en-us Thu, 04 Dec 2008 09:00:00 -0500 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081204.mp3 Peter Stothard, editor of the Times Literary Supplement Peter Stothard talks about the best books of 2008, as chosen by the erudite Times Literary Supplement reviewers; and two new books on cars, Traffic and Autophobia. Did you know, for instance, that a driver has to process 1,340 pieces of information per minute and requires elaborate coping strategies to deal with the gulf between the risk of death and the reward of a trip to the supermarket? Literary resurrectionist -- Graham Tulloch on Walter Scott South Australian academic Graham Tulloch and two of his colleagues have been accused of being 'literary resurrectionists' for editing and publishing two of Sir Walter Scott's previously unpublished manuscripts -- The Siege of Malta and Bizarro. Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:52:04 -0500 aafc36989abdf8d5e357ce10e07423c1 1507164 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081205.mp3 Taboos in literature It's 50 years since Nabokov's Lolita was published in the United States. It's the story of 40 year old Humbert Humbert who has sex -- he calls it love -- with a 12 year old girl. In his afterword to the novel, Nabokov said there were three taboos: the theme of Lolita was one of them, then interracial marriage and atheism. His exact wording for the last two was 'a negro-white marriage which is a complete and glorious success resulting in lots of children and grandchildren; and the totoal atheist who lives a happy and useful life, and dies in his sleep at the age of 106'. Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:52:04 -0500 5d47038bd54f2049006594af0648c449 1507165 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081202.mp3 Montana's Malady by Enrique Vila-Matas (Review) Enrique Vila-Matas has earned a reputation in Europe as one of Spain's most important living writers. Montano's Malady is the second of his novels to be translated into English. Don Anderson was so impressed by Vila-Matas's earlier book Bartleby & Co that he has read and re-read Montano's Malady for The Book Show. Although the book's described as a 'novel' he suggests it might be more useful to think of Vila-Matas as pioneering a new literary form. Some reviewers have found it hard going, but Don believes it's well worth the effort. Doing Life: A biography of Elizabeth Jolley Novelist and short-story writer Elizabeth Jolley died in Perth in 2007 at the age of 83. Born in Birmingham in England, she came to Australia in 1959 with her husband, who had a job as a librarian at the University of Western Australia. Although she was trained as a nurse, she had a series of jobs -- for example as a door-to-door saleswoman selling soaps, jelly crystals and liquid manure, or as a cleaning lady -- all of which figured in her stories years later. In fact, according to her biographer Brian Dibble, much of her life, her relationships and the people she worked with and observed, appeared in her work. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:20:34 -0500 f5634f0889a312256112940de47c4c34 1502959 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081203.mp3 Ars memorativa - the medieval craft of memory In contemporary culture we tend to think of the imagination as the highest creative impulse. The imagination is seen as the ultimate source of originality and original thinking is what marks a true artist. But from the antiquities to medieval times memory was highly valued. Both Aristotle and Chaucer thought memory the most important tool a writer or a reader could have. Renowned medieval scholar Mary Carruthers talks about the lost art of memory. The poetry of Robert Adamson The 'Huck Finn of the Hawkesbury' is how Robert Adamson was described by one reviewer when his first book was published in 1970. He's one of Australia's leading contemporary poets and a successful writer, editor and publisher. His autobiography Inside Out won the New South Wales Premier's History Award, and he received the Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in literature. Robert Adamson's new collection of poetry The Golden Bird brings together the best of his published work as well as many new poems. Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:20:34 -0500 2b050cd08fd6226984f817afb53d8251 1502960 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081201.mp3 National Poetry Slam Literary critic Harold Bloom called it the 'death of art' but to some poets, slamming has given poetry a new life. From its beginning in Chicago in the 1980s, this cabaret style word duel has spread around the world—including to Australia. Since June, performance poets from Broome to Dubbo have competed in slam heats and the finalists are converging on Thursday 4 December at the Sydney Opera House for the Australian Poetry Slam final. Malla Nunn's Beautiful Place to Die Malla Nunn's novel A Beautiful Place to Die is a detective thriller set in 1950s South Africa. The dead body discovered in the opening pages is that of Captain Willem Pretorius, an Afrikaans Police Captain from the small backwater town of Jacob's Rest. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (review) Christos Tsiolkas burst onto the literary scene in 1995 with the novel Loaded, and in 2006 won the Age Book of the Year fiction award for Dead Europe. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:12:28 -0500 0b7e74080b1abd51d9e4aea5df84a3ea 1500401 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081129.mp3 David Astle is a cruciverbalist, a crossword setter; one 'lodged happily down the gnarly end' of the cryptograms that are published in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. He tells how it all came about in this edited version of a far longer and more detailed inside story, published in the literary and cultural journal, Meanjin. Mon, 01 Dec 2008 11:40:48 -0500 7c8f6a79a48d623f21b52b049947ec87 1497037 This week: Motoko Rich with Notes from the Field, an extended conversation with Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, and bestseller news from Jennifer Schuessler. News Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:09:29 -0500 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/11/28/28bookupdate.mp3 1497343 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081127.mp3 Louis Nowra on Ice Louis Nowra, novelist, playwright, essayist and screenwriter, has a new book out. It's a novel called Ice, a meditation on the many forms of ice: frozen water, ice the drug, ice as death, ice as preservation. It starts with a huge iceberg being towed into Sydney Harbour in the second half of the 19th century. Holy Warriors: Tim Parks (review) It's just over 60 years since India became independent. In her book Holy Warriors: a Journey into the Heart of Indian Fundamentalism journalist Edna Fernandes reviews those years and paints a contemporary portrait of the country from its fundamentalist fringes. She begins by looking at Islam, revisits the Catholic Inquisition in Goa, meets Christian Baptist separatists and looks into both Sikh separatism and Hindu nationalism. Tim Parks investigates how much we can learn about India from this book. Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:04:23 -0500 b08a21d1fe8538ef95c93f06011b6d44 1494620 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081128.mp3 Reviving 'The Chicagoan' In 1926 Chicago had an unfortunate reputation for organised crime, political mayhem and industrial squalor but there was also gusto, glamour and jazz. The Chicagoan, a magazine to rival the successful New Yorker, appeared on newsstands for nine years until it died quietly in 1935 with the arrival of the Great Depression. The Chicagoan was largely forgotten until cultural historian Neil Harris stumbled upon it in the library of the University of Chicago some 20 years ago. He has now brought this publication back to life with a 400-page tribute The Chicagoan: A Lost Magazine of the Jazz Age. True crime writing Recently The Law Report's Damien Carrick moderated a conversation with two authors of true crime books, Helen Garner and Kara Lawrence. Helen Garner is well known for both fiction and non-fiction. Her latest novel is The Spare Room, but in this discussion she revisits her 2004 non-fiction book Joe Cinque's Consolation. Kara Lawrence is a crime writer with The Daily Telegraph. The event was part of the National Investigations Conference, a gathering of professional investigators who work for various police forces, anti-corruption watchdogs and ombudsmen's offices. Sat, 29 Nov 2008 02:04:23 -0500 2d5ce81cfdfe381fcd1d33709ae41e95 1495759 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081126.mp3 George Orwell's diaries online Seventy years to the day after he began keeping a diary on 9 August 1938, George Orwell's diary entries began appearing as a daily blog on the Orwell Prize website. The Orwell Prize was set up to encourage quality writing about politics. Every year prizes go to writers who have achieved George Orwell's ambition to 'make political writing into an art.' This year, as well as awarding prizes in his name to contemporary writers, the Orwell Prize trustees have turned George Orwell into a posthumous blogger. Moving Galleries: train poetry Do you stare out the window when you're on the train, listen to music, read the newspaper or your own book? Now, if you're in Melbourne, you can also read haikus and ponder art. EH Carr's What is History? (review) EH Carr's contribution to the study of Soviet history is widely regarded as highly distinguished. In all probability, few would argue against the assessment of Carr's 14-volume history of Soviet Russia. For the majority of historians, he pretty much got the story straight. Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:56:14 -0500 ae4186d1aa24f558a3a212bb9f749acd 1492004 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081122.mp3 To mark last week's launch of the Scottish parliament's five-year Gaelic language plan, Holyrood has held two days of activities to promote and celebrate Scottish Gaelic. Wed, 26 Nov 2008 03:20:27 -0500 880d36255880b514d5a0c1e8451f3f45 1489870 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081124.mp3 Reading the art of Yinka Shonibare We're turning the page in search of the literary references in the work of British-born Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare's black and white photography. His work is the focus of a new program at the Museum of Contemporary Art called 'Inspired Reading'. The sister arts in Australia Painting and the visual arts, poetry, fiction and music are said to have a family resemblance and the dialogue between the forms has been described as the sister arts. In the early days of Australian writing, authors who incorporated the sister arts in their narratives were considered derivative—even un-Australian. These were writers like Henry Handel Richardson and Eleanor Dark, who today we think of as definitively Australian. Alan Wearne's The Australian Popular Songbook (review) Alan Wearne has been writing poems since his university days in the 1960s. He's published several collections of poetry, two acclaimed verse novels—The Nightmarkets and The Lovemakers volumes one and two—and a prose work, Kicking in Danger, a fantasy/satire on Melbourne and its football culture. Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:48:15 -0500 91a612a7554ca0319ff0d4b1c2ae82b7 1489564 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081125.mp3 Saving endangered words The wordsmiths at Collins English Dictionary have identified 24 rarely used words deemed too obscure to be included in the dictionary's 30th anniversary edition to be published next year. But there is a rescue plan. The London Times is spearheading an online campaign to save the endangered words from permanent oblivion, with some of Britain's leading literary lights arguing for their salvation. The Prometheus myth reworked: Michel Faber Novelist and short story writer Michel Faber has created a new version of the Prometheus myth in The Fire Gospel. In the myth, Zeus is so angry that Prometheus has stolen fire and given it to mere humans, he binds up the thief and allows an eagle to peck out his liver for all eternity. Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:48:15 -0500 653a21fc7f2aabc97808e3dcf47b96f3 1489565 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/11232008.html With literary agent Kristin Nelson and writers Frances Julia Kemp and Del Landis Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:52:09 -0500 http://www.writingshow.com/253.0 1488524 This week: George Packer on the strange life of V.S. Naipaul, Motoko Rich with Notes from the Field, Times' theater critic Charles Isherwood talks about Ziegfield's Follies, and bestseller news from Jennifer Schuessler. News Sat, 22 Nov 2008 21:28:14 -0500 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/11/21/21bookupdate.mp3 1486388 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081120.mp3 Stella Miles Franklin: A Biography Professor Jill Roe has produced a substantial biography of Stella Miles Franklin, the author of My Brilliant Career, who left a legacy that's remembered every year in the Miles Franklin Award for Australian Writing. It's the story of a feisty and smart young woman who had early literary success and who made a career out of agitating for women's and workers' rights and in journalism. It's also a story of amazing application to the task of writing, whether the work was published or not, and it's a portait of the times in which she lived. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:40:26 -0500 d01d76be232c3f9b3af2fe590665aed0 1482684 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081121.mp3 Anna Akhmatova -- poetry star of Russia In Russia, poets are like rock stars and during the Stalinist era purges they represented the voice of the people. This was a heavy burden. Many poets went into exile, but not Anna Akhmatova. She stayed, was denounced and kept writing as fellow poets were executed. Anna Akhmatova was born into Tsarist Russia in 1889. Her first book Evening was published before World War I. She lived through the October Revolution, the civil war, Stalin, the terror years, World War II and the relative thaw of Khrushchev. She died in 1966, a national hero. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:40:26 -0500 1468770bde191e8d65937bbde111ff4e 1483962 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081122.mp3 To mark last week's launch of the Scottish parliament's five-year Gaelic language plan, Holyrood has held two days of activities to promote and celebrate Scottish Gaelic. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:04:15 -0500 9d1cb9d10c667811fff314aefd84b6e2 1485503 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081117.mp3 Novel simulations in Second Life There's the Charles Dickens theme park, book- inspired computer games and film adaptations of novels like Bladerunner, but to get an immersive experience of a book, some enthusiasts have recreated the settings of their favourite novels in Second Life, an online virtual world. A literary conference in Second Life called 'Stepping into Literature' featured these simulations and librarians, book lovers and academics attended. A West Bank story Australian-Palestinian writer Randa Abdel-Fattah talks about her latest book Where the streets had a name, a tale of longing and loss seen through the eyes of a 13-year-old Palestinian girl. Tim Parks on George Steiner's unwritten books George Steiner has called his most recent work My Unwritten Books and in it he describes seven books he didn't write. The themes of these unwritten books include a love for animals, exile, thoughts on the English scientist Joseph Needham, who produced a massive history of Chinese culture and invention, and the experience of sex in different languages. Tim Parks gives his thoughts on My Unwritten Books. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:32:06 -0500 38cdf8f4bd617ba85ccfb89fc5aeddca 1479947 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081118.mp3 Robyn Rowland's personal muse Truth and fact are tenets of biography, but what about in memoir poetry? Can you tell a lie to tell the truth using the lyrical crafts to get to the heart of the matter? Vale Ivan Southall Ivan Southall died last Saturday at the age of 87. He wrote over 30 novels for young people and seven books for adults, winning all kinds of prizes and accolades along the way and being translated into over 20 languages. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:32:06 -0500 1051d26ae38d40596c22297086a55553 1479948 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081119.mp3 A Most Wanted Man - John le Carré A strange thin young Russian-speaking man claiming to be a Chechen Muslim appears in Hamburg. Add in a passionate young German human rights lawyer, a 60-year-old Scottish banker with a cooling marriage and an estranged daughter, a German spy and his female sidekick, and the hunt for the young man in order to connect him with a terrorist network. A Most Wanted Man is the latest book from John le Carré, the nom de plume for author David Cornwell. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:32:06 -0500 ba8173ef74ab9a889df639191fee879a 1479949 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/11162008.html With Writing Show First-Chapter Contest Winner Linda Simoni-Wastila Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:28:38 -0500 http://www.writingshow.com/252.0 1477095 This week: Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter on the life of George Plimpton, Motoko Rich with Notes from the Field, Roy Blount Jr. takes us through the alphabet, and bestseller news from Jennifer Schuessler. News Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:40:26 -0500 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/11/14/14bookupdate.mp3 1474746 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081115.mp3 'Like linguistic wallpaper', is how Sian Prior once thought of the category of expressions called platitudes; until she found good reason to use those trite, but true, terms herself. Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:32:10 -0500 9237bfd31fa1dd4116683ac4608bee03 1473911 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081112.mp3 Wanting: Richard Flanagan Richard Flanagan´s novel Wanting is set in Tasmania and uses the parallel lives of 19th century governor and polar explorer John Franklin, Charles Dickens and Mathinna, an Aboriginal girl, to explore desire and the costs of trying to use reason to control it. Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:12:31 -0500 98c7b8441916af0180f53e922c3bb7b9 1467915 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081113.mp3 A thousand years of The Tale of Genji It's believed to be the world's first modern novel, penned a thousand years ago. The Tale of Gengi by Murasaki Shikibu starts when a woman of lower rank in the court gives birth to a son called Genji. He is favoured by the emperor because he's so beautiful, talented and likeable. He goes on to have many love affairs, which allows Murasaki Shikibu to explore ideas of love, court politics, friendship, life and death. Ten centuries on, the popularity and influence of this ancient text has not diminished and this year to honour the millenium of The Tale of Gengi, Japan is celebrating. Remix My Lit -- literary mash-ups Remixing is a word that is often more associated with music than the literary domain. But it's been said that there are really only seven storylines and that every story has already been told. So does that mean that all stories are cover versions? Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:12:31 -0500 85798d510060895b9d51eed034bf804e 1470007 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081114.mp3 Chris Abani at the Brisbane Writers' Festival Chris Abani was jailed several times by Nigerian authorities, first for a book he wrote when he was 16, which they saw as a blueprint for an attempted coup, and later for a play the government found subversive. For this he was sent to a maximum security prison. Now living in the United States and teaching at the University of California, Chris Abani's writing has earned many awards and much acclaim. He was invited to give the opening address at this year's Brisbane Writers' Festival. Almost Paradise by Sam Hamill (review) For American poet Sam Hamill the lyrical can be a weapon against war. 'Drop no bombs on a people who's poetry you have not read', he says. Active in politics and publishing, he founded Poets against War in 2003 in response to the Iraq war. He has written 14 books of poetry and a number of books of essays, including A Poet's Work. He has also published translations of Estonian, Ancient Greek, Chinese and Japanese works. Geoff Page reviews Sam Hamill's poetry collection Almost Paradise. Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:12:31 -0500 4ce4867be3be822bb0ffb0f6c6ca4045 1472029 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/11122008.html With screenwriter/coach Blake Snyder, author of Save the Cat! and Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:56:14 -0500 http://www.writingshow.com/251.0 1469822 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/11092008.html With Jennifer Silva Redmond, Editor-in-Chief of Sunbelt Publications Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:52:20 -0500 http://www.writingshow.com/250.0 1467012 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081110.mp3 Italian author in hiding from Mafia threat There's a price you pay for attacking the Mafia and Italian author and journalist Roberto Saviano is paying that price. Two years ago he exposed the Neapolitan Mafia in his bestselling book Gomorrah, an up-close account of the inner workings of the crime group that's operated around Naples for more than a century. Amanda Lohrey's Vertigo Amanda Lohrey, the award-winning author of The Philosopher's Doll and Camille's Bread, has just published a new book. Vertigo: A Novella tells the story of a thirty-something corporate couple who move to a coastal settlement to escape a mortgage, pollution and a shared tragedy. Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:04:15 -0500 940fb50f59070f6843dbdd5f4a8cf2f0 1463931 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081111.mp3 Writer beware! How to avoid writing scams The literary equivalent of the Nigerian scam that politely asks for your bank details is the writing scam. The Force Unleashed - Sean Williams and Star Wars Adelaide based author Sean Williams has just written his fourth book in the Star Wars canon, The Force Unleashed. He has written twenty-seven novels and some seventy short stories in a range of genres including fantasy, gothic and science fiction and he's won a swag of awards. For The Book Show Fiona Croall talked to Sean Williams about the experience of writing for the Star Wars franchise and about the plot of this new book. A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (review) Two debut novelists' books made it on to the Booker shortlist this year. Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:04:15 -0500 dae24ae986116bc751f15d416a8bf81e 1466459 This week: Novelist Jonathan Lethem on Roberto Bolaño, Motoko Rich with Notes from the Field, Julie Just on our special children's book issue, and bestseller news from Jennifer Schuessler. News Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:04:14 -0500 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/11/07/07bookupdate.mp3 1462949 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081108.mp3 Despite Australian Indigenous languages being among the most endangered in the world, their use in education facilities is becoming evermore restricted, with the focus instead on schools providing better English-language skills to Indigenous students. But there is also a groundswell calling for a national Indigenous languages policy, as well as for the promotion of bilingual or 'two-way' education in schools, using Indigenous languages as well as English. Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:04:19 -0500 9002aa1f459939b167ed350a0f5975ea 1462154 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/11052008.html With Writing Show commentator Jeffrey R. DeRego Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:32:15 -0500 http://www.writingshow.com/249.0 1460911 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081106.mp3 Google deal sparks publishing revolution It's been described as the biggest book deal in US publishing history. After two years of intense negotiations, America's book industry and the giant internet search engine Google have settled their copyright stoush for 195 million Australian dollars. Robert Silvers, editor of The New York Review of Books In 1963 a new publication called The New York Review of Books was launched. One of its founders, who had been an editor at Harpers and The Paris Review, was asked to be the first editor. Forty-five years later Robert Silvers is still its editor. On the day Americans celebrate a new president-elect he talks to The Book Show about elections and anniversaries. Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:32:05 -0500 a4c0eac926c62bcb622ba5d1015006c0 1459422 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081107.mp3 Australian writer detained in Thailand For more than two months Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been in a Bangkok jail, accused of insulting the Thai monarchy. He was arrested in late August because of a brief passage in his novel Verisimilitude. Published in 2005, the book offers a critique of political and social life in contemporary Thailand. The Atlantic Ocean - essays by Andrew O'Hagan The ebullient Scottish writer Andrew O'Hagan is best known for his fiction. He has written three novels: Our Fathers, Personality and Be Near Me which have all won prizes. But he also has a reputation as a writer of non-fiction. He's a contributing editor with The London Review of Books and has been described as 'the best essayist of his generation' by The New York Times. At this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival he spoke with journalist Magnus Linklater about his latest book The Atlantic Ocean: Essays on Britain and America. Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:32:05 -0500 5ca199d8514dc99611698f62a95efe69 1459423 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081104.mp3 Ian McEwan at the Sydney Opera House (repeat) Earlier this year novelist Ian McEwan was a guest at the Sydney Opera House in the International Speakers Series. In his humorous address he explores the boundary between fact and fiction, he talks about the engagement of readers with ideas and characters and he reads from some of the marvellously cranky letters he has received, correcting facts in his novels. Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:04:14 -0500 7585ed40d15a687f819b1d2d278db0fe 1455600 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081105.mp3 Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula K. Le Guin is one of the best and most prolific writers of science fiction and fantasy in the world. She's published 20 novels and written several short story collections, children's books and poetry. She's a creator of other worlds, sometimes with wizards and dragons, sometimes with spaceships and telepathy. Her new book, Lavinia, is based on a character from Virgil´s epic poem The Aeneid. Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:04:14 -0500 cc0162c8362de9f5db513d3cf50a0a7c 1455601 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081103.mp3 Ouyang Yu's Kingsbury Tales Ouyang Yu is best known for his poetry, but has also written fiction and criticism in both English and Chinese. Sarah Manguso's The Two Kinds of Decay At the age of 21, while studying at Harvard University, Sarah Manguso was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease -- chronic idiopathic demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). It's a form of Guillain-Barre Syndrome which afflicted the writer Joseph Heller. Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:48:31 -0500 a1354c575bf0478ddcf428488d7d0fa6 1453255 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081101.mp3 Collins, the dictionary publishers, have a project underway to see whether 24 obsolete words can be brought back into popular usage. See the list here. Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:40:14 -0500 1ee187ecaca74c394bdf0108899ebdcd 1451657 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/11022008.html With Susan Choi, award-winning author of A Person of Interest Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Mon, 03 Nov 2008 02:56:09 -0500 http://www.writingshow.com/248.0 1452467 This week: Motoko Rich with Notes from the Field, an extended conversation with John Updike, and bestseller news from Dwight Garner. News Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:21:06 -0500 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/10/31/31bookupdate.mp3 1452005 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081031.mp3 Marilynne Robinson's Home Marilynne Robinson, author of the Pulitzer prize-winning Gilead, has written a new novel, Home. It takes place in the same period and the same Iowa town of Gilead in the mid 1950s. Tribute to Jacob Rosenberg Poet, memoirist and Holocaust survivor Jacob Rosenberg died yesterday at the age of 86. He was born in Poland, in Lodz, a city known as the Polish Manchester because of its textile industry. With the German occupation of Poland, Jacob and his family were confined to the Lodz ghetto until they were sent to Auschwitz. Within a few days of arriving there, he was the only one of his family still alive. Jacob Rosenberg came to Australia in 1948 and in the years after that wrote six volumes of poetry, a book of stories called Lives and Embers and two memoirs, East of Time and Sunrise West. Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:41:08 -0400 5cc901a672591a027b45f9bb469ea688 1448410 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10312008.html With horror writer Rick Kennett and a reading of his story "The Dark and What It Said," introduced by master of ceremonies Stephen Studach Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:20:17 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/247.0 1449443 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10302008.html With horror writer David Conyers and a reading of his story "Subtle Invasion," introduced by master of ceremonies Stephen Studach Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:52:30 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/246.0 1447556 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081004.mp3 The rose is an ancient bloom of which there are now thousands of varieties, with hundreds more new types introduced each year. Gardening writer Roger Mann reads from the introduction of his new book, which tells the history of their naming. Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:12:23 -0400 1dedd16949fbc115f9712d1672c788dc 1446759 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081011.mp3 The International Guide to Speech Acquisition provides an overview of how children learn to speak a range of dialects of English, as well as 24 languages other than English. It has been published as a guide for speech pathologists to assist those children with communication disabilities, estimated as 12% of all children in Australia. Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:12:23 -0400 c1e4e61eb7d2e0a224774f8f4e0f5ec0 1446760 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081018.mp3 Susie Dent, star lexicographer in the longest-running British television quiz show Countdown, describes how, in her just-published Words of the Year, 'the world's financial markets have been one of the biggest generators of vocabulary'. Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:12:23 -0400 038b6d56488d211081c3b6de8b41d255 1446761 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081025.mp3 For the 8th annual Italian Language in the World Week, the journalist and author Beppe Severgnini explains this year's theme of the piazza, a particular kind of gathering place that has been described as 'the concrete representation of language'. Thu, 30 Oct 2008 09:12:23 -0400 de259406226169946011c252eec977ee 1446762 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10292008.html With horror writer Chuck McKenzie reading his short story "Eight-Beat Bar" Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Thu, 30 Oct 2008 01:48:15 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/245.0 1446152 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081029.mp3 Writing the Future: the first Asia-Pacific festival of writing Professor Rukmini Bhaya Nair, poet and editor of the Indian Literary journal Biblio, is one of the organisers of the first Asia-Pacific Festival of Writing, held this month in New Delhi and the Indian hill-station town of Shimla. Nina Khrushcheva imagines Nabokov Nina Khrushcheva is a Russian writer and academic who proudly labels herself a foreigner. Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:28:24 -0400 35f10413f1a8399d11cc2457d54f2fa0 1444236 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081030.mp3 Philip Gourevitch, editor of The Paris Review A puritanical hedonist -- this is how novelist and nonfiction writer Marilynne Robinson describes herself. She won the Pulitzer for her 2004 novel Gilead and her new book is called Home. An in-depth interview with her is in the latest Paris Review. John Gascoigne on the enthralling Captain Cook The cultures of 18th century Pacific Islanders and Captain Cook aren't normally thought of as having many similarities. But John Gascoigne says when it came to the knowledge of navigation and its romance, these two cultures were closer than we think. Pacific Islanders knew 200 stars by name and both cultures shared an interest in all things nautical. Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:28:24 -0400 5914321b4f137a3e339e70d82da76e12 1445955 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10262008.html With author/journalist Declan Burke, interviewed by guest host Mick Halpin Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:40:10 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/242.0 1443388 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10272008.html With horror writer Marty Young reading his short story "Revelations," introduced by master of ceremonies Stephen Studach Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:40:10 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/243.0 1443389 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10282008.html With Alison Pearce reading her short story "Earthbound," introduced by master of ceremonies Stephen Studach Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:40:10 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/244.0 1443390 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081027.mp3 Peter Goldsworthy: Everything I Knew Australian novelist, essayist, librettist and poet Peter Goldsworthy talks about his new novel Everything I Knew. It's set in Penola, South Australia, in 1964 when Miss Peach, a new teacher on a scooter who's the spitting image of Audrey Hepburn, comes to town and fourteen-year-old Robbie Burns sits up and takes notice. The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood (review) Rachel Power is a writer, artist and musician. She's also a mother of two young children. In her book The Divided Heart: Art and Motherhood she writes about her own experience and that of 26 other artist-mothers, who talk about balancing motherhood with finding the space to continue their creative lives. Clare Wright, also a writer and mother, read Rachel Power's book with particular interest. Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:04:21 -0400 df30137278b9857d61e429a620ed4e87 1440631 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081028.mp3 American political books for kids Putting politics in the mouths of babes is nothing new. The Dr Seuss books have been brimming with political lessons and allegories for decades. But now there's some very different bedtime reading on offer. In the lead-up to next week's US presidential election, partisan authors have been peddling their opposing liberal and conservative views to an audience which is much too young to vote, children. Political propaganda or an early civic lesson? For copyright reasons this story is not available as audio on demand or podcast. Public figures, private lives Is the private life of a public figure a proper subject for biography? And how does a biographer decide what to reveal and what to screen from public gaze? Historian David Day has written biographies of three public figures: Ben Chifley, John Curtin and Andrew Fisher. He discusses balancing the need to explore the private landscape of subjects with a duty to be discreet about other people's lives. Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:04:21 -0400 ce89586d6af1922e88e66256d33e87a1 1443162 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081025.mp3 For the 8th annual Italian Language in the World Week, the journalist and author Beppe Severgnini explains this year's theme of the piazza, a particular kind of gathering place that has been described as 'the concrete representation of language'. Mon, 27 Oct 2008 17:04:03 -0400 3e0faf94fd87f902ac4804d00d807e1c 1440144 This week: Stacy Schiff on the career of Emily Post, Motoko Rich with Notes from the Field, Steven Heller reviews some new design books, and bestseller news from Dwight Garner. News Mon, 27 Oct 2008 02:56:15 -0400 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/10/24/24bookupdate.mp3 1440597 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081024.mp3 Financial doom and gloom and Frankfurt Book Fair antics We talk to writers all the time about their books, but have you thought about how they come to be published, or how international writers' books end up on our shores? An Upwrite Man - Tim Parks on the relationship between writers and their families Tim Parks is a novelist, essayist, critic and translator. He lives in Italy with his wife and children. Earlier this year, you may remember, Tim spoke to us about his collection of literary essays The Fighter. His most recent novel, Dreams of Rivers and Seas, has just been published. The arrival of the first printed copies of a new book, and the fact that his children are now old enough to read his novels, prompted Tim to think about the relationship between writers, particularly writers of fiction, and their families. Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:52:06 -0400 3c92559a2595c106122ae226d4f0ea96 1438228 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081023.mp3 Hunter S. Thompson in words and on film There are some phrases and concepts that are forever enshrined in the mythos of a writer. For the iconoclastic Hunter S. Thompson, it's Gonzo journalism, freak power and fear and loathing. Since his suicide in 2005, there have been many memoirs, many of them authored by his friends keeping the mythology of the cult writer alive. But when it comes to a subject as complex as Hunter S.Thompson, there's always room for more. Slightly Foxed with Gail Pirkis The British quarterly journal Slightly Foxed was set up partly to celebrate writers and books that are either neglected or out of fashion and partly as a reaction to a book industry that has become somewhat captive to image and marketing. Michael Shirrefs asked editor Gail Pirkis about the ethic of the journal. Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:40:10 -0400 67d5402e438ba3f986f2d5f6de74e5b7 1434491 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10192008.html With Maralys Wills, author of Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:12:14 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/241.0 1432373 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081020.mp3 Espresso Book Machines Trying to find a book that's out of print or out of stock can be tricky. But now it can be as easy as getting cash from an ATM. The Espresso Book Machine, capable of printing, trimming and binding a quality paperback book within minutes, has arrived in Australia. Morris Lurie's To Light Attained Australian writer Morris Lurie was the winner of the 2006 Patrick White Award. His new novel is To Light Attained. In it we meet Herschel Himmelman, who tells us the story of his daughter, his marriage, his state of mind and his search to understand why his troubled daughter has suicided in her early twenties. It's a father's anguish in words. Thirteen Tonne Theory by Mark Seymour (review) For eighteen years Mark Seymour fronted the band Hunters and Collectors, through the songs that made it, like 'Throw Your Arms Around Me', 'Talking to a Stranger' and 'Holy Grail' and the years of hard work playing festivals and overflowing pubs. Ten years after Hunters and Collectors disbanded Mark Seymour wrote about his experiences with the band in Thirteen Tonne Theory: Life Inside Hunter and Collectors, reviewed here by David Astle. Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:28:12 -0400 dad7de59fced20d048171d37794aef22 1431847 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081021.mp3 Hilary Mantel's Beyond Black Hilary Mantel recently wrote in the Guardian newspaper about the night life of a writer, saying 'Life being so short, and the possible books to write so many, it's good to function by night as well as by day; but would anybody become a writer, if they realised at the outset what the working hours were?' Murray Bail's The Pages (review) Ten years ago, Murray Bail wrote the internationally acclaimed Eucalyptus. Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:28:12 -0400 2fc807d8785753d109de9fe9e75732bb 1431848 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081022.mp3 Lewis Lapham on learning Henry David Thoreau said "my desire for knowledge is intermittent , but my desire to bathe my head in atmospheres unknown to my feet is perennial and constant". Corporate fiction When big companies alter their policies, they often call in 'change consultants' to help change the culture of the corporation. Mike Ladd's Transit (review) Mike Ladd is the presenter of Radio National's Poetica. He is also a poet in his own right. In the 80s he was part of a group called the Drum Poets who made music from collected objects. He travelled around Africa and recorded Senegalese poets, and he's published six books of poetry, the latest one being the collection Transit. Tue, 21 Oct 2008 22:28:12 -0400 8fefbf6ec0ade0071eb438303b8e0122 1432114 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081018.mp3 Susie Dent, star lexicographer in the longest-running British television quiz show Countdown, describes how, in her just-published Words of the Year, 'the world's financial markets have been one of the biggest generators of vocabulary'. Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:12:21 -0400 8ebf29e188e0add8f3d2be624c533acb 1426469 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10152008.html With horror writer Mark Leslie Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:48:12 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/240.0 1426054 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081016.mp3 Melissa Lucashenko on survival In the second in this year's '3 Writers' Sydney PEN lecture series novelist and essayist Melissa Lucashenko looks at what we mean by survival, both historically and in the modern world. Is survival a sign of strength or is it just about hanging on? Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:56:17 -0400 3b935c43062ef8223d68089f332cfa95 1425861 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081017.mp3 House of Exile by Evelyn Juers In Evelyn Juers' book House of Exile we meet Heinrich Mann and his wife -- 24 years his junior -- Nelly Kroeger. Thoughts on the Booker -- Peter Stothard, editor of the Times Literary Supplement Peter Stothard discusses the Man Booker celebrations and his ideas about the winner -- Aravind Adiga's debut novel The White Tiger. He also discusses the latest TLS, which includes an article on Katherine Mansfield. Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:56:17 -0400 dd0118ee7497085395f4c6cade2d0f6e 1425862 This week: Cartoonist Jules Feiffer reminisces about his days at the Village Voice, the Times's Motoko Rich calls in from Frankfurt, Civil War historian James McPherson on President Lincoln's war powers, and Dwight Garner with bestseller news. News Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:52:02 -0400 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/10/17/17bookupdate.mp3 1425545 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081015.mp3 Jazz and literature - Sascha Feinstein Sascha Feinstein is a poet, essayist, saxophonist and professor of English. He is the founding editor of Brilliant Corners, a journal on jazz and literature. Sascha Feinstein's latest book Ask Me Now is a collection of musings by writers, musicians, and producers on the relationship between these two forms. Australian jazz and Indonesian poetry -- Sitok Srengenge and Jan Cornall Even though Indonesia is one of Australia's nearest neighbours, there isn't a lot of literary exchange between our countries. But there are pockets of activity bridging this cultural divide. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:48:06 -0400 39894f7d8cf662853603cf640a8dcec6 1420526 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081013.mp3 On the road with Delia Falconer Writer Delia Falconer has edited an anthology called The Penguin Book of the Road, which includes writing from the journals of the explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell to stories by Tim Winton and Helen Garner. In it the road is a place of mystery and danger and a place to dream. Sadanand Dhume: My Friend the Fanatic Sadanand Dhume was in Bali six years ago when terrorists attacked two nightclubs in Kuta. He was on assignment for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Asian Wall Street Journal. What he saw in Bali led him to investigate the rise of radical Islam in Indonesia and to write a book about his discoveries, My Friend the Fanatic. Life in Seven Mistakes by Susan Johnson (review) The Bartons are a dysfunctional family living on Queensland's Gold Coast. They are the focus of Australian writer Susan Johnson's latest black comedy Life in Seven Mistakes. For The Book Show, reviewer Jo Case read this, Susan Johnson's seventh book, and identifies with its portrayal of messy family relationships and what she calls generational blindness. Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:48:05 -0400 72fe2aab436e1c51519ec1a975fc188f 1420524 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081014.mp3 Book collecting If you enjoy walking through a bookstore, taking a book off the shelf, holding it in your hands, buying it and adding it to your collection at home, you're probably passionate about books. But does that necessarily make you a book collector? The process for an avid collector can involve logistical planning, research, networking and appraisals, as Anthony Knight explains. Books to read to children during financial ruin -- Erica Perl Each day we hear of the worsening state of the world economic system. The Twelfth Fish by Graham Perrett If you were asked to name a politician who was also a novelist, who would you think of? British Conservative Jeffrey Archer perhaps? Or his 19th century predecessor Benjamin Disraeli? Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:48:05 -0400 3d048f9c3edb61df14cd176973671cc1 1420525 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10122008.html With guest host Ricardo from Amigo Audio Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:28:27 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/239.0 1418589 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081010.mp3 2008 Nobel prize for literature winner The winner of the Nobel prize for literature was announced last night. This year the prize has gone to French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio. Speaking to reporters in Paris, Le Clezio said he was very honoured and when asked if he deserved the prize he replied, 'Why not?'. Frank Moorhouse -- The control of the imagination The fallout from the Bill Henson photos of teenagers continues. Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:40:15 -0400 1f55c7ead43255f8f0da534a1034fe6e 1412557 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081011.mp3 The International Guide to Speech Acquisition provides an overview of how children learn to speak a range of dialects of English, as well as 24 languages other than English. It has been published as a guide for speech pathologists to assist those children with communication disabilities, estimated as 12% of all children in Australia. Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:48:05 -0400 54ba7e7ad7ad1929123068b2c01a7fef 1415127 This week: Matt Weiland & Sean Wilsey lead us through all 50 states, the Times' Motoko Rich talks about the book world, Vanity Fair's Bruce Handy discusses campaign biographies for kids, and Dwight Garner has bestseller news. News Sat, 11 Oct 2008 01:20:02 -0400 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/10/10/10bookupdate.mp3 1414458 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10082008.html With screenwriter/coach Blake Snyder, author of Save the Cat! and Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:04:38 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/238.0 1412490 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081009.mp3 Il Gattopardo - The Leopard Fifty years ago when an Italian novel appeared describing the life and death of an intellectual Sicilian aristocrat, critics didn't know what to make of it. Robert Drewe's reading life At this year's Melbourne Writers Festival Robert Drewe talked about his reading life and the books that have inspired him. Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:28:04 -0400 37372e9e8a1190c477a31e38f7d6fdbd 1411112 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081008.mp3 Herding Kites - 10 years of writing from the National Young Writers' Festival Herding Kites is the anthology of writings from a decade of the National Young Writers Festival. 10 things about the National Young Writers' Festival The National Young Writers' Festival is described as random, emerging, fresh, collaborative, rejuvenatating and DIY. Wed, 08 Oct 2008 13:20:23 -0400 76282459e4be48d740ecf9c5d276708f 1408331 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081007.mp3 Robert Dessaix: Arabesques After a chance visit to the castle where French writer André Gide spent his childhood, Robert Dessaix set off to visit the places where Gide lived out his unconventional ideas about love, sexuality and religion. Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:12:12 -0400 dde3a1dd658965865f72f974f8bbe01e 1408036 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081006.mp3 Romance writing in the 21st century We delve into the world of square jaws and ripped bodices and ask how romance writing has changed over the years. How different are romance titles of the 21st century from those published during the First World War for instance? A writer's guide to the marketplace Most writers want readers and therefore want to be published. But getting published is notoriously difficult, especially if you haven't done it before. So how to bring yourself to the attention of book, magazine or newspaper publishers? That's the question the Queensland Writers Centre tackles in The Australian Writer's Marketplace. Nicola Bowery's Goatfish (review) There are not, perhaps, as many Australian poets from small towns as there once were. It seems that the pastoral has given way to the inner city. Nicola Bowery from Braidwood NSW is an exception to the rule, an exception to quite a few rules, as Geoff Page discovered in reviewing her second collection of poetry, Goatfish. Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:07:10 -0400 f0b52c380e31129b0c354c82a068ca7e 1405679 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10052008.html With essayist/poet/author Sheila Bender Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:32:05 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/237.0 1404845 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20081004.mp3 The rose is an ancient bloom of which there are now thousands of varieties, with hundreds more new types introduced each year. Gardening writer Roger Mann reads from the introduction of his new book, which tells the history of their naming. Sat, 04 Oct 2008 23:20:25 -0400 5577cbc2e1816fe6fe16960243822fce 1403726 This week: The Times's Alex Kuczynski on Alec Baldwin's new book, Times writer-at-large Charles McGrath on a Nobel prize controversy, James Traub talks about General Petraeus, and best-seller news from Dwight Garner. News Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:52:21 -0400 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/10/03/03bookupdate.mp3 1403048 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081003.mp3 Simon Winchester on Joseph Needham and the great secrets of China Joseph Needham was a scientist, polyglot, traveller, diplomat, a socialist and a Christian, an exponent of free love, a nudist, a morris dancer and most of all he was passionate about China. As editor and co-author of Science and Civilisation in China, a massive, multi-volume study, he spent more than half a century collecting and compiling evidence that China was the birthplace of everything from chess to cartography, from the stirrup to the suspension bridge. Simon Winchester tells the story of Needham's life and work in Bomb, Book and Compass. Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:52:30 -0400 fd8172ee54e3257e4b618a374586ac3c 1400808 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081002.mp3 The legacy of Mahmoud Darwish When Palestinian poet and author Mahmoud Darwish died in August three days of mourning were declared and Darwish was accorded the equivalent of a state funeral. Mahmoud Darwish published over thirty volumes of poetry and eight books of prose. His work won numerous awards and has been published in many languages, including Hebrew. Junot Diaz gives thanks to literature Junot Diaz is author of the Pulitzer prize winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The story of a fat, nerdy boy, a migrant from the Dominican Republic, like Diaz himself, who now lives in the United States. Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:52:29 -0400 29ccb6ae89c2054d4310db8e7bb16cd4 1399512 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/10012008.html With Writing Show host Paula B. Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:52:09 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/236.0 1397235 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080930.mp3 Examining the Booker prize How significant are literary prizes? We examine the much-hyped Man Booker Prize, awarded to a novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or Republic of Ireland. This year's winner will be announced on October 14th and Australia's claiming two writers on the short list, Steve Toltz and Aravind Adiga. Pacifism and English Literature with RS White While war has been a permanent fixture of history, peace seems to exist more in our imagination than in reality. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:48:30 -0400 c0df1effc9b4e5b09086eef5e231bc41 1396747 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20081001.mp3 Kate Grenville: The Lieutenant In her new novel The Lieutenant Kate Grenville once again visits the period of white Australian settlement to create her characters Daniel Rooke, a First Fleet soldier and astronomer, and Tagaran, a young Aboriginal girl he befriends. Daniel Rooke is taken up with his own interests, often going off to his makeshift observatory where he can be alone with his thoughts. His interest in languages takes over when he makes contact with Tagaran and between them they try to make sense of the place they find themselves in, between cultures. Wed, 01 Oct 2008 04:48:30 -0400 d3df4e2ae6acc66992481bb5c4b9ab20 1396748 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/09282008.html With emergency medical technician/deputy coroner Janice Ballenger Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Mon, 29 Sep 2008 22:48:31 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/235.0 1394784 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080929.mp3 Toad, Mole and Anne of Green Gables turn 100 We celebrate the centenary of two books which have had enduring appeal for children and adults: Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery, about plucky, red-haired orphan Anne Shirley, and Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, featuring the wonderful animal characters of Mole, Badger, Ratty and Toad of Toad Hall. The Build Up -- crime fiction in the Top End Australian author Phillip Gwynne is best known for his young adult fiction, particularly Deadly Unna, a coming-of-age novel set in small-town South Australia about the friendship between a white kid called 'Blacky' and a black kid called 'Red' who play together on the local footy team. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:40:39 -0400 ab2a22c65073208e3b1bba389ac0e40d 1394603 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20080906.mp3 The word for 'God', in all translations of the Christian Bible into the Malay language, has always been 'Allah'. But, in Malaysia, the government prohibited the use of the word by the Catholic weekly paper, The Herald, declaring that it is only to be used by Muslims. Though, since then, the Kuala Lumpur High Court has granted leave to review that government order. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:04:20 -0400 1efc2e1c3a48d72656a381339e73aed3 1392759 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20080927.mp3 On the notion of words as tranquillisers - rest-giving, quietening, calming - in times of disturbing uncertainty. Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:04:20 -0400 4239700f6de5418337bc90b8f4f06116 1392760 This week: The Times' Rome bureau chief, Rachel Donadio on a new memoir, Charles McGrath on the MacArthur Fellowships, reporter John Leland on a seventies classic, and best-seller news from Dwight Garner. News Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:20:02 -0400 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/09/26/26bookupdate.mp3 1391561 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080922.mp3 On death row with Luke Davies What do the condemned think about while they're on death row? This is one of the questions Luke Davies wanted to ask when he spent time with two men on death row at Bali's Kerobokan Prison, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. They are two of the 'Bali 9' who were arrested in 2005 and charged with drug trafficking. They have one more legal option to have their sentences reduced and their case is currently before the Supreme Court. Luke has made his name as a novelist, poet and screen-writer. This is his first foray into journalism. The extraordinary lives of spiders: Bert Brunet and Paul Hillyard Did you know that scientists are putting spider DNA into Nigerian goats, that little Miss Muffett's father wrote the first English language book about spiders, or that spider silk is the strongest fabric on earth, the closest other fabric being Kevlite which is used to make bullet proof vests? Spiders have been around for 400 million years and they are miracles of survival and adaptation. They also do everything we do to attract lovers and repel enemies: they dance, dress up and play music by plucking on their webs. Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:32:03 -0400 8397c67d538fb58a092f7b2803d46f1d 1389468 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080926.mp3 Odysseys and nostalgia - Arnold Zable with Julian Burnside In his new book Sea of Many Returns Arnold Zable introduces a mythic element into the modern immigrant experience. This book is set in part on the Greek Island of Ithaca and it's a Homeric tale about emigration to Australia and the memories, people and history that trail in the wake of these journeys. Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:32:03 -0400 511bc6c2359bb1628168aafd3703f89b 1389469 http://www.cbc.ca/wordsatlarge/ Host Sharon Farrell and producer Rosie Fernandez wish you a fond farewell on this final podcast with a writer that has proven to be a perennial favourite: Jane Austen. Thu, 25 Sep 2008 09:52:10 -0400 http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/wordsatlarge_20080924_7751.mp3 1387789 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080924.mp3 Robert Silvers, editor of The New York Review of Books The editor of The New York Review of Books, Robert Silvers, talks about Philip Roth's new novel Indignation. He also discusses the tragic story of scientist Nikolai Vavilov, persecuted in Stalinist Russia, and an essay by British travel writer and novelist Colin Thubron about Marco Polo's extraordinary 13th century journey east from Europe into the exotic lands of the Mongol Empire. John Marsden's Hamlet Australian author John Marsden has created his own version of Hamlet, the ultimate story of revenge and betrayal. But his version is for teenagers. John Marsden's Hamlet is frustrated by sexual desire, the tyranny of the adult world and his own brand of teen angst. He wears black jeans and t-shirts and plays footie with his mates, but it's still set in Denmark and the ghost of his father still haunts him. Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:12:09 -0400 a2465b9762439738151d7988ae203134 1385519 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080925.mp3 Christina Thompson's New Zealand love story Christina Thompson is the editor of Harvard Review and the author of a book called Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: An Unlikely Love Story. The reading life of Anita Heiss From the recent Melbourne Writers' Festival, Anita Heiss speaks about the books that have made a lasting impression on her and the authors who've inspired her. Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:12:09 -0400 13418b6d7242cd431c4ae9c7442da27e 1387378 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080923.mp3 Remembering David Foster Wallace Geordie Williamson considers the legacy of David Foster Wallace, American novelist, essayist and short story writer, who was found dead earlier this month. David Foster Wallace was perhaps best known for his novel Infinite Jest published in 1996, but he also wrote short fiction, which appeared in a range of publications, including GQ, The Paris Review, Harper's Magazine, and The New Yorker. In obituaries David Foster Wallace has been compared to Thomas Pynchon, James Joyce and Laurence Sterne. His contemporaries include Dave Eggers, Jeffrey Eugenides and Rick Moody. Chris Cleave's Other Hand 'You can't dance to current affairs,' says British writer Chris Cleave and it's this belief that inspires him to write, to populate the events that clutter the daily news and to give them an emotional landscape. Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:04:13 -0400 681dd3400944fd762fc0dc92e1bc3c03 1384675 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080922.mp3 On death row with Luke Davies What do the condemned think about while they're on death row? This is one of the questions Luke Davies wanted to ask when he spent time with two men on death row at Bali's Kerobokan Prison, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. They are two of the 'Bali 9' who were arrested in 2005 and charged with drug trafficking. They have one more legal option to have their sentences reduced and their case is currently before the Supreme Court. Luke has made his name as a novelist, poet and screen-writer. This is his first foray into journalism. The extraordinary lives of spiders: Bert Brunet and Paul Hillyard Did you know that scientists are putting spider DNA into Nigerian goats, that little Miss Muffett's father wrote the first English language book about spiders, or that spider silk is the strongest fabric on earth, the closest other fabric being Kevlite which is used to make bullet proof vests? Spiders have been around for 400 million years and they are miracles of survival and adaptation. They also do everything we do to attract lovers and repel enemies: they dance, dress up and play music by plucking on their webs. Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:04:12 -0400 d252aa984bf5620913fdcb72c46bf28a 1383030 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/09212008.html With Carolyn Hayes Uber, president of Stephens Press, LLC Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:12:48 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/234.0 1383592 This week: Bernard Henri Levy discusses the crisis on the left, Times film critic AO Scott remembers David Foster Wallace, novelist David Gates on Phillip Roth's new book, and best-seller news from Dwight Garner. News Sat, 20 Sep 2008 23:40:02 -0400 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/09/19/19bookupdate.mp3 1380002 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20080920.mp3 The words 'like' and 'go', when classed as 'new quotatives', have linguistic functions way beyond their traditional meanings. And this phenomenon is not confined to English; but is used in many other languages. Sat, 20 Sep 2008 06:20:14 -0400 98b80be1700f3131f37112e002f5f3d1 1379081 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080918.mp3 Katie Roiphe: Uncommon Arrangements In Uncommon Arrangements American journalist and author Katie Roiphe offers a fascinating exploration of love, affection and friendship in marriage in London literary circles between 1910 and the Second World War. The Reading Room installation A 'cacophony' of books -- this is how Jayne Dyer describes the door sized photographs in her art exhibition called The Reading Room. Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:28:33 -0400 805590fcfd3ccb14cdc86018f82eddd2 1375463 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080919.mp3 Terry Pratchett - other realities Terry Pratchett's Discworld arrived 25 years ago with the publication of The Colour of Magic in 1983. Since then he's written more than 30 novels in the Discworld series, as well as other fantasy and alternate-reality books. His other worlds have made Terry Pratchett an international bestseller as well as earning him an OBE for services to literature and a Carnegie Medal for his children's novel The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. At this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival Terry Pratchett talked about other realities and introduced his most recently published book Nation. Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:28:33 -0400 61fe004dad31f54b0dc75abd1b68395f 1377078 http://www.cbc.ca/wordsatlarge/ In terms of literary success stories, Andrew Pyper is undoubtably living the dream. His first book, The Lost Girls (HarperFlamingo Canada) earned him two substantial six-figure advances from international publishers and had film companies fighting over the movie rights. But this is not every writer’s experience and in his latest book, The Killing Circle (DoubleDay), Pyper explores to what lengths a wannabe writer would dare to go, to ensure his book is a bestseller. Thu, 18 Sep 2008 17:20:09 -0400 http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/wordsatlarge_20080917_7569.mp3 1376305 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080916.mp3 Richard Holmes: The Age of Wonder The Age of Wonder is the title of literary biographer Richard Holmes' new book, subtitled How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. Starting when the young Joseph Banks arrived in Tahiti in 1796 Richard Holmes tells us of the grand explorations and discoveries of the age, including a new planet, a new way of travelling and seeing the world by air, and a new way of looking at the make-up of matter itself. It was an age of wonder not only to those who worked in science but to the great writers and poets of the time such as Shelley, Wordsworth, Byron and Keats. Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:12:22 -0400 4958fc954606045b562c86378ef40526 1372741 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080917.mp3 Posthumous publishing - Janet Frame's poetry New Zealand writer Janet Frame died in 2004 at 79 years of age. That, however, hasn't stopped the publication of 'new' work by Janet Frame. Two previously unpublished works, a novel and a collection of poetry, have recently been released. This raises all sorts of questions about posthumous publication of literary works, and about who decides what should or shouldn't be put in the public domain. One of the people given the job of managing the literary estate of Janet Frame is her niece, Pamela Gordon, who's in Australia for the local release of the new poetry collection, called The Goose Bath. Nathalie Abi-Ezzi: A Girl Made of Dust Nathalie Abi-Ezzi spent the first eleven years of her life in Lebanon before her family moved to England in 1983. It's these early years of her life that provide the impetus for her novel A Girl Made of Dust. It's a story of a young girl, Ruba, who tries to hold her family together through sheer force of will as war and indiscriminate violence creep closer. Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:12:22 -0400 fdbfc0ae5a25938767e100395fbf936d 1373129 http://www.writingshow.com/podcasts/2008/09142008.html With editor Ann Paden Podcasts paula@writingshow.com Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:48:07 -0400 http://www.writingshow.com/233.0 1371981 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080915.mp3 An instinct for short stories: Anne Enright From the Edinburgh International Book Festival Irish novelist, short story writer and winner of last year's Man Booker Prize, Anne Enright, speaks to Ramona about her instinct for the short story form and about how to craft those sorts of short, sharp tales that pick you up, hold you and then leave you breathless and unsettled. Mon, 15 Sep 2008 19:04:08 -0400 444d90606eb63fab1387fc6ff32e1a42 1370572 This Week: Baghdad correspondent Dexter Filkins discusses his memoir, Times cultural reporter Patricia Cohen, backpage essayist Mick Sussman on "megalisters", and best-seller news from Dwight Garner. News Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:12:07 -0400 http://podcasts.nytimes.com/podcasts/2008/09/12/12bookupdate.mp3 1368311 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lin_20080913.mp3 An eminently repeatable program in which the poet Chris Wallace-Crabbe discusses clichés—those hackneyed, stereotypic, well-worn words and phrases that we all make such handy use of in our linguistic repertoires, but that are so often and unfairly railed against; blamed for our own reliance on their reliability. This program was first broadcast on 12 August, 2006. Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:52:21 -0400 355132922748a7269d70fa412dd0057a 1367432 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080912.mp3 Christopher Kremmer on greed Christopher Kremmer, author of Bamboo Palace, The Carpet Wars and Inhaling the Mahatma, begins the 2008 Sydney PEN '3 Writers' series of talks with an address on the subject of greed. Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:48:18 -0400 8602cce182add8308ceb06980a51a978 1365329 http://www.cbc.ca/wordsatlarge/ American Anne Lamott is a novelist, essayist, political activist and Sunday School teacher. She has written 6 novels and a column for Salon Magazine. Her best-selling books deal with the art of writing, alcoholism, motherhood and religion.Her latest book on religion is brutally honest, and extremely funny. It’s called Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith." She was interviewed by CBC's Mary Hynes. Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:48:22 -0400 http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/wordsatlarge_20080910_7401.mp3 1364955 http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/bsw_20080910.mp3 On fragments and dust: Nicolas Rothwell As a journalist Nicolas Rothwell has travelled to the Americas, Western and Eastern Europe and the Middle East. In 2005 he was The Australian newspaper's correspondent in Iraq. He passed through the landscapes of a country at war and visited the ruins of past civilisations, such as the capital of Queen Zenobia. When he came back home to Darwin, he travelled again to the desert, to the Kimberley and Pilbara, which is a landscape he's been travelling through for many years. He has written about these desert journeys, and the thoughts they inspired, in an essay called 'On Fragments and Dust'. AJ Mackinnon's unlikely voyage Jack de Crow is the name AJ Mackinnon gave to his eleven-foot dingy. He named it after a tame crow which would visit the school in England where he was teaching at the time. Sandy Mackinnon set off on his very own 'boys own adventure' in that tiny boat, known as a Mirror dingy. He sailed from the border of North Wales to the Black Sea. He recounts these tales in his book The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow. Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:28:32 -0400 89490ddd8e8d6efbe04920a01f5fd5bf 1361183