Shailee Thompson is a writer and educator based in Brisbane, Australia. How to Kill a Guy in Ten Dates is her debut novel.

Charlie’s moved to Brisbane for uni. He barely knows anyone and it’s not helping that one of his new housemates is the model he’s been sketching in his life drawing class. Maisie’s the heart of the house. People like to think they know her. Maybe too many people think they know her too well. But the parts Maisie keeps hidden are so deep most don’t even suspect they’re there. As Maisie and Charlie circle each other’s worlds they will try to understand whether, hypothetically, they might go well together…

Maria van Neerven is a Mununjali poet from the Yugambeh nation living in Meanjin. Maria was the winner of the David Unaipon Award in 2023 and was a Next Chapter Fellow in 2024. Two Tongues is her first poetry collection.

We are taken to a small town McDonald’s where four reluctant individuals gather to remember Taz. Pat is still mourning the son she lost too young.  Fern, Jacob and Ethan miss their best friend. Taz died tragically after moving to Sydney and now the four find themselves adrift and struggle with how their lives have become stuck since his death. As fires bear down on the Maccas, the four must confront how they are trapped not just by natural disaster but by their choices since Taz died.

Sara Haddad is an editor and writer. You first met Sara on Final Draft when we discussed he debut novella The Sunbird. Today Sara is returning with a young readers edition of The Sunbird.

Kay Kerr is an author and journalist based on the Sunshine Coast, Australia. Kay’s latest novel, Might Cry Later, is out now.

Christian White is an Australian author and screenwriter. He is the bestselling author of titles including The Nowhere Child (2018), The Wife and the Widow (2019), and Wild Place (2021). Christian’s joining us today with his latest The Long Night

Nora is home for Xmas, Actually she’s been home a little longer than that and will probably be staying a bit after.  At twenty-one and living in Melbourne Nora found her life imploding. What came next, well Nora’s not quite ready to face yet, but she came home with a brand new Autism diagnosis that no one in her family wants to talk about. Holidays are hard enough, but as Nora watches all the people in her life gather round she questions whether her neurodiverse brain can regulate through all this stimulation.

George Kemp is an award winning writer of fiction, plays and television.

Rhett Davis is the author of Hovering. Today we’ve got his new novel Arborescence

Nora is home for Xmas, Actually she’s been home a little longer than that and will probably be staying a bit after.  At twenty-one and living in Melbourne Nora found her life imploding. What came next, well Nora’s not quite ready to face yet, but she came home with a brand new Autism diagnosis that no one in her family wants to talk about. Holidays are hard enough, but as Nora watches all the people in her life gather round she questions whether her neurodiverse brain can regulate through all this stimulation.

William J Byrne’s debut novel is The Warrumbar.

Evelyn Araluen is a Goorie and Koori poet, editor and researcher. She is co-editor of Overland Literary Journal. Evelyn’s first collection Dropbear won the Stella Prize in 2022 and she is joining us today with her new collection The Rot.

Xmas time is here and as sure we’ll be reaching for mince pies, gravy and white wine in the sun, we’ll also be turning our attention to festive tales that make us feel warm and full of cheer. Because festive cheer is what makes a Xmas story Xmassy right?

Today Felix Shannon joins us in conversation with Benjamin Stevenson Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author of the globally popular ‘Ernest Cunningham Mysteries’, including Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone.

Today's Book Club is a reading from Evelyn Araluen's new poetry collection The Rot. Evelyn Araluen is a Goorie and Koori poet, editor and researcher. She is co-editor of Overland Literary Journal. Evelyn’s first collection Dropbear won the Stella Prize in 2022 and she is joining us today with her new collection The Rot. Originally aired on 2ser 107.3

Dr Katharine Pollock (PhD) is the author of Her Fidelity. Her new novel is Starry Eyed.

Sally Hepworth is a New York Times bestselling author of ten novels. Her novels have been translated into over 30 languages. Sally’s novel The Family Next Door has recently been adapted for television. Sally joins us today with her new novel Mad Mabel. 

Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s debut novel, The Hitwoman's Guide to Reducing Household Debt, won the 2023 Affirm Press Mentorship Award and today I’m bringing you his new novel The Wolf Who Cried Boy Henry and his mum move around a lot. It’s great for having adventures but hard to make friends. Henry knows he shouldn’t complain though. They’re moving to keep away from Henry’s father. Henry’s mum has told him his dad is a wolf, The Wolf King in fact. That’s okay because Henry knows that he and his mum are starchildren. They have superpowers and Henry is determined he’ll use them to protect his mum. Henry’s grandma is also sick. Henry’s never met her but together with his mum they’ll risk the wolves to head north to see her.

When you’re young in a small town it can feel like there’s not much to do. So you make your own fun. Maybe it’s footy, maybe church camp in the summer. Tate, Luther and Brylie are thick as thieves until the disappearance of Tate’s little brother shatters their world. The boys play footy and Brylie leaves town when her minister father gets a new posting. Years later and Brylie and her dad are back. Their return coincides with the discovery of a body on the beach. Another disappearance that connects them all.

Henry and his mum move around a lot. It’s great for having adventures but hard to make friends. Henry knows he shouldn’t complain though. They’re moving to keep away from Henry’s father. Henry’s mum has told him his dad is a wolf, The Wolf King in fact. That’s okay because Henry knows that he and his mum are starchildren. They have superpowers and Henry is determined he’ll use them to protect his mum. Henry’s grandma is also sick. Henry’s never met her but together with his mum they’ll risk the wolves to head north to see her. The Wolf Who Cried Boy is a gripping novel that takes the wonder and magic of childhood into the dark reality of domestic violence. Told from Henry’s perspective, we as readers must filter the world through the stories Henry’s mother has told him and his naive, incomplete understanding of the world around him. The result is horrifically effective and we are held captive to our own sense of foreboding at the family’s likely fate in a system stacked against them.