Category Archives: Books and Authors – live interviews

Hear authors talk about their work.

Benjamin Allmon -FOOT NOTES

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Benjamin Allmon was a songwriter  searching for a way to get ahead and promote his new album – he came up with what he thought was a great idea – walk 1000 kms down the east coast of Australia , busking as he travelled in the style of the old blues depression musicians. However youthful enthusiasm is not the best preparation for so arduous a trek – in the end it is the legendary ‘kindness of  strangers’ that helps him through. There are two tracks from his latest album in this interview.

 

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Benjamin Allmon

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To hear Benjamin read from his book  ‘Foot Notes’

click on the Narratives logo.

Link to Narratives read
Link to Narratives read

 

Hebe De Souza – Black British

 

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Hebe De Souza gives us a window into a fascinating time and place, Northern India in the 1960’s, where she grew up surrounded by the fading remnants and customs  of the British empire.

Educated to speak only English, she became   a stranger in her own culture.

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Recorded at Byron  Writers Festival 2016

 

Link to Narratives read
Link to Narratives read

Sohila Zanjani – Scattered Pearls

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In this interview Sohila , explains that her book would never have been published if not  for the help of a ghost writer. Perhaps we could all do with a little help on the road to publication! To hear Sohila read from her book go to Narratives Library.

 

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Recorded at Byron  Writers Festival 2016

Rajith Savanadasa- RUINS

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Rajith writes of life in modern Sri Lanka that is still underpinned by old beliefs and customs. This interview opens with him explaining Sri Lankan reincarnation symbols that figure in his novel. To hear him read from his novel – press on the narratives symbol below the audio file.

 

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Recorded at Byron  Writers Festival 2016

Link to Narratives read
Link to Narratives read

 

Dominic Smith – The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

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A young woman in 16th century Holland paints a masterpiece,  a young woman in 21st century New York makes a faithful copy in a desperate  moment of need. Then the painting ( or is it  the copy? ) is stolen.

 

Interview with Dominic Smith

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Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2016

Hear Dominic read from ‘The Last Painting of Sara de vos.

Link to Narratives read
Link to Narratives read

ANGELA FLOURNOY -‘THE TURNER HOUSE’

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The Turner House tells the story of  cultural dislocation through the lives of three generations of a fictional  black American family. A ‘Haint’ is  southern American  term for a ghost or spirit – and in  the house  the Turner family inhabit in Detroit  it is the children who claim to have witnessed this  aggressive materialization.

Interview – Angela Flournoy

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Recorded at Byron Writers Festival 2016

Hear Angela read from ‘The Turner House’

Link to Narratives read
Link to Narratives read

Sarah Armstrong – ‘Promise’

 

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Sarah Armstrong’s latest book explores  the complicated issue of community responsibility – in short, would you interfere if  saw a child being abused? Click the book title to go the Narratives Library and hear Sarah read from her first  chapter.

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John Newton -‘The Oldest Foods on earth’

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So here we all are, living in Australia – but do we really eat ‘Australian’ foods? The multi-cultural cuisine most of us like to define as Australian is one transplanted and remixed from an array of times and  cultures. But are we missing out on a fantastic array of foods that are growing naturally right under our noses? The foodstuffs of the original indigenous inhabitants of this vast continent?

There are now more than 50 chefs in Australia  serving up a taste of real native grown foods – and John’s favourite? Kylie Kwong – for her seamless melding of Asian and Australian ingredients.

John Newton

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Here is a short interview with John reading from his book ‘The Oldest foods on earth’

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Recorded at Sydney Writers Festival 2016

David Leser -‘ To Begin to Know: Walking in the Shadows of my Father’

 

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You would expect a writer and journalist of David Leser’s standing to produce a well written memoir – but  it is wonderful to find it so deeply personal, revealing and moving. This interview with David Leser was recorded at the Sydney writers Festival 2016 in which i ask him how difficult it is to uncover a family’s secrets for the purpose of a personal journey .

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Recorded at Sydney Writers Festival 2016

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Here David  reads from his memoir  ‘To Begin to Know : Walking in the Shadows of my Father”

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Vivian Gornick – ‘The Odd Woman and the City’

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Vivian Gornick is an American critic, journalist, essayist  and memoirist. From 1969 to 1977 she was a reporter for the iconic Village Voice. In this extract from her book ‘The Odd Woman and the City’, she reveals the complexities ofrelationships – how they both sustain and  erode us. This reading was recorded at the Sydney writers Festival. To hear an  interview with Vivian by author Maggie Ball go to www.compulsivereader.com.

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Recorded at Sydney  Writers Festival 2016