The Readings Podcast

In this episode, a conversation with Y.A. Abdel-Magied, author, writer, commentator and the mind behind a new book, At Sea. Expert driller Zainab is called to take charge of a high-stakes oil rig operation. Unable to resist the opportunity, she leaves behind her pregnant sister and heads offshore for the job of her life. But there's a catch. The rig is teetering on the edge of disaster – and Zainab is the only woman amongst a crew of hardened men who want absolutely nothing to do with her. At the helm but forced to prove herself at every turn, Zainab labours to investigate the rig's imminent collapse. She quickly grasps that the real danger lies in the cold calculations and base desires of the men she is forced to spend every waking moment with. As tensions rise and secrets unravel, Zainab races to uncover the truth bubbling below and fend off the looming catastrophe. Explosive and thought-provoking, At Sea is an exhilarating story about the clash of ambition, principle and prejudice, and the unexpected consequences of our choices. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781837267095/at-sea--ym-abdel-magied--2026--9781837267095

In this episode, a conversation with writer and comedian Patrick Marlborough, author of Nock Loose. Set in the fictional coastal town of Bodkins Point, where an annual ultra-violent medieval festival has warped local history and identity for generations, it follows retired Olympian archer and former Tokusatsu stunt performer Joy as she embarks on a revenge quest through a landscape of grifters, weirdos, colonial ghosts and spectacular violence. Equal parts satire, thriller and fever dream, it’s a feral, funny and surprisingly heartfelt novel unlike anything else in contemporary Australian fiction. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781760997441/nock-loose--2026--9781760997441

In this episode, a conversation with award-winning poet and writer Doireann Ni Ghriofa, author of a new book, Said the Dead. In the city of Cork, a derelict Victorian mental hospital is being converted into modern apartments. One passerby has always flinched as she passes the place. Had she lived in another time, she too might have found herself held within those walls. Now, she notices a sign: FOR SALE. It is the first of many signs. Guided by an irresistible impulse, she follows them. Soon, she is trespassing, stealing, absconding from the routine of mother, spouse, daughter, as she uncovers a chorus of startling voices: those of the women who knew the hospital best. They murmur from archives and old records. They haunt from stairwells and walls. In them – and in one figure in particular – she may find meaning and solace, righteous anger, salvation even. Or her final vanishing? A work of sublime intensity and tenderness, Said the Dead breaks the boundaries between worlds – past and present, imagined and real, fact and fiction – to make something new and lasting: an experience full of danger, full of love and full of truth. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780571396177/said-the-dead--doireann-ni-ghriofa--2026--9780571396177

In this episode, a conversation with poet and novelist Lisa Gorton. Mirror Landscape: New and Selected Poems is a tribute to Gorton’s achievement, and it brings together in one volume poems published over the past twenty years, from her first collection Press Release to her most recent Mirabilia. It also includes a substantial new sequence of poems, ‘Caesars’, on the relation between art and power. The title reflects Gorton’s fascination with the perspectives of space and time, and the ways in which memory and landscape, the past and the future, fold in and out of each other. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781923106734/mirror-landscape--lisa-gorton--2026--9781923106734

In this episode, some different introduction music. This is Frédéric Chopin’s Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1 (from 1832), and the reason is that today’s conversation is with Susan Tomes, a celebrated pianist, an author of Nocturnes and the Fascination of Night Music, an engrossing history of the music of twilight and sleep, from the nocturnes of John Field and Chopin to Max Richter. In an insomniac age, ambient and sleep music have become increasingly popular. But our association between music and sleep is not new: lullabies may be the oldest form of music and are instantly recognisable across peoples and cultures. Why does the night hold such musical fascination for us, and what forms do its sounds take? Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780300278897/nocturnes--susan-tomes--2026--9780300278897

In this episode, a conversation with journalist and human rights advocate Antoinette Lattouf, the author of a new book, Women Who Win: Celebrating Courage, Conviction and Change. In this book, Lattouf highlights and speaks with women who defied expectations and shattered cultural and legal barriers – usually while being cast aside and asked to calm down. Threaded throughout is Lattouf’s account of her own landmark victory – one woman, armed with ethical resolve, taking on Australia’s most powerful media institution. In doing so, she sparked a global conversation on power, prejudice and the price of integrity in the press. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781761355370/women-who-win--antoinette-lattouf--2026--9781761355370

In this episode, a conversation with Yann Martel, winner of the 2002 Man Booker Prize, and author of a new novel, Son of Nobody. In this new book, we meet Harlow Donne, who sacrificed his life to the study of the Classical world. When he is invited to Oxford University to work on an obscure collection of papyrus fragments it is an academic’s dream come true. He must leave behind his daughter and wife in Canada, but offers like this don’t come twice and he badly needs a change of fortune. Then, while studying in the Bodleian Library, he unearths a completely undiscovered account of the Trojan War, a glimpse into the founding of Western civilisation itself. He names the poem The Psoad, after its protagonist, a commoner identified only as Psoas, the son of nobody. As sole translator and author of The Psoad, Harlow dedicates the poem and its footnotes to his daughter Helen, allowing the text to unlock the echoes of the ancient Greeks into the present day, and to share a personal message with his beloved child. Despite the two-thousand-year gap between the two, a thread hasn’t frayed: the universal song of homesickness and regret, of ambition, love and grief. A work of myth, history and domesticity, Son of Nobody explores how stories become facts, the price we pay to share them and how we live – then, now and always. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781923058811/son-of-nobody--yann-martel--2026--9781923058811

In this episode, a conversation with writer and journalist Antoun Issa, author of Rebirth: A Love Story from the Depths of War. Beirut, Lebanon – 1974. Laila Khalil has just come of age for marriage. The eldest of five in a poor Catholic family, Laila knows that she must fulfil her family's expectations. But her heart is drawn to the handsome Nicolas, a coiffeur at a local hair salon. Dodging the watchful eyes in their patriarchal society, particularly those of Laila's domineering father, the two young lovers begin a tender romance. Soon, they make plans for marriage. But Laila's dreams are dashed when the Lebanese Civil War breaks out. Shells whir overhead as Laila's family are caught in heavy clashes between rival militias of Phalangists and those belonging to the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. When tragedy strikes, Laila watches all her hopes wither to ash. But just as life seems at its darkest, a lifeline presents itself: the prospect of migration to a faraway land called Australia. Rebirth is the story of Antoun Issa’s mother, of the home and family she left behind, and of her new life in Australia. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780733651885/rebirth-wto--antoun-issa--2024--9780733651885

In this episode, a conversation with Angela O’Keeffe, author of the novels The Sitter and Night Blue, and now, a new work, Phantom Days. The stories that unfold in this book are, in part, told by a book. The book is a quiet observer, both as object and as subject, as listener and teller, primarily a witness to the story of three people – mother and daughter Maggie and Isabel, and another, Lewis. But there is another anthropomorphised object of powerful, narrative pertinence that also serves O’Keeffe’s explorations into the mysteries of many things in this novel: violence, love, and creation. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780702271151/phantom-days--angela-okeeffe--2026--9780702271151

In this episode, a conversation with #1 New York Times bestselling author Marissa Meyer and rising star Tamara Moss, co-authors of The Escape Game, a new YA mystery-thriller filled with sabotage, betrayal, and puzzles. The two authors were joined in conversation by Readings Marketing and Events Coordinator, Lucie Dess, to discuss their writing process (an intercontinental writing process, that is), their ideal escape rooms and what it’s like to embark upon writing a thriller.

In this episode, a conversation with Patrick Ness, acclaimed author, screenwriter and journalist. Ness has made a return to his bestselling Chaos Walking series and the setting of New World, with Piper at the Gates of Dusk. Something has been spotted in the night sky. Something that’s bringing back dreams of Noise, dreams of terror. Brothers Ben and Max have never really gotten on, each being more like one of their parents – Todd and Viola. But now they will have to come together, for something is coming. Blending sci-fi, speculative fiction and adventure with themes of power, division and hope, Ness has found another story he wants to tell, one that answers interesting questions and explores fascinating new frontiers but never loses sight of the heart that was so important to those first three books. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781529537581/piper-at-the-gates-of-dusk--patrick-ness--2026--9781529537581

In this episode, a conversation with writer Ana Schnabl, author of Flood Tide. In moderate physical decline, and with an immoderate weed habit, the novelist Dunja Anko returns home to the Slovene Adriatic coast to play detective and solve the mystery of her brother’s death. The going is arduous, the people inscrutable; her old friends have had years to forget – or to convince themselves they don’t remember. Dunja must contend with desire and disgust, curiosity and fear, as she begins to doubt her reasons for returning. Elegantly plotted, funny and self-reflexive, Flood Tide is a psychologically deft exploration of the trauma wrought by human limitation and indecision. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781739516154/flood-tide--ana-schnabl--2025--9781739516154

In this episode, another instalment of the Comics Question, where Bernard Caleo is in conversation with acclaimed comics artist, Mandy Ord. Ord’s work has been featured in numerous publications, and her books have received both national and international awards and nominations. In her new book, Sassy, Ord captures an animal-related encounter every day for a year bringing whimsy and delight to the weird and wonderful. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780646733371/sassy-a-year-of-animals--mandy-ord--9780646733371

In this episode, a conversation with Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston, a neuroscientist and author of the book The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death. This book puts forward a bold and, at times, unsettling idea – that death may not be as inevitable as we’ve long assumed. In the book, he argues that as medicine continues to advance – from ventilators to brain implants – we’ve already begun to blur the boundary between life and death. And if what truly defines us is not our heartbeat or our breath, but the structure of our minds – encoded in the brain – then perhaps preserving that structure could allow future generations to revive us. It’s a provocative shift in perspective. Because if death is not simply biological failure, but the loss of personal identity, then the question becomes: can that identity be preserved? And if it can, what would it mean – for us, and for the kind of future we’re building? Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781802063790/the-future-loves-you--dr-ariel-zeleznikow-johnston--2025--9781802063790

In this episode, another instalment of the Readings Kids Podcast, and an interview with Fiona Wood, author of The Boy and the Dog Tree, an exceptional middle-grade novel about the special bond between a boy and his dog; a heart-lifting tale of friendship, courage and belonging. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780702269226/the-boy-and-the-dog-tree--fiona-wood--2026--9780702269226

In this episode, a conversation with award-winning playwright George Kemp, about his debut novel, Soft Serve. Stuck in a regional McDonald’s, as bushfires close in, three twenty-somethings and their dead friend’s mum all face a reckoning. Fern longs for Ethan, Ethan longs for Jacob, and Jacob struggles to long for anything. Meanwhile, Pat just wants her grief to ease up. Soft Serve proves that small-town lives are huge, and that anyone can get stuck in limbo between their past and their hoped-for future. The book is described as ‘drive-thru Chekhov’, full of wit and heart. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780702269134/soft-serve--george-kemp--2026--9780702269134

In this episode, another instalment of the Comics Question, where Bernard Caleo is in conversation with acclaimed graphic novelist and comic artist, Lee Lai. In Cannon, Lee Lai’s follow-up to the critically acclaimed and award-winning Stone Fruit, the full palette of a nervous breakdown is just a part of what is on offer. Lai’s sharp sense of humour and sensitive eye produce a story that explores the intimacy of queer friendship and the weight of family responsibility, and breaks open the question of what we owe both to each other and to ourselves. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781923106406/cannon--lee-lai--2025--9781923106406

In today’s episode, a conversation with Francesca Wade, author of Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife, a biography as unconventional and surprising as the life it tells. 'Think of the Bible and Homer, think of Shakespeare and think of me,' wrote Gertrude Stein in 1936. Admirers called her a genius, sceptics a charlatan: she remains one of the most confounding - and contested - writers of the twentieth century. In this literary detective story, Francesca Wade delves into the creation of the Stein myth. We see her posing for Picasso's portrait; at the centre of Bohemian Parisian life hosting the likes of Matisse and Hemingway; racing through the French countryside with her enigmatic companion Alice B. Toklas; dazzling American crowds on her sell-out tour for her sensational Autobiography - a veritable celebrity. Yet Stein hoped to be remembered not for her personality but for her work. From her deathbed, she charged her partner with securing her place in literary history. How would her legend shift once it was Toklas's turn to tell the stories - especially when uncomfortable aspects of their past emerged from the archive? Using astonishing never-before-seen material, Wade uncovers the origins of Stein's radical writing and reveals new depths to the storied relationship which made it possible. This book truly shows Gertrude Stein as she was when nobody was watching: captivating, complex and human, and of particular note, it grants pertinent insight into her life with, and the life of, her companion Alice B. Toklas.  Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9780571369317/gertrude-stein--francesca-wade--2025--9780571369317

In this episode, a conversation with Fiona Hardy, author of Old Games, a pacey, off-beat Aussie crime story about two best female friends and investigators unravelling the private lives of Melbourne's celebrity sportspeople. Enjoyed what you heard. Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9781761638275/old-games--fiona-hardy--2026--9781761638275 Morally flexible best mates and private investigators Alice and Teddy pride themselves on fixing every kind of mess imaginable, no questions asked. So, when they're tasked with locating the recently-stolen ashes of long-dead celebrity tennis player Ashley “Perry” Perrineau, it should be a routine job. But it quickly becomes clear that everyone who knew Perry is keeping secrets: his accountant despises Perry's widower; the sculptor of his statue is hiding something in her studio; his ex-doubles partner is a compulsive liar; and his mother is obsessed with preserving his legacy and her image at all costs. Alice and Teddy will need to travel up and down Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula – all while avoiding more than one person on their tail – to uncover the truth and keep the body count from rising. But will they and the people they love survive what they find?

In this episode, a conversation with Alister Newstead, a music journalist, reporter and music editor with Triple J and Double J, and author of a new book in the 33 1/3 series on Tame Impala’s landmark album, Currents. The album is emblematic of a cultural shift in music production and consumption in the early days of streaming and a project that cemented its creator, Kevin Parker, as one of Australian music's most unlikely success stories and influential exports. This book dives deep into Currents, examining its context, creation, content and lasting impact on the history of Australian popular music. The album's theme of metamorphosis and genre-blurring sound embodied (and possibly encouraged) a wider shift in the 2010s of popular music trends, consumption and listening habits. Enjoyed what you heard? Click here to purchase the book: https://www.readings.com.au/product/9798765137017/tame-impalas-currents--alister-newstead--2026--9798765137017