The Book Show

Doctor‑turned‑memoirist‑turned‑comedian Adam Kay makes his fiction debut with A Particularly Nasty Case, a medical murder mystery set inside a hospital. And Perth based author Jay Martin discusses her debut novel, Boom Town Snap, a story that shifts between the snowfields of Canada and outback Western Australia.
Adam Kay's medical memoir, This Is Going to Hurt, was a global bestseller and made Radio National's Top 100 Books of the 21st Century list. Now, Kay has released his first novel, A Particularly Nasty Case, a crime story that blends his medical background with fiction. Set inside a hospital, the book follows a doctor‑turned‑detective who might be one of the most unreliable narrators you'll ever meet.
Jay Martin's first novel Boom Town Snap follows Georgie from Western Australia to the Canadian oil fields in pursuit of her dreams and love life (mirroring Jay's own journey). All the while, she grapples with working in the mining sector as her values pull her towards a different lifestyle.

Bestselling author Trent Dalton reveals how The Wizard of Oz appears in every book he's written — from Boy Swallows Universe to his latest novel, Gravity Let Me Go. Plus, Wicked author Gregory Maguire revisits the inspiration behind his iconic series with the release of Elphie: A Wicked Childhood.
Australia's favourite novelist, Trent Dalton joins Claire Nichols in front of a Perth crowd to discuss why his personal story is such a rich source of inspiration in his storytelling and also how imagination became a form of escape during a difficult childhood growing up in crime‑affected 1980s Brisbane. His latest novel, Gravity Let Me Go is about a middle-aged crime journalist and the incredible murder mystery that lands in his letterbox. 
Wicked author Gregory Maguire revisits the inspiration behind his landmark 1995 novel Wicked, which re‑imagined The Wizard of Oz through the eyes of the so‑called Wicked Witch of the West, exploring her childhood and life before Dorothy arrived in Oz. Thirty years on, and with the Wicked film adaptation continuing its global success, Maguire speaks to Claire Nichols about returning to the world of Oz with the release of Elphie: A Wicked Childhood. This interview was first broadcast 14 April 2025, listen to the full interview here.

Philip Pullman's 30 year enchantment with his heroine Lyra Belacqua and His Dark Materials continues with The Rose Field. And Zoe Terakes takes a queer view of the Ancient Greek myths in Eros.
Northern Lights, the first book in Philip Pullman's beloved fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, was published in 1995 and the series has gone on to define him. His new book is the latest in a companion trilogy he started in 2017, The Book of Dust. The last instalment, The Rose Field, has been billed as the final adventure for his heroine Lyra Belacqua. Philip also tells Claire about his time in Woomera, SA, in the 1950s and whether he'll be able to step away from Lyra's story.
Australian actor-turned author Zoe Terakes (Wentworth, Talk to Me, Marvel) takes a fresh look at Greek myths in their first book of short stories, Eros: Queer Myths for Lovers, and brings the queer and trans undertones of these stories into the spotlight.
Find Radio National's Arts Hour interview with Randa Abdel-Fattah on the ongoing implications of the cancellation of Adelaide Writers' Week here.

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.
First broadcast 26 May 2025
Presenter: Claire Nichols
Producer: Sarah L'Estrange
Sound engineer: Carey Dell and David Le May
Executive producer: Rhiannon Brown

God of Small Things author Arundhati Roy on her monstrous mother and becoming a writer, Colum McCann dives into the digital age with Twist and Penobscot Indian Nation writer Morgan Talty on his story of family bonds, Fire Exit.
Arundhati Roy is a giant of literature. She's published two novels, including the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things and is a prolific author of non-fiction, much of which confronts injustice in her home country of India. Her latest book is a memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, which examines her complicated relationship with her mother, Mary Roy. Mary was a trailblazer in education and in fighting for equality for women but as a mum, she could be cruel and even violent. She died in 2022, and in the book, Arundhati Roy writes, "perhaps more than a daughter mourning the passing of her mother, I mourn her as a writer who has lost her most enthralling subject."  
In his latest book Twist, New York-based Irish writer Colum McCann (Let the Great World Spin, Apeirogon) dives into the digital age, travelling deep under the ocean into a tangled world of ruptured fibrous connections, its human cost, and repair. 
Penobscot Indian Nation writer Morgan Talty's Fire Exit is a story of family bonds that go beyond bloodlines. Charles is a white man who must not only confront his past but decide whether to reveal his identity to the daughter he watches from across the river that borders the Native American Reservation of the Penobscot people. A compassionate account of family, love and connections, it also explores the complications that may arise from truth-telling.
Presenter: Claire Nichols
Producer: Sarah L'Estrange
Sound engineer: Carey Dell and David Le May
Executive producer: Rhiannon Brown