I want to leave the last word on this collection to its collectors. Winnie Dunn, Stephen Pham and Phoebe Granger are the editors of Racism and in their introduction they lay out that they “seek to provide a personal and intimate record from first nations people and people of colour across all ages, that demonstrates the pain, despair, confusion, complexity and rejection that comes from being the ‘other’.”

Poetry Month is a showcase of the incredible wealth of poetic talent in this country and will be Featuring: 30 in 30 - delivering daily, original text/video poems from some of Australia’s best poets Poetry Workshops - with incredible poets Line Break - a weekly online poetry show Fair Trade - conversations with First Nations poets

This week though I wanted to bring you a little poetry. Specifically I wanted to let everyone out there know about Poetry Month an initiative from Red Room Poetry. This is the inaugural poetry month and it really is a festival of poetic art spanning styles from the traditional, through hip hop and an array of voices from throughout the community. Poetry Month is organised and run by Red Room Poetry and it’s designed to increase the profile of Australian Poets, Poetry and Publishers. For more details check out https://redroompoetry.org/ and discover all the poetry events across the month....

Missed Part One? Check it out in your podcast app Romy is a graduate lawyer. Her work sees her taking a deep dive into the relationships corporations have with their employees and she’s finding that often these look more like intimate, romantic partnerships than anything she’s got on her personal calendar. Romy’s parents worry she’s not dating. Her mates think she’s got a type and is being picky. Even Romy wonders if the guys she’s interested in set up the relationships to fail. When she’s introduced to optimal stopping point theory she wonders if maybe there’s another way to go about finding the one. Romy has to apply ruthless legal logic to relationships in her work, why not try a little algorithmic thinking to her non-existent dating life? Join me as we discover Elodie Cheesman’s Love, in Theory...

Romy is a graduate lawyer. Her work sees her taking a deep dive into the relationships corporations have with their employees and she’s finding that often these look more like intimate, romantic partnerships than anything she’s got on her personal calendar. Romy’s parents worry she’s not dating. Her mates think she’s got a type and is being picky. Even Romy wonders if the guys she’s interested in set up the relationships to fail. When she’s introduced to optimal stopping point theory she wonders if maybe there’s another way to go about finding the one. Romy has to apply ruthless legal logic to relationships in her work, why not try a little algorithmic thinking to her non-existent dating life? Join me as we discover Elodie Cheesman’s Love, in Theory...

Flock brings together twenty First Nations writers, poets and authors in a collection that features some of the best writing in this country. The collection is edited and features a story from Ellen Van Neerven. The stories promise to roam the landscape of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytelling, bringing together voices from across the generations. This episode of book club features words from Wiradjuri poet Jeanine Leane as she describes how "First Nations writing is always important because First Nations writing does the job that national history fails to do."

Flock introduces itself as First Nations Stories Then and Now. The stories promise to roam the landscape of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander storytelling, bringing together voices from across the generations. The collection is edited and features a story from Ellen Van Neerven. It features contributions from the likes of Tara June Winch, Tony Birch and Melissa Lucashenko as well as our guests today Mykaela Saunders, Jeanine Leane and Jane Harrison

Romy is a graduate lawyer. Her work sees her taking a deep dive into the relationships corporations have with their employees and she’s finding that many of these look more like romantic partnerships than anything she’s got on her personal calendar. Meanwhile her parents have challenged her with the theory of then optimal stopping point; a way of calculating the best time to make a decision when the choices seem to go on endlessly. Romy has to apply ruthless legal logic to the relationships in her work, why not try a little algorithmic thinking to her non-existent dating life.

Andrew Pople is the host of Final Draft on 2ser and the Great Conversations podcast. Here he is celebrating three years of the podcast on air on Sydney radio 2ser 107.3

Join us in celebrating three years of the Final Draft podcast! We've come a long way and today we're looking back to the beginning. Bram Presser is the author of the award winning The Book of Dirt. He is also the first guest to grace our little podcast way back when it began. Listen back to a remastered version of that first interview along with exclusive audio of Andrew and Bram discussing the incredible success of The Book of Dirt winning the NSW Premier's Literary Awards.

In January 1940 Lucie and her mother Yvonne must leave Australia for France, following the death of Lucie’s father. They are taken in by Gerard, Yvonne’s brother and their only surviving relative. Despite feeling she might never fit in as a Parisian, Lucie endeavours to settle in to the fabled city of lights, sketching postcards for sale at a nearby art supply store. But Lucie’s arrival coincides with the invasion of France by Germany. As the Germans exert more and more control, Lucie must decide whether to shelter in her relative safety or make a show of resistance. Join me as we discover Michelle Wright’s Small Acts of Defiance...

Today's episode is a shout out to To Be Read piles everywhere. As we face down the Sydney Lockdown it can be easy to pressure ourselves to try to do all the things. Instead we should be kind to our mind and approach our TBR with love and curiosity. Today's selection offers books to challenge, make you think and just relax into as your mind travels wide while your body stays put.

Nancy Business returns to Riverstone. Tippy’s been getting on with life after solving the murder of her teacher. Pike and Devon have bought the murder house and are trying to decorate it without murdering each other. So far so normal when the town is rocked by an explosion at the Town Hall. Three people are killed and it looks like the bomber might be a local. The bombing happens on the anniversary of Tippy’s father’s death and this brings back so much for her. Tippy is now constantly in fear of more violence and of losing more people close to her. The only thing to do is reform the Nancys and solve the mystery of the lone bomber.

In January 1940 Lucie and her mother Yvonne leave Australia for France, following the death of Lucie’s father. Taken in by Gerard, their only surviving relative, Lucie must settle into the fabled city of lights on the eve of invasion from Germany. Small Acts of Defiance chronicles Lucie’s coming of age in Paris and a world that is forever teetering on chaos as the Germans exert more and more control.

Heartsick weaves together three stories of love and loss. Claire has returned from London, only to realise something is wrong with her partner Maggie. Patrick is a lonely uni student, until he meets Caitlin - but does she feel as connected as he does? Ana is happily married with three children. Then, one night, she falls in love with someone else. Today’s conversation is presented by 2ser producer Briannah Devlin

Heartsick weaves together three stories of love and loss. Claire has returned from London, only to realise something is wrong with her partner Maggie. Patrick is a lonely uni student, until he meets Caitlin - but does she feel as connected as he does? Ana is happily married with three children. Then, one night, she falls in love with someone else. Today’s conversation is presented by 2ser producer Briannah Devlin

Tippy, Pike and Devon return in Nancy Business. The stakes are higher, the tone is darker, Tippy has a new haircut and don’t even think of going near Devon with green! Get ready for a cosy mystery, with a queer heart and some real questions about what it means to be a part of a community. In Nancy Business Riverstone is rocked by an explosion at the Town Hall. Three people are killed and it looks like a local is the bomber. Straight away things feel darker than the last novel. The bombing happens on the anniversary of Tippy’s father’s death and this has brought back so much for her. She is now constantly in fear of more violence and of losing more people close to her.

Bani Adam knows that his family expect him to do the Tribe proud. To marry the right kind of girl and grow their family. But Bani knows this is not the only way to be a good son, a good man. The Other Half of You is Bani telling the story of this life and this love to his son Khalil. To help Khalil understand the complexity of his identity as a Muslim, an Australian and a man Bani must tell both halves of his story. In Part two we explore the damage that media depictions of young lebanese men has done and the ways that Mohammed has worked in his writing to tell more nuanced stories. We also get into the heart of the novel and discover a humorous side to Mohammed. Join me as we discover Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s The Other Half of You...

Bani Adam knows that his family expect him to do the Tribe proud. To marry the right kind of girl and grow their family. But Bani knows this is not the only way to be a good son, a good man. The Other Half of You is Bani telling the story of this life and this love to his son Khalil. To help Khalil understand the complexity of his identity as a Muslim, an Australian and a man Bani must tell both halves of his story. In part one Mohammad explores Love and the necessity of telling stories that represent, engage and transform the communities they represent.

Who is Nancy Drew and why are we talking about her? Nancy Drew, along with her male teen detective counterparts The Hardy Boys, were the brainchild of the publishing empire of Edward Stratemeyer. Stratemeyer grew his empire over the early decades of the twentieth century using a shrewd understanding of what children want and how to market it to their tiny allowances.

It’s Paris. August 1944. Auguste Duchene is renowned for his ability to find missing people. Now he finds himself in an impossible situation; as the Allies close in on Paris Duchene must find a missing priest and a German soldier. Working both sides against the other he must somehow satisfy two masters to protect his family. In part two we get deeper into the mystery of The Paris Collaborator as well as exploring the ways that ideologies clash. Intriguingly we discover that the denouement may have as much to with how Duchene survives as with the solution to the mystery.

It’s Paris. August 1944. Auguste Duchene is renowned for his ability to find missing people. Now he finds himself in an impossible situation; as the Allies close in on Paris Duchene must find a missing priest and a German soldier. Working both sides against the other he must somehow satisfy two masters to protect his family.

A Million Things runs on its extraordinarily realised characters. Rae, Lettie and Splinter the dog are the sort of characters that you find yourself talking about like they’re real people. I don’t mind telling you that at one point Emily had me fully ugly crying over the story. I can’t you what it was, that would be spoilers, but suffice to say these are the sort of people who get under your skin and make you care.

If you woke up one day with no memory of who you were, where do you think you would place your trust? Every 179 days Robbie forgets everything about himself. The last time this happened all he had was a note, written by himself to guide his future. He keeps himself protected by avoiding the world; shut in, deliveries to the door and very little outside interaction. He can’t risk that the forgetting happens and he is left at the mercy of a stranger. Robbie has a project that structures his days. He’s building an elaborate, record breaking dominoes pattern. And that’s enough until one day, not long before the next forgetting a new delivery person comes to Robbies door and he feels a spark of something?

Re[ad]generate aims to regenerate reading by supporting children in fire and flood-affected communities. The campaign will deliver books written and illustrated by First Nations authors and artists, providing children in those communities with educational opportunities that reflect their communities and their daily lives. Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai woman whose writing includes the acclaimed poetry collection Kindred and her latest, Bindi which tells the story of a community facing bushfire and its aftermath.