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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 author of Dark Mode, an internationally published psychological thriller. Her earlier books are How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge, collected fiction and essays. 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 Twitter and 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 GuardianMeanjinKill Your Darlings and the Newtown Review of Books. He has appeared at events including the Sydney Writers Festival, Newcastle Writers Festival and BAD Crime Sydney. He works as a nurse. Find him on Twitter and Instagram or visit his website.

Dec 3, 2024

'It's not a mental illness. It's actually a creative coping mechanism.' 

What's it like to discover other people living in your own head? In Maggie Walters' debut memoir, she describes her life with dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as multiple personality disorder (which remains Maggie's preferred term). After surviving years of abuse as a child, Maggie now lives with 40 alters and has spent much of her adulthood learning to understand herself, as well as how to share her experience with others.

In episode 107, she describes living with her alters, how she wrote her memoir, and why, after years of keeping her reality a secret, she's now sharing it with the world. 

Maggie Walters lives in the NSW Northern Rivers with her family. As a trauma survivor, she shares her journey towards wholeness, confronting stereotypes around mental health. Her debut memoir, Split, was published in 2024. An early draft of Split was longlisted for the 2022 Richell Emerging Writers Prize.

Get your copy of Split from Booktopia or your local bookshop or library.

Books & authors discussed in this episode:

  • The Writer Laid Bare by Lee Kofman
  • In Bad Faith by Dassi Erlich
  • For Life by Ailsa Piper
  • The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas
  • My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante 

Upcoming events 

Learn more about Ashley's thrillers, Dark Mode and Cold Truth, and get your copies from your local bookshop or your library. 

Learn more about James' award-winning novel Denizen and get your copy from your local bookshop or your library.

Get in touch!