Michelle chats with Dr Toby Davidson, editor of Francis Webb's Collected Poems, about the comic element in his poetry of the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Webb (1925 - 73) is an enigma, a postwar prodigy respected by some of the loftiest names in Australian poetry - Judith Wright, Gwen Harwood, Les Murray, Robert Adamson - but largely unknown to the general public. 2025 marks 100 years since the poet's birth, and the Francis Webb Centenary will be marked with essays, podcasts and tribute readings to shine a fresh light on this North Sydney genius who astonished his contemporaries with his white-hot talent and fierce questioning of social norms, both of which are immediately evident in his character sketches, Shakespearean clowns and spiky satirical ripostes.

Francis Webb Centenary homepage (hosted by UWA Publishing):

https://uwap.uwa.edu.au/blogs/marginalia/centenary-of-major-australian-poet-francis-webb?srsltid=AfmBOooROr-1QfHD21zlUOLgdi1IveEr8AHUiZBW-VA5gVwNxG3SwIU9

Ian Dickson's 2022 recital of 'A Drum for Ben Boyd' from the Australian Book Review podcast, introduced by ABR poetry editor John Hawke:

https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/podcast/760-the-abr-podcast/8039-on-the-australian-poet-francis-webb-the-abr-podcast-66

Michelle talks to author and NASA astrophysicist Alan Smale about his science fiction series Apollo Rising. Alan also wrote the alternate history trilogy Clash of Eagles. Lachlan Marnoch, Macquarie University PhD researcher in astrophysics and science fiction writer and reader, helps Michelle navigate the terrain of 'hard' sci-fi.

This week Michelle and Dr James Mackenzie discuss the controversial, highly acclaimed, and highly divisive film, The Substance. Join them as they discuss intertextuality, body horror, and the universality of this phenomenal film. If you haven't seen the film yet, it is highly recommended that you watch the film first before listening to this podcast as James and Michelle will be discussing spoilers!

Join Michelle as she talks Romance and writing with award-winning author and academic at Flinders University, Amy Matthews. Amy also writes as Amy T. Matthews and hosts two podcasts Word Docs and Love on Campus. As Amy Barry, she is also the author of the beloved Old West Romance series, The McBrides of Montana.

Join Michelle as she talks with prize-winning author Katerina Gibson about her new novel The Temperature.

Katerina Gibson (1994) is a writer and bookseller living in Naarm. Her debut collection Women I Know won the 2023 Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, the Steele Rudd Award, and was shortlisted for the Glenda Adams Prize for New Writing. Her stories have appeared in HEAT, Granta, Overland, The Griffith Review, the Lifted Brow, Meanjin, and New Australian Fiction, among other places. Her story ‘Fertile Soil’ was the Pacific region winner of the 2021 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, and was later translated into Italian.

Katerina was named SMH 2023 Best Young Australian Novelist. Her debut novel The Temperature is forthcoming with Scribner in September 2024.

Katerina is represented by Caitlan Cooper-Trent at Curtis Brown:

caitlan@curtisbrown.com.au

https://www.katerinagibson.com/

Join us today for a live recording of Dr Mykaela Saunders' Always Will Be Book Launch. Mykaela discussed her prize-winning book with Michelle, and the event was held at the Writers and Readers Lounge, Macquarie University, Wallumatta, Dharug Country.

Join Michelle as she talks with prize-winning author, poet and theorist, Michelle Cahill. Daisy and Woolf was published to much critical acclaim in 2022 by Hachette. It's now on the cusp of publication in India. An anticolonial reframing of Virginia Woolf's Mrs Dalloway, Michelle Cahill puts 'the dark, adorable' Eurasian side-character Daisy front and centre in this stunning novel.

For mroe information on Michelle Cahill, please visit her website: https://michellecahill.com/

Join Michelle as she talks with author Kyra Geddes about writing and publishing The Story Thief, a novel about a young woman growing up in Sydney during the 1920s, and her connection to the iconic Henry Lawson short story, 'The Drover's Wife'.