Sign in
Arts
Magdalena Ball
Compulsive Reader's author interviews, book chat, literary discussions, readings and more. It's an audio haven for book lovers! Recent and upcoming guests include Terry Denton, Marion Halligan, Sir Ken Robinson, Emily Ballou, Sofie Laguna, Matthew Riley, John Banville, Felicity Plunkett, Mark Coker, Peter Bowerman, Eric Maisel, Ramona Koval, Tim Flannery, Carl Zimmer, Gail Jones, Jane Smiley, Frank Delaney, Ben Okri, and many more.
Interview with Jaye Ford
The author of Blood Secret reads from and talks about her new book, about the incident that gave rise to it, her main characters, her local settings, her struggles with the writing, her work in progress, and lots more.
28:4829/10/2013
Interview with Paul W Newman
Author Paul Newman drops by to read from and talk about his novel Fin Rising, about writing the first novel, his quirky characters, the fine art of fly fishing, genre bending, the relationship between illustration and writing, and lots more.
34:0819/09/2013
Interview with Brian Castro
Author Brian Castro reads from and talks about his latest novel Street to Street, his three protagonists, the transformative power of the imagination, the notion of failure, melancholy, the relationship between fiction and non-fiction, the fuzziness of genre, and lots more.
31:2012/09/2013
Don’t Let the Wind Catch You with Aaron Paul Lazar
The author of Don't Let the Wind Catch You reads from and talks about his newest LeGarde mystery book, his protagonist Gus, his other mystery series and the lure of the genre for him, the secrets of his proflic output, the intersection of life and writing, the next books in the pipeline, how to catch LazarFever, and lots more.
29:0828/08/2013
The Bookman’s Tale with Charlie Lovett
The author of The Bookman's Tale talks about his new novel, about his multinational settings, the book's structure, the joy of libraries and bookstores, book restoration, his characters, the nature of fiction (versus nonfiction and plays), his upcoming work, and lots more.
30:2716/07/2013
Lisa Gorton on Hotel Hyperion
The author of Hotel Hyperion talks about and reads from her new book of poetry, the relationship between memory, dreams, appropriation and art, the book's origins including the nature of a storm glass, Titan, Keats, multiverses and rooms, art and imagination, and lots more.
27:3604/07/2013
Bread of the Lost with Philomena Van Rijswijk
The author of Bread of the Lost talks about and reads lots of poems from her new poetry collection, discusses the notion of the 'metaphorical feed', the genesis of the book, the natural world as character, the wild animal beneath the veneer of civilisation, the "Tardis of passion", Tasmania, her upcoming novel, and lots more.
32:0906/06/2013
Bob Rich's Ascending Spiral
The author of Ascending Spiral talks about his latest novel,about genre bending, the books themes, its characters, sustainability, about being a Renaissance man, on optimism and pessimism, and lots more.
30:3406/05/2013
Fred Watson on Star Craving Mad
The author of Star Craving Mad reads from and talks about his latest book, on the importance of a multi-disciplinary perspective in science, on future areas of interest for astronomy and other scientific areas, the relationship between music and science, Astronomy Tourism, his nonfiction work-in-progress, and lots more.
32:5608/04/2013
Interview with Kent MacCarter & Ali Lemer
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.
32:0218/02/2013
Interview with Jennifer Maiden
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.
31:4617/12/2012
ModPo's Amaris Cuchanski, Max McKenna & Anna Strong
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.
32:5015/11/2012
Interview with Jillian Schedneck
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.
30:4406/11/2012
Interview with Lily Brett
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.
30:2226/10/2012
Interview with Joanne Harris
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.
31:2110/10/2012
Interview with Margaret Wertheim
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.
29:2510/09/2012
Interview with Danny Iny
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.
31:4404/09/2012
Interview with Nigel Marsh
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.
33:5813/08/2012
Interview with Anna Solding
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.
33:1030/07/2012
Interview with Kate Fagan
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.
28:3313/06/2012
Interview with Ian Gibbins
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.
30:3128/05/2012
Interview with Stephen Scourfield
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.
31:0330/04/2012
Interview with Frank Delaney
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.
33:4515/03/2012
Interview with Amanda Curtin
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.
29:4416/02/2012
Interview with Lesley Synge
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.
35:3314/12/2011
Interview with Mike French
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.
35:0621/10/2011
Interview with George Ivanoff
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.
31:0019/10/2011
Interview with Jane Smiley
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.
29:4226/08/2011
Interview with Mary E Martin
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.
29:5619/07/2011
Interview with Chad Hautmann
The author of Billie's Ghost and Magic and Grace talks about his latest book, his characters and key themes, his interesting route to publication, the injury that gave rise to the story, on the relationship between teaching and writing, and lots more.
30:1417/05/2011
Interview with Sue Collier
The co-author of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing talks about her book, about the paradigm shift in publishing over the past 5 years, the benefits and challenges of self-publishing, and lots more.
26:3602/05/2011
Interview with Terry Denton
Funnyman, writer, illustrator, cartoonist Terry Denton talks about his new television series Gasp, along with his latest collaborations, his future projects and lots more.
30:4718/04/2011
Interview with Gail Jones
The author of Five Bells talks about her latest novel, about the poem that inspired it, about Sydney, and lots more.
28:5321/03/2011
Interview with Carl Zimmer
The author of Brain Cuttings talks about his latest book, on how the brain works, on the limits of our understanding about the brain, the meaning of time, the nature of consciousness, and lots more.
10:1116/02/2011
Interview with David Follett
The author and illustrator of Uncle Silas: Genetis talks about his book, his themes, his other comics, about the graphic novel form in general, and lots more.
30:2806/02/2011
Interview with Tim Flannery
The author of Here on Earth talks about his latest book, about the human superorganism and the Gaia system, about game theory, the tipping point, and lots more.
13:1215/12/2010
Interview with Lyn Reeves
The author of Designs on the Body talks about her new book, about poetry in general and Australian poetry in particular, about her magazine Famous Reporter, and lots more.
31:3113/12/2010
Interview with Meredith Whitford
The author of Shakespeare's Will talks about her new book, about historical fiction in general, about her involvement in Bewrite Books new Australian wing and what that means, and lots more.
32:3621/10/2010
Interview with Craig Silvey
The author of Jasper Jones talks about his multi-award winning novel, his characters, his themes, music, and lots more.
25:3928/09/2010
Interview with Ramona Koval
ABC Radio's and The Book Show's Interviewer extraordinaire (and author of the newly released Speaking Volumes) sits on the other side of the chair for a meta-discussion on the art of the literary interview.
29:4830/08/2010
Interview with Bob Stahl
The author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbooks talks about his new book, about the connection between mindfulness and creativity, why mindfulness is so powerful, about the spiritual challenges of modern living, and lots more.
30:1911/08/2010
Interview with Justin D’Ath
Justin D’Ath is the author of 26 books for children and young adults, including the hugely popular Extreme Adventures series. He'll be joining us to talk about his latest book Phoebe Nash: Girl Warrior.
30:5419/07/2010
Interview with Linda Ruth Brooks
The author of I'm Not Broken: I'm Just Different talks about her latest book, about self-publishing, Asperger's Syndrome, and lots more.
37:4101/07/2010
Interview with Eric Maisel
The author of Brainstorm: Harnessing the Power of Productive Obsessions talks about his latest book, about the nature of productive obsessions, the importance of creativity, creative anxiety, his upcoming work, and lots more.
27:3716/06/2010
Interview with Peter Bowerman
The Well-Fed Writer talks about the latest, updated edition of his book, about commercial writing, about the work-life balance, about the whole notion of the hungry artist, and lots more.
31:2810/06/2010
Interview with Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords
The founder of smashwords.com talks about the future of reading, publishing, the relationship between electronic and print books, why it has taken so long for ebooks to catch on and why it's happening now, DRM, and a whole lot more.
39:2904/03/2010
Interview with Felicity Plunkett
The author of Vanishing Point reads her poems, talks about poetry in general, and in particular, her own work's inspiration and implications, her next book, her university work, and much more.
30:3416/02/2010
Interview with Margaret Hawkins
The author of A Year of Cats and Dogs talks about her first novel, her innovative use of the I Ching and recipes, her main character's journey, and lots more.
28:1301/02/2010
Interview with John Banville
The author of The Infinities, The Sea and a number of other award winning novels talks about his latest novel, his sometimes unacknowledged playful side, his alter ego 'crowd pleaser' Benjamin Black, on creating reality through the mesh of language, and lots more.
27:2514/12/2009
Interview with Matthew Riley
The author of The Five Greatest Warriors talks about his latest novel, his unique 'storyteller' style of writing, the Jack West Jr. series (and on the nature of series' in general) his unusual promotional techniques, and lots more.
52:4625/10/2009