The Book Show

Updated: 27 Jul 2025 • 407 episodes
www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-book-show

Your favourite fiction authors share the story behind their latest books.

Categories:

Show episodes

Booker Prize-winning Nigerian author Ben Okri on his novella Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Australian journalist Jana Wendt on turning to fiction with her short story collection, The Far Side of the Moon and Australian writer Thomas Vowles shares why he's drawn to challenging stories in Our

53 min
00:00
53:57
No file found

First time Miles Franklin shortlistee, Siang Lu has won the prestigious book prize for his second novel Ghost Cities which is inventive, complex and satirical. He will receive $60 000 and share a seat in Australian literary history alongside luminaries Kim Scott, Thea Astely and Michelle de Kretser (two-time winner and

24 min
00:00
24:04
No file found

John Boyne concludes his challenging series The Elements with Air, US writer Maggie Stiefvater takes you to a luxury hotel for enemy diplomats in The Listeners and Laura Elvery imagines Florence Nightingale on her deathbed in Nightingale. John Boyne is the prolific Irish author of over 20 books including The Boy in the

54 min
00:00
54:26
No file found

From Miles Franklin prize veteran Michelle de Kretster to debut novelist Winnie Dunn, we bring you all six of the shortlisted authors in this round-up of their celebrated books. This year's shortlist features a book set in an Ancient Chinese dynasty, a collection of linked short stories and a debut by the first ever pu

54 min
00:00
54:06
No file found

US poet, Ocean Vuong says when he was growing up "being a writer was like being a unicorn" but now he's published his second novel The Emperor of Gladness. Plus, Esperance based author Fleur McDonald reinvents herself in the harsh WA landscape of Kalgoorlie with her novel, The Prospect. The Emperor of Gladness is the l

53 min
00:00
53:56
No file found

Esther Freud mines her family story to discover new truths in My Sister and Other Lovers, Dominic Amerena asks what is the price of ambition in I Want Everything and Madeleine Watts returns to a story of water and climate catastrophe in her road trip novel Elegy, Southwest. Esther Freud is a novelist known for her famo

53 min
00:00
53:57
No file found