Compulsive Reader Talks

Author and scultor Dimitrios Ikonomou reads from his new novel The Diary of Norman K, and chats with Justin Goodman about his book and its origins, his characters, on having an unreliable narrator on an unreliable journey, on meta-fiction, on the relationship between his sculptures and his writing, on the quantum nature of memory, on role models, on being an outsider, the line between reality and perception, the signified and the signifier, and lots more.

In this special Newcastle Writers Festival episode, Rebecca Starford, the author of Bad Behaviour, reads from and talks about her memoir and how it came about, her "characters" and why she needed to revisit them, about the complex and fuzzy lines between bullying and being bullied, about the importance of being honest about her own character in the story, on the way writing about her experiences has open doors for others to talk more openly about their own, on coming of age and coming out, the latest news on the television option for the book, about her work in progress, and lots more.

Mark Flanagan is the founder and editor of Run Spot Run, and the instigator behind Infinite Winter, an online book club of hundreds of readers who have banded together to jointly read David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest in celebration of the book’s 20th anniversary.  In this episode of The Compulsive Reader Talks, we discuss Infinite Jest's timeless and ongoing appeal, what its like to group read it for the second time, the value of slow, attentive reading, about the guides and resources provided at Infinite Winter, about some of the more interesting things that have come out of his group reading, about what he's looking forward to, and lots more.

The author of Cloudless reads from and talks about her new verse novel Cloudless, her unique characters, the way the book came together, why she used verse, about the interlinking lives, about Perth in the 1980s, about the magic in her book (and her taste for Magic Realism), about the way time distorts, her work-in-progress, and lots more.

Martin Langford reads from his new poetry book Ground, and talks about his overarching principle of spaces places and the evolution of the book as a collection, about time and timelessness, about Australian history and how it plays out in Ground, about settlement and displacement, about Sydney and its layers, about eco-poetry and why his writing, though nature-rich, isn't, about  meta-poetry and the Kingfisher's, his next project, and lots more.

In this episode held live (complete with rich sound effects) from Lake Macquarie Pub, acclaimed poet Jean Kent reads from her new book The Hour of Silvered Mullet, and talks about the importance of scent, her settings, eco-poetics, the way in which the book came together, the conjunction between the ordinary (say, a mullet jumping out of the water) and the extraordinary, the inspiration for her poetic characters (especially Morag), on nostalgia or the way the past pulls us from the present, and lots more.

Carolyn Martinez, author of Inspiring IVF Stories and Finding Love: 7 Things you Need to Know Before You Date Again  reads from and talks about her new book, about her path to becoming an author, about her writing process, the most surprising response from readers, about her publishing house Hawkeye Publishing and the way it has grown beyond her two releases, the secret of her productivity, about the importance of communities and why she seems to create them around her, and lots more.

Ali Cobby Eckermann joins us to read from and talk about her latest poetry collection Inside my Mother, as well as the "My Mother's Heart" sesion at the Sydney Writers Festival, the many meanings of "mother", both personal, universal, and metaphoric, about language and its multiplicities, about the tension between the desire for independence and the hunger for the protection and love that mothers represent, about the abundant animals in her work, about sadness, anger, and healing, her work-in-progress, and lots more.

The author of The Guardans reads a number of poems from her book and talks about how it has has come together, about the key themes in the book: masks, the roles and genetics we inherit, about poetry as archeology, on animals, parenting, the "wild estate", on poetry as craft and craft as poetry, her new current project, and lots more.

Award winning novelist, poet and nonfiction writer Beth Spencer reads from and talks about her latest poetry book,Vagabondage.  In this candid conversation we discuss her own journey, the idea of "leaving no trace", about aging, displacement, homelessness, her writing processes, about giving up and then re-finding herself as a writer, verisimilitude and the poetic form, the value (and pain) of solitude and attention, about time's cyclical and mosaic quality and why poetry works so well to describe that, and much more.

The author of The Hydra reads from and talks about his new novel and where his ideas for it came from, about his biologist turned Frankenstein protagonist Brian Matterosi, on viral engineering, genre fiction, indie publishing, distopias, population and ecology, the relationship between economics and fiction, on multi-nationality, the shifting sands of 'truth' (and how that makes good fodder for fiction, a preview of his next novel The Fortune Teller, and lots more.

Ben Okri joins us live from the Sydney Writers Festival to read from and talk about his latest novel The Age of Magic and what inspired it, its characters, on the true nature of magic, on the book's themes incuding what Goethe calls des Pudels Kern (the real nature or deeper meaning of things), on transcendent knowledge and why we truly are living in an age of magic, on the value of slow reading, why we need new forms of fiction, his new poetry book Wild, on the relationship between writing poetry and writing prose, upcoming work, and lots more.  Note: this interview took place following Ben's Age of Magic Talk which I referred to several times in my interview.  The talk can be listened to in full here: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/booksandarts/sydney-writers27-festival3a-ben-okri/6488934

The author of The Accidental Art Thief reads from and talks about her new novel and the inspiration for it, her quirky "under-the-radar" characters, her gorgeous Albuquerque setting, some of her key themes, on keeping secrets, her new work in progress, and lots more.

The author of Alterworld: Sky Poems, The Well Mouth, Alterworld reads from and talks about his new poetry collection and how it came together as a trio over 27 years, about his settings, the poetic afterlife, mythologies, the power of poetry, on black humour, his current work in progress, poetry and politics, and much more.

Masterchef and author of 20/20 Meals Julie Goodwin talks about her new cookbook, about her journey from being a keen home cook to becoming a Masterchef and of making a business out of cooking, about the way in which food is a key to understanding other cultures, about the importance of ordinary, daily cooking, about how she chose and tested the meals in the book, tips for getting kids to participate in cooking, about her new cooking school Julie's Place, about her singing, and lots more.

The author of Vanishing Point, and Workshopping the Heart reads from and talks about her latest books of poetry, about the transition from poetry to drama, the relationship between poetry and theatre, about her protagonist Diana, on writing about anorexia, about family damage and healing, on how the different books of poetry came together in Workshopping the Heart, about the relationship between the domestic and the universal, her new work and lots more.

Australian Book Industy Award Winner Brooke Davis reads from and talks about her novel Lost & Found, about her lovely, quirky characters, about writing a novel as PhD project and its impact on her work, about the intersection of grief and art, about disenfranchisement and loud voices, about notions of goodness and badness, about how she's dealing with the massive and atypical success of her first novel, about the nature of grief, and lots more.

The author of the poetry collection Radiance reads a selection of poems from his new book, talks about how the book came together as a collection, its structure and epitaphs, his themes, on being a "cricket poet", on hanging out with great, dead authors, about his character "The Moon", his current work-in-progressand lots more.

The author of Personal Effects reads from and talks about her novel and how the story came together, about the cyclical (and pieced together) nature of time in her book, about mosaic (pique assiette) and its role in the novel, about writing as craft, about her characters and the sacrifices they make, about the books themes, her new projects and lots more.

The author of Ninety 9 reads from and talks about her new book, about band t-shirts, growing up in the 1990s (and what has and hasn't changed), on the joy of 'zines, on the conjunction of the mythical and the domestic, on the power of capturing ephemera, her upcoming projects, and lots more.