Read This

You Should Be Reading Catherine Chidgey

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Catherine Chidgey is wildly underread in Australia. The multi-award winning New Zealand writer has written nine novels and her latest, The Book of Gui...

Kevin Barry Is a Gunslinger

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The seed of the idea for Irish author Kevin Barry’s latest novel was planted more than 25 years ago. But it wasn’t until late into the pandemic as...

Dominic Amerena Finds Happiness in the Act of Writing

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Australian author Dominic Amerena has been a writer for years. Now, finally, comes his dazzling debut novel I Want Everything. The story follows an am...

John Rebus Will Outlive Ian Rankin

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ian Rankin introduced Detective John Rebus in his 1987 novel Knots and Crosses. Since then, Rankin has published another two dozen books in the series...

Hoot and Holler for Kaliane Bradley

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On the surface, Kaliane Bradley’s debut is a time-travel novel; it’s speculative fiction meets romance and espionage. But underneath? It's a sharp...

Torrey Peters’ Never-Ending Transition

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Torrey Peters’ debut novel, Detransition, Baby, was an instant sensation. Longlisted for the Women’s Prize in the UK and named one of the New York...

Kevin Wilson Is Wonderfully Weird

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Wilson writes weird books about weird people — in the best possible way. In 2019’s Nothing to See Here, two children have a condition that m...

What’s On Jessica Stanley’s Bookshelves?

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

London-based Australian author Jessica Stanley’s second novel, Consider Yourself Kissed, opens with all the beats of a classic romantic comedy – a...

Josephine Rowe Isn’t Interested In Efficiency

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Josephine Rowe’s writing has been described by the New York Times as “gorgeous” and “precise”. This is particularly evident in her latest no...

James Bradley Thinks Kindness is a Superpower

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In addition to being an established novelist, James Bradley is also a journalist and writer of non-fiction, much of it concerned with the natural worl...

Chris Flynn’s New Book Arrived in a Dream

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The opening scene of Chris Flynn’s fourth and latest novel, Orpheus Nine, came to him in a dream. Not long after, he had the whole story down from s...

The Imaginary Village of Niall Williams

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Over four decades Niall Williams has made a name for himself as one of Ireland’s leading novelists. In his latest novel, Time of the Child, Niall re...

Nothing Happens In Ayşegül Savaş’s Book and That’s Great

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Turkish-born, Paris-based writer Ayşegül Savaş’s third novel opens with a young, ex-pat couple who are apartment hunting. Both foreigners in the ...

The Long Ireland of Colm Tóibín

26 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Colm Tóibín is regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest authors — and for good reason. With a career spanning 30 years and 11 award-winning novels ...

Zanzibar Is Still Home for Abdulrazak Gurnah

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tanzanian-born, London-based author Abdulrazak Gurnah was midway through writing his latest novel, Theft, when he received a call letting him know he’...

Robert Dessaix Is a Fox (Not a Hedgehog)

12 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tasmanian writer Robert Dessaix is a man of many talents when it comes to the written form – from travel memoir and fiction to biography and philoso...

How Sonia Orchard Reclaimed Her Story

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Sonia Orchard was in her 40s when a revelation during a therapy session turned her life upside down. Could the relationship she’d had in her ...

Andrea Goldsmith Finds the Poetry In Death

26 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Andrea Goldsmith’s ninth and latest novel, The Buried Life, she unpicks the relationships between people and the undercurrents of doubt and faith...

Sean Wilson Pulls Back the Curtain on Dementia

19 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In Melbourne-based author Sean Wilson’s new book, You Must Remember This, he tackles the complicated, tragic, and often fraught subject of dementia....

Alex Miller Finally Lets His Friend Die

12 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Two time Miles Franklin Award-winning author Alex Miller is 88, but with 17 books under his belt and more writing on the way, he’s showing no signs ...

The Real Rachel Khong

05 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2017, Rachel Khong released her debut novel Goodbye, Vitamin to critical acclaim. In 2024, she followed it with her second novel, a sweeping family...

This Is Not Michelle de Kretser

29 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Two-time Miles Franklin Award-winning author Michelle de Kretser has never been afraid of formal experimentation. Her seventh and latest book supports...

The Tangled Branches of Lech Blaine’s Family Tree

22 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lech Blaine’s debut book Car Crash, told the gripping story of his life in the aftermath of a horrendous road accident that killed several of his fr...

Noni Hazlehurst Is Being Herself

15 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For so many, Noni Hazlehurst is the patron saint of early childhood nostalgia, known for her magnetic presence on Playschool. But Noni has had a lon...

Read This Returns January 16!

08 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Read This returns next Thursday 16 January! We’re kicking off 2025 with Australian icon Noni Hazlehurst, who is on the show to discuss her new memoi...

We Went Back to Fitzroy Pool

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For our last episode of 2024, Michael heads back to Fitzroy Pool to find out what people are reading as the weather warms up. Plus, some of our previo...

An Evening With Alan Hollinghurst

11 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Best known for his thought-provoking explorations of sexuality and identity across generations, British author Alan Hollinghurst rose to international...

The Only Difference Between Kanye and John Safran

04 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

John Safran has been a fixture in Australian media since his breakthrough in 1997 with ABC TV's Race Around the World. After several TV series of his ...

Clare Wright Is Shutting Up and Listening

27 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Historian and author Professor Clare Wright’s award-winning work is about righting the wrongs of Australian history. Across three books she takes a ...

Thank God for Rick Morton

20 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Robodebt scheme is considered by many to be one of the Australian government’s worst scandals. Senior Reporter for The Saturday Paper and Walkle...

Rachel Kushner Is Not Auditioning for Her Own Dream

13 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rachel Kushner always seemed destined to become a writer. At just five years old, her unconventional parents had her working in a feminist bookstore. ...

Santilla Chingaipe Is Rewriting History

06 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Santilla Chingaipe was born to tell stories. The Zambian-born filmmaker, historian and author, has spent her career exploring settler colonialism, sla...

Tim Winton’s Got the Juice

30 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It is more or less impossible to imagine Australian literature of the past half century without Tim Winton. From his debut, An Open Swimmer to his epi...

Nardi Simpson Is Breaking Her Own Rules

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Musician and writer Nardi Simpson is a Yuwaalaraay woman from freshwater country in north-west New South Wales. Her debut novel was 2020’s criticall...

Robbie Arnott’s Restless Mind

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In just three books Robbie Arnott has established himself as a writer to trust. Flames (2018), The Rain Heron (2022) and Limberlost (2022) were all ra...

Uses for Ben Shewry

09 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There are few people in this country as obsessed with understanding the cultural and social potential of Australian cuisine as New Zealand-born chef B...

Melanie Cheng, Superstitious Doctor

02 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Melanie Cheng began her writing career as an author of short stories. Her first collection, Australia Day, was published in 2017 to much acclaim. Her ...

Rumaan Alam on Class, Desire, and Dread

25 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rumaan Alam is the author of four novels. He broke out in 2020 with his New York Times best-selling novel Leave the World Behind. This week Michael si...

Richard Osman Investigates

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Richard Osman wears many hats, from television producer to comedian to podcaster. Now, however, he’s best known as a bestselling author for his seri...

Malcolm Knox Finds Comedy in Toxic Friendships

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Knox began his career as a journalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, back in the 90s. His breakout was in 2004 when, as literary editor, he br...

Caoilinn Hughes Is Barely Patient Enough to Write

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Caoilinn Hughes is an Irish poet and writer whose debut novel Orchid And The Wasp was published in 2018 to rave reviews. Her third and latest novel, T...

Literary Giant Rodney Hall Wishes He Was Taller

28 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rodney Hall might be the greatest Australian writer you’ve never heard of. He is a two-time Miles Franklin Award winner and has published dozens of ...

It’s Not Roxane Gay’s Job to Make People Happy

21 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roxane Gay is a prominent American author, professor, and cultural critic known for her unflinching honesty, quick wit, and razor-sharp intellect. She...

The Multiple Belongings of Elif Shafak

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British Turkish novelist whose work has been translated into fifty-five languages. She is a self-described “citizen ...

Eric Beecher Is a Media Mongrel

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Beecher is a news man. As a journalist, he’s worked for some of the most well-respected newspapers in the world, including the Sydney Morning H...

Alexis Wright Is the 2024 Miles Franklin Winner

02 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Alexis Wright’s 2023 novel Praiseworthy has just been awarded the Miles Franklin Award. It also won the Stella Prize and has been described as “an...

Evie Wyld Is Having More Fun Than You Think

31 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Evie Wyld writes dark and often trauma-informed books, but she also has a remarkable capacity to capture the tenderness of memory. Her novels have bee...

Michael Robotham and His Cabana of Cruelty

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Robotham began his career as a ghost writer, working on more than a dozen bestselling books for people like Tony Bullimore and Geri Halliwell,...

Dylin Hardcastle Has Found Their Own Voice

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dylin Hardcastle has been publishing their writing since they were 21, having now completed a memoir, a book of YA fiction and two novels. In their la...

We Visited Gerald Murnane at the Goroke Golf Course

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gerald Murnane doesn’t have readers, he has acolytes. The New Yorker described him as “the reclusive giant of Australian letters”. He’s writte...

Michael Ondaatje Is Learning Everything Again

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sri Lankan-born Canadian essayist, poet, and Booker Prize-winning novelist Michael Ondaatje has just released a stunning collection of poems. Ondaatje...

Paul Murray and the Beautiful Opera of Life

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Murray’s last two novels, Skippy Dies and The Mark and the Void, were both modern masterpieces of institutional failure. In his 2023 Booker Pri...

Don’t Call Paul Lynch’s Book a Political Novel

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For many years, Irish writer Paul Lynch was a household name…in France. And while his work was popular in translation, and received numerous French ...

Leslie Jamison’s Search History

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Leslie Jamison is celebrated for her ability to link the personal to the cultural to the critical in ways that resonate and move and connect with read...

What Is Wrong with Viet Thanh Nguyen?

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In 2015, Viet Thanh Nguyen was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his debut novel, The Sympathizer. Now, nearly a decade later, the book has been adapted in...

All Bruce Pascoe Needs Is a Biro

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It was 2014 when Bruce Pascoe went from being a prolific, yet relatively unknown writer, to public enemy #1 in Australia’s culture wars. That was th...

Miranda July Wrote the Book She Couldn’t Find

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Writer, artist, and filmmaker Miranda July has a devoted – even rabid – following, through her writing, her work on the screen, and her collaborat...

Andrew O’Hagan’s Big Dickensian Energy

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Across half a dozen novels, Andrew O’Hagan has made a name for himself as an author of delicacy and grace, painting the community he comes from, in ...

It’s Winnie Dunn’s Turn in the Spotlight

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Winnie Dunn is used to being behind the scenes. As the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement in Western Sydney, she has been instrumental in ...

Resisting Catharsis with Sloane Crosley

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sloane Crosley is known for her funny and acerbic personal essays, including her New York Times’ best-selling collection I Was Told There’d Be Cak...

See You Next Week!

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're off this Thursday, but we'll be back next week.Email us: [email protected]: Stay in touch with Read This on Instagram and Twi...

Morris Gleitzman’s World of Possibilities

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Morris Gleitzman is an Australian institution. A beloved author of novels for young people, Morris is known for his ability to be funny and warm witho...

Vulgarity, Death, and Patrick deWitt

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Patrick deWitt has made a career out of creating eccentric, unforgettable characters. From his gun-slinging duo in the darkly comic The Sisters Brothe...

Louise Milligan Wears Her Heart on Her Sleeve

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Star investigative journalist Louise Milligan has spent her career working on some of the most high-profile criminal cases in Australia. This incredib...

Friends, Mary Beard Fans, Countrymen, Lend Me Your Ears

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Even if you’re not an obsessive Ancient Rome aficionado, you may have heard of Mary Beard. With more than 20 books to her name, including the wildly...

Jonathan Lethem Is Ripping It up and Starting Again

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan Lethem made his name with his 1999 novel Motherless Brooklyn, but it was his next book, a semi-autobiographical re-telling of his childhood i...

Anne Enright Is Not Really Writing About Families, Actually

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anne Enright has been publishing books for more than two decades, winning numerous awards, including the Booker Prize for her 2007 novel, The Gatherin...

Nam Le Is Back

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When Nam Le’s debut book of short stories, The Boat, came out in 2008, it was met with unanimous praise and scooped up awards from around the world....

Gail Jones Was Saved by Reading

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Joseph Conrad only ever captained one ship in his lifetime – the Otago. In a strange turn of events, the wreckage of Joseph Conrad’s ship now lies...

Why Kate Jennings Is There in Everything Erik Jensen Writes

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Erik Jensen was just 20 years old when he met Australian author Kate Jennings for the first time, forging a close relationship that continued until Ka...

No Dogs Die in Briohny Doyle's New Novel

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Michael chats with author Briohny Doyle, whose most recent novel Why We Are Here explores the complexities of grief, both individual and co...

How Geraldine Brooks Became a Novelist

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For our first episode of 2024, Michael speaks with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks. She shares her life sentence and reflects on how he...

Read This is back Feb 8!

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We Went to Fitzroy Pool

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For our last show of the year, Michael heads to Fitzroy Pool to find out what people are reading as the weather warms up. Plus, some of our previous g...

Max Porter’s Freight Is Proportioned to His Groove

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Max Porter, best known for his debut novel Grief is the Thing with Feathers, has long been inspired by literature – reading it, listening to it, and...

Why Michelle de Kretser Wants You to Read Shirley Hazzard

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Michelle de Kretser began reading Shirley Hazzard well before she herself would become a writer, but she felt an early kinship, and two decades later ...

Gabrielle Zevin Wants to Talk About Failure

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2005, following the publication of her debut novel, Gabrielle Zevin experienced a kind of literary trauma, one that completely fractured her s...

The Cause and Effect of Richard Flanagan

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Described by the Washington Post as "one of our greatest living novelists", Richard Flanagan has been writing for more than three decades. His 2013 no...

Rebecca Makkai Is on the Case

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Makkai is a master storyteller – her 2018 book, The Great Believers, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award. In I Have...

Charlotte Wood Thinks Restraint Is Underrated

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Charlotte Wood became a mainstay in Australia’s literary firmament in 2015 following the release of her award-winning novel, The Natural Way of Thin...

It’s Trent Frickin’ Dalton

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Trent Dalton’s debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, has sold more than a million copies worldwide, making Trent one of Australia’s most successful ...

Robyn Davidson and the Impossible Book

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Robyn Davidson was just 27 when she trekked across the Australian desert. This epic journey was captured in her 1980 memoir Tracks, which became a nat...

David Marr vs Australia’s Old Lie

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For many Australians, facing the reality of this country is a task that has proved enduringly difficult, both at a public and a political level. For i...

Melissa Lucashenko is our Poet Laureate of Ratbags

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Melissa Lucashenko writes about big ideas and brutal experiences, but she does so with grace, with generosity and – maybe above all else – a rich ...

The Three Words That Made George Saunders a Writer

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

George Saunders is one of literary fiction's most acclaimed living writers. Along with his many collections of short stories, he also published the Bo...

Daniel Browning Has Something to Say

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

If you've tuned into ABC Radio over the past few decades, you've likely heard the dulcet tones of Daniel Browning's voice. In his new book Close to th...

Eleanor Catton Has Her Doubts about Certainty

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Eleanor Catton was just 28 when she won the Booker Prize for her novel The Luminaries. Her much anticipated follow-up, Birnam Wood, is an eco thriller...

Kate Grenville Makes History

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Grenville has spent her career bringing history to life, often using the lives of her own family to tell stories about the kinds of voices who ar...

Sarah Krasnostein Was Wrong About Peter Carey

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Writer and journalist Sarah Krasnostein initially found Australian fiction alienating, but that all changed when she picked up Peter Carey's seminal w...

Daniel Lavery Has Some Advice for You

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2015, Daniel Lavery took over Slate's long running advice column, Dear Prudence, using his sometimes snarky, often hilarious, and always insig...

Leigh Sales Is a Professional Stickybeak

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Long before she was hosting 7:30 on the ABC, Leigh Sales dreamed of becoming a novelist. This week she joins Michael to discuss her secret desire to w...

The Restlessness of Christos Tsiolkas

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Christos Tsiolkas burst onto Australia's publishing scene in 1995 with his grunge-lit novel Loaded. Since then he has published seven books of fiction...

Colson Whitehead Loves a Doomed Heist

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Reading Colson Whitehead, you never know what you're going to get. He’ll write a non-fiction book about poker one minute and a multi-award-winning e...

Shankari Chandran Nearly Gave up Writing

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens is the book Shankari Chandran always wanted to write. After being rejected by publishers, Shankari decided to write for ...

Tony Birch Doesn’t Believe in Luck

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning writer and historian Tony Birch grew up listening to stories from his nan, Alma. This week, Tony shares how Alma's advice has influenced...

Anna Funder is Her Own Wife

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Anna Funder has a habit of writing about humans in extremis: under the Stasi, then the Nazis, and now, she's taken on the patriarchy in her new book W...

We Went to Helen Garner’s House

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Helen Garner is writing again. This week, she invites us over for cake and conversation about what she’s writing about, how she solves problems and ...

Introducing Read This

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Read This is a show about the books we love and the stories behind them, hosted by Michael Williams. Every Thursday, you’ll hear insightful conversa...