An octopus named Strawberry and a snake named Ray road trip across the continental USA in the late seventies landing in New York in time to save the city from the forces of darkness and secure the future of music forever!

A writer sits in a hotel room in Paris early 2020. By her side is the disembodied form of Hortense Cezanne. The writer has traveled to France to capture the essence of Hortense for a book about the wife and muse to Impressionist painter Paul Cezanne. Hortense has returned to the country of her birth for reasons not yet clear to her. Now the two are confined to their hotel room as the world descends into a strange and unknowable illness, forced to observe the quietening world outside.

High School can be hard at the best of times but somehow Zhi juggles study, tutoring and working in her Aunt’s dumpling shop. Zhi’s Aunt Mei has sacrificed a lot so that Zhi can attend a private school and all she asks in return is that Zhi maintain an 85 point grade average and hide the fact she has fangs, spinnerets and four prehensile limbs that emerge from her back!

Irene Diakanastasis presents a gripping interview with Mercedes Mercier on her new novel Black Lies

Each year Red Room Poetry celebrate Australian poets and poetry through a series of events, workshops and showcases throughout August.

El has some questions she’d like answers to. Like why did she implode her old life? Is this new life necessarily better, or just different? And is it Mace, or Kik, or both that she really loves? They’re questions for herself, but that doesn’t mean the answers are necessarily forthcoming. As El’s life careers further from her control she knows something has to give, but does that something move her forward, or take her back to where she came from?

Del swore she’d never return. But years after she left Bower and the Messiah Church Del finds herself drawn back into its orbit by a mysterious message from her ex Lars. Del also swore she’d never talk to Lars again after he left her for her friend Eve, but now Lars sounds contrite. Before Del has the chance to call Lars back though she discovers he’s been killed. The press are calling it a tragic accident but Del knows better about Messiah and how they always protect their own.

Dr Tamryn Bennet is a poet and is the Artistic Director of Red Room Poetry. Red Room Poetry are now in their 20th year and Tamryn is joining me to celebrate Poetry Month happening this August.

A.W. Hammond has a new Auguste Duchene novel out called The Berlin Traitor so let' go back and revisit my Book Club for Auguste's first outing, The Paris Collaborator.

Dale has a secret that’s eating away at him...

An octopus named Strawberry and a snake named Ray road trip across the continental USA in the late seventies landing in New York in time to save the city from the forces of darkness and secure the future of music forever!

Sarah Hutchison arrives at Ngangahook adrift. She has floated from her boarding school days in England, through continental Europe to arrive on the bush property outside Geelong. Sarah and her Uncle Fernny fashion Ngangahook as their own paradise, but could it also be a bastion against the fast encroaching modern world?

This book is an invitation to everyone out there who is wondering about the voice or is perhaps feeling like they need more information to give to their loved ones. As we listen to opponents of the voice run a scare campaign behind the slogan “If you don’t know, vote no”, this book claps back with “If you don’t know, take the time to educate yourself”.

Robbie Egan is the CEO of Book People, formerly the Australian Booksellers Association. Book People are a not-for-profit advocacy group for booksellers. Robbie joins Andrew today to discuss the ‘Importance of Imagination’ study, a report commissioned by Book People that looks into how Australians build their imaginations and the role reading plays in that process.

The 2023 Stella Prize has been won by Sarah Holland-Batt's The Jaguar. Sarah joins Andrew on the show to talk poetry, life, death and her win.

In the coastal town of Port Brighton the locals look after each other. When two deaths occur too close together the town is on edge.

The First Nations Classics series gathers prominent Indigenous voices who continuously, as they have always done, revive the literary landscape of this continent.

Different, Not Less is something of a clarion call to a Neurotypical word that Neurodiversity exists and that it is Different, Not Less. Chloe’s story is part biography, part manifesto, part warm hug for neurodiverse folk (who incidentally, make up about 12% of the population according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics).

George’s life feels too loud. Her best friend Tess has decided to get pregnant at eighteen, but George will be there for her just like she always has been. She’ll be there for Tess just like she’s there for her family and her friends. George is even trying to find a way to be there for her estranged dad when he calls her out of the blue to drop some world shattering news.

Today on book club we're previewing University of Queensland Press' new First Nations Classics series.

Martha Elliott’s approach to psychotherapy is unconventional, but her unorthodox methods have not gone unnoticed…

Two years ago I called Emily Spurr's A Million Things heart-warming with a killer twist. It's time to revisit our book club and see how it stands up. Did you check it out (and if so what did you think?!?)

Benjamin Law is a Guest Curator for this years Sydney Writers' Festival. Ben joins Andrew to talk books, writing and how the stories we tell help shape the world we live in.

In The Bell of the World Sarah Hutchison journeys to Ngangahook, a bush property near Geelong. Ngangahook is run by her Uncle Ferny and Sarah is there to rediscover herself after drifting from her days in an English boarding school. Surrounded by nature, Sarah the world as distinct from the trappings of ‘society’. Ngangahook attracts the unconventional and Sarh begins to infuse her poetry and music with elements plucked from her surroundings.

In this special presentation Felix Shannon, host of Death of the Reader sits down with Pip Williams to discuss her new novel The Bookbinder of Jericho.