In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Craig Leeson (impact filmmaker) about how growing up in Tasmania made him an environmental activist, how to find a hook to capture your audience, how to tell a story in few words, the importance of character development, how to keep an audience engaged, how to avoid overwhelming people when telling tough stories, and how hitting the lowest low of his career paved the way for the highest high. Supported by ...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Indian author, winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize, Banu Mushtaq about what drives her to write about the fundamentalist Muslim community in which she grew up, how she became an activist for women’s rights, how stories can change lives and culture, the process of working with her translator, how she injects humour into dark stories, the censorship she faces, and the meaningful impact of winning t...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Irma chats to German author, winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize, Jenny Erpenbeck, about the pros and cons of coming from a family of famous writers, why she mourns aspects of the German Democratic Republic and is driven to express this through writing, how she weaves the personal and political together, the translation process, the financial support available to German authors that we do not have in Australia,...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Lech Blaine about how to shape a memoir and find a meaningful throughline within the truth, what it was like being edited by Helen Garner, how to decide what to leave out of a memoir, the ethical dilemmas of writing about trauma in relation to friends and family, how he found the voice for the ‘characters’ in his memoirs, how he scored his Quarterly essays and the way he approaches long-form essays, and wh...

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Irma chats to travel writer Nina Karnikowski about why she no longer wants to do a five-day trip to Paris and would rather opt for longer more immersive travel, tips for how to get started as a travel writer, why a luxury trip to Bali was one of her worst experiences, and how a moment with a polar bear in the Arctic changed her life, how she organises the various tasks that make up freelance travel writing, tips on how t...

In this episode Irma and Karen chat about the 2025 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, painting a picture of the festival atmosphere and sharing some of the highlights. Then they ask six authors at the festival – Clare Wright, Jenny Erpenbeck, Lech Blaine, Yves Rees, Craig Leeson and Virginia Haussegger – to share a green room story. They uncover Bryan Brown’s funny festival request, Thomas Keneally's unwitting green room 'theft', Jenny Erpenbeck’s props room catastrophe, Annabel Crabb...

Karen and Irma chat about early drafts and tips for gaining momentum again after a break. Then Irma talks to Sophie Cunningham in her role as Chair of the Australian Society of Authors about the impact of AI, the closure of Meanjin, the ASA’s role with industry issues, the ways in which authors need to change their expectations around publishing, how the Stella Prize changed the literary landscape, but also why prizes can be devastating for the majority who don’t make the lists, why we need t...

Irma and Karen chat about the upcoming Ubud Readers & Writers Festival at which they will be recording interviews with several international writers, as well as some of the books they've been reading recently. Then both Karen and Irma chat to Craig Cormick about the pros and cons of big versus small publishers, how he’s got author gigs on cruise ships and what they’ve involved, how he’s managed to be such a prolific writer while having a full-time job as a science communicator and respons...

Irma and Karen chat about small regional writers’ festivals. Then Karen talks to Emily Maguire about how a high school teacher initially crashed her dreams of becoming a writer, how she became a feminist without realising it, how she avoids putting her own opinions into the heads of her characters, how she has learned to focus her anger when writing about feminist issues, how much joy she gains from teaching creative writing, the impact of AI on the writing world, and some very important life...

Irma and Karen talk about copyright, and the productivity commission’s recent recommendations regarding AI. Then Karen talks to Pip Williams about how she shifted from academic research to writing novels, how COVID lockdown inadvertently boosted sales of The Dictionary of Lost Words, how a genius promotions idea for The Bookbinder of Jericho turned into stunning window displays in bookshops, the process of watching her book become a stage play, how writing might be easier than reading for peo...

Karen and Irma chat about book to film adaptations, and recommend recent reads in their new Book Chat segment. Then Irma talks to Upswell Founder and Publisher Terri-ann White about the current state of the publishing industry and what needs to change, why she thinks too many books are being published, why she believes there is not enough risk-taking happening, the cult of the writer and its impact on the publicity demands placed on authors, how shame and guilt pervade the industry, the devas...

Karen and Irma chat about foreign rights deals, and Irma shares some shocking stats. Then Irma chats to Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist about how a conversation between them on their first wedding anniversary was pivotal in Anne’s career, the low of splitting with Graeme’s publisher after the three Rosie Project books, how they manage the process of planning and writing books together, why they think their book tour to 400 bookshops made no difference to sales, what does impact sales and tips f...

In this episode Irma and Karen chat about how a two-book deal was secured via an explosive Booktok profile, after which they discuss recent reads that they’ve enjoyed. Then Karen talks to Markus Zusak about his family of storytellers and his early steps as a writer, how to use your writing heroes to start on the journey of developing your own voice, the excitement of having his first book published, how The Book Thief arose from three separate ideas that came together like a volcanic eruption...

Karen and Irma chat about BookTok and book publicity. Then Irma talks to school librarian Helen Farch about how she became an Instagram superstar, why so many schools no longer have a teacher librarian or even a library, the issues faced in determining what is appropriate to buy in for kids, what kind of budgets government schools are working with, the controversies around books on sex and LGBTQI+ themes, how to engage reluctant readers, the gaps in children’s publishing, and the broad spectr...

Irma and Karen chat about finishing a draft of a novel. Then Karen talks to Favel Parrett about why she decided to give up being a postie and become an author, why she signed up for a writing course but didn’t finish, how her novel Past the Shallows changed her life and keeps on giving, why she likes school visits, how she received not one but two Antarctic Arts Fellowships, why she likes writing child characters, how she came to write about dingoes, how rewarding it can be to write for...

Karen and Irma talk about the intel Irma has gleaned from booksellers on her Shift book tour. Then Irma chats to Tania McCartney about how she made the transition from self-publishing to traditional publishing, creative burn-out and how to come out the other side, deciding to become an illustrator when she was already an established author, the idea that we should all ask for five things we are certain we’ll get a no to, why illustrators need greater recognition, the ways in which the c...

Irma and Karen chat about juggling jobs to survive while writing. Then Karen talks to Nardi Simpson about how writing songs differs from writing books, why she decided to start writing novels, how writing helps her to explore larger questions, how her writing mentors inspired her, what she learned from the Year of the Novel course, how sending a story out into the world is like throwing a boomerang, how she opens herself to playing with ideas and language, why she no longer writes lists of ru...

Karen and Irma chat about the challenges of being able to accept praise. Then Irma talks with Katherine Collette about how co-hosting The First Time podcast was life-changing, her most excruciating experience with the podcast, the excitement of overseas deals for her debut novel and the huge low that followed, how the US market differs from the ANZ market, the secrecy around book sales, the challenges in moving from writing books for adults to writing for kids, how to write humour on the page...

Irma and Karen chat about the changing shape of the Australian publishing industry as small publishers are bought up by larger publishing houses. Then Karen talks to short-story maestro Cate Kennedy about how she came to be a writer and then a teacher of writing, how writing (and reading) a short story is like plunging deep into a diving pool, how her career took off after having a story published in a 9/11 commemorative edition of the New Yorker, how she wrote a novel because of an offer she...

Irma and Karen chat about their top books from the last 12 months. Then Karen chats with lifelong activist and former politician Bob Brown about why writing is so important to activism, why storytelling with intent is important, how he approached writing his memoir, why the practice of writing notes while out in nature is key, the ways in which writing fiction is important in getting people to think about other lives and issues, why he’s given up writing his speeches, the ways in which hope s...