kate Jennings, international banking insider Ian Shepherd, Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, German-born World War II historian Sigrid MacRae, J.P. Morgan deputy chair Roberto Mendoza - and his dog, Stanley.

In this episode, a conversation with Anna Downes, author of the crime novels The Safe Place, The Shadow House, and now, Red River Road. In this new book, set on the Coral Coast of Western Australia, solo traveller Katy is on a mission to find her free-spirited sister, Phoebe, who disappeared along the same route a year ago. But as she drives her campervan further into the wild north, Katy realises she's not as alone as she'd first believed. Soon she is pulled into a complicated web of secrets, lies, myths and stories that force her to question everything she thought she knew about her sister. Downes was joined in conversation by Kate Mildenhall, author of the acclaimed novels Skylarking, The Mother Fault, and The Hummingbird Effect.

In this episode, a conversation with Manisha Anjali, a writer, artist, and teacher, and author of 'Naag Mountain'. This book is a journey across oceans, from the Asian subcontinent to the South Seas, a journey about human trafficking on sugar plantations in Fiji and Australia. Anjali brings to life the histories and events, the stories and myths of a displaced and exploited people, that have been lost in time or forgotten or hidden from view. Anjali was joined in conversation by Izzy Roberts-Orr, a poet, playwright, broadcaster, arts worker, and a Creative Producer with Red Room Poetry.

In this episode, a conversation with Ouyang Yu, author, translator, academic, and renowned poet. Ouyang Yu’s first collection of stories in English, The White Cockatoo Flowers, is both assured and tender and at times surprisingly funny. It includes stories set in China and Australia that revel in the truth and candour of lived experience and the joys and constraints of language. In this book Ouyang Yu deftly peels back the layers on what it means to move from one culture to another, and what it means to be a writer, a husband, a parent and a stranger on foreign and familiar ground. Ouyang Yu was joined in conversation by Alice Pung, a writer and editor whose books include the memoirs Unpolished Gem, Her Father's Daughter, and the novel Laurinda.

In this episode, a conversation with Winnie Dunn – a Tongan-Australian writer, editor, the General Manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement, and now author of the novel Dirt Poor Islanders. Dunn’s book is a potent, mesmerising novel that opens our eyes to the brutal fractures navigated when growing up between two cultures and the importance of understanding all the many pieces of yourself. Winnie Dunn was joined in conversation at Readings Carlton by Evelyn Araluen, poet and literary editor. Araluen’s first book, Dropbear, won the 2022 Stella Prize.

In today’s episode, a conversation with Amanda Hampson, author of the runaway crime novel success, The Tea Ladies. Hampson has returned with a sequel, The Cryptic Clue. It’s set in Zig Zag Lane, in the heart of Sydney's rag-trade district, where our intrepid tea ladies, Hazel, Betty and Irene, have their work cut out. Solving a murder, kidnapping and arson case, and outwitting an arch criminal, earned them the respect of a local police officer. Now he needs their assistance to help solve a plot that threatens national security.

In this episode, a conversation with award-winning writer Steven Carroll, author of Death of a Foreign Gentleman, the first book in a series of post-war literary crime novels featuring Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter. Set in Cambridge in 1947, the book is a playful, poignant and absorbing novel, with shades of The Third Man and Brighton Rock, which examines the question of how to live a meaningful life in an indifferent, random, post-God world.

A new instalment of the Readings Kids Podcast. This episode features some of the members of the Readings Teen Advisory Board engaging in conversation with Tobias Madden, author of the books Anything But Fine and Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell. Madden’s third YA novel, Wrong Answers Only, was recently published in Australia.

In this episode, a conversation with Victoria Vanstone, author of the new memoir, A Thousand Wasted Sundays. The book follows her journey from casual teen drinking to black-outs, boozed-up play dates to learning to live without her reliable social crutch. But it’s not a tale of misery and trauma, it’s the relatable story of a very normal woman with a very ordinary, socially acceptable drinking habit – and how therapy, and the support of her husband and friends eventually lead her to lasting sobriety and a new perspective on life.

In this episode, a conversation with author Sandra Goldbloom Zurbo, recorded live at the launch of her memoir, My Father’s Shadow. Zurbo grew up in thrall to her father, a prominent antiwar activist, brilliant political organiser and covert member of the Communist Party. She adopted his beliefs from an early age, becoming a supporter of the Soviet Union and a peace campaigner. She travelled with him, meeting figures such as Indonesian president Sukarno, and greeted Paul Robeson and North Korean delegates with him at home. But her father could be withholding and difficult. He had a sharp backhand and was not always a faithful husband.  When Sandra entered adulthood and began to navigate a patriarchal world of work and relationships, she came to question aspects of her father’s worldview. As the communist ideals of the Left were tested and faltered over the Soviet Union, the mood of the times gradually shifted to embrace the counterculture. Sandra, living and working amid the swirl of Melbourne’s arts and political scenes, absorbed ideas about women, family and Jewish culture that often led to tense conversations with her father. My Father’s Shadow is a portrait of life on the Left during a time of great social change. Lyrical, sharply observed and affecting, it is a candid exploration of the fraught dynamics between father and daughter – and, ultimately, the love that underlies them.

An instalment of The Comics Question, a series where Bernard Caleo and I discuss comics, graphic novels, and all manner of illustrated books, zines, and other associated productions. In this episode, Bernard Caleo was joined by Readings bookseller Nick Curnow to give a round-up of some of the most intriguing, beautiful, and thought-provoking comics and graphic novels from 2023. This is part two of two, so do check out the first instalment of this particular conversation.

In this episode, a conversation with journalist and author Marina Kamenev, author of Kin: Family in the 21st Century. While the nuclear family still exists, many more types of kinship surround us. Kin is an investigation into what influences us to have children and the new ways that have made parenthood possible. It delves into the experiences of couples without children, single parents by choice and rainbow families, and investigates the impacts of adoption, sperm donation, IVF and surrogacy, and the potential for a future of designer babies. Assisted reproductive technology has developed quickly, and the ways in which we think and speak about its implications — both legally and ethically — need to catch up. This book is an incisive and powerful look at how families are created today, and how they might be created in the future.

In this episode, a conversation with Samantha Harvey, author of Orbital. This is life on our planet as you’ve never seen it before: in this spellbinding and uplifting novel six astronauts rotate in the International Space Station. They are there to do vital work, but slowly they begin to wonder: what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity? Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents, and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. Samantha Harvey’s previous books include The Wilderness, All is Song, Dear Thief and The Western Wind and a work of non-fiction, The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping. Her work has been longlisted for the Booker Prize, and shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award, the Women's Prize, and the Guardian First Book Award.

In this episode, a conversation with Mykaela Saunders, author of a new collection of short stories, ‘Always Will Be’. Saunders is a Koori/Goori and Lebanese writer, teacher and researcher, and the editor of This All Come Back Now, the Aurealis Award-winning anthology of First Nations speculative fiction.  Saunders has been awarded numerous prizes for their writing, including the 2022 David Unaipon Award, and this most recent work draws from stories written from the past couple of years into a collection that poses the question: what might country, community and culture look like in the Tweed Valley if Gooris reasserted their sovereignty?

An instalment of The Comics Question, a series where Bernard Caleo and I discuss comics, graphic novels, and all manner of illustrated books, zines, and other associated productions. In this episode, Bernard Caleo was joined by Readings bookseller Nick Curnow to give a round-up of some of the most intriguing, beautiful, and thought-provoking comics and graphic novels from 2023. This is part one of two, so do subscribe to be notified when the second instalment of this particular conversation is made available.

In this episode, a conversation with Sonny Jane Wise, a trans, multiply neurodivergent & disabled public speaker, advocate and author. Wise’s most recent book, We’re All Neurodiverse, is an affirming and thoughtful guide to how and why we need to fundamentally shift our thinking about neurodivergent people. Through interviews, narratives, and the lens of their own raw experiences, they consider how current systems and structures that impact neurodivergent people are rooted in outdated capitalist and racist frameworks, and how these need to change and adapt to be neurodiversity affirming. Powerful and persuasive, this book is a clarion call for a kinder and more neurodiversity affirming society.

In this episode, a conversation with the new Executive Director and CEO of Stella, Fiona Sweet. Stella is a major voice for gender equality and cultural change in Australian literature. Founded in 2012, the organisation’s flagship program is the annual Stella Prize – a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing. Stella also delivers a suite of year-round initiatives which actively champion Australian women writers, tackle gender bias in the literary sector, and connect outstanding books with readers.

In this episode, a conversation with Jeanine Leane, Wiradjuri poet, writer and academic. Author of the acclaimed novel Purple Threads, winner of the David Unaipon Award, Leane’s poetry has also been widely awarded and commended across an extensive career as both a writer and a teacher. Her newest book, the poetry collection Gawimarra: Gathering, moves from deeply tender meditations on Country, culture and kinship, to experimental archival poems dissecting the violence and destruction of the settler-colony. This special book is the result of decades of poetic, political, and cultural work and reflection.

In this episode, a conversation with Alex and Stephanie Miller, discussing Miller’s most recent book, A Kind of Confession. The book is a secret look into Alex Miller's writing life, spanning sixty years of creativity and inspiration. As a young man in 1961 Miller left his work as a ringer in Queensland and set out to achieve his dream of becoming a serious novelist. It was not until 1988 that his first novel, Watching the Climbers on the Mountain, was published. Twelve more novels would follow, all bestsellers, many published internationally. This selection from his notebooks and letters makes it exhilaratingly evident that Miller has been devoted to finding and telling stories that are profound, substantial and entertaining, stories that capture both intellect and emotion. Miller's fascinating life is told in a personal, behind-the-scenes exploration of his struggle to become a published writer, his determination, his methods of creative thought and the sources of his inspiration. His writing, sometimes in anger and despair, sometimes with humour and joy, whether created for publication or for private meditation, is alive with ideas, moral choices, commentary, encouragement, criticism and love.

In this episode, a conversation with Damien Linnane: writer, artist, and editor of Paper Chained, an art and writing magazine for prisoners. Linnane’s memoir Raw chronicles a childhood marred by physical and sexual abuse, and a man’s subsequent search for identity in unhealthy places, such as violent gangs and the military.

In this episode, a conversation with Helen Hayward, academic, writer, and author of Home Work. When Helen Hayward had her two children in London, 25 years ago, she found looking after them easy. Loving and looking after her kids was straightforward. However loving and looking after her home was not. She had long been instructed to put her career first. So she did. Yet what to do with the mushrooming laundry by the bathroom door? And what about if she actually liked cooking? Home Work is a series of personal essays motivated by three questions.

In this episode, a conversation with Sam Sempill, chef, architect, and now author of Eat Lao: Recipes from a Lao Kitchen. The recipes in this book follow the trail of Sam's grandmother's cooking back to Lao. The food her grandmother cooked has remained a constant in Sam's life, providing her with a connection back to a country she left as a child. They celebrate the uniqueness of the Lao food tradition. Each recipe, like the scent of a signature perfume, evokes memories of a certain moment in time, and tells the story her family's journey from Lao to Australia. The recipes in this book aim to keep those memories alive and to share the unique flavours, joy and love of cooking from a Lao kitchen.

In this episode, a conversation recorded at the launch of Raimond Gaita’s Justice and Hope: Essays, Lectures and Other Writings. For more than three decades the incomparable voice of Raimond Gaita has been summoning us to new conversations that deepen our understanding of what matters most to human life and awaken the sense of our common humanity. For Gaita, we are never more fully alive than when we are fully present to one another in conversation. In a time when modes of communication tend to superficiality and self-promotion, when political debates are increasingly inured to lies and even violence, and the moral demands of dialogue give way to a torrent of competing monologues, Gaita's invitation to rediscover what genuine conversation requires of us could not be more timely. Gaita was joined in conversation by Maria Tumarkin.

In this episode, a conversation with Melbourne's favourite historian, Robyn Annear. In Corners of Melbourne, Annear takes us on an unorthodox tour of the city's streets and corners, telling stories about the events and people that have made these the most interesting places to be. In this (appropriately corner-shaped) book she will introduce you to - street-corner 'galvanisers' who offered the thrill of electric shock at threepence a time, the rude boys of the Fitzroy back streets who became the original 'larrikins' infants named for the corners on which they'd been abandoned, a rogues' gallery of unruly women, incorrigible men and runaway horses ... and, of course, the civic reprobates who discarded orange peel in the streets, to the risk of life and limb.

In this episode, a conversation with Ron Rash, author of The Caretaker. It is 1951; the close-knit community of Blowing Rock, North Carolina, does not welcome those who are different. Jacob Hampton’s wealthy parents disinherited him when he married Naomi, an uneducated hotel maid from out of town. They had bigger plans for him. Now Jacob has been called up to fight in Korea, leaving a pregnant Naomi behind. The only person he can entrust to take care of her is his lifelong friend, Blackburn Gant. The titular Caretaker, tending the local cemetery alone, is an outsider too, his appearance irrevocably altered by childhood disease. Slowly the two outcasts grow closer, their friendship blooming under small acts of kindness. Then, as they await news of Jacob’s return, a terrible, shattering act of deception derails all their lives. Ron Rash is a poet, novelist, writer of short stories, and an educator, holding the Parris Professorship in Appalachian Cultural Studies at Western Carolina University, teaching poetry and fiction. The Caretaker is his eighth novel, and he has produced four collections of poetry and numerous volumes and contributions of short stories, as well as a children’s book. Nominated for and winner of many awards across his career, he’s been twice a finalist for a PEN Faulkner award.

In this episode, a conversation with Sara M Saleh, author of the new poetry collection, The Flirtation of Girls/Ghazal el-Banat. Saleh is not only a poet; she is a human rights lawyer, and is the author of a novel, Songs for the Dead and the Living, which was published only a couple of months ago. Saleh is the daughter of Palestinian, Lebanese and Egyptian migrants, a lineage very much alive in her work, advocacy, and craft. She also co-edited the 2019 anthology Arab, Australian, Other: Stories on Race and Identity, and Saleh is the first and only poet to win both the Peter Porter Poetry Prize and the Judith Wright Poetry Prize.

In this episode, another instalment of The Comics Question, with Bernard Caleo. Bernard spoke with Steve Mushin, an industrial designer, illustrator and inventor, and, writer and illustrator of Ultrawild: an illustrated science and design book about tackling climate change with hilarious engineering ideas and extreme rewilding. Ultrawild has been created in collaboration with experts ranging from climate scientists and marine biologists to mechanical engineers and soil scientists. The book contains over 100 ludicrous sounding, scientifically possible inventions illustrated with over 1000 drawings. It’s packed with curious facts on everything from how plants and fungi share resources and the soil engineering power of megafauna, to insect and mechanical flight, high-tech microbe-powered toilets and the carbon-sequestering power of algae. Ultrawild is an optimistic book about creative thinking and the potential for change. Filled with laugh-out-loud design-ridiculousness, it aims to empower and excite a new generation of designers, scientists, engineers and wild thinkers.

In this episode, a conversation with cheese experts Ellie and Sam Studd, authors of The Best Things In Life Are Cheese. In this new book, they share their wealth of knowledge and all the practical info you need to up your cheese game, guiding you through the key categories of cheese – from blues and washed rinds to fresh cheeses such as mozzarella – telling the story of each, explaining how they are made and sharing tasting notes for their favourite cheeses in each category.

In this episode, a conversation with Charlie Porter, author of Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion. In this book, Porter brings us face to face with six members of the Bloomsbury Group, a collective of artists and thinkers who were in the vanguard of a social and sartorial vision. As Porter carefully unpicks what they wore and how they wore it, we see how clothing can be a means of artistic, intellectual and sexual liberation, or, conversely, a tool for patriarchal control.

In this episode, The Dominatrix Next Door: when a cash-strapped single mother of two in suburban Melbourne has a fun idea to start a side hustle running workshops for hens' parties, she has no idea it will lead her on a surreal adventure (or twenty) through the underground world of kink clubs and swingers' parties. Nor does she know that it will bring her out on the other end as one of Australia's most recognised Dominatrixes. Mistress Jane has penned a memoir that is both a salacious tell-all and a love letter to Melbourne's BDSM community. Complete with celebrity encounters, exciting opportunities, and lessons in kink, love, and parenthood, she shows us how having multiple identities is not only possible, but incredible, and that some mums really are superheroes – they might just use their rope and masks in a different way than you'd expect.

In this episode of The Comics Question, Bernard Caleo interviews Sarah Firth on the topic of Eventually Everything Connects. Eventually Everything Connects is Firth's debut graphic novel, a collection of interconnected visual essays created over eight years. Firth invites you into her wild mind as she explores ways to see with fresh eyes, to face the inevitability of change, and to find freedom in sensuality.

In this episode, hear an online conversation between Zadie Smith and Esther Anatolitis (editor of Meanjin). Smith’s new book The Fraud is a dazzling novel about truth and fiction, Jamaica and Britain, fraudulence and authenticity, and the mystery of 'other people.’ Set in late 19th century London, Smith uses the real-world Tichborne Trial as a storytelling spine. At the time, this trial captivated England. At its core, it was a trial about identity: Sir Roger Tichborne, long believed dead, arrives back in England to claim his title. The only witness called is Andrew Bogle, a former enslaved man from Jamaica. Reacting to the story is Mrs Eliza Touchet, the housekeeper and cousin of once successful novelist William Ainsworth.

In this episode, a conversation with academics and writers Mark Edele and Marko Pavlyshyn. Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine came as a shock to most of the world. In order to understand why this happened, a growing army of self-declared experts provided explanations often misrepresenting the history of Ukraine and of Russia and misinterpreting the pre-history of this war and the role of outside forces. Mark Edele, a world authority on the history of the Soviet Union, explains why and how this conflict came about in his new book, Russia's War Against Ukraine. He considers competing historical claims and arguments with authority and lucidity. The book informs a more nuanced and well-informed debate about this war and its implications. Please note, this is a recording from a live in-store event.

In this episode, a conversation with author, speechwriter and poet Joel Deane, on his eagerly-awaited new novel, Judas Boys. Deane’s protagonist (of sorts) Pinnock is, as the title suggests, a Judas Boy – a private schoolboy gone to seed. He's lost his job as a political staffer. He sleeps in the garage of his estranged wife. He has finally run out of friends and must face his accusers – both the living and the dead. This book is a searing de profundis that reads like the secret history behind today's political headlines. Deane brings the aftermath of professional catastrophe, personal betrayal, and public disgrace to life with a poet's ear for the human voice fractured in extremis.

In today’s episode, a conversation with David McAllister, author of Ballet Confidential. Ballet Confidential takes us backstage, in a manner of speaking, and serves as a wonderfully elucidatory introduction to the world of ballet. McAllister’s enthusiasm paired with experience, mastery even, means that Ballet Confidential has something for everyone, from longtime fans of ballet to those who it might have never occurred to step a foot inside the theatre. Mcallister is the former artistic director and principal dancer of The Australian Ballet, which he joined in 1983. Among many major works, he performed principal roles with the company in The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Coppelia, Onegin, and Manon.

Please note, this episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse. In this episode, hear David Meagher, author of Secrets and Lies, in conversation. Secrets and Lies is a story about child sexual abuse; the culture that enabled it; how the perpetrator groomed his victims; how the abuse came to an end; and how, four decades after the crimes were committed, his victims embarked on a successful two-year journey to bring the offender to justice. To interview David about this book, and this story, we’re joined by Stephen Brook, deputy editor of The Sunday Age.

In this episode, a conversation with poet and author Siân Hughes, whose book Pearl is longlisted for this year’s Booker Prize. Pearl is a stunning novel, originally published in the United Kingdom by The Indigo Press, and has just been republished in Australia by University of Queensland Press. Pearl is a ghost story, a folk story, a story of loss and familial haunting. Hughes’ narrator, Marianne, is eight years old when her mother goes missing. Left behind with her baby brother and grieving father in a ramshackle house on the edge of a small village, she clings to the fragmented memories of her mother’s love, and the songs and stories of her childhood. Discovering a medieval poem called Pearl and trusting in its promise of consolation, Marianne sets out to make a visual illustration of it, a task that returns to over and over but somehow never manages to complete.

In this episode, a conversation with journalists, Tracey Kirkland and Gavin Fang, editors of the essay collection, Pandemedia: How Covid Changed Journalism. The Covid-19 pandemic ripped through the world with no regard for borders, age, status or wealth. It was brutal in its impact and created a raft of new social norms. And without warning, the pandemic changed journalism, in some ways irrevocably. With contributors including Stan Grant, Michelle Grattan, David Speers, Alan Kohler, Lisa Millar and Dr Norman Swan, Pandemedia takes readers behind the scenes of Australia's media organisations to give a firsthand perspective on the new reign of the fourth estate.

In this episode, a recording taken from the launch for Eugen Bacon’s most recent novel, Serengotti. This is a novel bathed in sensuous, original language, a love letter to the strong women who bind families together despite everything. It’s also a tender remembrance of the many who haven’t or couldn’t survive the dislocations and tragedies of their turbulent pasts. For the launch, Bacon was in conversation with award-winning author and translator Dominique Hecq.

In this episode, author Kate Grenville talks about her latest book, Restless Dolly Maunder. This novel brings Kate’s grandmother to life as someone we can recognise and whose struggles we can empathise with. This compelling new novel is the story of a woman, working her way through a world of limits and obstacles, who was able — if at a cost —to make a life she could call her own. Her battles and triumphs helped to open doors for the women who came after. Grenville was interviewed by Yves Rees, writer, historian and podcaster who co-hosts Archive Fever.

In this episode, The Victorian Pride Centre on Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, in Melbourne’s south, was opened on 11 July 2021. Its location, its design and its well-thought out objectives combine to make it one of the most imaginative and sympathetic public places in Australia. Dr Judith Buckrich’s book, The Making Of The Victorian Pride Centre, details not only the building of this now-iconic centre and its gorgeous architecture, but also provides an overview of the history of LGBTIQ+ people in Australia, particularly in Melbourne, in a beautifully photographed and edited volume. To go into the history of the Pride Centre, we were joined by Jude Munro, inaugural chair of the Victorian Pride Centre, and, Nicholas Henderson, sound curator at the National Film and Sound Archive and curator at the Australian Queer Archive. To interview our guests, we enlisted the help of James McKenzie, longtime broadcaster on 3CR Community Radio with the show In Ya Face.

In this episode, an interview with Polly Barton, writer and translator. Barton is the author of two books of nonfiction, Fifty Sounds from 2021, and Porn: An Oral History, published this year. Barton has also translated numerous works of fiction from Japanese into English, including Mieko Kanai’s Mild Vertigo and Kikuko Tsumura’s There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job – with more to come.

This episode is the fourth instalment of The Comics Question series. In these podcasts, Bernard Caleo and Nico Callaghan discuss comics, graphic novels, and the place they inhabit within the broader books and publishing world. For this episode, Bernard and Nico sat down with Michael Fikaris, a central figure in both the comic book and street art movements of the early 2000s in his hometown of Melbourne. Fikaris has exhibited in professional and guerrilla contexts locally and abroad. His artwork is held in numerous private collections along with the National Gallery of Victoria, State Library of Victoria, and National Gallery of Australia.

In today’s episode, from one of Australia’s most wryly funny writers comes an original and utterly hilarious memoir of reaching for the stars while lying in a ditch. Robert Skinner arrives in Melbourne, searching for a richer life. Things begin badly and then, surprisingly, get slightly worse. Pretty soon he’s sleeping rough and trying to run a literary magazine out of a dog park. His quest for meaning keeps being thwarted, by endless jobs, beagles, house parties, ill-advised love affairs, camel trips and bureaucratic entanglements. Sometimes a book catches the spirit of the times, and Skinner’s book I’d Rather Not is about work, escape and that something more we all need.

In this episode, a discussion with author Angela O’Keeffe about her new novel, The Sitter. Paris, 2020. A writer is confined to her hotel room during the early days of the pandemic, struggling to finish a novel about Hortense Cezanne, wife and sometime muse of the famous painter. Dead for more than a century, Hortense has been reawakened by this creative endeavour, and now shadows the writer through the locked-down city. But Hortense, always subject to the gaze of others, is increasingly intrigued by the woman before her. Who is she and what event hides in her past? Heartbreaking and perfectly formed, The Sitter explores the tension between artist and subject, and between the stories told about us and the stories we choose to tell.

In this episode, hear Om Dhungel and James Button in conversation with Elly Varenti, to celebrate the publication of Om’s memoir, Bhutan to Blacktown. This book tells Om Dhungel’s remarkable story — his journey from a remote village to a senior position in the Bhutanese Civil Service, to life as a human rights activist in Nepal and, eventually, to his work as a community leader in Blacktown, western Sydney. Every step prepared Om for the central role he would play in settling more than 5000 Bhutanese refugees, in one of the most successful refugee initiatives in Australia’s history. Written with Walkley Award-winning journalist James Button, Bhutan to Blacktown is a story of grit and struggle, humour and irrepressible optimism — and how losing nearly everything shaped one man’s character and fate.

In this episode, a recording taken from bestselling journalist Antony Loewenstein discussing his latest book, The Palestine Laboratory. This book demonstrates in depth how Israel has become a leader in developing spying technology and defence hardware that fuels some of the globe’s most brutal conflicts. Loewenstein was interviewed at our Carlton store by Jeff Sparrow, a writer, journalist and broadcaster.

In this episode, Bruce Wolpe in conversation with Sean Kelly to discuss Wolpe's new book, Trump's Australia. In the book, leading expert and US and Australian politics insider Wolpe reveals the many ways in which Australia was damaged by Donald Trump's presidency, and ponders what could happen if Trump (or a Trump-like candidate) becomes US president in 2024.

In this episode, a conversation with Andrew Skeoch, author of the recently released book, Deep Listening to Nature. As one of Australia's best-known nature sound recordists, Skeoch’s work offers us an invitation and an opportunity to open our ears to nature, and to learn from the world around us. Particularly focused on avian life, his book is an inspiring text filled with reflection, wonder and rumination.

In this episode, a conversation with author Tegan Bennet Daylight, centred around her new YA novel, Royals. A group of teenagers alone in an empty shopping centre, with everything they could possibly want ... and a baby? With no phones, no internet and no way out, Shannon and five other trapped teens are completely disconnected from the outside world ... and their online lives. It’s hard to say whether they’ll be driven to delinquency, or – even worse – forced to make friends irl. This conversation took place as part of the Readings Teen Advisory Board program.

In today’s episode, booksellers Justin Amalimal Cantrell and Nico Callaghan are joined by Aurelia Guo, a writer and researcher based in London, for a conversation centred on her book, World of Interiors. Of the book, Guo writes: “In World of Interiors I use collage and appropriation to destabilise the first-person ‘I’. I also write directly about the inescapable condition of being perceived and positioned by other people. Our lives take place in time and space, meaning in history and geography, as well as in relation to one another – not just interpersonally, but intergenerationally, with all the baggage of race, class, gender and nation that this implies. I write about economic cycles of wealth and poverty at the levels of the individual, group and state. The book is about travel and immigration: migrants, tourists and refugees. It is about the work of survival and the cost of survival. It is also a hopeful book – about how strong and indomitable the will can be.”

In this episode, an interview with Ros Ben-Moshe, author of The Laughter Effect, a powerful philosophy that enhances wellbeing and provides you with a road map to tap into the lighter side of life and awaken both your inner and outer smile. Drawing on research, practice and wisdom from humour and laughter therapy, along with positive psychology and neuroscience, health promotion academic and laughter wellness expert Ros Ben-Moshe offers a new dimension to self-care, elevating mindfulness, gratitude and self-compassion. This book is enriched by case studies from around the globe, and Ros shares how the highly accessible Laughter Effect enhances resilience to stress, enabling you to respond to adversity and bounce forward with humour, levity and grace. Living the Laughter Effect will awaken a positive change in yourself, how you respond to the world and, in turn, how the world responds to you.

In this episode, Mary Crooks, executive director of the Victorian Women’s Trust, chairs a conversation with the authors of The Voice To Parliament Handbook, Thomas Mayo and Kerry O’Brien. The Voice to Parliament Handbook is an easy-to-follow guide for the millions of Australians who have expressed support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, but want to better understand what a Voice to Parliament actually means.

In this episode, a conversation with Sarah Street, author of the new book, A Curse of Salt. Drawing comparisons to Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreakers series and Sarah J Maas's A Court of Thorns and Roses, Street’s debut novel is a reworking of the time-old tale of Beauty and The Beast set amidst the high seas.

In this episode, a recording taken from an event at Readings Carlton, to celebrate the publication of Benjamin Hegarty’s book, The Made Up State: technology, trans femininity and Citizenship in Indonesia. In The Made Up State, anthropologist Benjamin Hegarty contends that warias, who compose one of Indonesia's trans feminine populations, have cultivated a distinctive way of captivating the affective, material, and spatial experiences of belonging to a modern public sphere. Hegarty was joined in discussion by Dennis Altman, Vice Chancellor's Fellow at LaTrobe University and University of Melbourne Cultural Studies Researcher Annisa Beta.

In this episode, a conversation with Mikki Brammer. Her new novel, The Collected Regrets of Clover, is a big-hearted and life-affirming novel that turns the normally taboo subject of death into a reason to celebrate life. It's a sparkling debut which reminds us all to live life with fewer regrets. Brammer was interviewed by Readings Marketing Manager, Rosalind McClintock.

This episode features a live event recording taken of a conversation between Alexis Wright and Ivor Indyk, to celebrate the publication of Wright’s new novel, Praiseworthy. Alexis Wright is a remarkable writer, originally hailing from the from the Waanyi nation in the Gulf of Carpentaria. Her novel Carpentaria won the 2007 Miles Franklin award, and Wright was awarded the 2018 Stella Prize for her biography of “Tracker" Tilmouth. Praiseworthy is Wright’s fourth novel.

In this episode, a conversation with Kate J. Armstrong, author of the new YA novel, Nightbirds. Set in a dazzling new fantasy world full of whispered secrets and political intrigue, the magic of women is outlawed but three girls with unusual gifts have the chance to change it all. Filled with sumptuous, cinematic writing and dazzling details, Nightbirds is a fiercely feminist fantasy debut where the most potent magic lies not in a kiss, but in the truth. Armstrong is in conversation with the Readings Marketing Assistant, Lucie Dess.

In this episode, listen to a conversation between English author Max Porter and Readings Podcast Editor, Nico Callaghan. This recording is taken from an online event celebrating the release of Porter’s most recent novel, Shy.

This episode features the recording of an online conversation focused on the newest edition of The Quarterly Essay, The Wires That Bind: Electrification and Community Renewal, penned by Saul Griffith. In this edition, inventor, engineer and visionary Saul Griffith reveals the world that awaits us if we make the most of Australia’s energy future. Griffith was interviewed by Simon Holmes A Court, an Australian business and political activist, and the convenor of Climate 200.

This recording is the third instalment of The Comics Question series. In these podcasts, Bernard Caleo and Nico Callaghan discuss comics, graphic novels, and the place they inhabit within the broader books and publishing world. In this episode, Bernard and Nico sit down with Steven Christie, writer and artist to discuss, among other things, his publications Arrowheads and Turtlenecks.

In this episode, a recording taken from the launch of Gregory Day’s novel, The Bell of The World. The Bell of the World is both a song to the natural wonders that are not yet gone and a luminous prehistory of contemporary climate change and its connection to colonialism. Bell is in conversation with writer and broadcaster Elly Varrenti.

In this episode, a conversation with Hugh Mackay, social psychologist and bestselling author. Mackay’s latest book, The Therapist, is a powerful and poignant story of deception, ambiguity, lust and love – and the challenge of living with the consequences of our actions.

In this episode, enjoy a discussion with author Katherine Kovacic about her latest work, Seven Sisters. Seven Sisters is a twisty, intriguing crime novel for fans of The Mother and The Family Doctor.

A recording of the launch for Kate Auty’s book, O’Leary Of The Underworld: The Untold Story of the Forest River Massacre. This book is a powerful investigation that reveals the deep injustices inflicted on Aboriginal people in the Kimberley in the 1920s. Please note, this episode contains discussion topics and readings from Auty’s work that some listeners may find distressing.

In this episode, hear Margaret Simons in conversation with Tim Dunlop about his book, Voices of Us. The book is a reflection on the most recent Australian federal election, and an analysis of the transformation Australian politics is capable of — to potentially become a progressive, open, economically stable and egalitarian nation.

In this episode, we're joined by Dominic Smith, author of the acclaimed Last Painting of Sara De Vos, a Readings favourite, to discuss his new book, Return to Valetto. A nearly abandoned Italian village, the family that stayed, and long-buried secrets from World War II. On a hilltop in Umbria sits Valetto. Once a thriving village-and a hub of resistance and refuge during World War II-centuries of earthquakes, landslides and the lure of a better life have left it neglected. Only ten residents remain, including the widows Serafino – three eccentric sisters and their steely centenarian mother – who live quietly in their medieval villa. Then their nephew and grandson, Hugh, a historian, returns. But someone else has arrived before him, laying claim to the cottage where Hugh spent his childhood summers. The unwelcome guest is the captivating and no-nonsense Elisa Tomassi, who asserts that the family patriarch, Aldo Serafino, a resistance fighter whom her own family harboured, gave the cottage to them in gratitude. Like so many threads of history, this revelation unravels a secret – a betrayal, a disappearance and an unspeakable act of violence – that has impacted Valetto across generations. Who will answer for the crimes of the past? To interview Dominic, we’re joined by Readings’ Managing Director, Mark Rubbo.

Today’s episode is the second instalment of The Comics Question series. In these podcasts we discuss comics, graphic novels, and the place they inhabit within the broader books and publishing world. In this episode, we sit down with Charlie Hill-Smith, who, among many talents and pursuits like filmmaking, has produced a new comic, Crime Scene Australia. Charlie is in conversation with Bernard Caleo.

Tait Ischia in conversation about his publishing journey and bestselling book, Copywrong to Copywriter.

Sasha Kutabah Sarago in conversation about her new book, Gigorou.

Young adult author Ann Liang in conversation with Angela Crocombe and the Readings Teen Advisory Board. They discuss Liang’s recent novel If You Could See the Sun and her upcoming novel This Time It’s Real as well as her pathway to becoming a published author.

A conversations between Raimond Gaita & his nephew Ari about the photography anthology, Heart Middle Park.

Join us for another session of the Readings / Australian Red Cross Book Club on the laws and impact of war. In this session we are joined by Andrew Quilty, to discuss his latest book, August in Kabul.

Holly Throsby in conversation about her recent novel, Clarke.

Chris Macheras in conversation about his new book, Old Vintage Melbourne 1960-1990.

Richard Fidler in conversation with fellow author Chloe Hooper about Fidler's latest work, The Book of Roads and Kingdoms.

Michael Farrell discusses his latest collection of poetry, Googlecholia. This recording includes Farrell reading from the collection.

A live recording of the launch event for Kill Your Darlings fourth print anthology, New Australian Fiction 2022. This recording includes writers reading their original works.

Dominique Roques in conversation about his new book, In Search of Perfumes. In Search of Perfumes is a fragrant journey across the world, revealing the beauty and mysteries of the perfume trade.

Respected journalist Kristine Ziwica in conversation with Tasneem Chopra about Ziwica's new book for the Crikey Reads series, Leaning Out.

Join us for another session of the Readings / Australian Red Cross Book Club on the laws and impact of war. In this session we are joined by Hugo Slim, to discuss his latest book, Solferino 21.

Jane Godwin in conversation about her new young adult novel, A Walk in the Dark.

Simon Holmes à Court in conversation with Mark Rubbo about Court's new book, The Big Teal.

Ingrid Laguna & Vanessa Hamilton discuss their new book, Kit and Arlo Find a Way.

Lystra Rose in conversation about her debut young adult novel, The Upwelling. This conversation took place as part of our Teen Advisory Board program.

The first episode in a new series on the Readings Podcast, which focuses on all things comics! In this episode, our own Bernard Caleo speaks to fellow comic artist Mirranda Burton about her graphic novel, Underground. Underground was the recent winner of the 2022 Readings Young Adult Prize.

George Saunders in conversation with Sean O'Beirne about Saunders' new short story collection, Liberation Day.

Caroline de Costa in conversation about her new novel, The Clone Kid.

David Whish-Wilson in conversation with Brooke Dunnell about Whish-Wilson's latest novel, The Sawdust House.

Join us for another session of the Readings / Australian Red Cross Book Club on the laws and impact of war. In this session we are joined by former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans AC QC, to discuss his latest book, Good International Citizenship: The Case for Decency.

Nell Pierce’s A Place Near Eden was the 2022 winner of The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award. Hear Pierce in conversation about her award-winning work.

Miranda Luby in conversation about her debut YA novel, Sadie Starr's Guide to Starting Over.

Steve Tupai Francis in conversation about their book, Kraftwerk’s Computer World.

Ramona Vijeyarasa in converasation about her recent work, The Woman President. Vijeyarasa is in conversation with Mary Crooks from Victorian Women's Trust.

The second session of the 2022 Readings / Australian Red Cross Book Club. This session focuses on the laws and impact of war. In conversation is Steve Killelea AM discussing his debut book, Peace in the Age of Chaos.

Inala Cooper in conversation with Jonathan Green about Cooper's recently released book, Marrul: Aboriginal Identity & the Fight for Rights.

Scott McCulloch in conversation with Justin Clemens about McCulloch's novel, Basin.

Hayley Scrivenor in conversation with fellow author Lyn Yeowart about Scrivenor's debut novel, Dirt Town.

Diego Bonetto discusses his new book Eat Weeds and how to engage with wild food sources.

Sarah Holland-Batt discusses her poetry collection The Jaguar with fellow author Emily Bitto.

Karlie Noon and Krystal De Napoli in conversation about their recent book, Astronomy: Sky Country

Comedian and crime author Benjamin Stevenson in conversation about his latest work, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone.

Warren Ward in conversation with Lee Kofman about Ward's recent book, Lovers of Philosophy. Lovers of Philosophy explores the love lives of seven philosophers and how their most intimate experiences came to shape their ideas.

Young adult author E. Lockhart in conversation with fellow author Lynette Noni. Together they discuss the craft of storytelling and Lockhart's latest novel, Family of Liars.

Tom Tilley in conversation with John Safran about Tilley's recently published memoir, Speaking in Tongues.

Kate Grenville in conversation about her new book, Elizabeth Macarthur’s Letters.

m//otherland is a literary debut that cradles the intimacies of longing and love for a country torn apart by distance, violence and desire. In the tradition of Latin American literature, these poems explore the nooks of Mexican roots, family, queerness, sanctity and memory.

Professor Toby Walsh, a world-leading researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, explores the ethical considerations and unexpected consequences that AI poses for the future.

Journalist Troy Bramston discusses his latest book, Bob Hawke: Demons and Destiny.

Andrew Leigh in conversation with Mark Rubbo about Leigh's book, 'What's The Worst That Could Happen?'. In the book, Leigh looks at catastrophic risks and how to mitigate them, arguing provocatively that the rise of populist politics makes catastrophe more likely.

Hear Michael Farrell read from his beautiful collection of poems, Family Trees.

Sarah Krasnostein in conversation with fellow author Chloe Hooper about Krasnostein's recent Quarterly Essay on mental health and vulnerability in Australia.

Journalist, social commentator, and author Jane Caro in conversation about her new crime novel, The Mother.

World-renowned psychologist Peter Quarry in conversation about his book, If I Were You.

Author for young adults Lynette Noni in conversation with Angela Crocombe and the Readings Teen Advisory Board.

Neal Shusterman in conversation about his latest novel for young adults, Roxy.

David Hunt in conversation about the latest volume of his Unauthorised History of Australia series, Girt Nation.

Bernadette Brennan in conversation with Ramona Koval about her latest work Leaping into Waterfalls, which explores the rich, tumultuous life of Gillian Mears, one of Australia’s most significant writers.

Hannah Kent in conversation with Mark Rubbo about her latest novel, Devotion.

Chief Economist at The Australia Institute, Richard Denniss, discusses his latest essay, Big: The Role of the State in the Modern Economy, published as part of the In The National Interest series.

Jeff Sparrow, author of Crimes Against Nature, discusses the nature of capitalism and our current environmental crisis with fellow author Tony Birch.

Isabel Allende in conversation about her new novel, Violeta.

Jess Hill in conversation about how the #MeToo movement is changing Australia and her recently released Quarterly Essay, The Reckoning.

Judith Brett in conversation with Susan Carland about Brett's insightful collection of essays, Doing Politics.

On the eve of the publication of her fourth poetry collection How Decent Folk Behave, poet Maxine Beneba Clarke and Thuy On, author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Turbulence, come together in a poetic dialogue to read recent poems and discuss reading and writing poetry in a changing world.

A special crime event to celebrate the new novels from authors Christian White(Wild Place)and Anna Downes (The Shadow House). Coincidentally, both novels ask the question: why do good people do bad things? This event is hosted by fellow author Kate Mildenhall.

A conversation on between friends Helen Garner and Charlotte Wood to celebrate the release of Garner's latest volume of diaries, How to End a Story.

A conversation on love between Trent Dalton and Julia Baird (Phosphorescence) to celebrate the release of Dalton's latest work, Love Stories.

A conversation between authors Christos Tsiolkas and Angela Savage to celebrate the release of Tsiolkas' latest novel, Seven and a Half.

Scottish author Graeme Macrae Burnet talking about his new book, Case Study, with literary journalist Jane Sullivan.

A conversation between crime authors Ruth McIver and J.P. Pomare to celebrate the launch of McIver's new novel, I Shot the Devil.

A conversation on creativity between authors Helen Garner and Charlotte Wood about Wood's latest work, The Luminous Solution.

Michael Rowland chats with journalist Bronwyn Adcock about her book, Currowan.

Lucia Osborne-Crowley in conversation with Zara McDonald about Osborne-Crowley's latest work, My Body Keeps Your Secrets.

Colm Tóibín in conversation about his latest novel, The Magician.

In celebration of Footy Banners, Leigh Meyrick and Matthew Hagias chat about the traditions and idiosyncrasies that make the footy game uniquely ours. With guest appearance from Melbourne's Adam Tomlinson.

A conversation with the remarkable Dianne O'Brien (also known as Auntie Di) about her memoir, Daughter of River Country.

A conversation between anthology curator Ellen van Neerven and Flock contributors Cassie Lynch, Melanie Saward, and Adam Thompson.

A conversation with Anne Enright about her formidable body of work and her latest novel, Actress.

A conversation between authors Ronnie Scott and Briohny Doyle. Together they discuss Doyle's latest novel, Echolalia.

A conversation between authors Bri Lee and Susan Carland. Together they discuss Lee's latest work, Who Gets to Be Smart.

A conversation between authors Sarah Sentilles and Kate Mildenhall. Together they discuss Sentilles' memoir, Stranger Care.

A conversation with author Yumiko Kadota to discuss her memoir, Emotional Female.

A conversation between authors Sarah Krasnostein and Chloe Hooper. Together they discuss Krasnostein's latest work, The Believer.

A conversation between former ABC US bureau chief, Zoe Daniel, and ABC journalist, Raf Epstein. Together they discuss Daniel's new book, Greetings from Trumpland.

Kirsty Everett joins us to talk about her memoir. Honey Blood is the story of a life lived, instead a life planned and her experience with Leukaemia.

Author and veteran journalist Bret Christian joins us to talk about his compelling new work of true crime, Stalking Claremont.

Writer and broadcaster Ramona Koval chats with literary journalist Jane Sullivan about her insightful new book, A Letter to Layla. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Garth Nix chats with fellow author James Bradley about his enthralling new historical fantasy, The Left-Handed Booksellers of London. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Investigative journalist Louise Milligan chats with political commentator Annabel Crabb about her masterful and deeply troubling new book, Witness. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Award-winning poet PiO chats with Giramondo publisher Ivor Indyk about poetry, on and off the page. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Richard Fidler chats with Readings bookseller Marie Matteson about his new personally curated history of Prague, The Golden Maze. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Katharine Murphy chats with journalist David Marr about her new Quarterly Essay: The End of Certainty - Scott Morrison and Pandemic Politics. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Hugh Mackay chats with Readings events manager Chris Gordon about his two new books: The Question of Love and The Inner Self. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Andrew O'Hagan chats with fellow author Jane Sullivan about his new novel, Mayflies. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Kalynn Bayron chats with fellow author Astrid Scholte about her new YA novel, Cinderella Is Dead. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Will Kostakis chats with fellow author Melina Marchetta about his new YA novel, Rebel Gods. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai chats with Readings events manager Chris Gordon about her novel, The Mountains Sing. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Tegan Bennett Daylight chats with fellow author Alice Robinson about her new book, The Details: On Love, Death and Reading. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Gabriel Bergmoser chats with fellow author Caroline Overington about his gripping crime thriller, The Hunted. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Andrew Fowler chats with writer and performer Bryan Dawe about his new nonfiction work documenting the life of Julian Assange -- 'the most dangerous man in the world'. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Melissa Davey chats with broadcaster Tom Ballard about her new nonfiction work, The Case of George Pell. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Lisa Taddeo chats with fellow author Alice Robinson about her critically acclaimed nonfiction work, Three Women. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Kate Grenville chats with fellow author Melanie Cheng about A Room Made of Leaves, her highly imaginative retelling of the life of Elizabeth Macarthur. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Richard Ford chats with literary editor Jason Steger about his new story collection, Sorry For Your Trouble. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Judith Brett chats with journalist Geraldine Doogue about her new Quarterly Essay: The Coal Curse - Resources, Climate and Australia’s Future. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Lauren Chater chats with Readings bookseller Marie Matteson about her enthralling work of historical fiction, Gulliver’s Wife. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Jo Lennan chats with her publisher Ben Ball about her exciting debut story collection, In the Time of Foxes. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Frances Chapman chats with Sydney Writers' Festival's Amelia Lush about her Ampersand award-winning YA debut, Stars Like Us. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

YA Publisher Jo Case hosts a discussion with four Australian YA Authors: Sarah Epstein, Poppy Nwosu, Kay Kerr and Anna Whateley. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

John Martinkus chats with fellow investigative journalist Mark Davis about his fearless book, The Road: Uprising in West Papua. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Patrick Ness chats with Readings events manager Chris Gordon about his new YA novel, Burn. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Robbie Arnott chats with Readings bookseller Marie Matteson about his second novel, The Rain Heron. This conversation was recorded online over Skype during the Covid-19 crisis.

Billy Bragg chats with Professor Tony Birch about his stirring essay, The Three Dimensions of Freedom. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Sarah Jane Adams chats with author and photographer Ari Seth Cohen about her new memoir, Life In A Box. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Chris Flynn chats with fellow author Christos Tsiolkas about his new novel, Mammoth. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

LoveOzYA stars Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff chat with our events manager Chris Gordon about Aurora Burning, their second book in their bestselling sci-fi series. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

In the fifth episode of the Readings Kids Podcast, Leanne and Angela talk about what people have been reading during the Covid-19 lockdown and the realities of home schooling. This episode also includes a bonus interview with Jessica Miller about her new fantasy middle grade novel, The Republic of Birds. It was recorded online over Skype during the Covid-19 crisis.

Ronnie Scott chats with fellow author Chris Somerville about his debut novel, The Adversary. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Actor, activist and now author Miranda Tapsell chats with Readings bookseller Marie Matteson about her deadly new memoir, Top End Girl. This conversation was recorded online over Skype during the Covid-19 crisis.

Margaret Simons chats with author Don Watson about her new Quarterly Essay: Cry Me A River - The Tragedy of the Murray-Darling Basin. This conversation was recorded online during the Covid-19 crisis.

Bernard Collaery chats with former Victorian Premier Steve Bracks about his significant work of nonfiction, Oil Under Troubled Water. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

Donna Ward chats with Readings bookseller Donata Carrazza about her new work of nonfiction, She I Dare Not Name. This is a live recording of an online event hosted via Zoom during the Covid-19 crisis.

In the fifth episode of the Readings Kids Podcast, Leanne and Angela share book recommendations for staying at home and feeling calm - with kids!

Sean O'Beirne chats with Readings bookseller and author Chris Somerville about his debut work of fiction, A Couple of Things Before the End.

In the fourth episode of the Readings Kids Podcast, Leanne and Angela share books to help facilitate conversations about the recent Australian bushfires with kids, and also discuss the six books shortlisted for this year's Readings Children's Book Prize.

In our latest episode of Good Cop, Bad Cop, Readings crime specialists Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to author and On Writing podcast host JP Pomare about his new novel, In the Clearing. They also all share the crime books they're excited to read in 2020.

In the third episode of the Readings Kids Podcast, Leanne and Angela do a whistle-stop tour of their favourite books of the past year. This episode also includes a bonus interview with YA author Will Kostakis about his new fantasy book, Monuments.

Virginia Trioli discusses her groundbreaking book, Generation F, first published in 1996, with Jamila Rizvi. This is a live recording from our event.

2017 Stella Prize winner Heather Rose chats with Readings bookseller Amanda Rayner about her new novel, Bruny.

In our third episode of crime series, Good Cop, Bad Cop, Readings crime specialists Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to Chris Hammer about his second crime novel, Silver.

Legendary singer-songwriter and storyteller Archie Roach shares stories from his life. This is a live recording from our event.

Clare Bowditch chats with Dr Susan Carland about her frank and powerful memoir, Your Own Kind of Girl. This is a live recording from our event.

In the second episode of the Readings Kids Podcast, Leanne and Angela chat about the rom-com boom in YA fiction, high concept board books for babies, and YA twitter.

Alice Bishop chats with Readings bookseller David Little about her debut work of fiction, A Constant Hum.

Award-winning screenwriter and author David Nicholls chats with our events manager Chris Gordon about his writing career.

Annabel Crabb chats with Virginia Trioli about her new Quarterly Essay exploring Australia's 'parenthood trap'. This is a live recording from our event.

Singer-songwriter Ben Folds chats with Readings bookseller David Little about his new memoir, A Dream About Lightning Bugs.

Readings bookseller David Little chats with Justin Heazlewood about his memoir, Get Up Mum.

Readings' events and programming manager Christine Gordon sits down with poet Andy Jackson and author Lee Kofman to discuss lyrical prose, poetry, writing and how we can be our most honest selves.

Readings events and programming manager Chris Gordon talks to author Felicity McLean about her quintessentially Australian coming-of-age story, The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone.

Children's bookseller and author Leanne Hall sits down with Readings Kids shop manager Angela Crocombe, to give us an insight into the wonderful world of kids' publishing and bookselling. They touch on representation and diversity in children's publishing, the success of Bruce Pascoe's Young Dark Emu, and give us some of their personal children's books recommendations.

Rebecca Huntley is one of Australia’s foremost social researchers. In the Quarterly Essay, Huntley looks at the state of the nation and asks: what does social-democratic Australia want, and why? In this episode of the Readings Podcast, Huntley discuss these essential and timely questions with Maxine McKew.

We were delighted to have bestselling author Stan Grant in Melbourne for one night only to talk about his two new books, Australia Day and On Identity. Grant is in conversation with Nam Le, author of The Boat.

Author Matthew Warren drops by to talk to Tom Hoskins about his new book, Blackout, which asks the question, how is energy-rich Australia running out of electricity?

Bestselling writer Ben Elton is the author of several novels, including his most recent book Identity Crisis. In this live recording of our event, Elton talks to Shaun Micallef about his new comic satire.

Author Jane Caro drops by to talk to Chris Gordon about her latest book, Accidental Feminists, a celebration of how one generation became feminists and how their grit, adaptability, energy and persistence changed the world.

In our second episode of Good Cop, Bad Cop, Readings crime specialists Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to author and On Writing podcast host JP Pomare about his debut literary suspense novel Call Me Evie.

In our first episode of Good Cop, Bad Cop, Readings crime specialists Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to Dervla McTiernan about her second crime novel, The Scholar.

In this bonus episode (recorded a couple of weeks ago), Readings book buyer and bookseller Marie Matteson talks to events manager Chris Gordon about the forthcoming and new fiction and nonfiction she can't wait to read this year.

Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Kirsten Alexander about her captivating new historical novel Half Moon Lake, which was inspired by a real case in America's Deep South about a lost boy and the two mothers who both seek to claim him.

Helen Garner talks with Chloe Hooper about her early career and the impact of Monkey Grip and The Children’s Bach on her writing life. This is a live recording from our event.

Readings children's specialist bookseller Leanne Hall talks to Chris Gordon about the children's and YA books she's most excited for in 2019.

Award-winning chef Yotam Ottolenghi is the author of several bestselling cookbooks, including Plenty, Sweet (co-authored with Helen Goh), and most recently, Simple. In this live recording of our sold-out event at the Melbourne Town Hall, Ottolenghi talks to Maeve O'Meara about the joy of remaining simple in his approach to food, life and love.

Two of our booksellers discuss some of the best books of 2018, and share their recommendations for holiday reading.

Carlton bookseller Marie Matteson chats with author and musician Holly Throsby about her second novel, Cedar Valley.

David Marr chats with George Megalogenis about a lifetime of writing and his new book, My Country. This is a live recording from our event.

Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Clare Press about her empowering new book, Rise & Resist: How to Change the World.

Our Managing Director Mark Rubbo talks with David Malouf about his new book of poetry, An Open Book. This is a live recording from our event.

Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Elizabeth Kleinhenz about her new biography, Germaine: The Life of Germaine Greer.

Don Watson talks with Martin Flanagan about the updated edition of his classic essay, On Indignation. This is a live recording from our event. (Photo credit: Susan Gordon-Brown)

Jennifer Down is the winner of this year’s Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Here, she chats with Ellen Cregan, chair of the judging panel, about her winning work of fiction, Pulse Points.

Clementine Ford talks about her new book, Boys Will Be Boys, which addresses toxic masculinity and raising a son. This is a live recording from our event.

Booksellers Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to Paul F. Verhoeven about his new book, Loose Units, which is part father–son story and part true-crime race through the underbelly of 1980s policing in Sydney.

Kids bookseller Leanne Hall chats with Ambelin Kwaymullina about editing the anthology, Meet Me at the Intersection.

Journalist Rachael Brown talks about the cold-case investigation of the 1980 murder of Melbourne bookseller Maria James, as featured in her award-winning ABC podcast, Trace. This is a live recording from our event.

Judi Mitchell chats with footballer Bob Murphy about his new memoir, Leather Soul.

Events manager Chris Gordon chats about this year's Readings Prize For New Australian Fiction shortlist with Ellen Cregan, chair of the judging panel. Find the shortlisted books here: http://bit.ly/2ORFSxP

Hear our Marketing Manager Nina Kenwood in conversation with author Emily Gale about her new young adult novel, I Am Out With Lanterns.

Hear our events and marketing coordinator Ellen Cregan in conversation with author Robbie Arnott about his surreal debut novel, Flames.

Carlton bookseller Marie Matteson chats with Dr Anita Heiss about editing the anthology, Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia.

Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Trent Dalton about his wonderful debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe.

Booksellers Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree chat to Christian White about his electrifying thriller, The Nowhere Child.

Our events manager Chris Gordon chats with Chris Gregory about making a record with Australian author Gerald Murnane.

Carlton bookseller Marie Matteson chats with academics, Emily Potter (Deakin) and Brigid Magner (RMIT), about their exciting project crafting a literary history of the Mallee Region.

Hear our bookseller Sean O’Beirne in conversation with author Christos Tsiolkas about the legacy of Nobel Prize winner Patrick White.

Hear our bookseller Robbie Egan in conversation with award-winning author Jennifer Egan.

Hear our bookseller Amanda Rayner in conversation with author Holly Ringland about her powerful debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart.

Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Jamila Rizvi about her new book, The Motherhood, in which many of Australia’s favourite women share what they wish they’d known about life with a newborn,

Our events manager Chris Gordon chats with the co-directors of Melbourne Jewish Book Week, Noe Harsel and Janine Schloss, and author Sarah Krasnostein, about the 2018 festival. Find the full program here: http://melbournejewishbookweek.com.au/

Hear our events and marketing coordinator Ellen Cregan in conversation with author Jamie Marina Lau about her startling debut novel, Pink Mountain on Locust Island.

Hear our Managing Director Mark Rubbo in conversation with Bob Sessions AM, the former publishing director of Penguin Books.

This special bonus episode is brought to you live from the book launch of Obsidio - the final book in the bestselling Illuminae Files trilogy from bestselling duo, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Kate Kleinitz from our Teen Advisory Board chat to Amie and Jay about this thrilling series.

Prize Manager Bronte Coates chats about this year's Readings Children's Book Prize shortlist with Kim Gruschow, chair of the judging panel. Find the shortlisted books here: http://bit.ly/2sXxLKc

Hear our Managing Director Mark Rubbo in conversation with Robert Manne, a leading public intellectual and emeritus professor of politics and vice-chancellor’s fellow at La Trobe University.

Booksellers Fiona Hardy and Deborah Crabtree geek out over their love of crime fiction, and share some of the most exciting new releases coming up in 2018.You can find all the books they mention here: http://bit.ly/2E9dhmS

Event manager Chris Gordon and Carlton bookseller Marie Matteson talk about the particular pleasure of reading non-fiction, and share some of their best picks for summer. You can find all the books they mention here: http://bit.ly/2DAMJ9P

Hear our bookseller Sean O’Beirne in conversation with author Helen Garner about her 50-year writing career.

Booksellers Angela Crocombe and Leanne Hall share their favourite children's and young adult books from the past year. You can find all the books they mention here: http://bit.ly/2CMIQO1

Three booksellers share their best summer reading recommendations from the past year. You can find all the books they mention here: http://bit.ly/2jskh1F

Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Miles Franklin Literary Award winner, A.S. Patrić, about his new novel, Atlantic Black.

Hear our Readings Monthly editor Jo Case in conversation with author Rachel Khong about her wry and poignant debut novel, Goodbye, Vitamin.

Hear our Marketing and Events Coordinator Stella Charls in conversation with author Kayla Rae Whitaker about her brilliant debut novel, The Animators.

Events manager Chris Gordon chats about this year's Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction shortlist with two of the judges: Marie Matteson and Gabrielle Williams.

Hear our events manager Chris Gordon in conversation with Miles Franklin Literary Award winner, Sofie Laguna, about her new novel, The Choke.

Hear our Carlton shop manager Robbie Egan in conversation with author Tony Birch about his new short story collection, Common People.

In our 'Conversations with booksellers' series, our Managing Director Mark Rubbo chats with Readings staff about their work. This episode sees him in conversation with Readings Kids bookseller, award-winning author and Readings Foundation Grants Officer Leanne Hall.

Hear Reading Kids shop manager Angela Crocombe in conversation with author Zana Fraillon about The Bone Sparrow - the 2017 winner of the Readings Young Adult Book Prize.

Hear our book buyer Jason Austin in conversation with author Anna George about her new novel, The Lone Child.

Hear our Managing Director Mark Rubbo in conversation with Morry Schwartz, the owner of Black Inc. and the publisher of the Quarterly Essay, The Monthly and the The Saturday Paper.

Hear our Events Manager Chris Gordon and our Marketing Manager Nina Kenwood in conversation with Australian writers Jenny Valentish (Woman of Substances) and Brigid Delaney (Wellmania) as they discuss their new works exploring wellness, addiction, treatment, and the female experience.

Hear our bookseller Jo Case in conversation with Nadja Spiegelman about her memoir, I’m Supposed to Protect You from All This.

Hear our bookseller Sean O’Beirne in conversation with author George Saunders about his strange and wonderful first novel, Lincoln in the Bardo.

Hear our Marketing Manager Nina Kenwood in conversation with author Brit Bennett about her stunning debut novel, The Mothers.

Hear our Events Manager Chris Gordon in conversation with actress, mental health campaigner and author Ruby Wax.

Hear our Marketing Manager Nina Kenwood and our Events Manager Chris Gordon in conversation with author Jessa Crispin about her provocative new book, Why I am Not a Feminist.

Hear our Digital Marketing Manager Lian Hingee and our Events Manager Chris Gordon in conversation with author Lindy West about her essay collection, Shrill.

Hear our Events Manager Chris Gordon in conversation with illustrator and cartoonist Oslo Davis about his new book, Drawing Funny.

Hear our Events Manager Chris Gordon in conversation with author Steven Amsterdam about his new novel, The Easy Way Out.

Hear our Managing Director Mark Rubbo in conversation with author Maxine Beneba Clarke about her new memoir, The Hate Race.

Hear our Children's and Young Adult Book Specialist Angela Crocombe in conversation with author Lili Wilkinson about her new young adult novel, The Boundless Sublime.

Hear broadcaster Phillip Adams in conversation with Australian polymath, writer, lawyer and social activist Barry Jones. This is a live recording from our event.

Hear our Events Manager Chris Gordon in conversation with author and philosopher Alain de Botton about his new novel, The Course of Love.

Hear our Marketing Manager Nina Kenwood and our Events Manager Chris Gordon in conversation with author Hanya Yanagihara about her Booker-shortlisted novel, A Little Life.

Two leading political journalists discuss George Megalogenis’ Quarterly Essay, Balancing Act - Australia Between Recession and Renewal. This is a live recording from our event.

Helen Ellis, Virginia Reeves and Fiona McFarlane join our Event Manager Chris Gordon for a discussion about writing, feminism, and poker.

Hear our Managing Director Mark Rubbo in conversation with Craig Munro, one of Australia’s foremost editors.

Hear our Managing Director Mark Rubbo in conversation with Henry Rosenbloom, founder and publisher of Scribe Publications.