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'How to Be Normal' Q&A with author Ange Crawford and Cerdon College Merrylands
Anne Crawford is the winner of the the inaugural Walker Books Manuscript Prize. With themes including coercive control, coming of age, and finding yourself, her debut young adult novel, How to be Normal, authentically deals with timely issues with insight, sympathy and well crafted humour.Six students at Cerdon College in Merrylands, NSW, caught up with Anne to ask her about her inspiration and what to do if you know someone who is experiencing coercive control.
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Judy Friedlander on her new book for kids, 'The Bee Squad: Boosting Biodiversity in Your Neighbourhood'
From the coast of Western Australia to Sydney’s suburbs, young people are discovering nature in their neighbourhoods and setting up nesting boxes for birds, cleaning up waterways, planting to attract bees and koalas, and building insect hotels. They’re learning about amazing native species and finding ways to protect them.The Bee Squad inspires you to take part in these exciting adventures and projects that support threatened species by doing things like:learning how to put together a nature sleuth toolkitplanting to attract pollinatorsusing the tally sheet to record flora and fauna sightingsfollowing the tips to ace your wildlife photography.The best part is, you don’t need to live near a national park or protected area to get involved – you can make a difference from your balcony, backyard, local park or school.In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Dr Judy Friedlander about biodiversity and why it is so important to all species in the food chain, why pollination is critical and not limited to just bees, and how 'Biodiversity Champions can work together to create change and a greater appreciation of the natural world.
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Porscia Lam on a life changing journey in 'The Unlocking: An Autism Story'
The Unlocking: An Autism Story unfolds in pandemic-stricken Melbourne, charting one family’s desperate battle against the escalating behavior of their autistic toddler. Amid the lack of in-person services, Harry exhibits severely restricted eating, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, crippling separation anxiety, and a demand avoidance that impedes every function in his young life. Harry meets the description of Pathological Demand Avoidance, a sub-type of autism that is not yet recognised in Australia, where an individual exhibits an anxiety-based need for control by avoiding the ordinary demands of living. During a break between lockdowns, and with much trepidation, the family embark upon a journey with applied behaviour analysis (ABA) therapy. ABA is an intensive therapy considered the gold standard in early intervention for autism, but with a controversial past. The outcome is life-changing. Beneath the veil of dysfunction and anxiety, they discover an outrageously creative, highly intelligent, and hilarious little boy.In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Porscia Lam about the attitude adjustment she was compelled to make, the challenges she faced in understanding Pathological Demand Avoidance and Applied Behavioural Analysis therapy, and the impact on her family's mental health.
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Ronni Salt on her debut crime thriller about guns, drugs and small town life in 'Gunnawah'
When nineteen-year-old farm girl Adelaide Hoffman applies for a cadetship at the Gunnawah Gazette, she sees it as her ticket out of a life too small for her. The paper's owner, Valdene Bullark, seeing something of the girl she once was in young Adelaide, puts her straight to work. What starts as a routine assignment covering an irrigation project soon puts Adelaide on the trail of a much bigger story. Water is money in farming communities, and when Adelaide starts asking questions, it's like she's poked a bull ant's nest. Someone will do whatever it takes to stop Adelaide and Val finding out how far the river of corruption and crime runs.In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Ronni Salt about her mysterious life on X, the people, the places and exploring beneath the surface of small town life in the Riverina, and why why water and corruption go hand-in-hand.
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Judy King on a childhood betrayed and reclaimed in 'Agnes'
After a 30-year absence Agnes is returning to Australia, the country of her birth, at the behest of her aging, narcissistic mother. Having undergone a long period of psychotherapy she now entertains a hope that burning questions will be answered, haunting mysteries solved, and buried memories encouraged into the light. Something has blighted her life since childhood. Something has cast a long shadow over her existence, affecting her ability to grasp at life fully, to develop sustained relationships and to appreciate her own sense of self-worth.In a leafy suburb of Sydney, a chance meeting in front of her early childhood home resurrects memories of a traumatic event. This represents the moment young Agnes starts to realise, and repress, feelings of confusion, cruelty and alienation from those who should love her the most. Agnes – A childhood betrayed and reclaimed is the revelatory, true account of one woman’s determination to grapple with - and heal - the ills that have beset her past.In this episode Gregory Dobbs chats to Judy king about when a memoir becomes a novel, how remembering can influence the shape of a novel, and how creativity can lead to redemption.
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