What remains after loss? How do we carry the people, places and versions of ourselves that are gone? And can art help us make sense of what endures?

In this episode of Fully Lit, writer and broadcaster Sarah Runcie is joined by poet Vaughn Upward Garcia, musician Helen Franzmann, and writer and artist Judith Nangala Crispin for a wide-ranging conversation about grief, creativity and survival.

Garcia reflects on recovery, reinvention and the journey behind his debut collection Poems from the Afterlife. Franzmann discusses the making of Jay Marie, Comfort Me, an album shaped by the death of her sister and the search for comfort in grief. And Crispin explores death, Country, memory and belonging through her remarkable verse novel Dingo’s Noctuary.

Together, they consider what remains after loss, how art helps us navigate absence, and why love and grief are often inseparable. Along the way, they discuss sobriety, family, music, landscape, First Nations knowledge, and the stories we carry from one life into the next.

At its heart, this is a conversation about transformation, and the ways creativity can help us make meaning from what endures.

This episode was recorded live at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival.

Voices

Sarah Runcie is a writer, broadcaster and arts journalist whose work spans literature, music, theatre and cultural commentary.

Judith Nangala Crispin is an award-winning poet, visual artist and conservationist, and the author of the verse novel Dingo’s Noctuary.

Helen Franzmann is a singer-songwriter, musician and member of Mess Esque, whose work blends intimate lyricism with dreamlike, atmospheric soundscapes.

Vaughn Upward Garcia is a Queanbeyan-based poet and performer whose debut collection, Poems from the Afterlife, explores class, recovery, mortality and belonging.

Credits

This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival on Gadigal land in Sydney.

Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros.

Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang.

Recorded and mixed by Daniel Wiggins

Further Reading

Poems from the Afterlife by Vaughn Upward Garcia

Dingo’s Noctuary by Judith Nangala Crispin

Jay Marie, Comfort Me by Mess Esque

For more conversations on poetry, storytelling and contemporary Australian literature, explore the Fully Lit back catalogue.

In conversation with Amy Sambrooke, Angela O’Keeffe discusses a book that asks an unusual and beguiling question: what if a book could think, feel and observe the world around it?

Partly narrated by a sentient novel, Phantom Days follows a book as it moves between readers, witnessing intimate lives and uncovering secrets that its human characters cannot see. Along the way, the novel explores motherhood, memory, longing, truth and the strange relationship between writers, readers and the stories that connect them.

O’Keeffe reflects on the novel’s origins, the challenge of writing from a book’s perspective, and the experience of returning to the manuscript after a cancer diagnosis and treatment. The conversation also touches on Virginia Woolf, Dostoevsky, Mark Rothko, faith, creativity and the mystery of where stories come from.

Phantom Days is a novel about what survives after we let things go, and the lives books continue to live long after they leave their authors behind.

This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at Gleebooks on Gadigal land in Sydney.

Voices

Angela O’Keeffe is the author of Night Blue, The Sitter and Phantom Days, novels that blend art, imagination and storytelling in strikingly original ways.

Amy Sambrooke is CEO of Varuna, the National Writers’ House, and a passionate advocate for Australian writers and literature

Credits

Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros.

Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang.

Further Reading

Phantom Days by Angela O’Keeffe

The Sitter by Angela O’Keeffe

Night Blue by Angela O’Keeffe

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Selected writings of Virginia Woolf

Works by Mark Rothko referenced throughout the discussion.

In this episode of Fully Lit, we bring you a live recording from the Sydney Writers’ Festival in Parramatta.

Hosted by James Jiang, editor of the Sydney Review of Books, the panel brings together Maxine Beneba Clarke, Yumna Kassab and Eda Gunaydin for a wide-ranging conversation on what makes a writer.

From early reading habits and first attempts at writing, to questions of craft, the discussion moves across the genres of fiction, memoir and poetry — exploring how writers navigate the realities of sustaining a writing life on and off the page. Fittingly, given its setting, the conversation also centres Western Sydney as both place and influence. Thoughtful, candid and often funny, this is a rich discussion about storytelling and the impulses behind writing itself.

Voices

Maxine Beneba Clark is an award-winning writer, poet and artist whose work explores race, identity, family and belonging.

Yumna Kassab is a writer whose fiction explores memory, migration, identity and the complexities of human connection.

Eda Gunaydin is a writer, critic and researcher whose sharp, insightful work examining class, culture, migration and identity in contemporary Australia.

James Jiang is a writer, editor and critic, and the editor of the Sydney Review of Books

Credits

This episode of Fully Lit was made on Gadigal land in Sydney.

Fully Lit podcast is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros.

Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang.

Recorded by the City of Parramatta

In this episode of Fully Lit, we bring you a live recording from Melbourne with two poets in conversation, Lisa Gorton and Bella Li.

Gorton reflects on nearly two decades of writing, moving between history, visual art and poetry. The discussion centres on the new sequence Caesars, where the Mona Lisa opens out into questions of looking, perception and meaning and how images continue to speak across time.

It's a rich conversation about poetry, visual art, and the creative tension between history and invention.

Voices

Lisa Gorton is a poet, novelist and essayist whose work has won major Australian literary awards, including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Fiction and the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Poetry. Her recent poetry collection is Mirror Landscape (2024).

Bella Li is the author of Argosy, Lost Lake and Theory of Colours. A winner of the Victorian and NSW Premier’s literary awards for poetry, her work has appeared in HEAT, The Saturday Paper and Australian Poetry Journal.

Credits

This episode of Fully Lit was made on Gadigal land in Sydney.

Fully Lit podcast is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros.

Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang.

Recorded by Michelle Ransom-Hughes

Further reading

Mirror Landscape by Lisa Gorton (2024)

Hotel Hyperion by Lisa Gorton

Mirabilia by Lisa Gorton

The Life of John Donne by Izaak Walton (discussed through Gorton's doctoral work on Donne)

The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari

Works by Emily Dickinson (discussed in relation to Gorton's use of the dash)

Works by Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists (referenced in discussion of the Mona Lisa)

The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

This NAIDOC Week, Fully Lit revisits some of the standout conversations in our back catalogue with First Nations writers, critics and publishers.

As a podcast about Australian literature, we believe First Nations storytelling sits at the heart of what is most vital, challenging and exciting about writing on this continent. Stories have been told here for tens of thousands of years, and First Nations writers continue to reshape how we read, write and think about literature.

This special NAIDOC Week message is a reminder of just a few of the First Nations writers, critics and publishing leaders featured across the Fully Lit catalogue. We encourage you to revisit the original episodes to hear these ideas explored in depth, from cultural rigour and criticism, to genre and representation, and sovereignty in publishing.

Together, these conversations challenge accepted narratives, expand our understanding of Australian literature, and remind us of the power of stories to shape the national conversation.

Voices

Graham Akhurst is a Kokomini writer and the author of Borderland (UWAP).

Melanie Saward is a Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman, author, academic, and publishing all-rounder

Anita Heiss is an internationally published, award-winning author of 25 books across genres.

Credits

This episode of Fully Lit was made on Gadigal land in Sydney.

Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros.

Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang.

Produced by Regina Botros.

Further Listening

Episode 3: Cultural Rigour – First Nations Writing and Its Critics

A conversation with Jeanine Leane and Graham Akhurst on First Nations literary criticism, reading practices and cultural authority.

Episode 4: Cognitive Imperialism – Losing the Colonial Baggage

Melanie Saward discusses genre fiction, representation and the freedom to tell stories beyond colonial expectations.

Episode 7: Sovereign Stories – First Nations Publishing

Anita Heiss explores sovereignty in publishing and the need for First Nations-led editing, publishing and storytelling.

For more conversations with First Nations writers, critics and thinkers, explore the Fully Lit back catalogue.

In this episode of Fully Lit, recorded live at the Addison Road Writers’ Festival, we explore the richness and diversity of contemporary Latin American literature.

Writer Yumna Kassab joins Uruguayan author and translator Rosario Lázaro Igoa in conversation with literary translator Chris Andrews to discuss the writers, genres and ideas shaping Latin American literature today.

Moving beyond the literary Boom of the 1960s and 70s, they reflect on the work of contemporary writers including Mariana Enríquez, Samanta Schweblin, Guadalupe Nettel and Nona Fernández, and consider the growing visibility of women writers in translation.

The conversation ranges across horror, short fiction, essays and crónicas, while also exploring the enduring influence of writers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Clarice Lispector, Felisberto Hernández and Horacio Quiroga. Along the way, they discuss translation, experimentation, literary form and what makes Latin American literature so exciting for readers and writers alike.

Voices

Yumna Kassab is a writer whose fiction explores memory, migration, identity and the complexities of human connection.

Rosario Lázaro Igoa is a Uruguayan, novelist, essayist, and literary translator.

Chris Andrews is a translator, scholar and researcher in twentieth and twenty-first century Hispanic and francophone literatures.

Credits

This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival on Gadigal land in Sydney.

Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros.

Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang.

Recorded & Mixed by Maksim Voloshin-Cleary.

Further Reading

The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernández

The Body Where I Was Born by Guadalupe Nettel

19 Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica

Empty Words by Mario Levrero

A Last Supper of Queer Apostles by Pedro Lemebel

The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges and Margarita Guerrero

In this episode of Fully Lit, we head to the Addi Road Writers’ Festival for a wide‑ranging conversation on masculinity, vulnerability, and the inner lives of men.

Writer Luke Carman is joined by George Haddad, author of Losing Face, and debut novelist Jet Williams to explore what it means to write — and read — men today.

From graffiti culture and underground urban exploration to questions of embodiment, intimacy and cultural expectation, the discussion moves between lived experience and literary form. Williams reflects on writing for readers who don’t usually pick up books, while Haddad speaks candidly about hospitality, identity and the complexities of masculinity within family and culture.

Together, they consider why art can still feel “embarrassing” for young men, the pressures of conformity, and the value of writing that resists easy answers. Along the way, they ask what it means to represent masculinity beyond crisis — and whether literature can offer something more honest, more expansive.

At its core, this is a conversation about connection: how we find language for difficult experiences, and how the most personal stories can resonate far beyond the self.

Voices

Luke Carman is a writer and author of An Elegant Young Man and Intimate Antipathies.

George Haddad is the author of Losing Face and winner of the Kill Your Darlings Creative Nonfiction Essay Prize.

Jet Williams is the author of Off the Rails, a debut novel exploring youth, subculture and identity.

Credits

This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival on Gadigal land in Sydney. Special thanks to Mark Mordue at the Addi Road Festival.

Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program.

Recorded my Maksim Voloshin-Cleary

Produced and edited by Regina Botros

Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang