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Book Reading
The Book Show
By Design
The Deep End
Exhibit A
First Person
Lingua Franca
MovieTime
The Night Air
PoeticA
Short Story
Project
The Space
The Book Show
By Design
The Deep End
Exhibit A
First Person
Lingua Franca
MovieTime
The Night Air
PoeticA
Short Story
Project
The Space
 | Programs in 1999 Summaries are available for all stories, and some are transcribed. Click on a story title to see the full details. To see a list of only the stories which have been transcribed, please visit our transcript index. Audio-on-demand is available for the last four programs. ( Help with listening ) Stories by Year [ 2006 & 2005 | 2004 |2003 |2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 ] Stories by Subject [ 2006 & 2005 | 2004 | 2003 ] Program Summaries and Transcripts December 1999 John Berger Summer Series, audio available Friday 24 December 1999 The distinguished London Born, Booker Prize winning author John Berger has many strings to his bow. He has written essays, art criticism and TV documentaries and his 1972 BBC series called "Ways of Seeing" created quite a stir as a reaction to Kenneth Clarke's art series, "Civilisation". He has written many books, including the Into Their Labours trilogy which focused on the shift of the rural population into the big city centres. His latest novel called King-a street story, tackles the theme of homelessness as narrated by a dog, or someone who might be a dog. (Bloomsbury) [ more ] Joseph Heller (Transcript) Friday 17 December 1999 Ramona Koval in conversation with American novelist and memoirist Joseph Heller, master of the absurd, so much so that the title of his first novel and most famous book 'Catch 22' has entered the English language as the word for an absurd and illogical concept. [ more ] Joseph Heller Friday 17 December 1999 This week on the program, the man who wrote the book that coined the phrase Catch 22. Joseph Heller who died this week in New York, speaks to Ramona Koval in a conversation that she recorded at his home last year. He speaks about absurdity, writing and the importance of love. [ more ] Reading the Holocaust, Dr Inga Clendinnen. Friday 10 December 1999 This week on the program, historian and Boyer Lecturer Dr Writing Journalism, Writing Television Friday 3 December 1999 This week on the program, a look at writing forms other than fiction. The Sydney Morning Herald's profile writer David Leser has just published The Whites of their Eyes, a collection of his in- depth profiles of the famous and infamous. (Allen and Unwin) [ more ] November 1999 Dorothy Hewett, Les Murray and Tim Parks Friday 26 November 1999 This week on the program, Dorothy Hewett speaks about her new book Neap Tide and the perils of a passion for Romantic Poetry. [ more ] David Foster, Marguerite Duras and Tim Parks Friday 19 November 1999 This week on the program, a new book of essays called Studs and Nogsfrom David Foster. On the program he speaks about the value of true science and art, the red band on life's edges where true poetry comes from, and his desire to memorise an entire classical text. Studs and Nogs -Essays 1987-98 (Vintage) Lawrence Strangio reviews the final book of French icon Marguerite Duras, C'est Tout..No More.(Seven Stories Press) [ more ] Judith Wright (Includes Audio) Friday 12 November 1999 This week on the program, a rare interview with the poet and Australian icon Judith Wright. At 84, Judith speaks about her life's work in poetry, politics, the dictates of love and about aging and the burden of failing senses. Her new book, Half a Lifetime, is an autobiography she was reluctant to write, as you will hear. [ more ] Reflections on Democracy Friday 5 November 1999 This week-end as Australia goes to the polls to vote on the Republic, Books and Writing presents a program recorded in Edinburgh at this year's International Book Festival where writers from around the world contemplated democracy and its implications for writing and society. Participating in the conversation were multi-award winner Andre Brink from Sth Africa, Caribbean author and Commonwealth Prize winner Earl Lovelace and Herta Muller whose novel Land of Green Plums won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. [ more ] October 1999 Kate Grenville, Annie Proulx, Lorrie Moore, Patrick Mc Cabe and more... Friday 29 October 1999 Kate Grenville's new book The Idea of Perfectionset in a small Australian town, ponders some of the enduring myths about what it is to be Australian. What is a blue-bellied jo or a ringer anyway and why is it that the bush seems to epitomise Australianness, yet we mostly live in cities on the coast? (Pan Mac Millan) [ more ] National Treasures Friday 22 October 1999 This week on the program two National Treasures. [ more ] The Late Morris West Friday 15 October 1999 This week Books and Writing revisits a conversation recorded last year with Morris West who died at his desk last week-end. He speaks about his life's passions, the politics of the Catholic Church and the study of power and human weaknesses, topics that have informed his work all his life, and, as you will hear, his meditations about what it has all been about.His latest book is Eminence. Compelling listening this week on Books and Writing. [ more ] Morris West (Transcript) Tuesday 12 October 1999 A novelist like myself reflects and perhaps concentrates the tenor of the times. I've always worked on the principle that if it interests me enough to write about it, then it must interest a lot of other people - Morris West [ more ] Professor Steve Jones (Includes audio) Friday 8 October 1999 This week on the program, the final in the series from the Edinburgh International Book Festival, a conversation with the intriguing Professor of Genetics at University College London, Steve Jones. His new book, Almost Like A Whale - the Origin of Species Updated takes Darwin's original text and updates it in the light of new discoveries. [ more ] The Art of the Interview (Includes Audio) Friday 1 October 1999 This week on the program, the art of the interview with literary interviewer, novelist and now Labour Peer, Sir Melvyn Bragg and BBC Scotland's Colin Bell, who is the presenter of the oral history program Scotland's Century. Ramona Koval was the interviewer taking them both on, at the recent Edinburgh International Book Festival. [ more ] September 1999 Michael Frayn (Includes Audio) Friday 24 September 1999 English writer Michael Frayn's new book "Headlong" has just been shortlisted for the Booker Prize and this week he speaks to Ramona Koval who interviewed him recently for Edinburgh's International Book Festival. He has written novels, plays and columns and his diverse interests include art history and nuclear physics, both of which are the subjects of his work. [ more ] Doris Lessing (Includes Audio) Friday 17 September 1999 This week on the program, a rare interview with world renowned novelist, essayist and playwright, Doris Lessing. She speaks to Ramona Koval in Edinburgh about her new novel Mara and Dann, her autobiography and a life in writing and politics. [ more ] Robert Dessaix on Translation and Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, Friday 10 September 1999 This week on the program, Robert Dessaix's keynote address to the recent Sydney conference called Cross-Cultural Experience: Translation and Bilingualism. In his witty and engaging speech, Robert explains his fascination with translation which he describes as a truly voluptuous experience, which brings its own tantalising frustrations. [ more ] Isabel Allende Friday 3 September 1999 This week on the program the enchanting Chilean author Isabel Allenderecorded live on her recent tour. Isabel, the big star of the Melbourne Writers Festival, speaks to Robert Dessaix about freedom, disastrous passions, destiny, spiritualism, and how to write magic realism. She is witty, full of fun, and poignant, as are her many books. [ more ] August 1999 Drusilla Modjeska and Susan Varga Friday 27 August 1999 This week on the program, a look at some of the complications that a family can mean. [ more ] Peter Porter Friday 20 August 1999 On the program a engaging conversation with poet Peter Porter recorded before a live audience at this year's Sydney Writers Festival. Porter has for many years now, lived in England, but he started his writing career as a cadet journalist with Brisbane's Courier Mail. In this conversation he speaks to fellow poet Peter Rose about the state of modern poetry, Poet Laureates, and modernist obscurity. [ more ] Mrs Shakespeare Friday 13 August 1999 On the program this week, Robert Nye's Mrs Shakespeare creates an intriguing fictionalised look into the secret life of the famous playwright and his laconic wife. Shakespeare's last will and testament, like most of his life is shrouded in mystery and in this piece produced by the BBC's drama department, Mrs Shakespeare offers an intriguing and somewhat bawdy explanation as to why her husband left her his second best bed. [ more ] Dacia Maraini, Duong Van Mai Elliot Friday 6 August 1999 On the program, one of Italy's major literary figures Dacia Maraini who was visiting Melbourne recently. Daughter of a Sicilian princess, Maraini's contribution to literature and the theatre has been prolific. She and her partner of 18 years Alberto Moravia, were at the centre of Italy's post war literary scene. Her best known book is The Silent Duchess which won the Independent's prize for best foreign novel in 1992 and she spoke to Julie Copeland, for Books and Writing. (Flamingo) [ more ] July 1999 LILY BRETT, GREG GATENBY AND TIM PARKS. Friday 23 July 1999 Lily Brett's latest novel, "Too Many Men" tells the story of Ruth Rothwax who travels back to Poland with her father, a survivor of Auschwitz. Ruth is very angry with the Poles whose anti-Semitism is still very much in the air, whilst her father seems to be rather enjoying himself. She starts a conversation with a Nazi ghost and he eats shoals of herring. (Picador) [ more ] Alan .... Duff Friday 16 July 1999 This week, a lively conversation with the forthright New Zealand author Alan Duff. Famous of course for his first novel Once Were Warriors, he has since written two more books- What Becomes of the Broken Hearted which has also been made into a film and his latest, Both Sides of the Moon. He spoke to Ramona Koval at a sell-out session of the recent Sydney Writers Festival before an audience that was at once enthralled and appalled, as you will hear. [ more ] Glamorous Barbarians Friday 9 July 1999 Our guest presenter Robert Dessaix spoke to Prince Lorenzo Montesini about the glamorous life he has lived in Alexandria and Australia - his Byzantine origins, his loves and his values- as described in his autobiography, My Life and Other Misdemeanors. (Viking) [ more ] Marco Polo, Pushkin and Makine, with Robert Dessaix Friday 2 July 1999 For two weeks only, Robert Dessaix is back. [ more ] June 1999 Writing and Reading the Emotions. Friday 25 June 1999 A special program on writing and reading the emotions. How do writers write about the emotions and what emotional effects do they aim to stir in their readers? These are the sorts of questions that author and academic Dr Graham Little put to poet Dorothy Porter, poet and novelist Roger Mc Donald and London psychotherapist Susie Orbach who is also a Guardian columnist and has recently written her first novel. [ more ] Spies, Lies and International Politics Friday 18 June 1999 Nicholas Rothwell has written his first novel based loosely on his own experience, called Heaven and Earth. It tells the story of Caspar Kilian a young foreign correspondent who finds himself reporting on the one of the biggest stories of the century, the collapse of Communism. Duffy and Snellgrove [ more ] Norman Podhoretz and his Ex-Friends Friday 11 June 1999 This week featured on the program a conversation with Norman Podhoretz a leading member of a group of New York intellectuals who were known as "the Family". He speaks about his latest book, Ex Friends and his shift in political allegiance from radicalism to conservatism and the friendships that fell by the wayside in the process. His ex-friends include luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Lillian Hellman and Hannah Arendt. Norman Podhoretz was editor-in-chief of Commentary magazine for 35 years and has written seven books ranging from literary criticism to to autobiography to analyses of American foreign policy. [ more ] Simon Winchester, Andrew Motion & Richard Zimler. Friday 4 June 1999 On the program Simon Winchester talked about his book, The Surgeon of Crowthorne which is the story of the making of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and the remarkable relationship between its editor James Murray and Dr WC Minor, an enthusiastic, but tragic contributor. (Viking) [ more ] May 1999 Lost Children in Australian Literature Friday 28 May 1999 On the program, two books that focused on the haunting image of the lost child, a subject that has obsessed Australian literature. [ more ] Vikram Seth, Tim Parks and the state of modern editing. Friday 21 May 1999 Vikram Seth's third novel An Unequal Music is a love story involving a violinist, his violin, and a pianist who is married with a child. It explores the demanding world of music performance in a small community and the complications of adultery. He spoke to Michele Field in London for Books and Writing. (Orion) [ more ] Philippe Djian - Betty Blue and Much More (Transcript) Friday 14 May 1999 Mirielle Vignol speaks with French cult author Philippe Djian, perhaps best known to the English speaking world as the author of Betty Blue. He has wriiten fourteen novels and short story collections full of characters who seem to drift and struggle with the world around them, characteristics that have endeared his work to a whole generation. [ more ] Boroondara Litfest Special Friday 7 May 1999 On the program, Ramona Koval conducted a public conversation recorded at the recent Boroondara LitFest, with renowned novelists Helen Garner, Carmel Bird and Marion Halligan.In this wide-ranging and lively exchange there is talk about the fear of starting a new novel, the art of the long sentence, writing as a man and alternative careers, which in Helen Garner's case, would be ironing! [ more ] April 1999 Spotlight on Ashis Nandy Friday 30 April 1999 On the program Professor Ashis Nandy, a multi-faceted thinker and author who has written books on post colonialism, alternative sciences, psychology and even cricket. He is the director of Delhi's Centre for the Study of Developing Societies and was recently in Australia as a guest of Melbourne's Institute of Post Colonial Studies. On Books and Writing, he speaks about the legacy of Rudyard Kipling, the Indian mind, the writings of Salman Rushdie, and the state of play in these post-colonial times. [ more ] Greg Hollingshead; Mordecai Richler Friday 23 April 1999 This week on the program, conversations with two prominent Canadian writers. [ more ] Kim Scott; Tom Gilling Friday 16 April 1999 Kim Scott from Western Australia, explores his complex response to his mixed heritage and the infamous theories of A. O. Neville the 1930's Western Australian Chief Protector of Aboriginals. His novel is called BENANG- from the heart and its published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press. [ more ] Martin Amis (Transcript) Friday 9 April 1999 This week, a conversation with the acerbic English author Martin Amis.Son of the famous Kingsley Amis, Martin has carved his own niche in contemporary literature. Novelist, short story writer and literary journalist, he has created his reputation for satire and witty observation of contemporary manners with books like THE INFORMATION. His latest collection of short stories is HEAVY WATER AND OTHER STORIES. (JONATHAN CAPE) [ more ] David Foster; Martin Flanagan Friday 2 April 1999 This week we go bush on Books and Writing with some thought provoking talk on literature's links with the rural experience. [ more ] March 1999 Anna McGrail; Tim Parks; Con Anemogiannis; Geoff Page Friday 26 March 1999 In 1902, a daughter was born to Albert Einstein and his wife-to-be. It seems they then gave her away. This rather tragic fact forms the basis of the English author Anna McGrail's imaginary tale, as she creates a life for the abandoned girl in her new book, MRS EINSTEIN. (Anchor) [ more ] Fiona Capp; Jennifer Harrison Friday 19 March 1999 This week on the program two new books that meditate on problems of the self, illness and dealing with with pain. [ more ] Damien Brodrick; Eve Langley Friday 12 March 1999 This week on the program, pondering a future where no one ever dies, and a new look at one of Australia's almost forgotten authors. [ more ] Damien Broderick (Transcript) Friday 12 March 1999 Ramona Koval in conversation with accomplished science fiction writer cultural theorist and science communicator Damien Broderick. His new book, the Last Mortal Generation, tells of the efforts being made towards immortality in today's laboratories and speculates on what kind of tomorrow we are in for. [ more ] Lee Tulloch; Brett Easton Ellis; Margaret Attwood; Esther Freud Friday 5 March 1999 Glitzy glamour, bad women, ghosts and psychopaths, all have their own special place on this week's program. [ more ] February 1999 Dorothy Porter; Eliot Weinberger; Jack Hibberd; and William Gass's The Cartesian Friday 26 February 1999 A tricky combination of teeth and poetry on the program this week. [ more ] Tim Parks Friday 19 February 1999 This week the program is devoted to English writer Tim Parks and to the extensive range of his work. [ more ] Barry Dickens; Dimitris Tsaloumas; Jim Sakkas Friday 12 February 1999 This week on the program, Barry Dickins talks to Ramona Koval about his new novel, The House of The Lord (Vintage), a largely auto biographical account of growing up, dropping out and never quite fitting in. For a little boy of a working class family blinded by the love he felt for his father, the real world is a harsh place and Barry Dickins retraces the slow but never complete loss of innocence in the hippie world of the 60's. [ more ] Ivan Klima; Terry Carlbom from PEN Friday 5 February 1999 Welcome back to a new series of programs after the summer break. Please note that the program now starts 5 minutes earlier on Sundays, i.e. at 7.25 p.m. and is followed by a short story. [ more ] Stories by Year [ 2006 & 2005 | 2004 |2003 |2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 ] | |
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