The Book Show

From Sydney Writers Festival, two bestselling writers, David Nicholls and Liane Moriarty, reveal what it's like to see their stories go from the page to the screen.The British writer David Nicholls is best known for his novel One Day, which has been adapted to film and to television.While Australia's Liane Moriarty has seen every one of her books optioned for the screen and hit the big time with the starry TV adaptation of her novel Big Little Lies.David and Liane also discuss their latest novels, You Are Here and Here One Moment.

Kaliane Bradley shares the serious side to her obsession with muttonchops and time travel, with her book The Ministry of Time, and Rumaan Alam reflects on the success of his novels, Entitlement and Leave the World Behind which was adapted to the screen starring Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke.British Cambodian author Kaliane Bradley shares the inspiration behind her hit 2024 debut The Ministry of Time. It's a time travel novel that began during lockdown when Kaliane became obsessed with the failed 19th century Franklin Arctic Expedition and one of the officers on board who sported seductive muttonchops and a twinkle in his eye.Rumaan Alam is the American author of four novels but is most known for his 2020 end-of-the-world thriller Leave the World Behind. He followed it up with Entitlement which is about a young black woman working for very rich, old white man. Both works explore the similar territory of race, power and privilege.Kaliane Bradley and Rumaan Alam spoke to Claire Nichols at Melbourne Writers Festival. 

Irish writer Marian Keyes on family, wisdom, and writing through the chaos. At Margaret River, she chats with Claire Nichols about her 16th novel, My Favourite Mistake, and the Walsh sisters she’s loved for 30 years.

Irish writer Eimear McBride revisits favourite characters on a rainy night, actor-turned-writer Tasma Walton dredges up a family story of abduction and James Bradley's crime novel about climate catastrophe.Irish writer Eimear McBride is a past winner of the Women's Prize for Fiction whose writing is celebrated for its originality and inventive use of language. In her latest novel, The City Changes its Face (Faber), Eimear revisits the main characters of her second novel The Lesser Bohemians about actors Stephen and Eily's love affair despite the 20 year age gap. Eimear tells Claire Nichols she was drawn back to their story because they're everything she loves to write about. Listen to Claire's 2020 interview with Eimear about her previous novel, Strange Hotel.   Actor-turned-writer, Tasma Walton (The Twelve, Mystery Road), explains the personal story behind her second novel I Am Nannertgarrook (Bundyi) which is about the abduction of one of her Boonwurrung Indigenous ancestors by sealers.Australian author James Bradley is no stranger to the burgeoning genre of cli-fi (climate fiction) but his novel Landfall (Penguin) marks his first foray into crime. It's set in a near future Sydney devastated by climate change when a child has gone missing as a dangerous storm approaches.

Palestinian American playwright Betty Shamieh turns to fiction in Too Soon, a nuanced and lusty story of three generations of Palestinian women and the times that shape them. Australian author and TV screen writer Debra Oswald follows the eventful life of a gritty, strong woman in One Years of Betty. And in her biting satire Mother Tongue, Naima Brown asks, if you could change your life, could you live with what you left behind?

Booker Prize shortlisted Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma joined Claire Nichols at Byron Writers Festival to discuss his latest novel The Road to the Country about civil war in Nigeria.Now based in the US, Chigozie Obioma's first two novels The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019) were shortlisted for The Booker Prize. His third novel The Road to the Country is about the Biafran War that tore through Nigeria from 1967 to 1970. At the Byron Writers Festival, he reflected on the idea imparted by his mother that 'stories of war are never complete', why she hasn't read his book and tells Claire Nichols what it was like growing up in a large family. First Broadcast 19 August 2024

American writer Gregory Maguire joins Claire Nichols in a rare and revealing conversation about the evolution of his Wicked series that inspired the popular musical and movies. Once again, with Elphie: A Wicked Childhood, Gregory draws on the iconic Wizard of Oz characters and settings, this time concentrating on the childhood years of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Also, meet Nuzo Onoh, who is described as the African Queen of Horror. An award-winning Nigerian British writer, her latest novel, Where the Dead Brides Gather, is a tale of ghostly brides and a supernatural child.

A small family lives on a remote island, the father a caretaker for the world's seeds. Then in the rising seas, a woman is washed up to shore. Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore is a mystery, a story of love, and a warning. Melbourne-based writer Sean Wilson offers an empathetic glimpse into the fractured mind of an elderly woman with dementia in his novella, You Must Remember This. And Chris Flynn, in his latest speculative fiction Orpheus Nine begins at a regional junior soccer game where something very weird is happening, and the world is changed forever.

A mother escapes a controlling husband. But that is just the beginning. Nesting, the debut novel from award-winning Irish writer Roisin O'Donnell takes us to the next step, finding a safe home. Also, English Ghanaian author Maame Blue, who now lives in Melbourne, on the struggles of uncovering memories in her novel The Rest of You, and in Love Unedited Australian author Caro Llewellyn explores a passionate romance between an editor and a writer.

Award-winning Moroccan American author Laila Lalami imagines a world where the most intimate aspects of life are mined for data in her speculative fiction, The Dream Hotel. Australian Chinese writer Steve MinOn goes on a generational discovery tour with a corpse in his debut novel First Name Second Name. And Madeleine Ryan's The Knowing reflects on the anxieties of modern life and ambition.