The Book Show
Episodes
Parties, miracles and Pop Tarts with Deepti Kapoor, Michelle Johnston and Kevin Wilson
05 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Indian writer Deepti Kapoor takes on corruption, wealth and poverty in India in her novel The Age of Vice, Michelle Johnston takes you deep in to the...
Small-town murder with Julie Janson and Stuart MacBride
29 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Two very different crime fiction writers, Australian Indigenous author Julie Janson and Scottish writer Stuart MacBride imagine grisly scenarios in t...
Bret Easton Ellis and Paul Jennings come to terms with fame and ego
22 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bret Easton Ellis and Paul Jennings have been very successful writers for 40 years and although they're very different writers - Bret Easton Ellis is...
Tim Winton on a life of accidents, successes, and the business of 'useless beauty'
15 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's been 40 years since Tim Winton published his first novel, An Open Swimmer. Today he is the beloved writer of 29 books, a four-time Miles Frankli...
Jamaica's Marlon James creates an 'African Game of Thrones', plus Meg Mason
08 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Marlon James' African Game of Thrones, Markus Zusak gets your fanmail and Meg Mason's surprise success with Sorrow and Bliss.
Queer stories with Douglas Stuart, Indyana Schneider and Omar Sakr
01 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Booker winner Douglas Stuart, Indyana Schneider and Omar Sakr explore queer love and identity in their fiction.
Craig Silvey, Tony Birch and Dervla McTiernan's joy of reading
25 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Writers (and bookworms) Craig Silvey, Tony Birch, and Dervla McTiernan talk about their reading lives, in this special episode recorded at the Perth ...
Prize winners Ruth Ozeki, Shehan Karunatilaka and Jennifer Down
18 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ruth Ozeki, Shehan Karunatilaka and Jennifer Down share the backstory to their award winning books.
"Hardest thing I've ever written" — Heather Rose shares tales from her extraordinary life
11 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Australian novelist Heather Rose lost her brother in a tragic accident when she was just 12 years old. In her memoir Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here, s...
Superheroes and fun with NK Jemisin, Bonnie Garmus and Katharine Pollock
04 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
City-saving superheroes, cheese-bingeing record store employees and a chemist turned TV chef with NK Jemisin, Katharine Pollock and Bonnie Garmus.
"It's addictive" — George Saunders on short stories
27 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Booker winner George Saunders on his short story addiction, Inga Simpson on the great Australian cricket novel and pandemic fiction for kids.
Ageing and autopsies with Alex Miller and Patricia Cornwell
20 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Miller and Patricia Cornwell talk about ageing and fiction and their novels A Brief Affair and Livid, and we explore the line between fact and ...
Paterson Joseph, Orhan Pamuk and Fiona McFarlane dig up the past
13 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Actor Joseph Paterson shines a spotlight on Black British history, Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk's Ottoman Empire saga and Australian Fiona McFarlane go...
Graham Norton and the power of the Irish mammy
06 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Graham Norton, Diana Reid and Holly Throsby discuss why they enjoy writing about women in fiction. Graham Norton's fourth novel Forever Home is about...
Why Ian Rankin keeps returning to Rebus
30 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Rankin's detective John Rebus has been part of the literary world for 35 years and now his 24th Rebus novel has just landed, A Heart Full of Head...
Barbara Kingsolver finds the hillbilly in Charles Dickens
23 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Barbara Kingsolver explains her connection to Charles Dickens and why her latest Demon Copperhead is set in Appalachia, USA. Sophie Cunningham's almo...
Pod extra with the Booker Prize winner Shehan Karunatilaka
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Shehan Karunatilaka is the winner of the 2022 Booker Prize for his book The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. He spoke to The Book Show about setting the...
Beginnings and endings with Holly Ringland, Elizabeth Strout and Jane Harper
16 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Three literary superstars share the inspiration for their books and how to give a character a good ending: Holly Ringland, Elizabeth Strout and Jane ...
Kamila Shamsie and NoViolet Bulawayo on the rise and fall of dictators
09 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Former winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction Kamila Shamsie and Booker Prize-shortlisted author NoViolet Bulawayo reflect on the demise of dictator...
Andrew Sean Greer and Craig Silvey share the joy
02 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Finding joy in fiction with Pulitzer winner Andrew Sean Greer whose lovable character Arthur Less returns in Less is Lost and Craig Silvey's Runt, a ...
AM Homes plots an American revolution
25 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Can a book predict the future? AM Homes' latest novel The Unfolding follows a group of Republicans who plot to take over the government, but Homes sa...
Booker magic with Ian McEwan, Percival Everett and Jay Carmichael
18 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Shortlisted Booker author Percival Everett kicks off our Booker Prize coverage with a discussion of The Trees and former Booker winner Ian McEwan rev...
Historical resurrection with Maggie O'Farrell, Robert Drewe and Zaheda Ghani
11 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Maggie O'Farrell says her latest novel The Marriage Portrait came to her in "a lightning bolt moment". The book honours the short life of the 16th ce...
Sloane Crosley's Cult Classic a rom-com with a twist
04 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
American humourist Sloane Crosley explores the dating scene in New York City, but with a twist, in her novel Cult Classic. Also, Neela Janakiramanan ...
Hannah Gadsby on comedy, self-awareness and living an authentic life — bonus episode
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From growing up surrounded by homophobia in a small Tasmanian town to getting married in 2021, award winning comedian and now writer Hannah Gadsby sh...
Star Wars, monks and puffins — Emma Donoghue on Haven
28 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Author of Room, Emma Donoghue questions the zealotry of monks in her latest novel, Haven, set on an inhospitable island in 7th century Ireland (Sta...
Tim Winton on a life of accidents, successes, and the business of 'useless beauty' — bonus episode
23 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's been 40 years since Tim Winton published his first novel, An Open Swimmer. Today he is the beloved writer of 29 books, a four-time Miles Frankli...
Spirituality and writing with Ruth Ozeki and Ann Cleeves
21 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Women's Prize for Fiction winner, Ruth Ozeki, is also a Zen Buddhist priest and explains how this practice shapes her writing. Also, British crime wr...
Trees in fiction with Richard Powers, Hannah Kent, Elif Shafak and more
15 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Trees take root in fiction—from family ties to climate change. Richard Powers, Hannah Kent, Elif Shafak, and Michael Christie explore how nature is...
Double trouble — crime fiction with Dervla McTiernan and Aoife Clifford
08 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For ABC Arts Week, we celebrate literary events at your local bookstore with a couple of conversations with Irish Australian queens of crime.
Sibling rivalry and secrets with Liane Moriarty
01 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, Liane Moriarty, shares stories from her childhood and how growing up in a big famil...
Surprising journeys with Jessie Burton, Thomas Mayor and Sulari Gentill
25 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jessie Burton wasn't finished with the main characters in her bestselling debut novel The Miniaturist and returns to the 17th century Dutch setting f...
Meet the 2022 Miles Franklin Shortlist
18 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Ahead of the announcement of the winner of the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia's most prestigious book prize, join the shortlisted authors M...
'I guess I'm a weirdo' — Benjamin Myers on crop circles and being a loner
11 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
British author Benjamin Myers says he likes to be on the margins as a writer and his latest novel, The Perfect Golden Circle, is about the crop circl...
Anita Heiss, Tony Birch and SJ Norman grapple with the past
04 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For NAIDOC Week, three Aboriginal writers who are grappling with the past: Anita Heiss takes the 1852 Gundagai flood as the starting point for her no...
'They're about real things' — Madeline Miller on the popularity of Greek myths
27 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
American author Madeline Miller has found a new audience for her prize winning novel Circe on #BookTok and now she has a new offering based on Greek ...
'I got obsessed with horses' — Geraldine Brooks on her novel Horse
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brookes says she "didn't grow up as a horse obsessed girl" but rather her interest in horses was a result of ...
Meg Mason's surprise success with Sorrow and Bliss
13 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Meg Mason thought her second novel, Sorrow and Bliss wouldn't be published, it was and is now shortlisted for this year's Women's Prize for Fiction, ...
'I wish I’d had more resolution of character' — Booker winner Damon Galgut on privilege and power
06 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Booker-winning writer Damon Galgut wasn’t always aware of his privilege, growing up as a white man in South Africa. Instead, he describes a ‘slow...
Lessons in life, mortality and love from Julian Barnes
30 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
British Booker winner Julian Barnes's latest novel, Elizabeth Finch, is about a life-changing teacher and he tells the audience at the Sydney Writers...
Moon colonies and the 'Mandelverse' with Emily St John Mandel
23 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Canadian author, Emily St John Mandel, says the pandemic changed her as a writer. Her latest, Sea of Tranquility, was written during lockdown in New ...
Family troubles with Steve Toltz, Audrey Magee and Toni Jordan
16 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Here Goes Nothing is the last in what Steve Toltz calls his trilogy of fear which began with A Fraction of the Whole. This latest book is narrated by...
Queer stories with Douglas Stuart, Indyana Schneider and Omar Sakr
09 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Booker winner Douglas Stuart's second novel, Young Mungo, is again set in gritty working class Glasgow, but also explores blossoming queer love.And, ...
Mum’s the word with Dawn French, Douglas Stuart, Anne Enright, Alice Pung and more
02 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We meet some of the most remarkable mothers in recent fiction, with authors including Dawn French, Douglas Stuart, Anne Enright, Lisa Taddeo, Larissa...
Jennifer Down and Jonathan Franzen relive the 1970s
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jennifer Down doesn't turn away from uncomfortable truths in her Stella Prize shortlisted novel, Bodies of Light, about the systemic failures of the ...
Hannah Kent and Michelle Johnston unearth the past
18 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Hannah Kent reflects on her time as an exchange student in Iceland and how it allowed her to pursue writing, and Michelle Johnston tells Claire Nicho...
Jennifer Egan's Goon Squad follow-up
11 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Pulitzer-prize winner, Jennifer Egan, is "interested in the ways technology interacts with our psychologies". Her new novel, The Candy House, plays w...
Kári Gíslason gives new life to an old Icelandic saga
04 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Icelandic sagas have long been a source of fascination for Kári Gíslason and his latest novel, The Sorrow Stone, gives new life to an old Icela...
Mythology and Marlon James — Moon Witch, Spider King
27 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For his latest novel, Moon Witch, Spider King, Marlon James says "I was trying to connect with my own mythological history as a black man in an Afric...
Recovery and 'ridey men' — Marian Keyes and Again, Rachel
20 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
'I have a full and beautiful life', says Irish writer Marian Keyes, 'The only thing I can't do is drink'. And the experience of addiction and recover...
Karen Joy Fowler targets John Wilkes Booth, America's first presidential assassin
13 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Karen Joy Fowler wades into American Civil War history and the story of John Wilkes Booth, the first presidential assassin, in her novel Booth.Also, ...
Craig Silvey, Tony Birch and Dervla McTiernan’s joy of reading
06 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Craig Silvey, Tony Birch and Dervla McTiernan share their love of reading from the Perth Festival Writers Weekend. They share their formative childho...
Isabel Allende writes about her mother, Markus Zusak gets your fanmail
27 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Isabel Allende says her latest novel, Violeta, was inspired by her mother but also by Allende's own life. Also, readers who send fan mail and the wri...
Immigrant stories of the Big Apple with Gary Shteyngart and Xochitl Gonzalez
20 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our Country Friends is a funny book set in upstate New York during the pandemic by US writer Gary Shteyngart and Xochitl Gonzalez looks at the city t...
Love and literature with Hannah Kent, Roddy Doyle, Elif Shafak and more
13 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
From young love and forbidden romance to break-ups and long-term relationships: hear authors wax lyrical about love. Writers include David Nicholls, ...
Jason Mott's Hell of a Book
06 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Jason Mott's Hell of a Book lives up to its name: it has a snappy title, an eccentric narrator and a Nicolas Cage cameo.Also, two authors who explore...
Secrets and lies in Monica Ali's Love Marriage
30 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Almost 20 years after Brick Lane, Monica Ali is still unpicking the ins and outs of relationships in her novel, Love Marriage.Also, Skimming Stones b...
Hanya Yanagihara moves on from A Little Life
23 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In her new book To Paradise, Hanya Yanagihara asks what would America be if its foundations were different. Also Katherine Collette's ode to Toastmas...
Masterclass with George Saunders and Tsitsi Dangarembga
16 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Two masters of the form, George Saunders and Tsisti Dangarembga, share lessons from their extensive writing careers.
Life at the extremes — Pat Barker, Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Ella Baxter
09 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The Booker-winning author Pat Barker's preoccupation with who's allowed to speak and who isn't continues in The Women of Troy, a sequel to The Sil...
Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro on Klara and the Sun
02 Jan 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro introduces us to his latest creation in Klara and the Sun, and we also take a look at how authors name their heroes and...
Darkness and light with Patricia Lockwood, Jessie Tu and Ethan Hawke
26 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"It's such a contradiction in life how much we learn from suffering," says actor and writer Ethan Hawke who tells The Book Show about his fourth nove...
From Karachi to Kamchatka — literary travel with Roddy Doyle, Arundhati Roy, Elizabeth Strout and more
19 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
International travel has been off the cards for many in the last two years, this literary world tour might be the next best thing.
And the winner is: the book prize winners of 2021
12 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Kate Grenville, Craig Silvey, Susanna Clarke, Nardi Simpson, Damon Galgut, Christos Tsiolkas and more on their prize-winning books. Plus, former winn...
'People were already forgetting' — Jodi Picoult confronts the pandemic
05 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Unlike many authors, Jodi Picoult decided to take on COVID-19 in Wish You Were Here, because Picoult says, "we need to remember everything we got wro...
How Val McDermid's time as a newspaper journalist inspired a new crime series
28 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Scottish crime writer Val McDermid's new book, 1979, is the beginning of a new series inspired by her own experience as a newspaper journalist in the...
Creative lives of a Booker, Stella and Nobel winner — Bernardine Evaristo, Charlotte Wood and Abdulrazak Gurnah
21 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I never sunk into complacency in any aspect of my life." Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo on her latest book, Manifesto, about her unconventi...
Christos Tsiolkas on beauty and art
14 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
"I can't separate the erotic and the sensual from the beautiful." Melbourne Prize for Literature winner, Christos Tsiolkas on his latest novel 7½ wh...
Hannah Kent and Susanna Clarke on love and loneliness
07 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Author of Burial Rites and The Good People, Hannah Kent says she wanted to look at human connection in her latest novel Devotion. It's another histor...