Books And Ideas At Montalto

Bri Lee’s Eggshell Skull is about our justice system; its deep-rooted tenets and its disastrous shortcomings. The book is Lee’s first-person account of her year as a judge’s associate in the District Court of Queensland, during which she watched endless cases of sexual assault and child abuse. Herself a survivor of childhood sexual assault, Lee was ultimately moved to bring her own case to court as a complainant. Her own journey through the justice system called for tremendous reserves of resilience and courage. Praised by Helen Garner and Clementine Ford, Eggshell Skull is a meditation on power, abuse and institutional bias. It’s a clear-eyed examination of the toll our justice system takes on women and all survivors of abuse. At Montalto, she joins Elizabeth McCarthy for a talk about power, justice and survival. Note: This event includes discussion of sexual assault. Books and Ideas at Montalto series sound design and music: Jon Tjhia.

Since his 2009 debut, Things We Didn’t See Coming, Steven Amsterdam has established himself as a writer who startles and surprises. His first book – an apocalyptic work fusing literary and climate-change fiction – earned him comparisons to Cormac McCarthy. His follow-up book, What the Family Needed, also frustrated conventions of form and genre, but diverged dramatically from its precursor on subject matter: from ecological disaster to family dynamics. Amsterdam is an author with an unusual combination of qualities. His writing is warm, playful … and ominous. Perhaps this is partly because Amsterdam moves between parallel lives. Aside from writing, he works in an entirely different field – as a palliative care nurse. His new novel, The Easy Way Out, draws heavily from this line of work, tackling the big subjects: death, personal morality and assisted suicide. This singular writer joins his former publisher, Louise Swinn, for a discussion about double lives, family dynamics and matters of life and death. Books

A writer of novels, short fiction and essays, Mireille Juchau has quietly emerged as one of Australia’s most accomplished literary voices. Her first two novels, Machines for Feeling and Burning In, won critical acclaim and appearances on the Vogel’s and Prime Minister’s Literary Awards shortlists. Her third novel, The World Without Us, is very much the book of the moment – winning this year’s prestigious Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and shortlisted for the Stella Prize. Juchau’s work deals with big personal and political subjects – from grief and abandonment to climate change. The World Without Us centres on a family who has lost a child, and a community adrift after a calamitous fire; it’s the kind of territory that can veer lesser writers into melodrama. But reviews of Juchau’s work, both in Australia and internationally, have stressed the subtlety and restraint of her prose as well as its vivid imagery. The Times Literary Supplement called The World Without Us ‘elegantly poised and controlled’. Indep

If there’s one thing that can rival Stephanie Alexander’s enthusiasm for food and cooking, it’s her delight in good conversation. In fact, conversation has been front and centre in choosing recipes for her book, The Cook’s Table. ‘I want to be away from the table as little as possible, so I have kept last minute stovetop cooking to a minimum,’ Alexander has said. ‘I don’t want to miss the best stories. I am hungry for the latest news and opinions.’ The Cook’s Table is an especially personal collection of recipes and reflections, with Alexander revisiting memorable meals from her own life and travels in each chapter. There’s plenty there to draw from; over the course of 50 years, Alexander’s career has seen her open several celebrated restaurants as owner-chef, write 14 books including the modern-day cooking bible The Cook’s Companion and launch the pioneering Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation, which has seen food education take off in school gardens across Australia. In conversation with writer an

Myths about the lives of pre-colonial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have proven deeply entrenched. But in his 2014 book Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe struck a grievous blow to one of the most widely accepted assumptions of Australian pre-settlement history. He argued, and presented robust evidence drawn from the journals of European explorers, that Indigenous people were not hunter-gatherers at the time of colonisation. ‘The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating and storing – behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag,’ he has said. Dark Emu, which won Book of the Year at the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, also challenges existing narratives around housing construction, cooking and clothing prior to European settlement. In conversation with Tony Birch, Pascoe discusses the writing, research and reception of his groundbreaking book. What does challenging the past of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Is

Since 2013, with the international success of her debut novel, Burial Rites, Hannah Kent’s name is often mentioned in the same breath as that of Hilary Mantel or Geraldine Brooks; masters of literary historical fiction. Burial Rites, about a woman executed for murder in Iceland in 1830, was translated into 20 languages and won a swag of prestigious awards, including the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelist Award. As the co-founder and publishing director of Australian literary journal, Kill Your Darlings, Kent has worked hard to champion the work of new literary voices and continues to do so. Geraldine Brooks mentored Kent through the development of the Burial Rites manuscript; now Kent mentors emerging writers herself. In her second book, The Good People, Kent returns to the 1800s, and to the northern hemisphere. The action is set in south-western Ireland and is again inspired by a true story. In conversation with Kate Forsyth, Hannah discusses the revival of historical fiction, Australia’s

In a media environment crowded with polemicists and opinionators, George Megalogenis is something of an outlier. His commentary is relentlessly, rigorously – and somehow compellingly – even-handed. An award-winning, veteran journalist who served for many years as a senior feature writer at News Ltd, his analysis of Australian political, economic and demographic history is indispensable. Megalogenis has been described by Annabel Crabb as ‘Australia’s best explainer’ and in recent years he’s applied that gift to the medium of documentary, writing and presenting two acclaimed ABC productions: Making Australia Great and Life Wasn’t Meant to Be Easy. Megalogenis is still writing books, too. For his most recent, Australia’s Second Chance, he looked back to 1788, tracing our political and economic history and crunching the numbers to present a narrative of resilience, missed opportunity and latent potential. Megalogenis joins Sally Warhaft to discuss his latest book, his body of work and the challenges and freedoms

Romantic love is the subject of squillions of songs, sonnets and stories. Is there a single new thing to say about it? If Shakespeare was growing weary of the cliches back in the 1600s (‘My mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun’), where does that leave writers striving to write fresh romance in the 21st century?  Toni Jordan — Photo: James Penlidis These are good questions to ask Australia’s star romantic-comedy writer Toni Jordan. Starting with her 2008 debut novel, Addition, and following up with Fall Girl and Nine Days, Jordan has built a reputation for romantic comedies that are smart, sexy, surprising and hilarious. Her fourth novel, Our Tiny, Useless Hearts, is an uproarious farce set in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. With an acerbic wit and an eagle eye for the absurd, Jordan’s brand of comic writing incorporates incisive social commentary. Join her for a conversation about screwball humour and the enduring popularity of romantic comedy, hosted by Hilary Harper. Books and Ideas at Montalto seri

Malcolm Knox is a writer of remarkable range. In his non-fiction, he’s investigated the history of mining in Australia, the jury system, the ice epidemic, Australia’s supermarket duopoly and Greg Chappell. As a novelist, his award-winning books have explored surfing, celebrity, mental illness and male friendship. He is a Walkley award-winning journalist who has served as both literary editor and chief cricket correspondent at different stages of his career at the Sydney Morning Herald. His latest book is another work of fiction. The Wonder Lover, the story of John Wonder, a man with three secret families, is as audacious as it is original and as joyful as it is accomplished. In conversation with Christos Tsiolkas, Knox talks about his many and varied fascinations from surfing to supermarket giants to secret lives – before the pair consider the question of writing as work. Malcolm Knox Books and Ideas at Montalto series sound design and music: Jon Tjhia.

Family, literature, Papua New Guinea and the complicated lives of creative women –  these are the themes to which Drusilla Modjeska has repeatedly returned in her impressive body of work. As a memoirist, essayist, novelist (and master of combining and confounding literary forms), Modjeska is among Australia’s most celebrated writers. Most recently, she has added a memoir, Second Half First, to an already substantial list of literary accomplishments, including Exiles at Home, Poppy, Stravinsky’s Lunch and The Mountain. That book reflects on the books, people and journeys that have most profoundly affected her in the second part of her life. At Montalto, Modjeska discusses travel, reading and the intersection of life and work with Andrea Goldsmith. Books and Ideas at Montalto series sound design and music: Jon Tjhia.

‘A political career is not a bad training ground for writing fiction,’ Lindsay Tanner has said.  Since leaving the chamber in 2010, the former federal politician has devoted much of his time to the printed page – though it’s only recently that fiction has become his focus. His first book, Sideshow, critiqued the Australian media environment, arguing that spin doctors and tightening news cycles were ‘dumbing down democracy’.  With his debut novel, Comfort Zone, Tanner is again engaging with a hot topic in Australian political discourse, multiculturalism, however he tackles the theme from a markedly different perspective. His story’s protagonist is not a former finance minister, but a pot-bellied cabbie who finds himself drawn into a vortex of drug-dealing and criminal violence. Tanner is not your average ex-politician and certainly not your average author. Join him for a unique discussion on writing, life after politics … and the job of lying for a living. In conversation with Emily Sexton. Books and Ideas at

Simon Winchester is a giant of narrative non-fiction. Across four decades of working as a journalist and author, Winchester’s reverence for the natural world and love of adventure have defined his extraordinary career. This is a man, after all, who has travelled on a Russian tramp steamer from Antarctica to England and seen the inside of an Argentine jail cell. As a foreign correspondent during the 1970s and 1980s, Winchester covered major international events including the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Watergate scandal and the Falklands War, and is the author of books on a dizzying array of subjects. He’s written about the history of the Yangtze River, the eruption of Krakatoa and, perhaps most famously, the making of the Oxford English Dictionary in the bestselling The Surgeon of Crowthorne. Winchester’s timely new book, Pacific, profiles the world’s largest ocean and considers its crucial role in the planet’s present and future. From the Bikini atoll hydrogen bomb tests of the 1950s to the rise of Chi

Teacher, theatre critic, playwright, academic – Steven Carroll can list all of the above on his CV, though he’s best known as an acclaimed novelist. Carroll has been shortlisted three times for the Miles Franklin and, in 2008, he won the award for The Time We Have Taken. In 2014, Carroll was named joint winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for fiction for A World of Other People. The novel is set during the London Blitz and is cinematic in scope and bold in its embrace of the big themes: love, war and poetry. In conversation with Michael Williams, Steven discusses that book, his celebrated career and some of the recurring subjects in his work, including literature, romantic love and T.S. Eliot. More from this series   Podcast series Books and Ideas at Montalto  /  Australian stories Books and Ideas at Montalto series sound design and music: Jon Tjhia.

Subscribe to the series   Podcast series Books and Ideas at Montalto  /  Australian stories Gideon Haigh is one of the most widely recognised names in Australian freelance journalism. Celebrated for his diverse interests and enthusiasms (he’s written on everything from digital media to Shane Warne to office architecture) and his impressively regular output (including 30 books and contributions to more than 100 different newspapers and magazines), Haigh’s latest work ventures into the world of true crime. In Certain Admissions: A Beach, A Body and a Lifetime of Secrets he explores the extraordinary story of John Bryan Kerr, the commercial radio star accused – and sentenced to hang – for the 1949 murder of typist Beth Williams. Gideon Haigh and Tony Wilson in conversation In conversation with Tony Wilson, Gideon Haigh discusses his new book, his wonderfully varied career, his versatility across genre – and, of course, his well-documented obsession with cricket.

Subscribe to the series   Podcast series Books and Ideas at Montalto  /  Australian stories Ramona Koval is one of Australia’s most loved literary figures, thanks to her many years ruling the Radio National airwaves as the host of The Book Show. She’s famous for shining the spotlight on her bookish guests, at the ABC and as the host of The Monthly’s book club. In her new book, Bloodhound, the interviewer extraordinaire gets personal, inviting us on an intimate journey to track down her father. Ramona’s parents were Holocaust survivors who resettled in Melbourne. As a child, she suspected that the man who raised her was not her biological father. In the 1990s, long after her mother’s death, she decided to discover the truth – and a phone call led to a photograph in the mail, tea with strangers, and travel that spanned a meeting with a horse whisperer in tropical Queensland, rural Poland, and a Kafkaesque bureaucracy. In conversation with Arnold Zable, discover how Ramona uncovered the truth, why it was s

Kate Grenville is one of Australia’s most treasured writers. Her novels are internationally acclaimed: The Idea of Perfection won the Orange Prize in 2001 and her breakout bestseller The Secret River fired up debates on the uses of historical fiction – and the role novelists can play – in highlighting past injustices. The New York Times called it ‘exuberant, cruel, surprising, a triumphant evocation of a period and a people filled with both courage and ugliness’. Her latest book combines her interest in the past with an enquiry into the personal: an intimate account of her mother’s life, drawing on the fragments of memoir she left behind. In many ways, Nance’s story echoes that of many mothers and grandmothers, for whom the spectacular shifts of the twentieth century offered a path to new freedoms and choices. In other ways, her story was exceptional: in an era when women were expected to have no ambitions beyond the domestic, she ran successful businesses as a registered pharmacist, laid the bricks for the f

Playwright Hannie Rayson is a much-loved Australian institution. She made history when her stage hit Life After George became the first play to be shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award, and her first major success, Hotel Sorrento was made into a feature film and is a staple of VCE reading lists. She has also written for television, including popular hit Sea Change. In her long-awaited memoir, Hello Beautiful, Hannie presents scenes from her own life, with all the insight, wit and narrative flair she has perfected in her plays. In this conversation with writer, director and broadcaster Lorin Clarke, she shares insights from this hilarious (and often dramatic) behind-the-scenes look at the life of an Australian success story. In partnership with Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove.

Hannah Kent’s debut novel Burial Rites has been shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the Bailey Women’s Prize for Fiction. Featuring the curious case of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be hanged in Iceland, it was one of the international success stories of 2013. Join her as she recounts how she came to write the story of this misunderstood woman, in conversation with Jo Case. Presented in partnership with Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove.

Favel Parrett burst onto the Australian literary scene in a flood of well-deserved praise (and comparisons to Tim Winton) with her darkly beautiful debut, Past the Shallows, shortlisted for the Miles Franklin. Her much-anticipated second novel is When the Night Comes – an evocative story about the power that fear and kindness have to change lives. In partnership with Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove.

Carrie Tiffany is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers – her two novels, Everyman’s Rules for Scientific Living and Mateship with Birds, have won a swag of awards, including the inaugural Stella Prize for the latter. She writes about regional Australia with a sharp eye, fine wit and polished storytelling acumen. Join her to hear about her brilliant career, and explore the world of her novels. In partnership with Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove.