Inga Simpson interviews Rajith Savanadasa about his debut novel, Ruins.

Rajith Savanadasa’s debut novel, Ruins, is a vibrant portrait of a family, city and country in the midst of change. It is set in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo, around the end of the thirty-year civil war, in 2009. Initially, the conflict is off in the distance, reflecting Savanadasa’s own experience. The war was ‘Something …

Read more ›

We sat down with J.C. Jones – author of the 2016 Readings Children’s Book Prize winner Run, Pip, Run – and asked her about her ideas, her road to publication, and what we can expect next. Where did the first spark of the idea for Run, Pip, Run come from?

When I was growing up, I always loved stories about kids who weren’t afraid to take their destiny into their own hands. Shortly before I wro…

Read more ›

When I read Error Australis I thought… This is a history book but not as we know it. This is a book that could be used in schools, but it’s not like the textbooks we had in the 1980s. This is a book that shows irony is not lost on us as Australians. And I wondered, what was your intention in writing the book? Was it to help readers learn more about history, or was it to make people laugh at how l…

Read more ›

Emily Maguire talks with Jane Harper about her highly anticipated debut novel, The Dry.

The Dry opens on a scene of horror in a drought-stricken Victorian town, Kiewarra. Blowflies, ‘spoiled for choice’ and moving from one set of ‘unblinking eyes and sticky wounds’ to another as desperate farmers shoot their starving livestock, feast upon three smaller, smoother bodies: those of local farmer L…

Read more ›

Will Kostakis' new YA novel is the featured book for this month’s YA Book Club, and we’re delighted that Will himself is joining us on the night. Come along to Readings St Kilda on Wednesday 20 April and make sure to bring your very best questions. Here, children’s bookseller Isobelle Moore asks Will a few questions about The Sidekicks. The Sidekicks is set in a Catholic school, with the scho…

Read more ›

Mark Rubbo talks with Helen Garner about her new book, Everywhere I Look, a collection of her short non-fiction pieces. What drew you to reportage?

I was faced with an immediate need to make a living, after I got the sack from teaching in 1972. Also, it has always felt natural. It suits me. It gets me into places and situations that I would otherwise be too shy to broach.

I remember asking P…

Read more ›

Readings Monthly editor Elke Power talks with Jennifer Down about her debut novel, Our Magic Hour.

Those of us at Readings who have been fortunate enough to read Jennifer Down’s debut novel, Our Magic Hour, have struggled with fears that anything we say or write about this outstanding book will be dismissed as hyperbole. Admittedly, we are not the first to recognise Down’s talent. Down won th…

Read more ›

Our crime fiction specialist, Fiona Hardy, chats to author Alecia Simmonds about Wild Man.

On a strange dark night in April 2012, a peaceful gathering at a remote property in New South Wales was marked by violence when Evan Johnson threatened people with a crossbow and was shot by police. These are the bare bones of Johnson’s story; in Wild Man, Alecia Simmonds does some digging. We follow Sim…

Read more ›

Our events manager Chris Gordon chats with Patrick Ness about his highly anticipated new YA novel, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, which will be released next Thursday 27 August. Special note: Five lucky people who pre-order The Rest of Us Just Live Here limited edition will also receive a copy of More Than This signed by Patrick Ness. Pre-order online by Tuesday 25 August to automatically go int…

Read more ›

Gail Jones discusses her latest novel, A Guide to Berlin, with David Haworth.

David Haworth: This is your second novel in a row that borrows its title from a previously existing work – in this case a story by Nabokov –and also vividly evokes a particular city. In very Nabokovian fashion, the novel is brimming with small, tender details – one could call them easter eggs –which seem specifically…

Read more ›