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The Bookshelf

ABC Australia
The Bookshelf
Latest episode

298 episodes

  • The Bookshelf

    Once We Were Wildlife: Inga Simpson + Hooked: Asako Yuzuki + Helen Bain: The Daffodil Days + a whole bunch more (REVIEWERS: Tony Birch and Beejay Silcox)

    24/04/2026 | 1h 8 mins.
    This week The Bookshelf leans into the wild as Kate Evans and guests are circled by stories of wolves, wild boar and witches, along with the final year of celebrated poet Sylvia Plath and a sensual story of food and obsession from Japan. Kate is joined by regular guests, the novelist, poet and Professor of Australian literature Tony Birch; and critic Beejay Silcox, who arrives fresh from the U.K. ready to talk literary pilgrimages and bookish souvenirs. Plus, a bonus discussion on this year's Stella Prize shortlist.
    ~ BOOKS
    Inga Simpson, Once We Were Wildlife: Stories, Hachette
    Sarah Walker, The Water Takes, Summit Books
    Asako Yuzuki, Hooked, translated from the Japanese by Polly Barton, Fourth Estate
    Helen Bain, The Daffodil Days, Bloomsbury
    Sally O’Reilly, Hagtale, Scribe
    ~ 2026 Stella Prize shortlist
    Evelyn Araluen, The Rot, UQP
    Geraldine Brooks, Memorial Days, Hachette
    Miranda Darling, Fireweather, Scribe
    Lee Lai, Cannon, Giramondo
    Marika Sosnowski, 58 Facets: On violence and the Law, Melbourne University Press  
    Tasma Walton, I am Nannertgarrook, Simon & Schuster
    NOTE: the winner will be announced on 13 May 
    ~ OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED
    Ian McEwan, What We Can Know
    Cormac McCarthy, The Road
    Kim Williams, Dead Man Dance
    John Higgs, Lynchian: The Spell of David Lynch
    Asako Yuzuki, Butter
    Mieko Kawakami, Breasts and Eggs
    Sayaka Murata, Convenience Store Woman; Earthlings
    Emi Yagi, Diary of a Void
    Colum McCann, works
    Fiona McFarlane, Highway 13
    Guillaume Lecasble, Lobster 
    Lucie Rico, Fowl Eulogies
    Robin Robertson, The Long Take
    Jenni Fagan, The Delusions
    James Alistair Henry, Pagans
    Laurie Colwin, Shine On Bright and Dangerous Object
    Tracy Chevalier, Burning Bright 
    ~ CREDITS
    Presenter, Kate Evans
    Producer, Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
    Sound, Roi Huberman and Tegan Nicholls
    Arts Editor, Rhiannon Brown
  • The Bookshelf

    Amitav Ghosh: Ghost-Eye + Edwina Preston: Sororicidal + Gwendoline Riley: The Palm House (REVIEWERS: Madeleine Gray and Tim Rogers)

    17/04/2026 | 54 mins.
    In this episode, Kate and Cassie are joined by celebrated novelist Madeleine Gray and rock icon Tim Rogers for a wide-ranging discussion looking at three works of contemporary fiction: Indian writer Amitav Ghosh’s Ghost Eye, a meditation on reincarnation and climate change; Australian writer and musician Edwina Preston’s Sororicidal, a sharp novel of sisterhood and rivalry; and English stylist Gwendoline Riley’s The Palm House, a disquieting portrait of modern life in London.
    BOOKS
    Amitav Ghosh, Ghost-Eye (John Murray)
    Edwina Preston, Sororicidal (Picador)
    Gwendoline Riley, The Palm House (Picador)
    REVIEWERS
    Madeleine Gray — writer and critic, author of Green Dot and Chosen Family
    Tim Rogers — singer‑songwriter, actor and writer; frontman of You Am I and the Hard‑Ons, currently on a solo tour
    OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED
    Britney Spears memoir
    Sinéad O'Connor, memoir
    Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina
    Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca
    Edwina Preston, Not Just a Suburban Boy; Bad Art Mother
    Simon Mason, DI Wilkins Mysteries
    Clive James, Unreliable Memoirs
    Charlotte McConaghy, Wild Dark Shore
    Wayne Marshall, Henry Goes Bush
    Larry McMurtry, works
    Joe Boyd, And The Roots of Rhythm Remain
    CREDITS
    Presenter, Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
    Producer, Kate Evans and Sarah Corbett
    Sound, Antonia Gauci and Micky Grossman
    Arts editor, Rhiannon Brown
  • The Bookshelf

    Steve Toltz: A Rising of the Lights + Ben Lerner: Transcription + Siân Hughes: No Such Thing as Monday, and plenty more (REVIEWERS: Michael Robotham & Geordie Williamson)

    10/04/2026 | 1h
    Memory, lost conversations and almost-fathers-and sons in Ben Lerner's Transcription; children divided by the throw of a dice, and that's just the start of it, in Steve Toltz's A Rising of the Lights; no such thing as unskilled labour, in Siân Hughes' No Such Thing as Monday, where a woman works as a drycleaner, trying desperately to rid herself of the stains of her childhood; new crime releases, and an Australian in Hollywood is reconsidered. Kate and Cassie with reviewers Michael Robotham and Geordie Williamson.
    BOOKS
    Ben Lerner, Transcription, Granta
    Steve Toltz, A Rising of the Lights, Penguin
    Siân Hughes, No Such Thing as Monday, Penguin
    Tana French, The Keeper, Viking Penguin
    Candice Fox, Redbelly Crossing, Penguin
    Patricia A. O'Brien, Errol Flynn: The true story of Australia's Hollywood Icon, Allen & Unwin
    [Keep scrolling for other books and writers mentioned in the discussion]
    GUESTS
    Michael Robotham is an internationally-acclaimed crime writer whose books include the Joseph O'Loughlan and Evie Cormac series. His latest novel is The White Crow — and his next one, Tell Me Something True, will be his first to be set in Australia
    Geordie Wiliamson is a literary critic, writer and publisher at Picador, whose books include a critical study of Alexis Wright in the Black Inc Writers on Writers series; and The Burning Library — on neglected Australian writers
    Other books mentioned in the discussion
    Karl Ove Knausgård, works
    Rachel Cusk, works
    W G Sebald, works
    Alexander Kluge, works
    David Foster Wallace, works
    Jonathan Franzen, works
    Wallace Stevens, works
    Les Murray, works
    Saul Bellow, works
    Philip Roth, works
    P D James, works
    Agatha Christie, works
    Sam Twyford-Moore, Cast Mates: Australian Actors in Hollywood and at Home
    CREDITS
    Presenters: Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh
    Producers: Kate Evans, Sarah Corbett, Tracey Trompf
    Sound Engineers: Craig Tilmouth, Roi Huberman
    A/ Arts Editor: Sarah Corbett
  • The Bookshelf

    The Bookshelf Festival Special: Irish Writer Colum McCann

    03/04/2026 | 54 mins.
    What does it mean to write using an 'ethical imagination'? Colum McCann onstage with Kate Evans at the 2025 Melbourne Writers Festival, on his novels Twist, Apeirogon, TransAtlantic, Let the Great World Spin and many more; and his work with the social justice storytelling movement, Narrative Four.
    Presenter/ Producer: Kate Evans
    Sound Engineers: Simon Branthwaite, Antonia Gauci
    Acting Arts Editor: Sarah L'Estrange
  • The Bookshelf

    The Bookshelf Special

    03/04/2026 | 54 mins.
    We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.

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About The Bookshelf

What are you reading, loving or being challenged by? We review the latest in fiction for dedicated readers and for those who wish they read more.
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