The Bookshelf Sydney Writer's Festival: The State of the Art of the Novel
Jul 10, 2025
54:06
A panel of international authors discuss the current state of the art of fiction. The latest Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey, Rumaan Alam, Torrey Peters, and Robbie Arnott find connections in their writing and their bookshelves.
PANELLISTS
- Samantha Harvey, an English writer whose five novels include The Wilderness, Dear Thief, and the 2024 Booker Prize winner, Orbital. Her non-fiction work is The Shapeless Unease: A Year of Not Sleeping
- Rumaan Alam, an American writer whose five novels include Rich and Pretty, Leave the World Behind and Entitlement.
- Torrey Peters, an American writer of novels, short stories and novellas, including her debut novel Detransition, Baby and a new collection, Stag Dance.
- Robbie Arnott, an Australian writer whose novels are Flames, The Rain Heron, Limberlost and Dusk.
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OTHER BOOKS MENTIONED
- Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain
- George Orwell, 1984
- Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven
- Melanie Cheng, The Burrow
- Helen Garner, The Children’s Bach
- Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
- Edward St Aubyn, Parallel Lines
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CREDITS
- Presenter, Kate Evans
- Producer, Kate Evans & Salome Lines-Morison
- Sound Engineer, Simon Branthwaite & Timothy Jenkins
- Executive Producer, Rhiannon Brown