Slow Reader episode 14: Melanie Saward

Slow Reader episode 14: Melanie Saward

Melanie Saward [https://www.littleredwrites.com.au/] has a new book out! Love Unleashed [https://www.penguin.com.au/books/love-unleashed-9781761342080] is a romantic comedy with modern representation of First Nations people. In the 2010’s humour would often revolve around queerphobia, fatphobia and othering in general. Mel’s done a PhD about romantic comedy writing and I could have listened to her talk all the live long day about this juicy area of expertise. Here's Mel's BookTok. [https://www.tiktok.com/404?fromUrl=/littleredwrites] We had a chat for discussing her debut novel Burn [https://affirmpress.com.au/browse/book/Melanie-Saward-Burn-9781922848482], writing adolescent boys so beautifully and the ways people get Acknowledgement of Country wrong. Namely, how to be respectful and heartfelt without taking it over as a white person and honouring the way the Acknowledgement has been created correctly. Protocols exist for a reason, and it’s important to prioritise them. As Melanie said in our discussion: “For settlers, to remind yourself why you’re doing it when you write it into something is really really important….. The bare minimum is to read from a script. The more accepted minimum is to connect with the words and make sure that your delivery is connecting with that.” Cultural Burning is a big part of the story of Burn, and Mel was kind enough to share some resources for us to dig into. Firesticks [https://firesticks.org.au/] is a national Indigenous network that empowers communities to protect and enhance Country and wellbeing by reviving Cultural knowledge practices. Fire Country [https://www.hardiegrant.com/au/publishing/bookfinder/book/fire-country-by-victor-steffensen/9781741177268] by Indigenous land management expert Victor Steffensen is a book that explores Cultural Burns. Dreaming Inside [https://southcoastwriters.org/shop/p/style-03-nt75b] are anthologies written by incarcerated Aboriginal children under the guidance and tutelage of Aunty Barbara Nicholson. More information can be found via South Coast Writers Centre here [https://southcoastwriters.org/nganabarangarai].

Slow Reader Episode 13: Eleanor Elliott Thomas

Eleanor Elliott Thomas [https://www.isolationbear.com/]published her debut novel The Opposite of Success in 2023. We had a chat during the summer school holidays about crowbarring writing into a legal career, the Faber Academy course [https://faberwritingacademy.com.au/writing-a-novel/] that helped shape this work and Thomas' expertise, fat characters who are not the sidekick, people who like their husbands in literary settings and how unsettling that can be for weird reasons, and things like gastro (me) and the excellent author Claire Christian [https://www.claireandpearl.com/] (also me) whose books I forgot the name of in the moment (they are called It's Been a Pleasure, Noni Blake and West Side Honey). Next time I'll be joined by Melanie Saward [https://www.littleredwrites.com.au/], author of Burn.

Slow Reader Episode 12: Emily Hart and Ailsa Wild

Joining me for a belated upload for this episode are two marvellous folks. Ailsa Wild and Emily Hart. Em is up first, giving us the skinny, the 411 on what goes on in publishing. Emily was award the 2022 Rising Star [https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2022/06/06/214953/meet-the-abia-rising-stars-2022-emily-hart/] award at the ABIA awards. At the time of recording (October 2022) Emily was working at Hardie Grant, and has since left the company to go on adventures. We discussed this interview between Richard Fidler and Dr Kaya Wilson [https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/kaya-wilson-conversations-tsunami-transition-queer-history/14020506] if you fancy a listen. Up next was Ailsa Wild [https://www.ailsawild.com/]. As well as being a phenomenal author across multiple genres, Ailsa creates all sorts of things such as The Dementia Podcast [https://www.dementiapodcast.com/], and we discussed her excellent book You'll Be a Wonderful Dad [https://www.booktopia.com.au/you-ll-be-a-wonderful-dad-ailsa-wild/book/9781743798485.html]. We all loved Bodies of Light [https://www.booktopia.com.au/bodies-of-light-jennifer-down/book/9781925773590.html?source=pla&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw7-SvBhB6EiwAwYdCAQxOZA01h0jzxn5BTdg2asS_6PLrJlOgG_P0By6Zgu1NkOdAF5kMGxoC6ccQAvD_BwE] by Jennifer Down [https://www.jenniferdown.com/]. Next episode will feature Eleanor Elliott Thomas [https://www.isolationbear.com/]. Her book The Opposite of Success [https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/the-opposite-of-success] is a RIPPER read, and is available in audio format [https://www.audible.com.au/pd/The-Opposite-of-Success-Audiobook/B0CKM5SBN4].

Slow Reader episode 11: Catherine Deveny

We're back! Joining me for episode 11 is Catherine Deveny. Writer, comedian, public speaker, writing coach, Brunswick loving cafe fiend. We speak about her memoir True North, and this conversation happened fricken ages ago but I got stuck with the editing because it's hard and I didn't want to. Thanks to Aisha for giving me a hand. Ripper. Ok, we're back. http://www.catherinedeveny.com/ Oh also I have a website and if you fancy a gander it's at http://www.jasperpeach.com.au/

Slow Reader episode 10: Eloise Grills

Joining me for episode 10 is Eloise Grills, author of the astonishing and brilliant illustrated memoir big beautiful female theory (all lower case on purpose). We talk about writing the body, the self, awards, shaking off that self conscious buzzing to get in the zone, and a bunch more.  If you're seeing this in time, Eloise will be in conversation at Words in Winter [https://wordsinwinter.com/events/eloise-grills-q-a-with-caitlin/] in August 27th. Eloise's website is here [https://www.eloisegrills.com/]. You can buy big beautiful female theory here [https://www.readings.com.au/products/35146874/big-beautiful-female-theory#]. Next time I'll be chatting with Ailsa Wild, author of You'll Be A Wonderful Dad. Support my work here if you fancy: https://ko-fi.com/jasperpeach [https://ko-fi.com/jasperpeach] - every coffee helps me create content, chips in for equipment costs, brain power and caffeinated beverages.