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 Katerina Bryant about her debut memoir Hysteria, a compassionate and insightful account of illness, strength and women’s stories. 

‘We’re told that illness has a narrative structure, and that it ends. We're told that illness is a tragedy that is, or should, be overcome. I was trying to fit my own narrative within that structure, and it wasn't fitting. And through the act of writing, I was able to see how much of a trope that was and how, really, the experience of living with chronic mental illness like I do is not the difficult part. The difficult part is finding how to live within a world that doesn't accommodate that, and doesn't believe that it's ongoing.’

Hysteria is out now through NewSouth books.

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 Robbie Arnott about his novel The Rain Heron, a lyrical, compelling ecological thriller about our relationship with the natural world. The Rain Heron is equal parts horror and wonder, and utterly gripping.

‘I think all stories are human stories, in a way. I knew [that] I wanted to write a lot about the environment, and I wanted to create these worlds that felt very visceral and tangible while also being quite fantastical… I tried to have all the imaginative elements as things that feel like they fit neatly into these people's lives and into the world they live in. I didn't want to over explain them or make it feel like I was heaping on a bunch of exposition about why there's a bird made out of rain... And I thought, if it's something that characters just accept, then they'll feel more human.’

The Rain Heron is out now through Text Publishing.

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 Laura Jean McKay about her novel The Animals in That Country, a bold, exhilarating and original novel that asks what would happen, for better or worse, if we finally understood what animals were saying.

‘And of course, the animals don't say the things that humans wish that they were saying. They're not saying "I ruff you!" or anything like that. They're quite brutal, their relationship with humans is really fraught, because that's the way that human relationships are with animals. As they get to know each other they are trying to navigate this new space together.’

The Animals in That Country is out now through Scribe Publications.

Transcript

Download a PDF transcript of this episode here.