Karen and Irma chat to Kate Forsyth (The Changeling) and Charlie Jane Anders (US) (Lessons in Magic and Disaster) about all things witchy and magical, including how Kate's obsession with Mary Queen of Scots led her to the history of the Scottish royal court and the faery world of 6th Century Scotland, how Charlie's characters came to be casting spells in the wild, rambling forests of New England, how the signing of the Witchcraft Act resulted in centuries of fallout for women, how modern day persecution of queer people through trolling and online hate resembles a witch hunt, and how to have fun writing about sex.

KATE FORSYTH

Kate Forsyth is an author and storyteller who writes historical fiction, non-fiction and children’s books, often with a mythical or fairytale twist. She has won awards for her work, including the American Library Award award for Best Historical Fiction and an Honour Book in the 2025 CBCA awards. She has a MA in creative writing, and a Doctorate of Creative Arts in fairytale studies.

CHARLIE JANE ANDERS

Charlie Jane Anders is the award-winning author of four novels, two short story collections, a young adult trilogy, and a book on creative writing. Her writing has appeared in publications like Tin House, the Paris Review and McSweeney's. She’s currently writing the comic book Star Trek: Zero Point for IDW.

Show Notes

Kate Forsyth: Kate Forsyth - Kate Forsyth

Charlie Jane Anders: Charlie Jane Anders

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Karen and Irma chat about the uses of dialogue in writing and some of the mistakes writers make, and then talk about their latest book recommendations in Book Chat, featuring Frogsong by Melissa Manning and How to Love the World by Ilka Tampke.

Then Irma speaks to Thomas Mayo about how he found his voice as a wharfie, what it was like being thrust onto the national stage when campaigning for the Voice to Parliament Yes vote, how he dealt with the vicious criticism as a public leader, how Marcia Langton helped him get his first book deal, where he was when the shattering No verdict was delivered, how writing helped him in the aftermath, what publishers can do better to support First Nations stories, the ways in which the government should be supporting the publishing industry, and why seeing a stage show of his book Dear Son with his kids was a career high.

Show notes:

Thomas Mayo: https://www.thomasmayo.com.au/

About Thomas

Thomas Mayo is a Kaurareg Aboriginal man and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander who is a leading voice in human rights advocacy and an award-winning author of seven books. He co-led the campaign for Australia’s Voice referendum, and his Voice to Parliament Handbook won three ABIA awards, including Book of the Year. His latest book is a new edition of Dear Son: Letters and Reflections from First Nations Fathers and Sons.

Book Chat:

Frogsong by Melissa Manning

How to Love the World by Ilka Tampke

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Karen and Irma chat about AI dangers for writers, including scam emails and why publishers hate writers using AI proofreading software to 'polish' their work.

Then Irma chats to Melanie Cheng about how a nosey friend resulted in an early pivotal moment, why she wrote in a secret for many years, and how winning a manuscript prize changed everything overnight, why her second book was so hard to write, the balance of having a public profile as an author and working as a GP, why she still has imposter syndrome as a writer, why she thought she would never write anything ever again after her second book, and why saying yes to every publicity opp led to a nightmare experience.

Show notes

Melanie Cheng: https://melaniechengwriter.com/

About Melanie

Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner. She was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne. Her debut collection of short stories, Australia Day, won the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2016 and the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction in 2018. She has published two novels, Room for a Stranger and The Burrow, both of which were longlisted for the Miles Franklin award. The Burrow was also shortlisted for the Stella prize and nominated for the Dublin Literary Award.

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Irma and Karen talk about the importance of the major dramatic question in writing fiction, and what they’ve been reading lately in Book Chat.

Then Karen talks to Alice Pung about Alice’s unusual process of writing her first book in close contact with a publisher, how writing as a young person with no filters contributed to her early success, how she writes non-fiction with fiction techniques and vice versa, why she finds writing non-fiction harder than fiction, how giving talks to bored 14-year old boys enhanced her public speaking skills, why she has never wanted to be a fulltime writer, how she became penfriends with John Marsden, and how she thought she’d received spam when an email came through saying she’d been awarded an OAM.

About Alice

Alice Pung is the bestselling author of two memoirs, two novels, an essay collection, several children’s books, and the editor of two anthologies. Her books have been published both in Australia and overseas and have won or been short listed for many awards. In 2022 she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for her services to literature. She is a qualified practicing lawyer and lives in Naarm Melbourne.

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Irma and Karen make an exciting announcement about the future of the podcast, then discuss a cautionary tale involving a freelance editor and AI.

Then Karen talks to journalist and feminist author Virginia Haussegger about how she became a TV journalist and was sent to Darwin to make all her mistakes, how working on TV has both changed and not changed for women since the 1980s, the ways that deadlines help her to write, how book ideas strike her like meteorites, why counting her writing hours on an app helps, and the outrage of discovering her latest book, Feminist Fightback, shelved under military history!

About Virginia

Virginia Haussegger AM is an award-winning television journalist, writer and commentator. She has worked in the TV and newsprint media for over 30 years both in Australia and overseas. She’s reported for current affairs programs and anchored the primetime national news in five capital cities, including 15 years in Canberra. She’s a public speaker, a podcaster, an ACT Australian of the Year, and a strong advocate for women.

Show notes

Ubud Writers and Readers Festival

Freelance Editors’ Network

IPEd

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Irma and Karen talk about starting your novel with a bang to get readers’ attention.

Then in our new occasional series, Karen talks to debut novelists Sarah Walker and Sam Elliott about the process of getting their first books published, how Sam bounced back from workplace bullying to write fiction, how Sarah got an overseas agent, the ways having an agent or winning an award helps with getting published, what Sam learned through podcasting that helped with publishing, and the news that made Sarah scream at her workplace.

About Sarah and Sam

Sarah Walker is a Naarm (Melbourne-based) writer, artist and photographer. Her first book, The First Time I Thought I Was Dying, a collection of non-fiction essays, won the Quentin Bryce Award. Her debut novel is The Water Takes.

Sam Elliott is an author and interviewer. He is the founder and host of The Write Way podcast on which he has interviewed many authors, including both Irma and me. Haze is his debut novel. He lives in Sydney.

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Karen and Irma chat about how to decide on the POV(s) for a novel, and how to listen to what the book itself wants to be.

Then Irma talks to Melbourne Writers Festival Director Veronica Sullivan and Sorrento Writers Festival Director Corrie Perkin about their pathways to becoming directors of two of Australia’s biggest festivals, the way they plan their programs, practical advice on what writers and their publishers can do to break into the festival circuit, what writers do wrong when pitching to festivals and how to get it right, the controversy around the Sydney Writers Festival exclusivity clause and the Bendigo and Adelaide festival boycotts, what makes both a good panellist and a good panel, how Corrie’s devastating experience of closing her bookshop led to creating a new festival, and why an event with Behrouz Boochani had a profound impact on Veronica.

About Corrie and Veronica

Corrie Perkin began her career as a cadet reporter at the Age and over the next three decades, worked in a variety of editing and writing roles. In 2009, she opened an independent bookstore in Hawksburn that ran that for 12 years. Then in 2023, she founded the Sorrento Writers Festival, which has quickly grown to become Australia’s second-biggest literary festival.

Veronica Sullivan began as a volunteer at Melbourne Writers Festival, then went on to intern at the Emerging Writers’ Festival. She was a founding board member and then program manager of the Feminist Writers Festival, and then became head of programming at The Wheeler Centre, before assuming her current role as Director of Melbourne Writers Festival.

Show Notes

Melbourne Writers Festival

Sorrento Writers Festival

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Karen and Irma chat about structuring a novel, in particular the use of prologues and epilogues.

Then in the first of an occasional series with debut authors, Irma talks to Dominic Amerena and Lisa Moule about the challenging process of writing their first novels, how to trust your writing instincts, their very different paths to finding agents and publishers, the brutal reality of rejection (how it stopped Dominic writing novels for a decade and why one rejection made Lisa cry like a teenage girl), how to best approach agents, how writing short form pieces helped lay the ground for their novels, why Lisa Moule decided not to voice her own audiobook (even though she is a voice actor), and Lisa’s Teams mishap with a psychedelic filter during her first important publishing meeting.

About Lisa and Dominic

Lisa Moule is the author of The Mother of All Calamaties, released in March this year by Allen & Unwin. She is also an actor, voice artist, and presenter of 3CR’s ‘Published or Not’ program. She is based in Naarm/Melbourne.

Dominic Amerena is the author of I Want Everything, which was the first novel published by Summit Books, the new literary imprint of Simon & Schuster, just over a year ago. It has since won or been shortlisted for a number of awards. He lives in Greece, and is coming to us from Athens today.

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