FINAL DRAFT on 2SER

FD 2008/07/14 - As a Matter of Fact: Gerard Windsor, Alan Loney, Sidhur Venkatesh

finaldraft — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 03:22:15 GMT

Facts. Ronald Regan called them 'stupid things', while commedian Will Rogers declared he didn't tell jokes, he just watched the government and reported the facts. Facts, it seems are in the eye of the beholder. This week in trying to get to grips with the slipperiness of facts we meet poet and printer Alan Loney, the author of a book about a very special book about nothing, which turns out not to exist - and yet which is full to the brim of fascinating facts. We follow novelist Gerard Windsor, in search of some personal facts, or what he calls 'my own real me', a search that takes him deep into the nature of biography and poetry, and we'll also hear all about some astonishing facts unearthed by academic and former gang-leader, Sidhur Venkatesh, using a very unorthodox research method. Gerard Windsor, 'Chasing My Own Real Me', State Library of NSW forum on Fact and Fiction Sidhur Venkatesh, 'Gang Leader for a Day', Allen Lane Alan Loney, 'The Printing of a Masterpiece', Black Pepper

FD 2008/07/07 - Memory Lane: Mira Crouch, Jennifer Robertson, things in books, Cumbersome Corner

finaldraft — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:09:19 GMT

Tom Stoppard, the British playwright once wrote: 'We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke and a presumption that once our eyes watered.' This week we're off down Memory Lane, in search of that smoke. We hear two stories from two very different women, both though, looking over their shoulders, trying to make sense of the view. We also discover how books sometimes preserve traces of the lives and thoughts of their readers, as well as their authors, and we take in some more reminiscences from Cumbersome Corner with Bruce Williams. Mira Crouch, 'War Fare: Sustenance in Time of Fear and Want', Gavemer Publishing, Jennifer Robertson, 'Heat' Bruce Williams, 'Meeting', "Love at Cumbersome Corner" (part 3) Richard Walsh 'Found in Books' AbeBooks.com

FD 2008/06/30 - Canon Fodder: Peter Craven, Ken Gelder, Colin Thubron, Benjamen Walker

finaldraft — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:00:08 GMT

The big guns get wheeled out this week to have another shot at the old chestnuts: what makes a good book? Can we still speak of a canon? And why do we read in the first place? We sit ring-side as journalist and critic Peter Craven and academic Ken Gelder battle it out and ask whether its better to love the treasure even as you enjoy the trash or, to let the trash into the treasure chest. We sing the praises of Colin Thubron, a writer who put the 'literature' back into travel lit, and we follow one man's attempt to get the late 'Butcher of the Balkans', Slobodan Milosovic, to just read the 'right books'. Peter Craven and Ken Gelder, Overland Debate, Sydney Writers Festival, 23 May Colin Thubron, 'Shadow of the Silk Road', Vintage Benjamen Walker, 'Remedial Theory'

FD 2008/06/23 - Glocalisation: Anna Haebich, Regina Sutton, Cumbersome Corner

finaldraft — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:04:35 GMT

We're going 'glocal' this week - exploring the ways in which our own backyards are connected to the big, wide world. We take a fresh look at the assimilation policy after the second world war and its consequences for millions of refugees and Aboriginal Australians, with historian Anna Haebich. We find out how the quintessential technology of globalisation is advancing research into very local concerns, and we listen in to another episode in the life of the local lovers at Cumbersome Corner. Also, in the wake of the Sydney Writers' Festival, with the big names from overseas gone, we give some of the 80 000 readers who turned up a chance to have their say too. Anna Haebich, 'Spinning the Dream: Assimilation in Australia, 1950-1970', Fremantle Press Regina Sutton, State Librarian and Chief Executive, NSW State Library Bruce Williams, 'Love and Death', ("Love at Cumbersome Corner," part 2)

FD 2008/06/16 - Crossing Borders: Laurence Fearnley, Alice Pung, Holly Hill

finaldraft — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:49:37 GMT

This week is all about crossing borders – about leaving behind a world that's familiar and taking those first steps into the great unknown. New Zealand author Laurence Fearnley discusses her new novel about two characters reaching across the generation divide to form a deep and unlikely bond. Alice Pung drops by to chat to us about what it means to grow up Asian in Australia. And Holly Hill tells us what was behind her decision to place an online ad for a toyboy. Laurence Fearnley, 'Edwin + Matilda', Penguin Alice Pung, 'Growing up Asian in Australia', Black Inc Holly Hill, 'Toyboy', Random House

FD 2008/06/09 - Boys and Their Toys: Junot Diaz, Ventriloquist Band, SpinVox, Bruce Williams

finaldraft — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 23:21:38 GMT

'Boys will will boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men,' the great American cartoonist Kin Hubbard once sagely said. And each will have their toys, or as Benjamin Franklin put it: 'Old boys have their playthings as well as the young ones; the only difference is in the price.' With these truths in our ears, this week on Final Draft it's all about boys, and the wonderful and not-so-wonderful things they get up to with their toys. We catch the turbulence of life through the eye of an adolescent boy in the early fiction of the American Dominican writer Junot Diaz; we find out what happens when boys get drunk on Kung Fu and borrowed language, and we get our hands on the nifty new toy that turns spoken words into written texts. Also, the first installment in a special new series from a real Final Draft old boy. Junot Diaz, 'Drown', Faber The Ventriloquist Band, 'I Know Kung Fu,' Going Down Swinging, #26 Bruce Williams, 'Love at Cumbersome Corner' (part 1)

FD 2008/06/02 - Everyday Superwomen: Heather O'Neill, Dolla Merrillees, Erin Gough

finaldraft — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:48:56 GMT

A paean of praise to all the everyday superwomen out there, this week: stories of ordinary women and girls doing the most extraordinary things, all the time. Canadian writer Heather O'Neill drops by to about her latest novel, a dark and beautiful tale of one girl growing up tough in Montreal. Dolla Merrillees helps us put the myth of the wicked stepmother in its place. And local writer Erin Gough treats us to a reading of one of her stories about being a real everyday superhero. Heather O'Neill, 'Lullabies for Little Criminals', Quercus Dolla Merrillees, 'The Woodcutter's Wife: A Step-Mother's Tale', Halstead Press Erin Gough, 'My Life as a Freeze-Framed Action Hero'

FD 2008/05/26 - Suffer the Little Children: Naldo Rei, Charlotte Wood, Caron Milham

finaldraft — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:00:05 GMT

'Suffer the little children' said a certain bloke in the bible. And this week on Final Draft the relationship between childhood and suffering is our subject. With East Timorese former child soldier Naldo Rei and Australian novelist Charlotte Wood, we're asking how each shapes the other and finding out how each lingers long after wounds have healed and children have grown. Also, how to stop suffering in the kitchen, with dietician, Caron Milham. nb the Charlotte Wood interview is repeated in this episode due to a technical problem during the original broadcast Naldo Rei, 'Resistance: A Childhood Fighting for East Timor', University of Queensland Press Charlotte Wood, 'The Children', Allen and Unwin Caron Milham, 'The Australian Healthy Cooking Guide', Random House

FD 2008/05/19 - Dancing Skeletons: Charlotte Wood, David Brooks, Jason Nelson

finaldraft — Tue, 20 May 2008 00:22:18 GMT

'If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.' So said George Bernard Shaw, and this week on Final Draft, the skeletons are getting their groove on, courtesy of two very exciting novelists, Charlotte Wood and David Brooks. We're talking strange reunions, festering, not-quite forgotten secrets, and the deep and fierce love only found in families. Also, an intriguing experiment in bridging the print and digital worlds with poet and Cyber Studies academic, Jason Nelson. Charlotte Wood, 'The Children', Allen and Unwin David Brooks, 'The Fern Tattoo', University of Queensland Press Jason Nelson, 'NetPoetics' http://www.netpoetics.com/

FD 2008/05/12 - The Mystery Theme: Helen Garner, Adam Ford, Gregory Whitehead

finaldraft — Mon, 12 May 2008 22:34:43 GMT

Taking the idea of devouring a good book to unusual lengths, and the time the streets of Melbourne ran red with forgotten blood: just two of the odd tales in store this week, along with the latest goodies from Helen Garner, and Going Down Swinging, and a real treat from the independent producer Gregory Whitehead. Plus a mystery theme - work it out if you can! Helen Garner, 'The Spare Room', Text Publishing Adam Ford, 'The Battle of Clarendon Street', Going Down Swinging No.26 Gregory Whitehead, 'Mind, Body, Soul'

FD 2008/05/05 - Keeping Faith: Barack Obama, the Bone Man of Kokoda, Monica McInerney

finaldraft — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:48:57 GMT

Now known as 'The Bone Man of Kokoda', Kokichi Nishmura made a fateful promise to his dying comrades in PNG during the Second World War. Keeping up his end of the bargain meant spending 25 alone in the jungle digging for bones. This week on Final Draft it's all about keeping faith. We talk about Nishimura's pact with his biographer, Charles Happell; we follow Barack Obama's attempts to keep faith with his unusual family history and we follow the consequences of a promise made to the future in Monica McInerney's latest novel. Charles Happell, 'The Bone Man of Kokoda', Macmillan Barack Obama, 'Dreams From My Father', Text Publishing Monica McInerney, 'Those Faraday Girls', Penguin

FD 2008/04/28: Lives and Stories: J M Coetzee, Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman, and Luke Davies

finaldraft — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:10:00 GMT

The lives of remarkable writers and the writing of remarkable lives are our subjects this week on Final Draft. We catch up with Luke Davies, and talk about his new novel, 'The God of Speed', in which an elderly Howard Hughes sits in a hotel room in London, unfolding his story of sex, money, speed and obsession. Najaf Mazari, an Afghan refugee and rugmaker, drops by with his friend, the Austalian writer, Robert Hillman, to talk about their new book, 'The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif', which tells Najaf's story of resilience and goodwill. And we learn how a very famous writer is at pains to have the last word on how his life's tales are remembered. Luke Davies, 'The God of Speed', Allen and Unwin J M Coetzee, 'Diary of a Bad Year', Text Publishing Najaf Mazari and Robert Hillman, 'The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif', Insight Publications

FD 2008/04/21: Women/History: Anna Clark, Daisy Bates, Anne De Lilse

finaldraft — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:50:02 GMT

Women and history this week – women writing about it, making it, remembering it, and hiding it. Anna Clark reports the good, the bad and the unexpected from the chalkface about the way Aussie kids are being taught their history; we learn all about the elusive, enigmatic anthropologist Daisy Bates, and we dive into the hidden secrets in the pasts of both people and houses in Anne De Lisle's new novel. Anna Clark, 'History's Children: History Wars in the Classroom', UNSW Press Susanna De Vries, 'Desert Queen: The Many Lives and Loves of Daisy Bates', Harper Collins Anne De Lisle, 'The Swim Club', Random House

FD 2008/04/14: Colourful Characters: Book Pirates, Judy Nunn, Don Watson

finaldraft — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 01:30:29 GMT

Ever heard of book pirates? No? Well tune into Final Draft this week, me hearties, and learn all about it. Plus: the latest from the 'Queen of the Airport Novel', and a repeat of our interview with Don Watson from last week (a technical problem meant that broadcast listeners missed it first time round).

FD 2008/04/07: Gentlemen: David Stratton, Don Watson, Shi Tao

finaldraft — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:57:28 GMT

Join us as we talk with couple of charming veterans of Australian arts and letters. David Stratton reflects on a rich life lived in the cinema, recounted in his new memoir, and Don Watson joins us to talk about the marvellous paradoxes of the United States. We also find out about a charming idea: the PEN poem relay, a potent symbol of international co-operation in the name of freedom of expression, running parallel to the Olympic torch relay. David Stratton, 'I Peed On Fellini', William Heinemann, $34.95 Don Watson, 'American Journeys', Knopf, $49.95 nb Due to a technical problem with the original broadcast of this edition of the show, the Don Watson interview will be re-broadcast on 14 April