Through discussions and interviews with writers, artists and health professionals, author friends James McKenzie Watson and Ashley Kalagian Blunt explore the big questions: how do books get written? How do people navigate life with chronic illness? And just what are you reading?
Ashley Kalagian Blunt is the bestselling author of five books, including Dark Mode, Cold Truth and Like, Follow, Die. Her writing appears in the Sydney Morning Herald, Overland, Griffith Review, Sydney Review of Books, and more. Ashley is an enthusiastic teacher of writing and creativity. Originally from Canada, she has lived and worked in South Korea, Peru and Mexico. Find her on Instagram or visit her website.
James McKenzie Watson is the author of Denizen, which won the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize and was shortlisted in 2023 Ned Kelly Awards for Best Debut. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, Meanjin and Kill Your Darlings. He has appeared at events including Sydney Writers’ Festival, Newcastle Writers Festival and BAD Sydney Crime, and teaches creative writing for organisations such as Writing NSW. He works as a nurse. Find him on Instagram or visit his website.
Jan 25, 2022
It's our 50th episode! Author Sarah Sentilles joins us to talk about her new memoir, Stanger Care. She discusses coping with unexpected loss, who counts as family, and how at heart, all of us are baby monkeys. She also shares how each of us can use our creativity to remake the world around us.
Stranger Care is a memoir...
Jan 18, 2022
***Warning! Spoilers for Earthlings by Sayaka Murata in this
episode***
After arguing about the intense and disturbing ending to Earthlings
by Sayaka Murata in
episode 45, James and Ashley rope past guest Jacinta Dietrich
into returning to the podcast to try and figure out what might
happened in the novel's closing...
Jan 11, 2022
How do we build community and a sense of self after loss, especially the kind of loss that echoes for generations? James and Ashley speak with Australian Sri Lankan author Shankari Chandran about her new novel, Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, and how her efforts to find connection in the writing community echo her Tamil...