Compulsive Reader Talks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The author of Urban Biology reads from and talks about his new poetry book and the poems in it, the relationship between poetry and science, anthropomorphism, on giving words to the wordless, his music, and lots more.

The author of Unaccountable Hours: Three Novellas reads from his latest book, and talks about his characters, mentorship, the novella form, wood and craftmanship, water and "the secret", ethics and environmentalism, and lots more.

The author of The Last Storyteller talks about his latest novel, about trilogies, about the art of storyteller and the Seanchai, about the communal nature of the story, his characters, about exile and art, his new Amazon short "The Druid", and lots more.

The author of Inherited, talks about her new book of short stories, about the notion of inheritance in all its forms, about the short story form, about writing on obsession, loss and love, the origins of some of her stories, and much more.

The author of Mountains Belong to the People Who Love Them reads a variety of poems from her book, and talks about the parallels between the two sections of her book, about the importance of slowing down and learning to observe, about Buddhism and the modern world, about change and epiphany, and much more.

The author of The Ascent of Issac Steward talks about his first novel, on being compared to James Joyce, on physics and cognative science, his symbolism and Biblical references, his literary magazine The View From Here, on the value of the slow read, his upcoming novel Blue Friday, and lots more.

The author of Gamer's Quest and Gamer's Challenge talks about his latest novel, some of the key themes, his favourite games (and Dr Who monster), the nature of reality, The Ultimate Gamer, his 50 books, and lots more.

Jane Smiley talks about her latest novel Private Life, about historical fiction and genres in general, about the relationship between fiction and memoir, about her characters, the notion of obsession, and the universe in the particular, and much more.

The author of The Drawing Lesson talks about her most recent novel in the Trilogy of Remembrance, the trilogy form, her characters, the notion of inspirational light, the muse, her research, her amazing book trailer and lots more.