Episodes
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Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace.
Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Leslie Jamison (Splinters), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’.Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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As AI advances and outstrips our notions of its limits and potential, could it capture that essential, undefinable human quality of great art? And if so, how might we preserve the rights of artists?
Leading AI experts Marek Kowalkiewicz (The Economy of Algorithms), Toby Walsh (Machines Behaving Badly) and Professor Margaret Cameron, Head of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at University of Melbourne, speak with Paul Barclay.Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Missing episodes?
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Ghost stories are everywhere. In fairytales, folklore, Gothic novels and modern fiction alike. There are the ghosts that plague our minds – old flames, past wrongs and regrets that come to us in the dead of night – and those that haunt history itself, restless spirits that refuse to rest in peace.
Gather round our metaphorical campfire and hear Sinéad Gleeson (Hagstone), share her moving and revealing piece of original work, responding to the theme ‘Ghosts’.Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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The Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature Tony Birch discusses his award-winning novel, Women and Children, with Bec Kavanagh.
With tender yet forthright prose, Birch unravels the trauma of violence and the power of family in 1960s Fitzroy, writing ‘convincingly on power and the blinding nature of its corruptive forces’ (Sydney Morning Herald).
Supported by the Faculty of Arts, University of MelbourneRecorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Following the runaway success of Mayflies, three-time Booker nominee Andrew O’Hagan penned another magnificent portrayal of male friendship in his latest book, Caledonian Road. He joins Michael Williams to discuss his biting portrait of British class, politics and money.
Supported by ARA.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Join eminent philosopher A.C. Grayling as he delivers an address that draws on a lifetime of thinking and writing about the biggest question of all: how should I live my life?
Inspired by his work Philosophy and Life, he brings together the ideas of a fantastically eclectic range of writers and thinkers – including Confucius, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ursula Le Guin – to examine matters of love, death, courage and wisdom, inviting us to consider for ourselves what constitutes a life truly worth living.
Supported by the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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David Marr was shocked to discover that members of his family were officers in the Queensland Native Police, an armed force believed to have massacred some 40,000 First Nations people during the 19th century.
Killing for Country is his relentless exposé of those forebears and the greed, hatred and violence they let loose. Bringing together his experience as a former lawyer, Marr reveals the brutal fight for possession of a country.
Marr speaks with host Sally Warhaft about the ghosts of the unresolved frontier wars that haunt us today.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Resisting cynicism or despair, Festival Curator Mykaela Saunders celebrates the forward-thinking wisdom of ancestors in Always Will Be – a book that “writes Aboriginal people, dreams, radical hope and love into the future” (Natalie Harkin).
Saunders speaks with Jeanine Leane about imagining a future of sovereignty and self-determination for Goori people in her brilliant collection of speculative fiction.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Irish novelist Paul Murray discusses the buzziest word-of-mouth hit of the past year, The Bee Sting.
Murray's dazzling tragicomedy charts the undoing of a once-prosperous Irish family haunted by the ghosts of the past through the perspective of multiple characters and has been hailed as ‘a 650-page soap opera with a clockwork plot whose delicate mechanism you can’t hear tick’ (Guardian).
In conversation with Michael Williams, Murray introduces his wise, witty and heart-punching saga to Australia.
Supported by the Embassy of Ireland.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Content note: This episode contains discussion of suicide.
After 235 years of colonisation, who truly gets to be human in so-called Australia?
Join Wik and South Sea Islander rapper and 2024 Festival Curator Ziggy Ramo, Munanjahli and South Sea Islander author Chelsea Watego, and Egyptian-Australian writer Lamisse Hamouda, with host Osman Faruqi as they read original work, considering who gets to be human in today’s world and how we can confront the past to finally move forward.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
If you need assistance, you can learn more and seek advice via the following resources -
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Headspace: 1800 650 890
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Internationally bestselling author Ann Patchett (Tom Lake) speaks with Ailsa Piper to lift the veil on the unwritten novels of her past, the manuscripts discarded at the bottom of a drawer and the books read long ago that have stayed as spectres in her literary imagination ever since.
The United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Three pairings of highly acclaimed Aboriginal and Palestinian poets read new works to each other in affirmation of commitment, care and solidarity.
Featuring Tony Birch, Samah Sabawi, Jeanine Leane, Micaela Sahhar, Nayuka Gorrie and Sara Saleh, with host and Festival Curator Mykaela Saunders.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Two of the most perceptive storytellers of our time, Leslie Jamison (Splinters) and Nam Le (36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem) became close friends after meeting at the storied Iowa Writers’ Workshop many years ago.
In a fascinating conversation about their crafts, they come together with Sophie Black to compare genre-switching bodies of work that range from poetry to memoir and fiction in their search for truths about family, society, memory and identity.
The United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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With scorching wit and formal inventiveness, Viet Thanh Nguyen rewinds the story of his life in A Man of Two Faces, in conversation with André Dao.
This triumphant and hugely entertaining memoir takes readers from his success as the author of novels including the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Sympathizer, to migrating to California as a young refugee from the Vietnam War. A Man of Two Faces reckons with the ghosts of imperialism, family, memory and identity.
United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF.
Supported by ARA.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Why have public conversations become so fraught? We seem to have lost the art not just of civil discourse but of having any semblance of a robust and nuanced debate.
Over a career spanning nearly 40 years, journalist Laura Tingle has been in the unusual position of being both a reporter and a commentator. In the 2024 John Button Oration, she examines the quality of our national debate.
Supported by the Melbourne School of Government and the Faculty of Arts,
University of Melbourne.Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Award-winning storytellers Christos Tsiolkas (The In-Between) and Bryan Washington (Family Meal) have each penned acclaimed new novels that tenderly depict the triumphs and obstacles of love. They join Maeve Marsden for an insightful conversation about putting romance to the page and love’s power to change us (for better or worse).
Supported by the Faculty of Arts, University of Melbourne.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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In a special meeting of literary minds, bestselling American author Lauren Groff (The Vaster Wilds) and acclaimed Australian writer Charlotte Wood (Stone Yard Devotional) join Ailsa Piper to discuss their stories of solitude.
How does a writer bring colour to the silence, contemplation, pleasure and melancholy of solitude? Groff’s thrilling The Vaster Wilds follows a spirited girl trying to survive alone in the wilderness, while Wood’s mesmerising Stone Yard Devotional depicts a woman holed up in a small religious community hidden in the stark plains of the Monaro, NSW.Please note there are some minor audio issues in the first five minutes of the recording. Rest assured these were resolved and the rest of the episode audio is unaffected.
United States Consulate Melbourne supported the appearances of US authors at MWF.Supported by ARA.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Globally acclaimed, Miles Franklin–winning novelist Alexis Wright (Carpentaria, The Swan Book) discusses her influential body of work and newest masterwork, Praiseworthy, with 2024 Festival Curator Mykaela Saunders.
Wright has long been recognised for the scale of her writing, which combines mythical, political, surreal and comic elements to forge a mode of Aboriginal epic entirely her own. She speaks with Saunders about how she has challenged literary traditions and language to illuminate the contemporary and timeless perspectives of storytelling, spirituality and sovereignty.
Supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2024.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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[Content warning: Sensitive themes] Listen to former Australian of the Year Grace Tame as she talks about The Ninth Life of a Diamond Miner, her sharply intelligent, deeply felt and at times blisteringly funny memoir that shares her story – in her own words and on her own terms.
In conversation with Abigail Ulman, Tame talks about the hard-won journey to finding her voice, what her experience reveals about a culture of abuse in our society and institutions, the writing and editing process behind her memoir, and the values and passions that have helped her become a leading advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse who has inspired countless people from all walks of life.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023
Please note, this conversation explores sensitive topics including child sexual abuse and domestic violence.
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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A world-renowned expert in American literature and culture, Sarah Churchwell (The Wrath to Come: Gone with the Wind and the Lies America Tells) delivers the 2023 John Button Oration.
Examining one of the most popular stories of all time, Gone with the Wind, Churchwell shows how histories of mythmaking have informed America’s racial and gender politics, the resurgence of white nationalism, the Black Lives Matter movement, the enduring power of the American dream, and the violence of Trumpism.
Recorded live at Melbourne Writers Festival 2023
This event was proudly supported by the John Button Fund, Melbourne School of Government and the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne
Support MWF: https://mwf.com.au/donate/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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