FINAL DRAFT on 2SER

This week we’re talking about animals. More specifically, animal people. Either you are or you aren’t. Are you a dog person? A cat person? Are you distrustful of that people who dislike animals? We often imbue animals with all kinds of characteristics, we deny them their animal natures as we try to make them more like us.

Charlotte Wood’s new novel, Animal People, explores some of those themes.

(Produced by Neda Vanovac. Animal People published by Allen & Unwin)

We’re also featuring a reading from emerging Sydney writer Beth Hill, who impressed a live audience last month with her short story, Fish.

(Produced by Neda Vanovac. Read more of Beth's work at tomakeabeardance.wordpress.com)

And Sam Twyford-Moore from the Rereaders popped into the studio to talk literary podcasts and what they’ll be serving up next.

(Produced by Neda Vanovac. More on the Rereaders at www.therereaders.com)

Tonight we’re darting through the history of writing in Australia, from the nation’s first published novel in the early 1800s to reviving the lost art of correspondence today.

That Australia’s first published novel was written by an English convict can’t come as too much of a surprise. Henry Savery began writing Quintus Servinton in 1830 while serving time for forgery in prison in Tasmania. His book traced his own well-educated, ambitious beginnings to a sentence for passing forged cheques. He narrowly escaped a deal by hanging but was transported to Australia on a life sentence.

Mariana Soares chats to author Ron Howard about his biography of the manic-depressive Henry, A Forger's Tale, which recently won the Walter Stone Award for Life Writing.

Neda Vanovac speaks with Marieke Hardy about Women of Letters. Keen to host events showcasing the talents of Australia’s female writers, Marieke Hardy and Michaela Maguire founded the monthly literary event. Noni Hazelhurst, Virginia Trioli, Judith Lucy and Helen Garner are just some of the women who stepped up to the challenge of writing letters on a theme and reading them out. The events have become a huge hit, with writers lining up to bare their souls, and Marieke and Michaela have been busy over the past two years hosting events around the country.

(Ron Howard Interview produced by Mariana Soares. 'A Forger's Tale: The Extraordinary Story of Henry Savery, Australia's First Novelist' published by Arcade Publications.)

(Marieke Hardy Interview produced by Neda Vanovac. Women of Letters published by Penguin Australia.)

A busy show this week - we’re talking politics. Our hung parliament has seen more twists and turns this year than a crime thriller, and so we’re turning our gaze to our leaders to see what makes them tick.

Tim Brunero spoke to Susan Mitchell, author of the new book ‘Tony Abbott: A Man’s Man'. She discusses the way he’s created his own John Wayne mythology as he approaches politics with guns a-blazing. How well do we really know the leader of the Coalition?(Produced by Tim Brunero. Tony Abbott: A Man's Man published by Scribe)

Jeanavive McGregor chats to Professor Jenny Hocking of Monash University about the way we political and historical figures can be brought to full-colour life through biography. For her, political biography enables a writer to personalise politics and history. She's written three biographies and dull writing isn’t a problem if you are focusing on controversial figures such as former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and writer and communist activist Frank Hardy. (Produced by Jeanavive McGregor. Whitlam: A Moment in History published by Melbourne University Press)

Catriona Menzies-Pike reviews the hotly-anticipated new novel from Pulitzer Prize-winner Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot (Produced by Catriona Menzies-Pike. The Marriage Plot published by Harper Collins Australia)

The Rereaders are back this week. Sam Twyford-Moore, Rebecca Giggs and Astrid L'Orange are discussing Marieke Hardy and Michaela Maguire's book based on their monthly literary events, Women of Letters. (Produced by Jess Minshall. Women of Letters published by Penguin Australia)

For this show we're going on an adventure, both literally and figuratively.

Steph Coombes speaks with one of Australia’s most famous scientists, Tim Flannery, about his new book. A memoir, Among the Islands follows his experiences in the remote Pacific Islands, whose flora and fauna had gone undocumented for decades. He talks snake-wrangling, monkey-faced bats, and museums as repositories of undiscovered material.

Tim Flannery, produced by Stephanie Coombes. Among The Islands published by Penguin.

I speak to two-time Miles Franklin award winner Alex Miller about his new book, Autumn Laing. If museums are treasure troves of undiscovered gems, then, of course, so are people. You can never really know the lives others lead, is a theme of this book, loosely modelled on the affair between artist Sidney Nolan and Sunday Reed in the 30s in Melbourne.

Alex Miller, produced by Neda Vanovac. Autumn Laing published by Allen & Unwin.

For this week's show, we have a couple of stories for you about memory.

First up, we go for a wander down memory lane – or rather, we go with the Rereaders for a fossick in memory’s wardrobe with Lorelei Vashti’s blog Dress, Memory.

I speak to author Diane Armstrong about emigrating to Australia from Poland in 1948 as a child survivor of the Holocaust, and how she went about peeling back the layers of the present to recreate a picture of Sydney during the post-war period.

And Rochelle Fernandez has a chat with the publisher of Voiceworks, the only top-tier literary journal in Australia for the under-25s, as they talk about writing opportunities for young people.

The Rereaders, produced by Jessica Minshall.

Diane Armstrong interview produced by Neda Vanovac.

Voiceworks interview produced by Rochelle Fernandez.

For this show, we have three very different conversations on a bit of a loose theme of what we like to read.

First up, an interview with journalist Diana Plater about her bookshelf, where she shares a story about Che Guevara and Fidel Castro holed up in a Harlem brothel hotel in New York in the 60s.

Kim Tan and Toby Leon are back and reviewing episodes three and four of ABC TV’s The Slap, and Alice Grundy, founder of new literature magazine Seizure pops in to the studio for a chat.

Off the Shelf with Diana Plater, produced by Neda Vanovac.

The Slap review Episodes 3 & 4, produced by Kim Tan.

Alice Grundy interview, produced by Neda Vanovac.

For this show, we go on two different journeys across Asia with two restless women bitten by the travel bug.

Kim Barker did 'The Taliban Shuffle' as Afghanistan and Pakistan correspondent for the Chicago Tribune for eight years from 2001. She lived a high-pressure life chasing suicide bombings and rigged elections. She spoke to Neda Vanovac about bluffing her way through and never losing her fear.

Steph Liong brings us the story of Australian writer Carolyn Shine, who thought moving continents would be easier than moving suburbs, and went from Bondi to Vietnam.

We also take another peek into the world of the Rereaders, who are talking about the exclusion of indigenous poets in Australian anthologies.

Kim Barker, The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan, published by Scribe Publications, produced by Neda Vanovac.

Carolyn Shine, Single White Female in Hanoi, published by Transit Lounge Publishing, prduced by Stephanie Liong.

The Rereaders, featuring Sam Twyford-Moore, Rebecca Giggs, and Fiona Wright, produced by Jessica Minshall.

This week we're talking dystopias. Think apocalypse, societal collapse, and totalitarianism.

Neda Vanovac looks at the wave of young readers gorging themselves on dystopian fiction.

Catriona Menzies-Pike talks all things grim and J.G. Ballard, author of Crash and Empire of the Sun.

Leaving all things dystopian for a bit, Kim Tan talks to Toby Leon about the television adaptaion of The Slap, based on the book by Christos Tsiolkas.

Young Adult Dystopias, featuring Alison Stewart's Days Like This, published by Penguin Books, and Maria V. Snyder's Outside In published by Harlequin Teen. Produced by Neda Vanovac.

J.G. Ballard Fictional Worlds produced by Catriona Menzies-Pike.

The Slap review, produced by Kim Tan.

About a month ago, Final Draft had a lovely opportunity to record the winner and highly commended poets of the Blake Poetry Prize. There is something quite magic about poetry read aloud, but particularly of a poet reading their own work – phrases and words well considered by tongue and by pen.

And tonight we get to hear them over the airwaves. We hear Sydney based poet, Fiona Wright reading her poem The Fox Man. And we speak with poets Robert Adamson and Todd Turner – as well as listen to their Blake entries.
Also later tonight – The Rereaders are back and taking on literary magazines.

Blake Poetry Prize 2011 – www.blakeprize.com.au
Winner: Via Negativa, The Divine Dark by Robert Adamson
Highly Commended: The Fox Man by Fiona Wright and Fieldwork by Todd Turner

The Rereaders featuring Sam Twyford-Moore, Rebecca Giggs and Fiona Wright – produced by Jessica Minshall.

This week, two authors who deal in intrigue, bravery and betrayal under authoritarian regimes.

First we hear from Joseph Braude, the first ever journalist allowed to embed with a unit of the Moroccan police. And then, Rochelle Fernandez chats with Anna Funder about her latest novel, All that I am – set in the beginning of the Nazi rise to power.

Joseph Braude, The Honoured Dead: A Story Of Friendship, Murder and the Underbelly of the Arab World, published by Scribe. Interview by Neda Vanovac.

Anna Funder, All That I Am, published by Hamish Hamilton – interview by Rochelle Fernandez.

Ben Jenkins and Dominic Knight, National Young Writers Festival – interview by Neda Vanovac. For more information go to: www.youngwritersfestival.org

This week we’re dedicating the first part of the show to poetry. Sydney-based poet Rob Wilson has spent the last few years working on a book of poetry called 6am in the Universe by poet Benjamin Frater, and he recently talked to Final Draft’s Madeleine James about the process of writing and editing the book.

And before we go this evening, a look at a brand new project – The Rereaders is a literary and cultural podcast featuring Sam Twyford-Moore, Rebecca Giggs and Fiona Wright.

Rob Wilson, 6am in the Universe by Benjamin Frater published by Grand Parade Poets - interview by Madeleine James

The Rereaders - Sam Twyford-Moore, Rebecca Giggs and Fiona Wright. For more info go to: www.therereaders.com

Tonight a show all about re-visiting and re-imagining Australian history, we talk with two authors who have taken inspiration from key figures and events in the history of this country for their new novels.

First up, the controversial dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in 1975 is the basis of Nicholas Hasluck new political thriller, Neda Vanovac speaks with him about family, politics and the Cold War.

We also hear from author and actor, Peter Docker about his second novel, The Waterboys, set in an apocalyptic future in a continent caught up in a violent struggle for control of water. I speak with him about violence, grog and his relationship to Country.

Nicholas Hasluck, The Dismissal - published by Fourth Estate - interviewed by Neda Vanovac

Peter Docker, The Waterboys, published by Freemantle Press - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Last week was Australian book week, now in its 66th year.

Tonight we will be airing an interview of a different sort to celebrate. Final Drafter Martin Hewetson and his eight year old daughter, Eve Hewetson interview young adult author, Richard Newsome.

We also hear from Paris based journalist now author, Caroline Brothers about her first novel Hinterland about the almost invisible, dangerous journey many children from war-torn Afghanistan and Somalia make across Europe in search of a better life.

And finally we will hear a review by of Jane Eyre – the book and the latest adaptation to film.

Richard Newsome, The Billionaire's Curse - published by Text Publishing and interview by Eve and Martin Hewetson.

Caroline Brothers, Hinterland - published by Bloomsbury Press and interview by Jeanavive McGregor.

Review of Jane Eyre by Catriona Menzies-Pike

This week we are dedicating the show to Australian author, Goldie Goldbloom. We chat about growing up in remote, wheat belt country in Western Australia, the Australian voice in her head, about loss and desire and the ability of fiction to push into the darker, taboo secrets we all carry.

We will be chatting with her about her debut novel The Paperbark Shoe and her latest collection of short stories, We Lose These. And later we will hear a reading from her next novel, working title: The Bearded Lady falls in Love.

Goldie Goldbloom, The Paperbark Show and We Lose These – published by Freemantle Press

This week we are exploring the wonderful world of crime fiction – the crims, the heists and the cops that catch them.

Most of the time we draw our crime reading from the international fare – dominated for a long time by the Brits, we cut our teeth on Agatha Christie and moved on to the proper novels of PD James, there are the delicious tales of Donna Leon’s Venetian Brunetti series, the terrifying tales of Swedish Henning Mankle. But what about Aussie fiction? Drawing on our criminal past and the harshness of the landscape, Australian crime writers are making their mark.

First up with hear from Derek Hansen who manages to mix comedy, hit men, $3 million bucks and a small drought ravaged town in his novel, A Man You Can Bank On. We'll hear from writer Ross Gibson, who spent five years in the attic of the Justice & Police Museum filtering through half a million crime scene negatives from the 1940s and '50s.

And later in the show we learn about the latest James Bond instalment by Jeffery Deaver.

Derek Hansen, A Man You Can Bank On, published by Hachette – interviewed by Neda Vanovac

Ross Gibson, The Summer Exercise, published by the University of Western Australia Press – interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Jeffery Deaver, Carte Blanche – review by Neda Vanovac

Show produced by Neda Vanovac and Jeanavive McGregor

This week a show centered on the art of reviews. Each and every reader ends up with a bit of a reviewer in them – what we love or hate, what we recommend or never finish – is very personal, very different.

We hear from Jay Fracaro on world of the music producer Rick Rubin and Rochelle Fernandez’s review of Sonia Faleiro’s book Beautiful thing that investigates the underworld of Mumbai’s bar girls.

And we cosy up with Final Drafter Madeleine James, her mother and sister and a crackling fire to find out about their relationship with books.

Sonia Faleiro, Beautiful Thing, published by Black Inc – review by Rochelle Fernandez

Jake Brown, ‘Rick Rubin in the Studio’, published by ECW Press – review by Jay Fracaro

Fireside chat – produced by Madeleine James

This week we are taking a look at the continuing growth of online literary magazines and what it offers the young, the loyal and the down and out. We speak with those behind a mysterious new literary project devoted to TV called the Channelling and we meet Mark Mordue, who was tired of bloodless travel writing and devoted his issue of an online magazine to bringing it back to life.

We also revisit an interview from earlier this year with Ivor Indyk about the end of his magazine HEAT and the possibility of its online rebirth.

This week we are talking about literary collaborations. First up Neda Vanovac speaks with Award-winning children’s author Anna Fienberg and illustrator Kim Gamble about fairytales and their 20 years working together.

And we revisit an interview with Glenn Fowler and Christopher Smythe, the real funnymen duo behind a fictitious old codger who successfully spoofed many of this country’s most reputable newspapers.

Illustrating worlds with Kim Gamble and Anna Fienberg – produced by Neda Venovac

Glenn Fowler, Christopher Smythe and Gareth Malone, Dear Editor: The Collected Letters of Oscar Brittle, UNSW Press - interviewed by Nija Dalal (first air 9 November 2009).

This week a show about fiction that re-examines what we know with a feminist twist. First up, Catriona Menzies-Pike speaks with author, commentator, ethicist and social activist, Leslie Cannold about her debut novel that asks - what if Jesus had had a sister? What would that change? Anything at all?

And we will revisit a review of Angela Carter's dark and raunchy re-workings of traditional fairy tales.

Leslie Cannold, The Book of Rachael, Penguin - interviewed by Catriona Menzies-Pike

Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber, Vintage - reviewed by Sara Peel

This week more from the Sydney Writer’s Festival.

Final Draft’s Neda Vanovac catches up with Pip Smith, founder of Penguin Play Rough, the popular monthly event that offers writers a forum for reading their short fiction. They chat about being as silly, as crazy and as free as you want with writing.

And we speak with young adult author, Anna Perera, about her latest book on the slums of Egypt ‘The Glass Collector’ and ask her why children should read about difficult subjects

Anna, Perera, 'The Glass Collector,' published by HarperCollins - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Pip Smith founder of 'Penguin Plays Rough' - interviews and production by Neda Venovac.

Music – “Come North With Me Baby, Wow” by Belles Will Ring (regular performers at Penguin Plays Rough.

Listen to two examples of the wonderful writing antics at these PPR soirees below:

Unfortunately, I Can’t Completely Disregard The Christian God by David Finnigan (8.40 mins)

A Story Response by Amelia Schmidt (5.44 mins)

For more click here: Penguin Plays Rough

Author James Gleick gave the closing address for the Sydney Writer’s Festival – another massive event with 400 Australian and international writers participating in over 300 events.

Gleick, whose work explores the cultural impacts of science and technology was talking about the future of the book and for a festival themed around the power of language, and particularly the power of writers to name, create and shape our world the future of that kind of power.

This week on the show we will be focusing on some of the Aussie talent who attended the festival. We speak with Cate Kennedy about why poetry is still important; and Final Drafter Catriona Menzies Pike talks to some of the people out and about at Walsh Bay over the week.

Cate Kennedy, 'The Taste of River Water’ published by Scribe - interviewd by Jeanavive McGregor

SWF Voxies produced by Catriona Menzies-Pike

Tonight on the show the story of the man behind the iconic, cheeky koala, Blinky Bill and the adventures of Dot and The Kangaroo. I spoke with Yoram Gross about his memoir ‘My Animated Life’ of growing up in Nazi occupied Poland - an amazing tale of resourcefulness, survival and tragedy from one of our most iconic animators.

And later we hear from Madeleine James about what she will be checking out at the Sydney Writers Festival.

Yoram Gross, My Animated Life - published by Brandl & Schesinger - interviewed and produced by Jeanavive McGregor

This week we are talking about shape shifters, those books that can shift our ways of looking at a place and one of those unique people who take up many different guises. First up we have our resident music man, Martin Hewertson about the biography of the prolific Alan Lomax, the man who helped to bring us Lead Belly and Woodie Guthrie.

And Madeleine James tells us about a few books that have changed her relationship with Sydney.

We have some great, aching folk tunes to tap along to too.

John Szwed, The Man Who Recorded the World - review by Martin Hewertson.

The Razor & The City, featuring Larry Writer, 'Bumper: The Life and Times of Frank Bumper Farrell', published by Hachette and Delia Falconer's 'Sydney', published by NewSouth Books - produced by Madeleine James.

Music featured on the show from Alan Lomax's Murder House.

Tonight on the show we speak with second time author Jane Sullivan about historical fiction and cabinets of curiosities in her latest novel Little People, based on the the real-life tour of the celebrated troupe of midgets led by General Tom Thumb to Australia in 1870.

We also hear from the editor of Tharunka Magazine about a new writing competition that promises to alleviate some of those student purse strings.

Jane Sullivan, Little People, published by Scribe - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Tharunka Magazine, Editor Kylar Loussikia. For more information abuot the Non-Fiction Writing Competition go to facebook.com/tharunka. But basically its $800 for the best non-fiction or fictocritical essay, it's judged by two UNSW academics, and entries close July 6.

Tonight we are taking off our capes and spandex suits to find out whether there is more to graphic novels than superheros and supermutants.

Our Lauren Farrow speaks to one of the men behind Gestalt publishing an independent publishing house in WA and takes a look at those graphic novels that have been adapted for screen. And I speak with UTS lecturer, Rowan Savage about the critically acclaimed and criticised Maus: A survivor’s Tale by Art Speilganman.

Wolfgang Bilsmer, Gestalt publishing - interviewed and produced by Lauren Farrow

Graphic Novels verse Movies - produced by Lauren Farrow

Rowan Savage, UTS Lecturer on Art Speilganman's Maus: A survivor’s Tale published by Apex Novelties - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

This week we revisit two interviews with two authors whose writing tackles difficult and traumatic topics but still manage to glimmer in the darkness. We hear from Sophie Laguna about her disturbing and strangely uplifting novel One Foot Wrong and from Lara Fergus about her debut novel, My Sister Chaos.

Sophie Laguna, One Foot Wrong, published by Allen and Unwin - interviewed by Paul Kildea

Lara Fergus, My Sister Chaos, published by Spinifex Press - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Frequent listeners may remember a conversation on the show with one of our regular guests, Georgia Richter from Freemantle Press a few weeks back. We were talking about what was coming up this year and the subject got on to the wonderful, concise sister of the novel – the short story. It’s a difficult form to get right but when done right a good short story can stay with you for days.
A few years ago, author Stephen King wrote an a mourning piece in the New York Times where he mourned the fate of the short story- relegated to the dusty, bottom shelf; self-consciously written aware of the dwindling audience. The result, he wrote were pieces “not quite dead on the page, I won’t go that far, but airless, somehow, and self-referring. These stories felt show-offy rather than entertaining, self-important rather than interesting, guarded and self-conscious rather than gloriously open, and worst of all, written for editors and teachers rather than for readers.”
They needed to be liberated from the bottom shelf, he concluded.
Richter – a writer and fan of the medium – predicted a short story come back this year and it seems she might have been on the money. Tonight on the show we speak with Leah Swann about her new collection Bearings published in Affirm Press’ series Long Short Stories.

Also on the show: Nija Dalal's review of Bowl of Cherries, by Millard Kauffman.

Leah Swann, Bearings, Affirm Press - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Millard Kauffman, Bowl of Cherries, published by McSweeney’s - produced by Nija Dalal

Tomorrow is the 100 year anniversary of the first International Women’s Day, which was actually first held on the 9th March 1911. 2ser is letting the women take over the airwaves again for another year for International Women’s Day tomorrow so I hope you can tune in. But since the Final Draft misses out, we decided to dedicate our half hour this evening to women writers and women characters – past, present and future.

We have new poetry from Australian Anne Elvey and Final Drafter Lauren Farrow asks a few readers about their favourite leading literary women.

Leading Ladies - produced by Lauren Farrow

Anne Elvey, Claimed by Country, new chapbook from PressPress - interviewed by Cath Kenneally, Radio Adelaide's Writer's Radio

Tonight on the show we are speaking with two authors whose latest novels were influenced by the Australian landscape and interestingly, mines play a big part in both, as plot enablers and blights on the land.

First Madeleine James speaks with Jackie French about ‘A Waltz for Matilda’ a love story between a girl and a land set around Australia’s federation.

And later in the show we talk to Alan Carter about his debut novel Prime Cut. Set in the mining boom town of Hopetoun in south WA, when a headless torso washes up on the beach the investigation reveals the darker side of the quick money of mining, uncovering the exploitation of migrant workers and disturbing an even darker criminal mind.

Jackie French, ‘A Waltz for Matilda’ published by HarperCollins - interview by Madeleine James

Alan Carter, 'Prime Cut' published by Freemantle Press - interview by Jeanavive McGregor

It seems that the book is always about to die. Death was imminent with the invention of radio, film, television and now the internet. But the book has survived. Some would say, however, that it has survived only just and that books no longer sit at the centre of our culture. Sherman Young – a Media Studies lecturer at Macquarie University – argues exactly this in his book The Book is Dead (Long Live the Book).

He argues that while the book as an object is dead, there are things that books can do, characteristics that they possess, conversations that they allow that must be preserved. Young does want to talk about the future of books – so there’s something.

I know that this is a hard pill to swallow for us book lovers at Final Draft and for you, dear listeners. But with the collapse of two of Australia’s biggest book retailers last week, we thought we should take a look.

Maree McCaskill, the CEO of the Australian Publishers Association - interviewed by Justin Cinque

Georgia Blain, Births Deaths and Marriages, Vintage Books - interviewed by Rochelle Fernadez

Michelle De Kretser, The Lost Dog, Allen & Unwin - interviewed by Jay Fracaro

After a nice summer break we are back recharged with our first show for 2011 and being the first show of a new year, we thought it apt to look forward – to say a sad goodbye to some established faces of the Australian literary scene and discover some of the younger, emerging talent as well. We will be speaking with 11 year old Rory Burg, who has recently added the Under 18 Poetry category of the John Marsden Prize to his impressive list of awards, about poetry, Norse mythology and the end of the world later in the program.

But first, we are going to hear the why the publication Heat has published it’s final edition – appropriately titled - That’s it for now.

Ivor Indyk, founding editor of Heat, for more information go to: www.giramondopublishing.com/heat/ - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Rory Burg, poet, winner Under 18 Poetry category of the John Marsden Prize, for more information go to: www.expressmedia.org.au - produced by Jeanavive McGregor

Twin sisters, refugees in exile both driven to represent their connections to the old and the new worlds they inhabit – one an obsessive cartographer mapping her house in her new life, the other a painter – devoted to the past and a love lost. When they are reunited the cartographer’s ordered life is thrown into chaos - her precise measurements and control of her past disrupted by her sister.

This is the intriguing premise of My Sister Chaos, from first time author Lara Fergus – a novel concerned with the effects of trauma and exile, the powerful need to belong, with maps, mathematics, music and memory, loss and connection.

Fergus has been a researcher for Amnesty International on women refugees and human rights and her current work deals with policy to prevent violence against women.

We will speak with her today on the Final Draft about her book, the metaphor of maps and how sometimes order can come out of chaos.

Lara Fergus, My Sister Chaos, Spinifex Press - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

If you haven't been to your local shopping centre lately then you would be the only person to not know that the holiday season is upon us - the trees are up, bon bons are on sale and some organised people are already buying those gifts!

Now don't worry this is NOT a Christmas book show - but we did think we would take a different look at holiday reading.

We hear a review of the co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, Peter Hook's sort of memoir about the famous club The Hacienda or FAC 15 - run a bit like the owners were on a prolonged holiday. Madeline James accosts some backpackers and their book bags to see just what tales travellers are in to these days and finally Final Draft has succumbed to Vampire Mania with a review of...Dracula - that's right we still resist that Twilight series.

The Hacienda - How Not To Run A Club, Peter Hook, Simon & Schuster - review by Natalie Salvo

Travellers Tales - interviews with backpackers and production by Madeleine James

Dracula, Bram Stoker - review by Rochelle Fernandez

Final Drafter Martin Hewertson comes into the studio for another instalment on music biography- this time talking about the prolific godfather of Ambient music Brian Eno and the latest book on his life and times On Some Faraway Beach by David Sheppard – we will be listening to a few tracks from his vast repertoire and finding out why Martin is such an unabashed fan.

Also we revisit an interview with Craig Silvey about his latest book Jasper Jones, just longlisted for the Impac Dublin Award.

On Some Faraway Beach, David Sheppard, Chicago Review – review by Martin Hewertson

Craig Silvey, Jasper Jones, Allen & Unwin – interview by Jeanavive McGregor (first aired October 11, 2010)

Today on the show we are looking behind some masks and shedding some light into some areas of life and writing that don't often get much attention. First up we tear off the surgical mask, when we speak with Dr Leah Kaminsky about the need for Doctors to write about their experiences. Dr Kaminsky is the editor and contributing author to the fiction and non-fiction collection, The Pen and the Stethoscope - that looks at the growing trend of doctor-writers. We also speak with Melbourne based translator, Brigid Maher about the about the often overlooked art of translation - particular the difficult joy of translating humour, irony and satire from Italian to English.

Dr Leah Kaminsky, editor, The Pen and the Stethoscope, published by Scribe - interview by Jeanavive McGregor

Brigid Maher, translator, The Countesses of Castello by Melina Agus, published by Scribe - interview by Jeanavive McGregor

Today on the show we are talking about some legends of writing. First up, long time followers of Final Draft will remember Martin Hewertson, one of our fabulous former presenters on the show, he is joining us in the studio to talk about Patti Smith’s autobiography Just Kids – that tells the story of her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

And we revisit an interview with the legendary journalist John Pilger, where he talked to Nija Dalal about the circumstances Australia inherited and how we stand today.

Patti Smith, Just Kids, published by Bloomsbury – review by Martin Hewertson.

John Pilger , A Secret Country, Random House – interviewed by Nija Dalal (first aired 22 March 2010).

A special freaky edition of the Final Draft in the second and final week of our annual radiothon.

And today we are looking at some of the stories and books that explore what we are afraid of as we delve into the world of Horror and Sci-fi fiction.

We talk to the President of the Australian Horror Writers Association, Leigh Blackmore.

Hear a reading from a terrifying tale by Sydney based writer Kyla Ward, we catch up with a dedicated Sci-fi fan in our regular segment Off the Shelf. And we talk to two of our contributors about their favourite books and Final Draft moments.

Leigh Blackmore, President of the Australian Horror Writers Association - interviewed by Jeanavive McGregor

Kyla Ward reading from her novella "Erina Hearn and the Gods of Death" published in the anthology Macabre.

Interviews with Contributors - interviews by Madeline James, produced by Angela Welsh.

Off the Shelf interview - produced by Angela Welsh.

This week is all about getting started. We'll hear a little bit about the juggling game involved in writing a novel and making a living, let alone landing a publishing deal from author Aaron King. And we'll talk to children's author, Kareyn Stapyton who has skipped this process and published herself.

Finally, in our off the shelf segement we'll be taking a look at the bookshelf of one of the directors of the New Young Writers Festival, Talina McKenzie.

Aaron King – interviewed by Jay Fracaro.

Off the shelf: Talina McKenzie, co-Director of The New Young Writers Festival – interviewed by Rochelle Fernandez.

Kareyn Stapylton, The Terror of Prism Fading, self published - interviewed by Ariane Minc (first aired September 14 2009)

This week we’ll hear from Glenda Guest about her new novel Siddon Rock that uses magical realism to explore what happens when a stranger brings their own “knowledge” into a closed community.

And in our off the shelf segment, we will look at how the 1974 classic “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ by Robert M Pirsig set a local Sydney musicians life on a particular course.

'Siddon Rock' by Glenda Guest, published by Random House - interviewed by Angela Welsh.

Off the shelf segment with Ben Marshall - produced/interviewed by Jay Fracaro

Face it. Forget about an exit strategy and you can find yourself in an almighty pickle. So tonight, as a public service, we're canvassing a few handy ways to get out of tricky situations (and bad books) with one’s dignity intact. Novelist and journalist Emily Maguire drops in to talk about the drastic exit strategies considered by the characters in her excellent recent novel.  We’ll also talk about the exit strategies available when we find ourselves in the middle of a book thinking ‘do I really have to read this tripe?’ And we’ll ponder the exit strategy that vexes writers more than any other – what to write in the last line of a book. 

Emily Maguire, Smoke in the Room, Picador - interviewed by Benedict Taylor

Charlotte Roche, Wetlands, Grove Atlantic - reviewed by Madeleine James; music by Kevin MacLeod

'Last Lines' - produced by Katherine Keefe with assistance from Tom McMullan; music by Machine Est Mon Couer

We’re talking about difficult decisions – what to choose, and what to leave out; what to believe and what not to believe. We’ll talk about that most vexing of decisions – what books to stuff in the bag when we go on holiday. We’ll also meet one of the editors of a new anthology of Australian literature, which uses generous definitions of both ‘literature’ and ‘Australian’. And we’ll find out about the very tough call made at the expense of Anne Hathaway, the wife of one William Shakespeare.

'Travelling Books': Mona, Emma and Michelle spoke about the books they take with them when they travel - produced by Rochelle Fernandez; music: Mr. Biggz, 'Vieux Farka Toure - Ana (Mr.Biggz Remix)' 2009 - Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial

Nicolas Jose (ed), The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature, Allen and Unwin - interviewed by Paul Kildea

Germaine Greer, Shakespeare's Wife, Bloomsbury - reviewed by Nija Dalal

This week we're talking about relationships between grown-up daughters and their aging mums. We'll hear all about Susan Varga's latest novel, a challenging tale about a daughter learning to let go of a mother who is learning to let go of life itself. And we'll meet musician and writer, Linda Neil, and hear about her journey through the underworld of mental illness with her mother, and about the poignant reconciliation they reached in the process.

Susan Varga, Headlong, UWA Publishing - reviewed by Madeleine James

Linda Neil, Learning How to Breathe, University of Queensland Press - interviewed by Benedict Taylor. The song Linda played was 'Sorry', which is part of her project, 'My Year of Singing Love Songs'.

We're wild about the second and final week of radiothon! The court of Final Draft sits to determine once and for all whether 'tis  nobler in the mind to prefer the book of Where The Wild Things Are, or to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous purists and go for the film version. We also go wild about Margaret Atwood's latest, the long awaited follow-up to Oryx and Crake. Poet Geoff Lemon 'fesses up to some pretty wild shenanigans, and the crowd goes wild for the good folks who helped 2ser into its 31st year.

The Trial of the Wild Things - featured Craig Johnson, Aaron Nyerges and Justin Ellis and was produced by Nija Dalal

Final Draft Year-That-Was Montage II - produced by Benedict Taylor

Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood, Bloomsbury - reviewed by Sara Peel

Geoff Lemon, untitled, recorded at This is Not Art 2009, Newcastle, by Nija Dalal 

The low-down on Radiothon is here

Have we ever told you how beautiful you look with a credit card in your hand and a phone to ear? Yup, it's radiothon time again. That time where you pay peanuts and get all-singing, all-dancing monkeys. And heaps of free stuff. Hear how language messes with our understandings of what the hell is going on in the Middle East. Get acquainted with a couple of readers and find out about the books that were there for them at pivotal moments in their lives. And win books, flights, tickets and our undying gratitude.

Final Draft Year-That-Was Montage - produced by Benedict Taylor

Joris Luyendijk, Fit to Print: Misrepresenting the Middle East, Scribe - interviewed by Rochelle Fernandez

Brenda spoke about Joseph Heller's Catch 22 and Mo spoke about Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian - produced by Katherine Keefe

Click here for more about Radiothon

This week we’re getting cosy with monsters - real monsters, fake monsters, nice monsters and maybe even a few loveable monsters. We find a twisted intimacy with the monster in the family in Deborah Forster’s debut novel. We rehabilitate a remarkable woman unjustly monstered by history. And with writer and thespian Nick Coyle we’ll find out how, if you’ve lost your groove, maybe all you need is a monster.

Deborah Forster, The Book of Emmett, Vintage - reviewed by Jay Fracaro

Nick Coyle, 'The Story of How I Got My Groove Back' - produced by Jay Fracaro and Benedict Taylor. Nick is one third of the theatre trio, Pig Island, and this story was first read at Penguin Plays Rough in July

Margaret Ball, Duchess of Aquitaine: a Novel of Eleanor, St Martins Griffin, and Alison Weir, Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England, Random House - reviewed by Sara Peel

If you tuned in to the broadcast on the 28th of September, you may have noticed we made a boo-boo. We accidentally broadcast ‘The Secret Lives of Chimps and Ghosts’, again. We had an episode full of great stories about getting intimate with monsters all ready to go, but a naughty gremlin in the system had other plans. Sorry about that. Since ‘The Secret Lives’ was already up online, we decided to take this opportunity to re-podcast an earlier episode that had ceased to be available on the internet. We’ll bring you the monsters next week.

This week on the show, Abbas El-Zein tells his story, and what an astonishing tale it is. From the violence and cosmopolitanism of a childhood in civil-war Beirut, we follow Abbas to Baghdad, Paris, Palestine, and Sydney. Along the way, we learn to think about migration as a beautiful mutilation, and find out why Asterix kicks Tintin's ass. Bruce Williams is along too, to tell us about folks in Cumbersome going their separate ways. (Originally broadcast March 2009).

Abbas El-Zein, Leave to Remain: a Memoir, University of Queensland Press - interviewed by Benedict Taylor

Bruce Williams, 'Separate Ways', Love at Cumbersome Corner, part 16

Chimps and ghosts both have a lot to tell us about being human. Poet Nathan Curnow joins us to talk about how he slept in ten of the most haunted sites in Australia, and then carved a language of fear and guts from the experience. And writer Charles Siebert phones in to talk about the hidden meanings of chimpanzees in retirement homes.

Nathan Curnow, The Ghost Poetry Project, Puncher & Wattmann - interviewed by Benedict Taylor

Charles Siebert, Roger's World: toward a new understanding of animals, Scribe Publications - interviewed by Nija Dalal

This week it is all about the getting the word out there. We'll meet Kareyn Stapylton, a writer of adventure novels for kids, and hear about her own epic quest, to publish herself. We'll also meet David Henley, the bright spark behind an innovative way for new writers to get their words out there—it's kind of Charles Dickens meets MySpace. And we'll also get the word from out there, with wanderer and writer Nicolas Rothwell.

Rufi Cole read an extract from her novel, The Violin Face, which is serialised in Seizure; music by Kevin MacLeod. David Henley, founder of Seizure, was interviewed by Katherine Keefe. Music during reading from blog: B. Calandra 'Merry Go Round In the Sea', used with permission. To win a free copy of the first issue of Seizure email us.

Kareyn Stapylton, The Terror of Prism Fading, self published - interviewed by Ariane Minc

Nicolas Rothwell, The Red Highway, Black Inc - interviewed by Paul Kildea

The green-eyed monster wants to move to Melbourne, and who can blame him? The Mexicans can boast of some pretty damn fine writers fests, journals and publishers. This week, we pay homage to the city of literature. We nab a couple of fantastic guests of the Melbourne Writers Festival, M J Hyland and Anne Michaels, and get them to shine a little light on some of the things that fiction does particularly well, and the things that perhaps only fiction can do. We've also got details of an exciting new Melbourne-based literary quarterly, and news about a great zine-making workshop that—hurrah!—you don't have to go to Melbourne to attend.

M J Hyland, This Is How, Text Publishing - interviewed by Benedict Taylor

Anne Michaels, The Winter Vault, Allen and Unwin - interviewed by Rochelle Fernandez

More information about Seven Letter Words here

More information about the zine-making workshop at the NSW Writers Centre, with Vanessa Berry on 24 October here

From the troubled streets of South London to our own neck of the woods, we're talking about some of the seemingly intractable challenges facing black communities, and we're sampling some interesting and exciting responses to those challenges too. Poet, novelist and DJ Alex Wheatle shares his thoughts about life and politics in Brixton, past and present. Anthropologist Peter Sutton makes some uncomfortable points about the politics of suffering in Aboriginal Australia. Indigenous film-maker, writer and musician, Richard J Frankland introduces us to an inspiring young Koorie fella in his latest book. We get up to speed on a wonderful indigenous literacy project and we take in some tunes from some deadly black MCs.

Alex Wheatle, Dirty South, Allen and Unwin - interviewed by Nija Dalal

Peter Sutton, The Politics of Suffering: Indigenous Australia and the end of the liberal consensus, Melbourne University Press - interviewed by Justin Ellis

Richard J. Frankland, Digger J. Jones, Scholastic - interviewed by Benedict Taylor (first broadcast November 2007)

Morganics, Wire MC, Sista Native, BruthaBlak and Local Knowledge, 'Outbackandback', from Morganics 2005 album, Odyssey - not included in podcast for copyright reasons

For more information about Indigenous Literacy Day, on Wednesday 2 September, click here

They say the things that don’t kill you make you stronger. And it is probably true. But that doesn’t make the hard stuff any easier. This week: stories of people staying in the game despite being dealt a lousy hand. We’ll open a few brutal rejection letters from publishers to authors who went on to make the publishers look pretty stupid. Novelist and radio producer Gary Bryson joins us to talk about his very fine first novel and the odds stacked against its young protagonist. Lana Penrose is along to tell us how she coped with the disintegration of her marriage, and about the therapeutic qualities of rock ‘n roll. And we’ll discover a world of sacrifice and struggle laced with hedonism in the work of British writer Alan Sillitoe.

Read The Examiner's report on famous writers' rejections here

Gary Bryson, Turtle, Allen and Unwin - interviewed by Benedict Taylor; music: Kevin MacLeod (first broadcast November 2008)

Lana Penrose, Kickstart My Heart, Penguin - interviewed by Rochelle Fernandez; music: Kevin MacLeod

Alan Sillitoe, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner - reviewed by Ben Falkenmire (first broadcast August 2008)

We're all familiar with those weary platitudes about the journey being the destination. Let's be honest. Some journeys are pretty grim, some are just plain boring, and a few are downright scary. This week we speak with novelist Will Elliot about his journey back from a dark place. We'll hang out on trains and peer over our fellow passengers' shoulders to see what they're reading to while away the journey. And we'll meet a young couple whose journeys have separated them from their beloved books.

Train traveller, avid reader and ibis-watcher, James Scanlon - interviewed by Katherine Keefe

Will Elliot, Strange Places: a Memoir of Mental Illness, HarperCollins - interviewed by Sara Peel

Bookshelf interview #4: Nija Dalal and Craig Johnson - interviewed by Benedict Taylor (music: 'Mellow', by Darkroom used under Creative Commons licence Attribution 3.0 Unported)