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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Mike Barry is an award winning writer and artist. His Action Tank series has won the Comic Arts Award of Australia and has been shortlisted for a slew of awards including the NSW Premiers Literary Award and the Aurealis.
Mike’s joining us today because Action Tank 3, the conclusion of the series, is out now!
A young boy wakes up on the other side of the solar system, with little more than his brains, courage and an incredibly powerful piece of space technology to rely on.
Strap in, it’s going to be a wild ride home for his mum’s spaghetti carbonara.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
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Emily Maguire is the author of seven novels and has been shortlisted for the Stella, the Miles Franklin and many more awards.
In Emily Maguire’s new novel Rapture, the life of a young woman in ninth century Europe is fraught at best.
Under her father’s roof Agnes is indulged in her reading and stands out for her intelligence and wit. But this is no life for a girl, let alone a woman and Agnes must soon face the prospect that she will be married off.
Rejecting this fate Agnes implores her father’s friend to hide her. Obscuring her sex, Agnes enters a Benedictine monastery where she must forever be on guard against discovery.
The story of Agnes is based on the history or perhaps legend of Pope Joan/Ioannes Anglicus, an officially unofficial female Pope. The story has long fascinated and perturbed the sorts of people who gatekeep these sorts of male spaces and you can see how the possibility of a learned woman who rose to the top of the Catholic Church might ruffle a few feathers.
In Maguire’s hands Agnes’ story moves between the worldly and the divine.
At an early age Agnes is gored by a hog. This brutal action both convinces her she is not fit for marriage and also foreshadows the brief but also visceral encounters she will have with men in her future.
Agnes must negotiate a life wholly embodied; she is never able to forget her sex despite it going unnoticed by the myriad men around her. This life of the flesh convinces her to try and transcend it through her studies where she excels at academics beyond her male monkish peers.
Her excellence is taken for granted, because I guess they couldn’t possibly imagine a woman might be this clever, and Agnes rises through the clergy. Her talents put her on a course for Rome where she is destined to be seen as a paragon of learning.
It is perhaps because of her efforts to efface her womanhood that Agnes comes to be desired by so many around her. The tension and enjoyment of Rapture comes in the characterisation of Agnes’ struggle and the inner torment she suffers as she tries to find the place she has always craved in the world.
Maguire is a tremendous writer of character and through Agnes’ story we see both a history of submission challenged and a paralleling with women’s experience of success and the quest to live a public life today.
Rapture is far from the narratives of Australian life that have occupied earlier novels like An Isolated Incident and Love Objects. What the reader can expect though is the same concern with power structures and who gets to tell the story that occupies all her novels. -
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Ann Liang is a New York Times bestselling author of YA novels This Time It’s Real, If You Could See the Sun, and I Hope This Doesn't Find You.
She’s joining us today with her new novel A Song to Drown Rivers.
In the fractured kingdom of Yue, Xishi is regarded as a peerless beauty.
In another time her beauty might see her make a good marriage and support her family, but when she is sought out by the advisor to her defeated king she sees a larger destiny on her horizon.
Thrust deep into the heart of the enemy Wu kingdom, Xishi must use all skills not only to survive but to bring justice for her people.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
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Tigest Girma is an Ethiopian writer based in Melbourne. Her debut novel is Immortal Dark.
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Kidan Adane has been living a half life since the disappearance of her sister.
Ever since Kidan and her sister June were rescued as children they have lived in fear that they will be discovered by the dranaics, immortal creatures who live on the blood of humans. The dranaics power has been tempered somewhat by their bond to specific human bloodlines. Unfortunately Kidan’s family is one such bloodline.
Kidan has crossed lines to try and recover her sister and has all but given up when she is summoned by the Dean of Uxlay University. The University's long relationship with the dranaics is threatened by the ambition of one Susenyos Sagad. Susenyos is bonded to house Adane and now Kidan must return and take up her birthright, or risk an imbalance that threatens her whole world.
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Immortal Drak is a fresh and compelling reinvention of vampire lore that dives deep on the parasitic relationship between the immortal bloodsuckers and the humans they prey on.
As Kidan returns to Uxlay University and enrolls in the courses that will allow her to come into her inheritance, we are taken on a history tour of the world of Immortal Dark. A world where vampires and humans are bound to each other. It limits the blood loss but ramps up the intimate tension to eleven.
Kidan presents as a loner, but she’s no Bella Swan or even Buffy Summers. For starters Immortal Dark’s mythos traces its origins to Africa and this feeds into the history and character of the families of Uxlay.
Kidan is also neither a clear slayer, nor consort of the sexy vampire/dranaic. Rather there is a lot of brooding and even more on and off screen violence.
The journey into the world of Uxlay University works hard to balance world building and driving narrative. We are privy to this strange outpost of humans and vampires through Kidan’s eyes and so it is appropriately strange. The novel doesn’t seem to want the reader to get too comfortable and so be prepared for blood and angst in equal measure.
Immortal Dark, Kidan and Uxlay defy any stereotype about supernatural schooling you might bring to your reading of the novel. There are obvious parallels to be drawn here with other franchises both magical and bitey, but that’s only going to thwart the reader. It’s not until you take Immortal dark on its own terms that the narrative of legacy, disenfranchisement and attraction can work their own magic on you.
I’ll confess, I think this is my first foray into the genre known as Romantasy (a portmanteau of Romance and Fantasy) and I was pleasantly surprised. The angst is heavy, but no heavier than I’m sure I was when I was an angsty, university aged person. The lore and the worldbuilding offer a hook that lets you discover and rediscover what you thought you knew about undead bloodsuckers. As for the narrative, it provides mystery and suspense in a pacy way that invites page turning.
Immortal Dark is a must for lovers of genre but should also be on the TBR of readers who like to challenge their preconceptions. You know what they say about vampires; into every generation a new take on the undead is born. Maybe Immortal Dark is the latest to take us by storm. -
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Lauren Keegan is a psychologist and writer. Her debut novel is All the Bees in the Hollows.
With the death of her husband, Martye must take care of the family’s hollows. She is not alone, although her daughter Austeja has always fiercely resisted her families vocation as beekeepers. There is more loss to come though when the Hollow Watcher is found dead beneath an abandoned hollow. With suspicion turning onto the community Martye and Austeja must learn to rely on each other, and they must trust to the bees. Bees don’t sting good people.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
Want more great conversations with Australian authors?
Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
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Blue Mountains Writers Festival brings together incredible minds and exciting new talent set against the stunning backdrop of the Blue Mountains.
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Emily Maguire is the author of seven novels and has been shortlisted for the Stella, the Miles Franklin and many more awards. You’ve met her on Final Draft before and it is a pleasure to welcome her back with her new novel Rapture.
The life of a young woman in ninth century Europe is fraught at best.
Under her father’s roof Agnes is indulged in her reading and stands out for her intelligence and wit. But this is no life for a girl, let alone a woman and so Agnes must hide herself and her sex to enter a Benedictine monastary and embark on a most remarkable career.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
Want more great conversations with Australian authors?
Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser
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Ann Liang is a New York Times bestselling author of YA novels This Time It’s Real, If You Could See the Sun, and I Hope This Doesn't Find You. Ann’s new novel is A Song to Drown Rivers.
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In the fractured kingdom of the Yue, Xishi is regarded as a peerless beauty.
Her beauty is famous across her homeland and leads her to be sought out by the advisor to the king. The Yue have suffered terrible defeats at the hands of the Wu. This humiliation and the threat of ongoing war has lead the king to try a desperate plan. With Xishi’s help they will infiltrate the Wu king’s court, win his heart and overthrow his tyrannical rule.
Thrust deep into the heart of the enemy Wu kingdom, Xishi must use all her skills, not only to survive but to bring justice for her people.
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A Song to Drown Rivers is based on the ancient Chinese story of Xishi, one of the four famed beauties of legend. From this source material Liang weaves a compelling tale that blends political intrigue with the all too human story of Xishi.
The conceit that Xishi is valued only for her beauty is tested against the development of the character as she prepares to enter the enemy Wu kingdom. Early on Xishi is shown to be jaded by her reputation as a beauty and longs to find more purpose than that found at the end of a man’s gaze.
Through her training and then in the court of the Wu King Fuchai Xishi is challenged to be bold and clever if she is to rise above the level of concubine.
The novel works hard to explore the inner world of Xishi and build on the legend that exists through history. We see Xishi questioning the rituals of the court and comparing them to the practicality of her village life. Xishi must confront that the tragedy of her family's life and loss through the war is mirrored in many other families, including those of the Wu.
Xishi is also embroiled in an impossible love story that can only be further complicated by her mission to seduce the king.
A Song to Drown Rivers works to complicate the romance and spectacle of so many epic tales of Kingdom’s clashing. Xishi is both an ethereal figure of legend and a kind of every person, struggling to find a morality that can encompass the brutal world she finds herself in.
Ann Liang’s writing takes in the source material and embellishes it both for our times and with a sense of pacy, engrossing storytelling. Xishi’s tale rockets forward even as we feel the encroaching moment where she must make a decision about who she is after so long living a lie.
This book is a must read, ready to appeal to lovers of epics, history, war and romance. It hits its beats in thoughtful and engaging ways and had me hanging on to the last page. -
Maeve Marsden is a writer, producer and theatremaker. She is also the Creative Director of Varuna the National Writers’ House and Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival.
Blue Mountains Writers Festival brings together incredible minds and exciting new talent set against the stunning backdrop of the Blue Mountains. -
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Stephen Downes is a writer and a journalist with an expansive career in news, TV and radio. His debut novel The Hands of Pianists was shortlisted for the 2022 Australian Prime Minister’s Literary Awards. He joins us today with his new work Mural.
What drives a person to commit unspeakable acts?
At the request of his psychiatrist ‘D’ is recording his thoughts. Held ‘at her majesty’s pleasure’ D has little else to occupy his time.
But is D complying with Dr Reynold’s humble request and if so what should we make of this strange journey into the mind of a self confessed madman?
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
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Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
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Lauren Keegan is a psychologist and writer. Her debut novel is All the Bees in the Hollows.
All the Bees in the Hollows takes place in a remote beekeeping community in 16th century Lithuania. With the death of her husband, Maryte must take care of the family’s hollows. She is not alone, although her daughter Austeja has always fiercely resisted her family's vocation as beekeepers.
The death of their father is compounded when Austeja discovers the Hollow Watcher dead beneath an abandoned hollow. As the representative of the Duke he was not a beloved man but his sudden death, alongside the disappearance of the bees, does not bode well for the upcoming harvest.
Their little community is small and not used to outsiders and so suspicion turns inward and onto the families. Maryte and Austeja must learn to rely on each other, and they must trust to the bees. Because bees don’t sting good people.
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All the Bees in the Hollows is a pleasing mix of genres and a fascinating exploration into a way of life that has been changed utterly by our modern world.
It was interesting to read this novel at the onset of our spring, as the bees gathered in my garden and everywhere I turned they were working to collect pollen. Our relationship to bees is so very fundamental to our entire ecosystem and is also one of the most precarious relationships we have with our natural world.
In the novel we are treated to the traditions of Hollows Beekeeping, where swarms are attracted to the hollows of trees and the families manage their development and are careful to harvest only the barest necessity to maintain their livelihoods.
The questions of production and how the profits of the bees are used emerges as a theme when Maryte and Austeja must confront the upcoming spring without their beloved husband and father. Maryte is proud of her skills as a beekeeper but worries at how she will be accepted by the community. There is also the question of the encroaching influence of the church that threatens the practices that have supported the community and their hives for generations.
All the Bees in the Hollows explores the impact of colonial forces in the form of religion and economics at the point when the communities ways are most tested. The sixteenth century was a turning point for beekeeping in Lithuania and so the novel takes advantage of the stakes in this history.
By focussing on the family and the wider biciulyste (the community of beekeeping families) we have both the satisfaction of a contained narrative and the ability to closely observe the psychology of each of the players. That there is a murder mystery in the mix adds an extra frisson driving the narrative forward.
Between the thematic reach and the character driven tension, All the Bees in the Hollows is a wonderfully entertaining read. Even if you don’t share my fascination with bees, you’ll undoubtedly find something to hook you in this tale. -
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.These are the stories that make us who we are.Lauren Crozier won the 2023 Text Prize for her debut novel The Best Witch in Paris.Luna has three loving aunts and a whole lot of questions. Being raised in a witch family comes with all the familiar trappings; an out of control broom, charms & curses and a whole lot of black.Luna hasn’t found her familiar yet and so it’s with trepidation and surprise that she greets the offer of a Boobook Owl from a shadowy figure in the Forgotten Forest.Sounds legit doesn’t it?Luna’s about to find out…Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew PopleWant more great conversations with Australian authors?Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Our guest today is possibly Australia’s best loved storyteller and science communicator.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki has been many things in his life from a physicist, a roadie and a taxi driver, but that’s not my story to tell, because today Dr Karl, who is the author of nearly fifty books, is joining Andrew with his latest, the book only he could write. A Periodic Tale - My Sciencey Memoir is the Dr Karl story.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Maryam Master is a screenwriter, playwright and author. Her novels Exit Through the Gift Shop and No Words were both critically acclaimed gaining listings and prizes and today Maryam joins Andrew with her new novel Laughter is the Best Ending.
Zee would rather drink a maggot smoothie than have to attend a youth camp during the holidays. But Zee’s parents are worried she hasn’t made any friends in their new town and Zee’s worried they’ll resort to more mortifying tactics if she doesn’t at least give it a go.
Camp doesn’t offer much for a Oscar Wilde loving loner, but Zee’s about to go on a wild adventure and make a friend who just might change her life!
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
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Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Lisa Kenway is an Australian writer and anaesthetist. Her debut novel, All You Took From Me, was longlisted for the 2020 Richell Prize
When Clare wakes in a bed in the hospital where she works as an anesthetist she has only questions.
When doctors inform her she was in a car accident, that it took the life of her beloved husband, she realises how much she has lost.
Clare can’t remember a thing about the accident. Why were they on the deserted road? Why was Ray wearing chainmail armour? And why is a towering figure stalking Clare, leaving her threatening warnings?
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
Want more great conversations with Australian authors?
Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Publisher Mills & Boon are famous, sometimes infamous and definitely synonymous with romance. Their novels are published in more than 150 countries, in over 30 different languages, with a book sold every two seconds, worldwide.
This year Mills & Boon are celebrating their 50th year in Australia (we were their first country outside the UK)
I’m a reader but no expert on romance and so to help me celebrate this literary milestone I’m joined by three Mills & Boon writers Clare Connelly, Ally Blake and Melanie Milburne to talk all things romance.
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
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Beloved science communicator Dr Karl Kruszelnicki shares with Andrew some incredible takes of how he became the storyteller and communicator he is today!
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The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Jordan Prosser is a writer, filmmaker and performer from Victoria. His short story ‘Eleuterio Cabrera’s Beautiful Game’ won the Peter Carey Short Story Award in 2022. Big Time is his first novel.
In the Free Republic of East Australia where everything is just bonza and we all toe the line because whatareya a tall poppy or something?!
Julian Ferryman’s been summoned home lest he lose his spot on Bass for his band’s sophomore album. Julian’s not returning alone though; he’s seen the world and the FREA doesn’t love outsider perspectives. Julian’s also seen the future courtesy of the new designer drug ‘F’, but once you’ve seen your future, where does that leave your present?
Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople
Want more great conversations with Australian authors?
Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
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Lisa Kenway is an Australian writer and anaesthetist. Her debut novel, All You Took From Me, was longlisted for the 2020 Richell Prize
When Clare wakes in a bed in the hospital where she works as an anesthetist she has only questions.
When doctors inform her she was in a car accident, that it took the life of her beloved husband, she begins to realise how much she has lost. How did it come to this?
Clare can’t remember a thing about the accident. Why were they on the deserted road? Why was Ray wearing chainmail armour?
As Clare struggles to pull her life back together she is tormented by a towering figure, seemingly stalking her and leaving threatening warnings. The hospital is insisting Clare must see a counselor if she wants to return to work, but it's looking to Clare like she’ll need even more drastic measures if she wants to regain her memories before what she has lost comes back to take what is left.
All You Took From Me is a fascinating exploration into memory and identity. Clare embodies the unreliable narrator and the reader is invited along as she tries to discover if she can even trust herself.
The novel traverses Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains so you know I enjoyed seeing my local area represented. The relative and expanse and solitude of the Mountains is used to effect as the story unfolds and we learn what Clare and her husband had been up to in the days and weeks prior to their accident.
As we follow Clare in her confusion, the tension is ratcheted up by the appearance of her mysterious stalker. There is a certain inelegance to the threats that Clare is in no position to ignore. The rising tension increases the stakes to the point that Clare is willing to try some radical, even desperate means to regain her memory and control over her life. What follows is an innovative exploration of memory and how our subconscious feeds into our everyday.
Clare’s journey of self discovery is suitably fraught and makes for an entertaining look into the depths contained within our seemingly everyday lives.
All You Took From Me is an effective thriller and a must read for lovers of Sydney and surrounds. -
The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love.
These are the stories that make us who we are.
Evie Wyld is the award winning author of five novels including the 2021 Stella Prize winning The Bass Rock.
Max waits in the London flat he shares with Hannah. He’s had little to do but wait since he died. He’d never given much consideration to being a ghost and even still it’s not living up to the hype.
Max’s non-corporeal existence is giving him a view into all the things Hannah never told him during their relationship though. Her life before, her life in Australia was always closed to him but now there’s a lot that Hannah must grieve.
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