AustLit

'Omar Musa is a Malaysian-Australian author, poet and woodcutter. His latest work is the one-of-a-kind Killernova.

'He has also released three poetry books (including Parang and Millefiori), four hip-hop records, written an acclaimed one-man play (Since Ali Died), and received a standing ovation at TEDx Sydney at the Sydney Opera House.

'His debut novel Here Come the Dogs was published in 2014 and was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award and the Miles Franklin Award. Musa was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015.' (Production summary)

'Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai Woman and award-winning international writer of poetry, plays and picture books. She is a teacher, cultural consultant and artist. In 2020, Kirli was named the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year.

'Kirli created Poetry in First Languages, delivered by Red Room Poetry. Her debut picture book The Incredible Freedom Machines was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards and CBCA notables. Her poetry collection, Kindred was shortlisted for the ABIA 2020 Book Awards. Her verse novel, Bindi was the inaugural winner of the WA Premier's Book Awards and the Daisy Utemorrah Award.

'Kirli has been shortlisted for the Nakata Brophy prize in 2018 and 2020. She is an esteemed judge for the 2020 Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, QPF Val Vallis Award and Blake Poetry Prize.

'As a playwright, Kirli is co-creating Dead Horse Gap with Merrigong Theatre and South East Arts. Her first Solo play, Going Home has been supported by Playwriting Australia, and will take the stage in 2022.' (Production introduction)

'Randa Abdel-Fattah is a prominent Australian author, academic and human rights advocate.

'She seeks to translate her academic work into creative interventions which reshape dominant narratives around race, human rights and identity in popular culture - and she does this well in her 2021 non-fiction work Coming of Age in the War on Terror.

'Her debut novel Does My Head Look Big in This? has sold more than 100,000 copies in Australia, is published around the world and was performed on the stage in America. Randa is currently adapting the world as an Australian feature film.

'Randa has also published eleven novels across a range of genres. In 2018 and 2019 she was nominated for Sweden's 2019 Astrid Lindgren Award, the world's biggest children's and young adult literature award.

'In this interview Randa mentions the anthology After Australia.'(Production introduction)

'Sam van Zweden is a freelance writer interested in experimental nonfiction, essays, mental health, body writing, food, and memory.

'Her collection of personal essays, Eating With My Mouth Open, won the 2019 KYD Unpublished Manuscript Award. Sam’s writing has appeared in the Saturday Paper, Meanjin, The Big Issue, The Lifted Brow, Cordite and The Sydney Review of Books.

'In this interview Sam mentions Fiona Wright, Meera Atkinson and Kate Richards - all of whom have appeared on The Garret before.' (Production introduction)

'Declan Fry is a critic, writer, poet, essayist, and proud descendant of the Yorta Yorta. Born on Wongatha country in Kalgoorlie, in 2020 he became a critic for The Age/Sydney Morning Herald. He was also awarded the 2021 Peter Blazey Fellowship and the Lord Mayor's Creative Writing Award for memoir. His work has appeared in Meanjin, The Saturday Paper, Liminal and Overland.'(Production introduction)

'Rick Morton, author of the acclaimed memoir One Hundred Years of Dirt, was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder in 2019. His second - dare we say exquisite - memoir My Year of Living Vulnerably explores not only complex PTSD, but also love, history and forgiveness.

'Rick has been a journalist for more than 15 years. He was a social affairs writer for The Australian, and he is now a senior reporter for the Saturday Paper. Rick regularly appears on television, radio and panels discussing politics, the media, writing and social policy.' (Production introduction)

'Rebecca Starford is publishing director of Kill Your Darlings magazine and author of acclaimed memoir Bad Behaviour: A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School, which is currently in development with Matchbox Pictures for adaptation into a TV series. The Imitator, released in 2021, is her first novel.' (Production introduction)

'Emily Maguire is the author of six novels, including the Stella Prize and Miles Franklin Award-shortlisted An Isolated Incident. She was a Writer-in-Residence at the Charles Perkins Centre, an experience which enabled her to write 2021's masterful Love Objects.

'Emily works as a teacher and as a mentor to young and emerging writers, and her articles and essays on sex, feminism, culture and literature have been published widely including in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Observer and The Age.' (Production introduction)

'Evelyn Araluen is the coeditor of Overland, as well as a poet, educator and researcher working with Indigenous literatures. 2021's Dropbear is her first collection.

'Her shorter works have won the Nakata Brophy Prize for Young Indigenous Writers, the Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize and a Wheeler Centre Next Chapter Fellowship. Born, raised, and writing in Dharug country, she is a Bundjalung descendant.' (Production introduction)

'Dr Anita Heiss is an award-winning author of non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial women’s fiction, children’s novels and blogs. She is a proud member of the Wiradjuri Nation of central New South Wales, an Ambassador for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, the GO Foundation and Worawa Aboriginal College.

'Her novel Barbed Wire and Cherry Blossoms, set in Cowra during World War II, was the 2020 University of Canberra Book of the Year. Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray is her second work of historical fiction, and it is the first commercial work published with only Aboriginal language on the cover in Australia.

'Anita is a board member of University of Queensland Press and Circa Contemporary Circus, and is a Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland. As an artist in residence at La Boite Theatre in 2020, Anita began adapting her novel Tiddas for the stage.' (Production introduction)

'Dr Jonica Newby is a science reporter, author, TV presenter and director best known for her two decades on ABC TV’s popular weekly science program, Catalyst. She has twice won the Eureka Award, Australia’s most prestigious science journalism prize, and is a recipient of a World TV Award. Beyond Climate Grief: A journey of love, fire, snow and an enchanted beer can is her first book.' (Production introduction)

'Amani Haydar is an artist, lawyer and advocate for women's health and safety. Her devastating and yet hopeful debut is The Mother Wound.

'Amani experienced the unimaginable when she lost her mother in a brutal act of domestic violence perpetrated by her father. Writing with grace and beauty in The Mother Wound, Amani shares the stories of her mother and grandmother to help other survivors find their voices.

'Amani was a finalist in the 2018 Archibald Prize, and she uses visual art and writing to explore the personal and political dimensions of abuse, loss, identity and resilience.' (Production introduction)

'Alice Pung is an award-winning Melbourne writer who found a few minutes to speak to us during Melbourne's latest lockdown. Alice was at home with her newborn child, and you can hear them in the background of this short bonus interview.

'Alice is the bestselling author of the memoirs Unpolished Gem and Her Father’s Daughter, and the essay collection Close to Home, as well as the editor of the anthologies Growing Up Asian in Australia and My First Lesson. Her first novel, Laurinda, won the Ethel Turner Prize at the 2016 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. One Hundred Days is her most recent novel.'(Production introduction)

'Mark Brandi's debut novel, Wimmera, won the coveted British Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger, and was named Best Debut at the 2018 Australian Indie Book Awards. It was also shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Awards Literary Fiction Book of the Year, and the Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year. His second novel, The Rip, was published to critical acclaim and his third novel, The Others, was released during Sydney's 2021 lockdown.

'Mark graduated with a criminal justice degree and worked extensively in the justice system, before changing direction and deciding to write.'(Production introduction)

'Larissa Behrendt, a Eualeyai and Kamillaroi woman, is a writer, lawyer and academic. She is the Distinguished Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and at the Director of Research and Academic Programs Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research.

'Larissa won the 2002 David Uniapon Award and a 2005 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for her novel Home. Her second novel, Legacy, won a Victorian Premiers Literary Award. Her most recent novel, After Story, was published  in 2021. She has also published numerous textbooks on Indigenous legal issues.

'Larissa wrote and directed the feature films, After the Apology and Innocence Betrayed and has written and produced several short films. She won the 2018 Australian Directors Guild Award for Best Direction in a Feature Documentary.

'Larissa is on the board of Sydney Festival and a board member of the Australia Council’s Major Performing Arts Panel. She was awarded the 2009 NAIDOC Person of the Year award and 2011 NSW Australian of the Year.'(Production introduction)

'Briohny Doyle is the author of The Island Will Sink, Echolalia and Adult Fantasy. Her fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared in The Monthly, Meanjin, Overland, The Griffith Review, The Good Weekend, The Guardian, and the Sunday Times.  She is a lecturer in writing and literature at Deakin University and a 2020 Fulbright Scholar.' (Production introduction)

'Jennifer Mills is the author of the novels The Airways, Dyschronia, Gone and The Diamond Anchor, as well as a collection of short stories, The Rest Is Weight. In 2019 Dyschronia was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s most prestigious prize for literary fiction, the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature, and the Aurealis Awards for science fiction.' (Production introduction)

'Dr Yves Rees is a Lecturer in History at La Trobe University and co-host of Archive Fever. Rees was awarded the 2020 Calibre Essay Prize for their essay Reading the Mess Backwards and All About Yves is their memoir and debut.

'Rees has a regular history segment on ABC Radio Melbourne and their writing has featured in the Sydney Review of Books, The Age, Archer magazine, Guardian Australia, Overland, Meanjin, Junkee, Australian Book Review and The Conversation. Rees is trans and uses they/them pronouns. They are the co-founder of the Spilling the T transgender writing collective and volunteer with Transgender Victoria.' (Production introduction)

'Claire G. Coleman is a Noongar woman whose family have belonged to the south coast of Western Australia since long before history started being recorded. She writes fiction, essays, poetry and art writing while either living in Naarm (Melbourne) or on the road. In 2021 she released her first work of non-fiction, Lies, Damned Lies: A personal exploration of the impact of colonisation.

'During an extended circuit of the continent she wrote a novel, Terra Nullius: A Novel, which won the black&write! Indigenous Writing Fellowship and was listed for eight awards including a shortlisting for The Stella Prize. Her second novel was The Old Lie, and her third, Enclave, will hopefully be released in 2022.' (Production introduction)