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The author of Brood Chamber reads from and talks about her new poetry book. We cover such things as how the book came together and what drew Annie to poetry, some of her key themes - family ties and ancestry, letting go, ecology, Greed mythology, languages and lots more. Find a copy of Brood Chamber here: https://www.5islandspress.com/books/brood-chamber Compulsive Reader review of Brood Chamber: https://compulsivereader.com/2026/07/21/a-review-of-brood-chamber-by-annie-mairead-hunter/ Link to 'The Fall', on Harry Nankin's website which prompted Annie's ekphrastic poem, 'Questions for a Fallen Starling',: https://harrynankin.com/artwork/the-fall-print/).

The author of How to Read a City, Your Place of Last Resort reads from and talks about her new poetry book. We cover such ground as her world tour for the book, climate change and bushfire, the book's title and the connection between cities and the natural world, protective spells and human culpability, grief and hope, an upcoming event at Four Winds festival, Bermagui, and some of the many projects Elizabeth is working on. Find out more about Elizabeth Walton on her website: https://www.elizabethwalton.com.au/ Four Winds Arts Salon celebrating the launch of How To Read A City: https://www.elizabethwalton.com.au/p/four-winds

Kris Kneen joins us to read from and talk about their new book Rite of Spring. We talk about such things as lighthouses, Stravinsky, voices in harmony, transformation/becoming, menopause, Spring, metaphors, the more-than-human, the book's two main characters, their projects-in-hand, and lots more. Visit Kris' website here: https://www.krissykneen.com/ Get a copy of Rite of Spring here: https://transitlounge.com.au/shop/rite-of-spring/

Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss joins us to read from and talk about his latest poetry book, Hybrid Heaven. We talk about the books key themes, how it came together as a collection, the nature of hybridity, the book's sonics, history, language, humour and lots more. Andrew's website: https://www.agkmoss.com Find a copy of Hybrid Heaven here: https://recentworkpress.com/product/hybrid-heaven-othered-poems/ Pre-order Andrew's next book Childish Recollections here: https://blackspringpressgroup.com/products/childish-recollections

Multi-talented, multimedia Canberra-based lecturer, visual artist, philosopher and writer Sarah Rice joins us to read from and talk about her newest book Alight on all things precious.  We talk about how the book came together, about the way it brings together seemingly disparate things - disciplines like art, music and words, life and death, light and darkness, and even things like breath and dust, and threads - together, the different types of art int he book and the way for example, a necklace or painting can be an appeal, on wordplay, irony and grief, the humour in her work, and much more. Find a copy of the book here: https://liquidamberpress.com.au/product/alight-on-all-things-precious/

Mandy Sayer reads from and talks about her latest book No Dancing in the Lift. We talk about such things as the book and how it came to her, the legend of her father, jazz drummer Gerry Sayer, with the reality as she cared for him through his illness and death, her mother and often violent stepfathers, her ongoing conversation with her father even post-mortem, and lots more. Find out more about Mandy and her work at her website: https://mandysayer.com.au/

Anne Casey drops by to read from and talk about her latest book Seang (Hungering). Anne talks about how the book came about including how she found her "girls" at the Newcastle Industrial School for Girls, pathway to PhD thesis, importance of the mother tongue (Gaeilge, which she speaks so beautifully), the ongoing impact of the Irish famine, the connections between Irish and First Nation experiences of imperialism, the revival of lost history through poetics and much more. Towards the end of our conversation, Anne mentioned one of her poems "A City Girl" which was written after Henry Lawson’s ‘A Bush Girl’. We didn't have time for her to read the piece but Anne kindly shared an exclusive recording of Rosie McDonald's musical version, with Rosie on guitar and vocals, Jacqueline McPhee on violin and vocals, and Cliona Molins on harp and vocals. You can watch that here: https://youtu.be/kmtd75rHiZE Read Elizabeth Walton's review of Seang here: https://compulsivereader.com/2026/02/17/a-review-of-seang-hungering-by-anne-casey/ Visit Anne Casey's website here: http://www.anne-casey.com/ Visit Prankqueans here: https://prankqueans.com/

In this guest interview between publicist David Carriere and author Zach Taylor, Zach reads from and talks about his new book ROCKSTAR: Echoes. They talk about the genesis of the book and the broader series, the ways that Zach, a NASA Engineer, manages to squeeze in writing time (even amidst the Artemis II launch), his inspiration for ROCKSTAR : Echoes, it’s ‘book-within-a-book’ format, his character voices, the book's themes, the struggles of women in the rock world, the influence of grunge music, the process of publishing a book and what it has been like for him, the impact of new media, asymmetrical warfare in music and how he's used that in the book, what’s coming in the series in general and a preview of the next book Mirrors, and lots more.  Find out more about ROCKSTAR here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Rockstar-Echoes-Zach-Taylor/dp/B0G2PM5WQP/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 David Carriere has been a book publicist for almost four decades and is the author of PUBLICITY: 7 STEPS TO PUBLICIZE JUST ABOUT ANYTHING. Find out more about David Carriere here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-carriere-10b1445/ Find out more about Zach at his Instagram site: https://www.instagram.com/zachtaylorbooks/

The author of A Blink of Time's Eye reads from and talks about his most recent poetry book. We discuss how the book came together as a collection, the book's key themes like time, death, trauma, healing and the human condition, conversations between poems, readers, and selves, parenting, entropy, love, personal growth and gratitude. Find a copy of the book here: https://www.5islandspress.com/product-page/a-blink-of-times-eye

The author of The Victoria Principle joins us to read from and talk about his latest book. We talk about such things what drew him to fiction and why it gives him the "ick", the nature of genre and storytelling, collage, memoir, the real and the counterfeit, trickery, humour and lots more. You can get a copy of the book here: https://giramondopublishing.com/books/michael-farrell-the-victoria-principle/

Judith Nangala Crispín reads from and talks about her stunning new book The Dingo's Noctuary. Purchase a copy of the book here: https://puncherandwattmann.com/product/the-dingos-noctuary/ Find out more about Judith here: https://judithcrispin.com/ Find out more about the book’s publisher, David Musgrave, who Judith mentions in the conversation: https://davidmusgrave.com/ Read my review of The Dingo's Noctuary here: https://compulsivereader.com/2025/11/18/a-review-of-the-dingos-noctuary-by-judith-nangala-crispin/

The author of Through the Trapdoor reads from and talks about her new short story collection. We cover such things as how the collection came together, the interconnectivity of the stories, the title and the many trapdoors in the book, some of the key themes especially migration, memory, transformation, and the epiphany. We also discuss the publication process, the book's illustrations, the short story form, and lots more. Through the Trapdoor is now available at Paperchain Bookstore: https://paperchainbookstore.com.au/book/through-the-trapdoor.do and will soon be available at Harry Hartog ANU (Canberra) and Harry Hartog Miranda (Sydney), and the National Library of Australia Bookshop.

Angela Costi joins us to read from and talk about her latest poetry book The Heart of the Advocate. We talk about many things including how the book came together, the hybrid nature of the book, the nexus between poetry and law, her use of language, point and counterpoint or strophe and antistrophe, layers of ekphrasis - including the book The Art of the Advocate by Richard Du Cann, her use of Greek Mythology, Philoxena or the love of strangers, and much more. Purchase the book here: https://liquidamberpress.com.au/product/the-heart-of-the-advocate/ Find out more about Angela here: https://www.instagram.com/angelacostipoetics/ A few of Angela's references: Jordie Albiston: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordie_Albiston Alison Whittaker's Blak Work: https://www.magabala.com/products/blakwork Martin Espada: http://www.martinespada.net/ Yiannis Ritsos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiannis_Ritsos

Bob Rich joins us to read from and talk about his new book, The Hole in Your Life: Grief and Bereavement. He talks about the narrative of the book which is a combination of personal and clinical experience, about the 7 magic bullets which underpin the book, about why he defines himself as everyone's grandfather and the nature of empathy, about the mess we're in and why, about universal love, his newsletter Bobbing Around, now in its 14th year, and lots more. Get a copy of The Hole in Your Life on the relevant Amazon site.

Katia Ariel reads from and talks about her new book Ferryman: The Life and Deathwork of Ephraim Finch. We talk about her unique way of engaging with her subject, about creating biographies that are respectful, open, and true, about Ephraim's role in the community and the way in which Ariel universalises it, about ancestry and inheritance, grief, death and love, and lots more. Find out more about Katia Ariel and her books at: http://arielediting.com.au/ Ferryman book page at the publisher's site: https://www.wilddingopress.com.au/shop/p/9781925893861