Compulsive Reader Talks

The author of Blood Secret reads from and talks about her new book, about the incident that gave rise to it, her main characters, her local settings, her struggles with the writing, her work in progress, and lots more.

Author Paul Newman drops by to read from and talk about his novel Fin Rising, about writing the first novel, his quirky characters, the fine art of fly fishing, genre bending, the relationship between illustration and writing, and lots more.

Author Brian Castro reads from and talks about his latest novel Street to Street, his three protagonists, the transformative power of the imagination, the notion of failure, melancholy, the relationship between fiction and non-fiction, the fuzziness of genre, and lots more.

The author of Don't Let the Wind Catch You reads from and talks about his newest LeGarde mystery book, his protagonist Gus, his other mystery series and the lure of the genre for him, the secrets of his proflic output, the intersection of life and writing, the next books in the pipeline, how to catch LazarFever, and lots more.

The author of The Bookman's Tale talks about his new novel, about his multinational settings, the book's structure, the joy of libraries and bookstores, book restoration, his characters, the nature of fiction (versus nonfiction and plays), his upcoming work, and lots more.

The author of Hotel Hyperion talks about and reads from her new book of poetry, the relationship between memory, dreams, appropriation and art, the book's origins including the nature of a storm glass, Titan, Keats, multiverses and rooms, art and imagination, and lots more.

The author of Bread of the Lost talks about and reads lots of poems from her new poetry collection, discusses the notion of the 'metaphorical feed', the genesis of the book, the natural world as character, the wild animal beneath the veneer of civilisation, the "Tardis of passion", Tasmania, her upcoming novel, and lots more.

The author of Ascending Spiral talks about his latest novel,about genre bending, the books themes, its characters, sustainability, about being a Renaissance man, on optimism and pessimism, and lots more.

The author of Star Craving Mad reads from and talks about his latest book, on the importance of a multi-disciplinary perspective in science, on future areas of interest for astronomy and other scientific areas, the relationship between music and science, Astronomy Tourism, his nonfiction work-in-progress, and lots more.

The editors of Joyful Strains: Making Australia Home talk about the   book, about choosing the essays and working with the 27 authors, about their own migration experiences, about the relationship between writing and migration, and lots more.

The author of Liquid Nitrogen reads from and talks about her new poetry book, about her themes, about the combining of the personal and political, about writing topical poetry, about meta-poetics, mentorship and parenting as it plays out in her work, the relationship between poetry and prose, and lots more.

Three of the Teaching Assistants from the University of Pennsylvania's Modern and Contemporary American Poetry course (ModPo) drop by to chat about the course, how they got involved, contemporary poetics, the notion of uncreative writing and play in poetry, the wisdom of crowds, the future of ModPo, and lots more.

The author of Abu Dhabi Days, Dubai Nights reads from and talks about her book, about the differences (and similarities) between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, about her current research project, about seeing a culture through the eyes of a foreigner, and lots more.

The author of Lola Bensky talks about her new book, about rock journalism and the 1960s, about her character Lola, about the black humour in the book, the relationship between 'real life, her fictional detectives Harry and Schlomo, and lots more.

The author of Peaches for Father Francis talks about her new book, about revisiting Lansquenet, about the nature of serials, about food writing, about magical realism and how it works in her books, about her character Vianne Rocher, about what it's like to have Johnny Depp and Juliet Binoche play your characters, and lots more.

The author of Physics on the Fringe talks about how her years of collecting the work of 'outsider physics' turned into a book, about the notion of some aspects of modern physics being more akin to art than science, about her star outsider Jim Carter, about the Institute of Figuring that she created, about the amazing Coral Reef Project she originated with her sister, about her next book, and lots more.

The author of Engagement from Scratch talks about his company Firepole Marketing, about the power of blogging, about why creative people need to market, author promotion, his book and why he's giving it away, on philanthropy, mantaining the balance between professionalism and fun, and lots more.

The author of Fit, Fifty and Fired Up talks about his new book, about self-actualisation, about why his book is not a self-help, the pressures on the modern male and why this is important beyond the personal, about his "characters", on living a purposeful life, and lots more.

The author of The Hum of Concrete reads from and talks about her first novel, about the the relationship between the stories and a novel, about the title and its meaning, about her characters, about the setting in Malmö, Sweden, about Midnight Sun publishing, and lots more.

Poet, editor, musician, researcher, and lecturer Kate Fagan talks about and reads from her new poetry book First Light. We discuss the Cento form, the structuring of the book, poetics and meaning making, her collaborations, on music and poetry, style and rhythm, and lots more.