Take Home Reading is a new short-form audio series for readers and writers – shining a spotlight on Australian writers with recently released books. In each instalment, you’ll be introduced to a writer, learn a little about what they’ve been reading lately, and hear a short reading from their latest work. 

In this episode we’re talking to Imbi Neeme about her novel, The Spill, a compassionate portrait of a fractured family piecing together their different recollections of the past. 

'No two people ever experience or remember the same thing in the same way, especially when they're sisters. The Spill is about two sisters who we meet in the present day. Their mother has just passed away and they are ostensibly estranged from each other. At the heart of the novel is this accident they were in as young girls, where their mother was driving. No one was particularly hurt in that accident, but the impact of it is felt for decades afterwards. And so we explore more of these sisters' pasts, shared and sometimes quite separate. And over time we come to understand a little more about how they've become who they are.'

The Spill is out now through Penguin Random House.

Transcript

Download a PDF transcript of this episode here.

Take Home Reading is a new short-form audio series for readers and writers – shining a spotlight on Australian writers with recently released books. In each instalment, you’ll be introduced to a writer, learn a little about what they’ve been reading lately, and hear a short reading from their latest work. 

In this episode we’re talking to Georgina Young about her debut novel, Loner.

Loner is a fresh and honest novel from the winner of the 2019 Text Prize. Smart, funny and deeply compassionate, it is a coming-of-age tale about the paths we take to find out what we want to do with our lives.

Loner is out now through Text Publishing.

Take Home Reading is a new short-form audio series for readers and writers – shining a spotlight on Australian writers with recently released books. In each instalment, you’ll be introduced to a writer, learn a little about what they’ve been reading lately, and hear a short reading from their latest work. 

In this episode we’re talking to Victoria Hannan about her novel, Kokomo.

Kokomo is a stunning debut novel from the winner of the 2019 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. Both tender and fierce, heartbreaking and funny, Kokomo is a story about how secrets and love have the power to bring us together and tear us apart.

‘When I was writing it I had this thought of like, is anyone going to be able to empathise with what it's like to be stuck in your house for a long time? And now, we all know what that feels like, so I feel like Elaine is sort of relatable in some ways because she's inside (that's the mother character, Elaine), but also in other ways she wants to stay inside, whereas we're all just like, "Oh my God, I need to get out of this house". So I think people will empathise with her, but also find her a bit infuriating, maybe.’

Kokomo is out now through Hachette.

Transcript

Download a PDF transcript of this episode here.