Secrets from the Green Room

Karen and Irma chat about the challenges of being able to accept praise. Then Irma talks with Katherine Collette about how co-hosting The First Time podcast was life-changing, her most excruciating experience with the podcast, the excitement of overseas deals for her debut novel and the huge low that followed, how the US market differs from the ANZ market, the secrecy around book sales, the challenges in moving from writing books for adults to writing for kids, how to write humour on the page, how to navigate the emotional headspace of writing, the best and worst advice she’s received, the odd liminal space that unpublished writers can exist in for years when they are ‘not quite there yet’, the key things debut authors commonly don’t understand when they enter the publishing process, and why she doesn’t think social media promo makes much difference to sales. About KatherineKatherine Collette has written two novels for adults, The Helpline and The Competition. She has also written and illustrated Out of Bounds, the first in the children’s book series The Too Tall Tales of Alma T Best, and was co-host of The First Time podcast. She is a former engineer and current writing coach.

In this discussion, Cate Kennedy, an award-winning Australian author and creative writing teacher, dives into her journey as a writer. She shares the thrill of her first big break with The New Yorker, explaining how it reshaped her career. Cate likens writing short stories to diving into a pool, highlighting the intensity of the experience. She discusses overcoming procrastination and the impact of judging awards on her craft. Additionally, she recounts a charming anecdote about a mysterious tea encounter in a green room, showcasing the warmth of the literary community.

Irma and Karen chat about their top books from the last 12 months. Then Karen chats with lifelong activist and former politician Bob Brown about why writing is so important to activism, why storytelling with intent is important, how he approached writing his memoir, why the practice of writing notes while out in nature is key, the ways in which writing fiction is important in getting people to think about other lives and issues, why he’s given up writing his speeches, the ways in which hope sustains him, how collaboration with other artists is fundamental to his work, and his friendship with Richard Flanagan.About BobBob Brown is a former politician and leader of the Australian Greens party. He’s also an environmentalist and activist. Bob was a founder of the Wilderness Society and a key campaigner to save the Franklin River from being dammed. Since then, Bob has campaigned tirelessly on many social justice and environmental issues, including the establishment of protected wilderness areas, the preservation of native forests, threatened and endangered species, and action on climate change and human rights. Bob has written a number of books for different audiences, including memoir, poetry, children’s fiction, travel, and stunning photo books. 

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) Omar Musa chats with Irma about how growing up in an artistic family set his course, why he stopped reading and writing during a dark period and how a new form of expression saved him, the ways in which earning a living from the thing you love can be deeply problematic, why winning the Australian Poetry Slam took him to UWRF and was a gateway into the literary world, why he wants to challenge his own assumptions and biases through his work, why he found it so difficult to go from poetry to writing his first novel, what it’s like collaborating with his cellist wife, and how he deals with deep fear and self-doubt.About OmarOmar Musa is a Bornean-Australian author, visual artist and poet. He has released four poetry books, four hip-hop records, and a novel, Here Come the Dogs, which was long-listed for the International Dublin Literary Award and Miles Franklin Award. In 2015, he was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year. His one-man play, Since Ali Died, won Best Cabaret Show at the Sydney Theatre Awards in 2018. He has had several solo exhibitions of his woodcut prints, and his most recent book, Killernova, combines prints and poetry. His next novel Fierceland is out 2025, and here at the Ubud Writers and Readers festival he is performing The Offering with cellist Mariel Roberts.

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Bora Chung chats with Irma about how she wrote her first short story solely for prize money but it eventually led to a short fiction collection that was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, why her publisher thought an approach from Anton Hur to translate her collection into English was a scam, what it was like to be at the Booker Prize ceremony and the strange thing every judge said to her, how the Booker has impacted her career, why she doesn’t translate her own work into English even though she is a translator herself, the future of AI in terms of both writing and translation, why she translates books just for fun without the promise of a publishing contract, and why her Indian publisher recently submitting Your Utopia for a small Indian prize has meant more to her than shortlisting for the Booker.About BoraBora Chung has written four novels and six collections of short stories. In 2022, her collection Cursed Bunny was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2023, it was a finalist in the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature. She has an MA in Russian and East European studies from Yale University, and a PhD in Slavic literature from Indiana University. She has taught Russian language and literature and science fiction studies at Yonsei University, and translates modern literary works from Russian and Polish into Korean.

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Laura Jean McKay chats with Irma about the experience of touring her books to the UK, why she threw up in a caravan sink after finishing her novel, how the publishing landscape for short fiction has changed over the last two decades, a disastrous book event that ended up in an Oscar-winning performance, writing about big political themes, the surreal experience of recording her audiobook during the pandemic, why winning prizes can be a lonely experience, the overwhelming and unexpected support of the sci-fi community, how to develop writing muscles, the worst writing advice she received from a very famous author, why a serious illness altered the development of her novel, and the practical methods that she used to climb out of an intense period of writer’s block.About Laura Jean MackayLaura Jean McKay is the author of The Animals in That Country - winner of the prestigious Arthur C Clarke Award, The Victorian Prize for Literature, the ABIA Small Publishers Adult Book of the Year and co-winner of the Aurealis Award for Best Science Fiction Novel 2021. Laura is also the author of Holiday in Cambodia and was Adjunct Lecturer in Creative Writing at Massey University. Her latest collection is Gunflower, shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Award and named one of The Guardian’s best books of 2023.

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Aube Rey Lescure chats with Irma about how she initially followed a friend’s advice not to become a writer but then ditched law to pursue it anyway, how being multilingual impacts the way she writes, why she refused to follow the career trajectory her creative writing course advised, why she got fixated on publishing a book before she was 30 – and then was forced to let go of it, how her mum’s April Fool’s joke led to an important plot line in her debut novel, how she approached writing from different POVs, why she let go of the need for external valuation – and was then shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the pressure of writing the second novel, the impact of her essay on women’s safety, what she learnt from the publication day disappointment of not finding her book in stores, and the phone call that made her squeal on the streets.ABOUT AUBE REY LESCUREAube Rey Lescure is a French-Chinese-American writer. She grew up between Provence, northern China, and Shanghai, and graduated from Yale in 2015. Her debut novel, River East, River West, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024, and her fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in Guernica, Best American Essays, The Florida Review online, and more. She has also co-authored and translated two books on Chinese politics and economics, and is the Deputy Editor at literary magazine Off Assignment. 

In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival Nam Le chats with Irma about why his first unpublished novel was a spectacular failure but still worthwhile, why for a long time he was a secret writer and the renowned Iowa Writers Workshop was him ‘coming out’ to the world, how he naively thought the crazy success of The Boat was what all writers experienced, why Nam made a pact with himself that he would find the good in every publicity question, how his publisher felt about him wanting to publish a poetry collection – notoriously the smallest selling genre – and why he had to fight for the book in the US market, the ways in which he is wrestling with his cultural identity and the notion that he must represent a particular voice, why he puts so much pressure on himself as a writer, the good and the bad of the writers’ room on film and TV projects, and how self-doubt can become damaging.ABOUT NAM LENam Le burst onto the literary scene in 2008 with his collection of short fiction, The Boat, which was translated into 14 languages and won every prize imaginable, including the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. It was also selected as a New York Times Notable Book and named book of the year by everyone from The Guardian to The Australian. Since then Nam has published a monograph, On David Malouf, as part of the Writers on Writers series, and most recently a collection of poetry, 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem. He has also written for film and television.

JP Pomare, a bestselling Māori author from New Zealand, shares his journey from writing to accidentally embracing crime fiction. He discusses the thrill of publishing seven novels in six years and the nuanced appeal of crime stories. JP reflects on the importance of research, revealing humor in his odd attempt to break into a prison for his work. He also recounts an embarrassing library event that marked a low point in his career. His passion for transcending genre limitations shines through as he explores deeper themes of justice in his stories.

Irma and Karen chat about the upcoming Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. Then Karen talks to Kylie Needham about how a short story turned into her debut novel, the joys and challenges of writing for television and the screen, the collaboration of the writers’ room and the vulnerabilities of the process, what writing scripts taught her about moving the narrative forward, whether authors should get involved with screen adaptions of their work, the inequality and sexism of television in the 2000s, and a beautiful moment with a literature high school teacher decades later.About KylieKylie Needham is an award-winning screenwriter. She has won two AWGIE (Australian Writers’ Guild) Awards for television scriptwriting, and her work has been published in several literary journals. Her first novel, Girl in a Pink Dress, published in 2023, won the MUD Literary Prize for the best debut literary novel by an Australian author, and also won the MARION Writers Prize for Fiction.