The Book Show

The Yolnu people of the Northern Territory had a fruitful trading relationship with the Makassar people from Indonesia long before Australia was colonised. Yolnu people would even visit Makassar, some never returned.In A Piece of Red Cloth, Arnhem Land writer Leonie Norrington, who has collaborated with three elders from the region, including Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, evokes some of the stories told about the relationships formed and cultural exchanges. But there are tensions. Some Yolnu people are suspicious of the intentions of the Makassar traders, alcohol is free-flowing and Yolnu women are particularly vulnerable.

In this episode of My Biggest Book, where prominent authors reminisce about the book that defined their career, Roddy Doyle reflects on the times and difficulties of publishing The Commitments.A comic novel about a group of Irish youth who form a soul band, it's a brash and honest portrayal of working-class Dublin. It was rejected by numerous publishers, but Roddy persisted by self publishing.The Commitments became a hit, was made into a successful film and stage play. It also formed a trilogy about the same community, including The Snapper and The Van.

Eowyn Ivey is best known for her magical debut novel, The Snow Child, a book set in her home state of Alaska.Her new book, Black Woods Blue Sky is also set in the beautiful and rugged wilds of Alaska, with magic and an unusual love story at its core, featuring a single mother finding tenderness in the unexpected. But does this love come at a cost?

For journalist and writer Nikki Gemmell her Biggest Book was a huge commercial success, but it had a sensational effect on her life and work.The Bride Stripped Bare delves into the secret life of a married woman, her frustrations, longings and sexual fantasies with graphic details of her encounters. The woman in her 30s has mysteriously disappeared and her body never found. Like her unnamed character, Nikki Gemmell wanted to embrace what she saw as the subversive freedom of anonymity, when it was first published in 2003. As Nikki tells Claire, her life was stripped bare after it was leaked that she was the author.

Claire speaks to Juhea Kim about her latest novel which centres around an elite Russian ballet dancer returning to the stage after a serious injury.The City of Night Birds is a meditation on the purity and pain of artistic expression but also investigates its purpose in a fractured world. 

In this episode of My Biggest Book, where prominent authors ponder their breakthrough novels, Emma Donaghue recalls her 2010 novel Room.Inspired by the famous Fritzl case, it's about a boy and his mother held captive in a small room, the only world the child, Jack, has ever known. The book was shortlisted for the Booker and in 2015 the film version was released. That adaptation was also written by Emma Donoghue, and it won an Oscar for Brie Larson, who played Jack's mother, Ma. But these accolades came later in her writing career and Emma has some sage advice for younger authors.

David Baldacci is the bestselling writer of heroes like Mickey Gibson and Aloysius Archer. He's written 50 books for adults as well as novels for younger readers. Some of his stories have been made into blockbuster movies or TV series. His latest, To Die For, features undercover agent Travis Devine as he faces his biggest challenge yet, protecting a 12 year old girl.At just over 75 pages, Sara Haddad's The Sunbird, a parable about a Palestinian woman in her 80s haunted by an attack on her hometown is concise and passionate. So much so that a group of prominent Australian writers sent the novella as part of suggested educational reading about conflict in the Middle East to every MP in the country.

There's an extra element to this second episode of My Biggest Book, where some of the world's biggest authors reminisce about their all-time biggest books.Hanif Kureishi's comedic novel The Buddha of Suburbia, about a father and a mixed race teenager growing up in the suburbs of 1970's South London won awards and was adapted to a successful TV series.Following the devastating accident that left him a tetraplegic and in a wheelchair, Hanif Kureishi now has a very different perspective. In a colourful and spirited conversation he describes how this accident two years ago transformed his views both on this debut novel as well as the themes and approaches to his current writing, including his memoir Shattered.

Look in any library or book shop at any time of year and there's bound to be a newly released Alexander McCall Smith novel on the shelf. Most known for his No 1 Ladies' Detectives Agency Series, the 44 Scotland Series, and even books for children, he also writes standalone novels. Hear how he uses the seasons to write up to five books a year, including one of the latest, The Winds from Further West, Polygon.

What is it like to write a book that changes your life? Some of the world’s biggest authors reminisce about their all-time biggest books – the novels that changed their lives.In the first of this breakthrough series Audrey Niffenegger reflects on her debut novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife.  The 2003 book, about time-travelling librarian Henry and his artist wife Clare, was an instant bestseller. It’s been adapted to the screen twice, as a film in 2009 and a TV series in 2022.