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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 2000 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 2000 Kate Adie ..Summer Series Friday 29 December 2000 This week, a program on writing journalism from the front, with the BBC's Chief News Correspondent, Kate Adie OBE. She speaks about her life's work reporting on the world's hot spots for over 20 years. She is passionate about the values of good journalism, which she says involves expensive but culturally invaluable accounts from the eye witness, the value of history in preparing oneself for a stint in the hell that is war and how the world views the BBC, one of the great public broadcasters in this climate of media globalisation. [ more ] Norman Mailer Friday 22 December 2000 This week on the program, live on stage from the Edinburgh Book Festival, the grand old man of American letters, Norman Mailer. In this wide- ranging conversation, Mailer talks to Ramona Koval about the perils and exhilaration of the quest for truth, his relationship with his mother and the formation of his ego. He laments the outcome of the sexual revolution, despite his old reputation as the angriest, sexiest man in America, condemns the narcissism of America and American politics, and claims wisdom is his vice. [ more ] Dreaming Utopia Friday 15 December 2000 Want to escape this imperfect world and find utopia? John Carey, author of The Faber Book of Utopias, has collected utopian visions from across the ages. How about a place where you can have a perfect life but most inhabitants will still want to die? Or an asteroid with no gravity that has trees that never stop growing, so they look like giant space potatoes..it seems madness is only part of the brief. And Melbourne poet PIO has just published his Number Poems in which he plays with the numeric system that he says underlines all poetry. [ more ] Writing Eccentrics Friday 8 December 2000 This week to celebrate the beginning of the silly season, the eccentric character in literature. At the recent Brisbane Writers Festival, Australians Peter Carey and Andrew Masterson, and Englishman Rupert Thompson, entertained the audience with their reflections on writing eccentrics- is truth stranger than fiction, what do eccentric characters tell us about the state of the human condition, and where do they come from? And what do they tell us about the secret life of the author who created them? And US essayist Eliot Weinberger reads his essay, The Story of Ohm in which he asks what has happened to all the weird and wonderful cults of the 60s and 70s. [ more ] Vale Malcolm Bradbury and John Banville on Eclipse Friday 1 December 2000 This week on the program, to mark the death of English novelist, critic and teacher of creative writing, Malcolm Bradbury, his fellow author and friend Terence Blacker pays tribute to the man. Melbourne reviewer Helen Elliot discusses Malcolm Bradbury's last novel, To The Hermitage, which she argues is perhaps his best work, and Irish writer John Banville, discusses his latest book Eclipse, which continues his seemingly never ending quest for authenticity, his interest in things and their opposites, including the name of his protagonist the actor Alexander Cleave which means of course both to adhere to and split from, and his great subject, that of being. [ more ] November 2000 From the Front- Phillip Gourevitch on Rwanda Friday 24 November 2000 This week, on the final in our series, Writing From the Front, author and contributor to The New Yorker, Phillip Gourevitch discusses his new book We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda.In this disturbing address he ponders immensely difficult questions such as why did this genocide occur while the world stood by, was it a kind of collective madness or a planned atrocity, what part did the Rwanda media play and how effective is the UN in dealing with the problems of countries with no obvious source of Western economic interest. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) And RMIT Journalism Lecturer Matthew Ricketson, discusses Timothy Garton Ash's History of the Present-Essays, Sketches and Dispatches from Europe in the 1990's. (Penguin) [ more ] From the Front - The Writing of History Friday 17 November 2000 This week, the third in our series on Writing From the Front, we hear from Avi Shlaim, Professor in International Relations at the Middle East Centre of St Anthony's College, Oxford. His new book is called The Iron Wall- Israel and the Arab World, in which he continues the argument raging between the new and old historians of Israel on the myths and realities surrounding the formation of the state of Israel. In most countries, he says, academic debate has little popular interest, but not in this case, where the arguments go the centre of how the Israeli public see themselves, a factor which also goes to the heart of the on-going struggle for peace. [ more ] The Writing of Politics Friday 10 November 2000 This week on the program, the second in our series on writing politics, history and journalism. This week the Nigerian Literature Laureate Wole Soyinka and the distinguished Spanish author Juan Goytisolo who was exiled from his country during the Franco regime. They speak to Ramona Koval at the Edinburgh International Writer's Festival about the New World Order, globalisation, the politics of writing in the language of the colonist and the love-hate relationship they both have with their country of origin. [ more ] Kate Adie Friday 3 November 2000 This week in the first of our series of programs on writing journalism, the BBC's Chief News Correspondent, Kate Adie OBE. She speaks about her life's work reporting on the world's hot spots for over 20 years. She is passionate about the values of good journalism, which she says involves expensive but culturally invaluable accounts from the eye witness, the value of history in preparing oneself for a stint in the hell that is war and how the world views the BBC, one of the great public broadcasters in this climate of media globalisation. [ more ] October 2000 Peter Carey Friday 27 October 2000 This week on the program, the latest book by Peter Carey, The True History of the Kelly Gang. This novel, written in the first person, takes up where the famous Jerilderie Letter left off. It is a story both imagined and based on known facts, written to explain the man behind the myth to the future- what shaped him, the society that bred him, and the image he still holds for Australians today as we watch the famous armour portrayed for an international audience at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. And, as you will hear, according to Peter Carey, it is that very armour that has often prevented us from knowing the real man inside. (UQP) [ more ] Terence Blacker, Michael Holroyd Friday 20 October 2000 This week on the program, English writer Terence Blacker who has written children's books, novels and opinion pieces for the Independent. His latest book is Kill Your Darlings which tells the rather sorry tale of Gregory Keys, once considered an up and coming young author but who has never been able to fulfil his early promise. Instead he has an obsession with Martin Amis who he insists is stealing his ideas, a disintegrating family life and a bottom- drawer full of half written books. And renowned biographer Michael Holroyd has turned his attention to his own life in his latest book Basil Street Blues. He reads from this work about the dilemnas of the young writer Holroyd, who finds himself caught up in the difficult relationship between his step-father and Swedish mother. [ more ] Jim Crace Friday 13 October 2000 This week, the internationally acclaimed English novelist, Jim Crace. His latest book is Being Dead, which opens with two corpses rotting slowly. In this conversation from the Edinburgh International Writers Festival, he speaks about the inherent beauty of the natural world, including the facts of death and decomposition. He says he is striving for a sense of meaning in a world he insists does not include an after-life or God. He talks also about making things up, including creatures like the Swag-Fly, and the value of imagination. [ more ] Kazuo Ishiguro Friday 6 October 2000 This week on the program, English novelist Kazuo Ishiguro whose best known novel, The Remains of the Day was almost quintessentially British despite the fact its author was born in Nagasaki. His new book, When We Were Orphans, traces the story of Christopher Banks a child of pre-war China who becomes a famous English detective. He returns to his native Shanghai to find his parents who have mysteriously disappeared. He spoke to Ramona Koval in front an enthusiastic audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival recently. [ more ] September 2000 Desmond Morris, Jackie Kay Friday 29 September 2000 This week on the program English animal behaviouralist Desmond Morris, the man who brought us the Naked Ape, charmed his audience at the Edinburgh Writers Festival recently with his stories gathered over the years. His new book, The Naked Eye-Travels in Search of the Human Species recounts adventures with David Attenborough, the Pope, and the Italian Mafia. (Ebury Press) Newcomer Jackie Kay reads from her first novel The Trumpet which was short-listed for Impac Dublin literary award. A book focusing on the nature of love it is based on the life of musician Billy Tipton whose fans were stunned at his death by the unveiling of his unusual secret. (Picador) [ more ] Robert Louis Stevenson Friday 22 September 2000 This week on the program, a conversation recorded at this year's Edinburgh International Book Festival about one of that city's favourite sons, Robert Louis Stevenson, born 150 years ago. He has inspired generations with his classic children's books Treasure Island and Kidnapped and caught the pulse of many modern concerns with his books for adults like The Strange Case of Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde linked in this conversation to the boom in Edinburgh crime writing. The panellists are award winning travel writer Gavin Bell, whose book In Search of Tusitala follows in the footsteps of RLS, Poet and professor of English at St Andrews University Robert Crawford and Biographer Jenni Calder who wrote RSL A Life Study. [ more ] Globalisation Friday 15 September 2000 This week as the eyes of the world focus on the opening of the Sydney Olympics, the other side of this international unity could well be globalisation, the subject of the S11 protest at this week's World Economic Forum in Melbourne. British author Will Hutton, speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival recently, discusses the impact of globalisation and its tentacles into world financial systems, the labour market, and the environment. His latest book is On the Edge, Essays on a Runaway World co- written with sociologist and supporter of British new Labour, Anthony Giddens. (Random) [ more ] The Melbourne Writer's Festival Friday 8 September 2000 The Melbourne Writer's Festival has just wound up and this week, we bring you some of the highlights. We begin with Shane Maloney's passionate defence of the crime writers' art, recorded at the Ned Kelly Awards, Danish writer Jens Christian Grondahl speaks about his novel Silence in October, an intense study of the problems of love in the modern world. and Adib Khan's latest book The Storyteller is the story of Dehli's shortest and hottest virgin, the dwarf whose power of imagination lifts him from the squalor of his reality. [ more ] Norman Mailer Friday 1 September 2000 This week on the program, live on stage from the Edinburgh Book Festival, the grand old man of American letters, Norman Mailer. In this wide- ranging conversation, Mailer talks to Ramona Koval about the perils and exhilaration of the quest for truth, his relationship with his mother and the formation of his ego. He laments the outcome of the sexual revolution, despite his old reputation as the angriest, sexiest man in America, condemns the narcissism of America and American politics, and claims wisdom is his vice. [ more ] August 2000 Eliot Weinberger, Tom Petsinis Friday 25 August 2000 This week American editor and essayist Eliot Weinberger discusses the life and work of the legendary Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. He has just edited and translated Selected Non-Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges, which was voted book of the year by George Steiner in the TLS. And Eliot was recently awarded the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest decoration the Mexican government can bestow on a foreign national. (Viking) Australian poet, playwright, mathematician and novelist Tom Petsinis speaks to Morag Fraser about his latest novel The Twelfth Dialogue which features a sequence of dialogues between historical characters like Plato, Homer, Marx and St Paul. (Penguin) [ more ] Water Water Everywhere Friday 18 August 2000 This week on the program Books and Writing invites you to dive in and swim with the engaging Englishman Roger Deakin speaking about his first book, Waterlog- A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain. Deakin is best known as a filmmaker and is the founder of Common Ground an organisation that asserts the value of local surroundings and inspires much of his work. Waterlog describes his journey as he swims through tarns, lakes and rivers across Britain, beginning from his personal moat in Suffolk. [ more ] Walk on the Wildside Friday 11 August 2000 American author Thomas Lynch is an under-taker and a very funny man. A guest at this year's Adelaide Writers Festival, he speaks about being a burden to one's children when you die. An idea of which he thoroughly approves, by the way. His books include The Under-taking, Life Studies From The Dismal Trade and Bodies in Motion and at Rest. (Cape) "Bottom of the Harbour-Sydney's seamy side" was the title of a panel given recently at the NSW state library. John Dale spoke about the perils of entering the under-world which he did whilst researching his book Huckstepp: A Dangerous Life (Allen and Unwin) on the life and death of police informer Sally Anne Huckstepp. And joining him on the panel was John Birmingham whose latest book is Leviathan-an unauthorised biography of Sydney (Random). It too delves into some murky waters as you will hear. [ more ] Russell Banks, Michael Meehan, Geoff Page Friday 4 August 2000 This week on the program, the American writer Russell Banks whose two books The Sweet Hereafter and Affliction were perhaps two of the most affecting films of the 1990's. His subject is often family life in extremis, especially damaged men who inflict havoc on those around them. He speaks about his newly published anthology The Angel on the Roof with Michael Carey, the ABC's Washington correspondent. (Harper Collins) [ more ] July 2000 Andre Brink Friday 28 July 2000 This week on the program, the Sth African novelist, essayist, literary critic and political activist Andre Brink whose first novel Looking into Darkness was banned by the Sth African Apartheid regime. He has written many novels since then in both his native Afrikaans and English. His latest book is Devil's Valley in which he imagines the life of a community locked away from the rest of the world. It is based on a real community set deep in the Swartberg Range of the Cape Province which was only opened up to the outside world in the 1960's. Its a kind of a metaphor for the mental, spiritual and political isolation of the Afrikaans in Sth Africa. He spoke to Ramona Koval recently from Cape Town. [ more ] Edward Hirsch Friday 21 July 2000 This week, the seduction of poetry, and how to read it with American poet, critic and editor Edward Hirsch. His new book, How to read a poem- and fall in love with poetry is a surprising best seller in the USA and its Hirsch's personal passion for the form, which he suggests is best read in the dead of the night, that is probably why this book is so popular. (Harcourt Brace and Company) [ more ] Motti Lerner Friday 14 July 2000 This week, Israeli playwright, Motti Lerner whose work for theatre and television has been produced in Tel Aviv, London, Zurich, Washington, New York and through-out Germany. He has been awarded several prizes including the 1995 Academy Award for best TV drama. His play Exile in Jerusalem is a two person study of the last days of the great German Jewish poet Else Lasker-Schuler and is currently being performed by Saltpillar Theatre company at St Martin's Theatre in Melbourne. [ more ] The Origins of Writing Friday 7 July 2000 This week, a look at the origins of writing and the three different systems that lead to the modern age. Professor Jared Diamond's Pulitzer prize winning book, Guns Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies has a whole chapter devoted to the origins of writing and that is what he discusses with Ramona Koval. [ more ] June 2000 Vale Judith Wright Friday 30 June 2000 This week on the program the last major interview with the poet and Australian icon Judith Wright who died at her home at the age of 85 this week. Recorded late last year Judith speaks about her life's work in poetry, politics, the dictates of love and about aging and the burden of failing senses. Her last book, Half a Lifetime, is an autobiography she was reluctant to write, as you will hear. [ more ] Three Life Journeys Friday 23 June 2000 This week on the program, three different women on three different life journeys. Chana Bloch who translated the Song of Songs with her then husband Ariel Bloch tells the story of the breakdown of her marriage to a man whose mental illness became unbearable to live with. The book of poems that she wrote about this experience is called Mrs Dumpty. (University of Wisconsin Press) [ more ] Bloomsday, Exile and the Irish Diaspora. Friday 16 June 2000 This week on the program, to commemorate Bloomsday, critic and actor John Flaus discusses the impact and brillance of James Joyce's Ulysses, the book once banned but recently voted novel of the century. [ more ] And the Winners Are... Friday 9 June 2000 This week on the program, the co-winners of this year's Miles Franklin award- veteran Thea Astley and new-comer Kim Scott. [ more ] Where the Boys Are... Friday 2 June 2000 This week on the program, where the boys are coming from.... [ more ] May 2000 Martin Cruz Smith Friday 26 May 2000 This week on the program, visiting US political and crime writer Martin Cruz Smith famous for his thriller Gorky Park discusses the fascinating relationship between Cuba and the Soviet Union - the background of his latest book Havana Bay, his knowledge of forensic science and street fighting, his abiding loathing of missionaries and his stint as a professional Indian in his childhood. He spoke to Ramona Koval at the Sydney Writers' Festival. [ more ] August Kleinzahler, and Roger Deakin Friday 19 May 2000 This week on the program, American poet August Kleinzahler whose many awards include an Academy Award in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, speaks about his childhood next door to the Mafia in New Jersey, his fascination with his eminent teacher Basil Bunting, the weather and his love of Jazz. [ more ] T.C. Boyle, Truman Capote and the New Yorker Friday 12 May 2000 This week on the program, inside the American experience. [ more ] Neil Murray, Carmel Bird and Kerryn Goldsworthy Friday 5 May 2000 This week on the program, singer, song-writer, playwright, novelist and poet Neil Murray discusses his new book of poetry One Man Tribe which draws on his experiences in the desert country around Alice Springs, where he lived and worked with the Aboriginal communities at Pupunya and Kintore where he formed the seminal indigenous rock band- the Warumpi Band. NTU Press [ more ] April 2000 Bernhard Schlink, Adam Phillips Friday 28 April 2000 This week on the program, a conversation with Bernhard Schlink, whose novel The Reader is a beautifully written account of a sexual relationship between a teenage boy and an older woman. Later the young man discovers that his lover has been a guard in a Nazi concentration camp and observes her trial. Ramona Koval spoke to Bernhard Schlink at the Adelaide Festival and discussed the ambiguity of morality and obligations to history. (Phoenix) UK psycho-therapist Adam Phillips latest book Darwin's Wormsexplores Darwin's fascination with worms, death, a world without God and his relationship with the work of Freud. (Faber) [ more ] Paul Carter, Raimond Gaita Friday 21 April 2000 This week on the program, writing in public places with the conceptual artist, sound sculptor, writer and academic Paul Carter who discusses two recent projects. The first is at Fig Grove at Homebush Bay where together with artist Ruark Lewis, Carter has written a kind of palimpest of history on the public stadium. His second project is Depth of Translation-The Book of Raft which sets about turning another three dimensional project called Raft back into words. Raft is a kind of linguistic archeology based on the work of Pastor Carl Strehlow and his son Ted who both worked closely with the Aranda people of Central Australia. [ more ] David Malouf - 'Dream Stuff' Friday 14 April 2000 This week a public conversation with the gifted Australian author David Malouf whose writing has been delighting readers and attracting prizes for almost four decades. David speaks to Ramona Koval about his new collection of short stories, Dream Stuff, in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the St Kilda Town Hall. (Random House) [ more ] Coleridge, Darker Reflections. Friday 7 April 2000 This week on the program a very special treat. British biographer Richard Holmes talks about his second book on the life and times of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the Romantic poet, critic and philosopher whose tragic addiction to opium haunted him all his life. His friend Wordsworth once described Coleridge as the "only wonderful man I ever knew" - this despite the years of self destruction that threatened to over-shadow his significant literary achievements. [ more ] March 2000 To Hell and Back ..Colin Thubron and Tim Parks Friday 31 March 2000 This week on the program, two very different journeys to Hell. [ more ] Richard Ford Friday 24 March 2000 This week, Richard Ford, one of America's most highly esteemed fiction writers whose land-mark novel Independence Day, won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and followed the success of The Sportswriter. He is a writer with his finger on the pulse of modern American life and the gap between what we want to say and what is possible to communicate to others. He spoke to Ramona Koval at this month's Adelaide Writer's Festival. [ more ] Wine, Women and Song Friday 17 March 2000 This week, a luscious feast on Books and Writing, all the good things in life in fact- wine, food, sex and literature. [ more ] Memoir Friday 10 March 2000 This week, the well respected Australian novelist Robert Drewe talks about his childhood in Perth where the great sparrow invasion and a serial killer helped form his growing consciousness. His new book is The Shark Net- Memories and Murder. [ more ] Reading and Writing the Emotions Friday 3 March 2000 This week, a program you may have heard last year made by author and academic, gentleman and scholar, Dr Graham Little who died suddenly last week in Melbourne. His topic was writing and reading the emotions. We replay this program in his honour. 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 Graham Little put to poet Dorothy Porter, poet and novelist Roger Mac Donald and London psychotherapist Susie Orbach who is also a Guardian columnist and has recently written her first novel. [ more ] February 2000 Nicholas Shakespeare Friday 25 February 2000 This week, the English author and biographer, Nicholas Shakespeare who was a guest at this month's Perth Writers' Festival. Shakespeare's two novels were conceived from his obsession with the elusive leader of the Peruvian Shining Path guerillas. As you will hear, the real and the fictional world can be eerily similar and it is amazing what confidence a good speaking voice will give you! His latest book is the authorised biography of the writer Bruce Chatwin. Shakespeare discusses the problems of writing the story of the complicated English writer who has become a cult figure since his pre-mature death. [ more ] Oral History and African Story-telling Friday 18 February 2000 Gregg Borschmann is a journalist who spent 8 years collating a living history of the Australian bush, called The People's Forest. He interviewed people connected with the land - environmentalists, farmers, sawmillers and writers to find out what the bush means to them. He speaks about the challenges involved in such an oral history project. (Tower Books) [ more ] Secret Men's Business, Lloyd Jones and Melvyn Bragg Friday 11 February 2000 First up, New Zealand writer and journalist Lloyd Jones discusses his latest novel Choo Woo which is a disturbing story involving family breakdown, and what happens when the new boyfriend takes advantage of his 12 year old step daughter. (Penguin) [ more ] Roger Deakin and Tim Parks Friday 4 February 2000 This week on the program, as the long hot days of summer roll on, Books and Writing invites you to dive in and swim with the engaging Englishman Roger Deakin speaking about his first book, Waterlog- A Swimmer's Journey Through Britain. Deakin is best known as a filmmaker and is the founder of Common Ground an organisation that asserts the value of local surroundings and inspires much of his work. Waterlog describes his journey as he swims through tarns, lakes and rivers across Britain, beginning from his personal moat in Suffolk. Chatto and Windus [ more ] January 2000 Isabel Allende (Summer Series) Friday 28 January 2000 This week on the program the enchanting Chilean author Isabel Allendewho was the big star of last year's Melbourne Writers Festival. She spoke in front of a sell out crowd to Robert Dessaix about freedom, disastrous passions, destiny, spiritualism, and how to write magic realism. She was witty, full of fun, and poignant, as are her many books. [ more ] The Art of the Interview Summer Series..(Includes Audio) Friday 21 January 2000 This week on the program, the art of the interview with literary interviewer, novelist and now Labour Peer, 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 last year's Edinburgh International Book Festival. [ more ] Doris Lessing Summer Series (Includes Audio) Friday 14 January 2000 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 ] Alan .... Duff (Summer Series) Friday 7 January 2000 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 last year's Sydney Writers Festival before an audience that was at once enthralled and appalled, as you will hear. [ more ] Professor Steve Jones Summer Series ..includes audio Sunday 2 January 2000 For the first program for the year 2000 Books and Writing presents 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 re-imagines it in the light of new discoveries. [ more ] Stories by Year [ 2006 & 2005 | 2004 |2003 |2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 ] | |
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