Alan Hollinghurst and Charlotte Wood on gay lives and celebrity nuns
Booker Prize winner Alan Hollinghurst reflects on writing about gay lives and Booker Prize shortlisted author Charlotte Wood explains what it's like to not win the prestigious prize.British writer Alan Hollinghust won the 2004 Booker Prize for his novel The Line of Beauty about a gay man living in 1980s Britain. His latest novel, Our Evenings, is about another queer man but this story spans a much longer period of British history and follows Dave Win for 60 years as he navigates his life as a gay, biracial man. Alan was a guest of Sydney Writers Festival.The Australian writer Charlotte Wood shortlisted for the 2024 Booker for her novel Stone Yard Devotional about an atheist woman who retreats to a nunnery in the Australian bush. It was the first time in 10 years that an Australian was shortlisted for the prize. Claire Nichols spoke to Charlotte at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival, WA.
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Liane Moriaty and David Nicholls on small screen success
From Sydney Writers Festival, two bestselling writers, David Nicholls and Liane Moriarty, reveal what it's like to see their stories go from the page to the screen.The British writer David Nicholls is best known for his novel One Day, which has been adapted to film and to television.While Australia's Liane Moriarty has seen every one of her books optioned for the screen and hit the big time with the starry TV adaptation of her novel Big Little Lies.David and Liane also discuss their latest novels, You Are Here and Here One Moment.
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Kaliane Bradley, Rumaan Alam, success and 'sexy dead guys'
Kaliane Bradley shares the serious side to her obsession with muttonchops and time travel, with her book The Ministry of Time, and Rumaan Alam reflects on the success of his novels, Entitlement and Leave the World Behind which was adapted to the screen starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke.British Cambodian author Kaliane Bradley shares the inspiration behind her hit 2024 debut The Ministry of Time. It's a time travel novel that began during lockdown when Kaliane became obsessed with the failed 19th century Franklin Arctic Expedition and one of the officers on board who sported seductive muttonchops and a twinkle in his eye.Rumaan Alam is the American author of four novels but is most known for his 2020 end-of-the-world thriller Leave the World Behind. He followed it up with Entitlement which is about a young black woman working for very rich, old white man. Both works explore the similar territory of race, power and privilege.Kaliane Bradley and Rumaan Alam spoke to Claire Nichols at Melbourne Writers Festival.
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Marian Keyes — "I have lived many lives"
Marian Keyes, the queen of commercial fiction, explains why she fetishes family, the getting of wisdom and writing books she wants to read. Marian joined Claire Nichols at the Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival and they spoke about how Marian became a writer when she was in the depths of despair. Marian also acknowledged the wisdom she's gained in a sometimes tumultuous life. Marian's 16th novel, My Favourite Mistake (Penguin), is another story about one of her beloved Walsh sisters, a family she's been writing about for 30 years.In other news, find out more about Radio National's Top 100 Books countdown.
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Eimear McBride, Tasma Walton and James Bradley on stormy weather and broken families
Irish writer Eimear McBride revisits favourite characters on a rainy night, actor-turned-writer Tasma Walton dredges up a family story of abduction and James Bradley's crime novel about climate catastrophe.Irish writer Eimear McBride is a past winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction whose writing is celebrated for its originality and inventive use of language. In her latest novel, The City Changes its Face (Faber), Eimear revisits the main characters of her second novel The Lesser Bohemians about actors Stephen and Eily's love affair despite the 20 year age gap. Eimear tells Claire Nichols she was drawn back to their story because they're everything she loves to write about. Listen to Claire's 2020 interview with Eimear about her previous novel, Strange Hotel. Actor-turned-writer, Tasma Walton (The Twelve, Mystery Road), explains the personal story behind her second novel I Am Nannertgarrook (Bundyi) which is about the abduction of one of her Boonwurrung Indigenous ancestors by sealers.Australian author James Bradley is no stranger to the burgeoning genre of cli-fi (climate fiction) but his novel Landfall (Penguin) marks his first foray into crime. It's set in a near future Sydney devastated by climate change when a child has gone missing as a dangerous storm approaches.
New Zealand