Q&As and Interviews posts
Emily Maguire interviews Jane Harper
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…
Q&A with Will Kostakis
Mark Rubbo interviews Helen Garner
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…Elke Power interviews Jennifer Down
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…
Fiona Hardy interviews Alecia Simmonds
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…
Q&A with Patrick Ness
David Haworth interviews Gail Jones
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…
Q&A with Kate Beaton
Q&A with Tess Masters, author of The Blender Girl Smoothies
Oh, thank you. It has been so much fun changing the way people think about smoothies with this book. I get messages from people all over the world who are making their way through every single recipe in the book. I love titles that re…
Q&A with Jane Harrison, author of Becoming Kirrali Lewis
Great to know that the book is unique! I want to break into new areas, and explore new themes. I do think there is a hunger for Aboriginal stories and yet there is a bit of a gap in the market for contem…