Fully Lit

40. We Carry Each Other's Stories: Isabelle Li with Gail Jones

What do we owe to the people we love? And how do we carry each other’s stories through time? In this episode of Fully Lit, Chinese-Australian writer Isabelle Li joins acclaimed novelist Gail Jones to discuss The Northern Tomb, a sweeping and deeply humane novel about family, memory, obligation and belonging. Set in northern China and spanning decades of personal and political history, the novel follows an ageing former government official, his family, and Sister Fu, the quiet carer whose compassion and attention bring their stories into focus. Together, Li and Jones explore kinship, care, ageing, grief, friendship and the responsibilities we hold towards one another. They discuss the power of storytelling, the role of memory in shaping identity, and the ways literature can deepen our understanding of lives beyond our own experience. At the centre of it all is a simple but profound question: how do we learn to care for one another? This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at Gleebooks on Gadigal land in Sydney. Voices Isabelle Li is a Chinese Australian writer and translator whose works include the short story collection A Chinese Affair and the novel The Northern Tomb. Gail Jones is one of Australia’s most acclaimed novelists, the author of eleven novels, whose work has been translated widely and recognised with numerous major literary awards. Credits This episode was recorded on Gadigal land at Sydney's Gleebooks - for more literary events like this one, see the Gleebooks events page. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Recorded by Gleebooks. Mixed by Regina Botros. Further Reading The Northern Tomb by Isabelle Li (Puncher & Wattman, 2026) A Chinese Affair by Isabelle Li (Margaret River Press, 2016) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez The Selected Stories of Lu Xun Gail Jones' latest novel is The Name of the Sister (Text, 2025) For more conversations about fiction, storytelling and contemporary Australian writing, explore the Fully Lit back catalogue.

39. Writing the Life of A.D. Hope

What makes a literary reputation endure, and why do some writers disappear from view despite once standing at the centre of a nation's culture? In this episode biographer Susan Lever joins poet and critic Peter Kirkpatrick to discuss her major new biography, A.D. Hope, tracing the life of a writer whose career spanned almost the entire twentieth century. From rural Tasmania and Sydney University to Oxford, Canberra and the centre of Australian literary life, the conversation examines Hope's poetry, criticism and public intellectual role, as well as the literary debates that shaped his reputation. Along the way, Lever explores Hope's relationships with figures including James McAuley, Patrick White and Manning Clark, his attitudes to modernism, censorship and religion, and the tensions between his public persona and private life. The discussion also considers Hope's place in Australian literary history today. This conversation coincides with the publication of a review of Susan Lever’s A.D. Hope in the Sydney Review of Books, offering another perspective on Hope’s life, work and legacy. This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at Gleebooks on Gadigal land in Sydney. Voices Susan Lever is one of Australia’s leading literary critics and biographers, whose books include studies of Australian fiction and the acclaimed biography A.D. Hope. Peter Kirkpatrick is a poet, literary historian and Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Sydney, whose work explores Australian poetry, popular culture and literary history. Credits This episode was recorded on Gadigal land at Sydney's Gleebooks - for more literary events like this one, see the Gleebooks events page. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Recorded by Gleebooks. Mixed by Regina Botros. Further Reading A.D. Hope by Susan Lever Damian Maher reviews Susan Lever’s biography of A.D. Hope, published in the Sydney Review of Books The Wandering Islands by A.D. Hope Collected Poems 1930–1970 by A.D. Hope The Cave and the Spring: Essays on Poetry by A.D. Hope The Best Australian Poems of A.D. Hope, edited by David Brooks The Wild Reciter: Poetry and Popular Culture in Australia, 1890–2020 by Peter Kirkpatrick

38. Afterlife Animals : Live from Addi Road Writers Festival

What remains after loss? How do we carry the people, places and versions of ourselves that are gone? And can art help us make sense of what endures? In this episode of Fully Lit, writer and broadcaster Sarah Runcie is joined by poet Vaughn Upward Garcia, musician Helen Franzmann, and writer and artist Judith Nangala Crispin for a wide-ranging conversation about grief, creativity and survival. Garcia reflects on recovery, reinvention and the journey behind his debut collection Poems from the Afterlife. Franzmann discusses the making of Jay Marie, Comfort Me, an album shaped by the death of her sister and the search for comfort in grief. And Crispin explores death, Country, memory and belonging through her remarkable verse novel Dingo’s Noctuary. Together, they consider what remains after loss, how art helps us navigate absence, and why love and grief are often inseparable. Along the way, they discuss sobriety, family, music, landscape, First Nations knowledge, and the stories we carry from one life into the next. At its heart, this is a conversation about transformation, and the ways creativity can help us make meaning from what endures. This episode was recorded live at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival. Voices Sarah Runcie is a writer, broadcaster and arts journalist whose work spans literature, music, theatre and cultural commentary. Judith Nangala Crispin is an award-winning poet, visual artist and conservationist, and the author of the verse novel Dingo’s Noctuary. Helen Franzmann is a singer-songwriter, musician and member of Mess Esque, whose work blends intimate lyricism with dreamlike, atmospheric soundscapes. Vaughn Upward Garcia is a Queanbeyan-based poet and performer whose debut collection, Poems from the Afterlife, explores class, recovery, mortality and belonging. Credits This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival on Gadigal land in Sydney. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Recorded and mixed by Daniel Wiggins Further Reading Poems from the Afterlife by Vaughn Upward Garcia Dingo’s Noctuary by Judith Nangala Crispin Jay Marie, Comfort Me by Mess Esque For more conversations on poetry, storytelling and contemporary Australian literature, explore the Fully Lit back catalogue.

37. What Books Know: Angela O'Keeffe

In conversation with Amy Sambrooke, Angela O’Keeffe discusses a book that asks an unusual and beguiling question: what if a book could think, feel and observe the world around it? Partly narrated by a sentient novel, Phantom Days follows a book as it moves between readers, witnessing intimate lives and uncovering secrets that its human characters cannot see. Along the way, the novel explores motherhood, memory, longing, truth and the strange relationship between writers, readers and the stories that connect them. O’Keeffe reflects on the novel’s origins, the challenge of writing from a book’s perspective, and the experience of returning to the manuscript after a cancer diagnosis and treatment. The conversation also touches on Virginia Woolf, Dostoevsky, Mark Rothko, faith, creativity and the mystery of where stories come from. Phantom Days is a novel about what survives after we let things go, and the lives books continue to live long after they leave their authors behind. This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at Gleebooks on Gadigal land in Sydney. Voices Angela O’Keeffe is the author of Night Blue, The Sitter and Phantom Days, novels that blend art, imagination and storytelling in strikingly original ways. Amy Sambrooke is CEO of Varuna, the National Writers’ House, and a passionate advocate for Australian writers and literature Credits This episode was recorded on Gadigal land at Sydney's Gleebooks - for more literary events like this one, see the Gleebooks events page. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Further Reading Phantom Days by Angela O’Keeffe The Sitter by Angela O’Keeffe Night Blue by Angela O’Keeffe Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Selected writings of Virginia Woolf Works by Mark Rothko referenced throughout the discussion.

36. What Makes a Writer: Live at the Sydney Writers Festival Paramatta

In this episode of Fully Lit, we bring you a live recording from the Sydney Writers’ Festival in Parramatta. Hosted by James Jiang, editor of the Sydney Review of Books, the panel brings together Maxine Beneba Clarke, Yumna Kassab and Eda Gunaydin for a wide-ranging conversation on what makes a writer. From early reading habits and first attempts at writing, to questions of craft, the discussion moves across the genres of fiction, memoir and poetry — exploring how writers navigate the realities of sustaining a writing life on and off the page. Fittingly, given its setting, the conversation also centres Western Sydney as both place and influence. Thoughtful, candid and often funny, this is a rich discussion about storytelling and the impulses behind writing itself. Voices Maxine Beneba Clark is an award-winning writer, poet and artist whose work explores race, identity, family and belonging. Yumna Kassab is a writer whose fiction explores memory, migration, identity and the complexities of human connection. Eda Gunaydin is a writer, critic and researcher whose sharp, insightful work examining class, culture, migration and identity in contemporary Australia. James Jiang is a writer, editor and critic, and the editor of the Sydney Review of Books Credits This episode of Fully Lit was made on Gadigal land in Sydney. Fully Lit podcast is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Recorded by the City of Parramatta

35. Looking Closely: Lisa Gorton and Bella Li

In this episode of Fully Lit, we bring you a live recording from Melbourne with two poets in conversation, Lisa Gorton and Bella Li. Gorton reflects on nearly two decades of writing, moving between history, visual art and poetry. The discussion centres on the new sequence Caesars, where the Mona Lisa opens out into questions of looking, perception and meaning and how images continue to speak across time. It's a rich conversation about poetry, visual art, and the creative tension between history and invention. Voices Lisa Gorton is a poet, novelist and essayist whose work has won major Australian literary awards, including the Prime Minister’s Prize for Fiction and the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Poetry. Her recent poetry collection is Mirror Landscape (2024). Bella Li is the author of Argosy, Lost Lake and Theory of Colours. A winner of the Victorian and NSW Premier’s literary awards for poetry, her work has appeared in HEAT, The Saturday Paper and Australian Poetry Journal. Credits This episode of Fully Lit was made on Gadigal land in Sydney. Fully Lit podcast is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Recorded by Michelle Ransom-Hughes Further reading Mirror Landscape by Lisa Gorton (2024) Hotel Hyperion by Lisa Gorton Mirabilia by Lisa Gorton The Life of John Donne by Izaak Walton (discussed through Gorton's doctoral work on Donne) The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari Works by Emily Dickinson (discussed in relation to Gorton's use of the dash) Works by Salvador Dalí and the Surrealists (referenced in discussion of the Mona Lisa) The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

34. Celebrating NAIDOC week

This NAIDOC Week, Fully Lit revisits some of the standout conversations in our back catalogue with First Nations writers, critics and publishers. As a podcast about Australian literature, we believe First Nations storytelling sits at the heart of what is most vital, challenging and exciting about writing on this continent. Stories have been told here for tens of thousands of years, and First Nations writers continue to reshape how we read, write and think about literature. This special NAIDOC Week message is a reminder of just a few of the First Nations writers, critics and publishing leaders featured across the Fully Lit catalogue. We encourage you to revisit the original episodes to hear these ideas explored in depth, from cultural rigour and criticism, to genre and representation, and sovereignty in publishing. Together, these conversations challenge accepted narratives, expand our understanding of Australian literature, and remind us of the power of stories to shape the national conversation. Voices Graham Akhurst is a Kokomini writer and the author of Borderland (UWAP). Melanie Saward is a Bigambul and Wakka Wakka woman, author, academic, and publishing all-rounder Anita Heiss is an internationally published, award-winning author of 25 books across genres. Credits This episode of Fully Lit was made on Gadigal land in Sydney. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Produced by Regina Botros. Further Listening Episode 3: Cultural Rigour – First Nations Writing and Its Critics A conversation with Jeanine Leane and Graham Akhurst on First Nations literary criticism, reading practices and cultural authority. Episode 4: Cognitive Imperialism – Losing the Colonial Baggage Melanie Saward discusses genre fiction, representation and the freedom to tell stories beyond colonial expectations. Episode 7: Sovereign Stories – First Nations Publishing Anita Heiss explores sovereignty in publishing and the need for First Nations-led editing, publishing and storytelling. For more conversations with First Nations writers, critics and thinkers, explore the Fully Lit back catalogue.

33. Southern Connections: Live at Addi Road Writers Festival

In this episode of Fully Lit, recorded live at the Addison Road Writers’ Festival, we explore the richness and diversity of contemporary Latin American literature. Writer Yumna Kassab joins Uruguayan author and translator Rosario Lázaro Igoa in conversation with literary translator Chris Andrews to discuss the writers, genres and ideas shaping Latin American literature today. Moving beyond the literary Boom of the 1960s and 70s, they reflect on the work of contemporary writers including Mariana Enríquez, Samanta Schweblin, Guadalupe Nettel and Nona Fernández, and consider the growing visibility of women writers in translation. The conversation ranges across horror, short fiction, essays and crónicas, while also exploring the enduring influence of writers such as Jorge Luis Borges, Clarice Lispector, Felisberto Hernández and Horacio Quiroga. Along the way, they discuss translation, experimentation, literary form and what makes Latin American literature so exciting for readers and writers alike. Voices Yumna Kassab is a writer whose fiction explores memory, migration, identity and the complexities of human connection. Rosario Lázaro Igoa is a Uruguayan, novelist, essayist, and literary translator. Chris Andrews is a translator, scholar and researcher in twentieth and twenty-first century Hispanic and francophone literatures. Credits This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival on Gadigal land in Sydney. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Recorded & Mixed by Maksim Voloshin-Cleary. Further Reading The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernández The Body Where I Was Born by Guadalupe Nettel 19 Claws and a Black Bird by Agustina Bazterrica Empty Words by Mario Levrero A Last Supper of Queer Apostles by Pedro Lemebel The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges and Margarita Guerrero

32. Erin Vincent: Fragments, Grief and Memory

In this episode of Fully Lit, Erin Vincent, in conversation with writer and academic Sarah Attfield, reflects on returning to a subject she once believed she had left behind in her verse novel, 14 Ways of Looking. Moving between memoir, research and constraint‑based writing, the book is a fragmentary work that reimagines how grief can be written, building a mosaic of memory around the the number fourteen — Vincent's age when she lost both her parents. Drawing on the playful constraints of the Oulipo movement, Vincent constructs the book through fragments, each linked by the repeated appearance of the number 14. The result is a work that is at once formally inventive and deeply personal, where meaning emerges through juxtaposition, white space, and the connections made by the reader. Together, they discuss the creative possibilities of constraint, the challenge of shaping fragments into a cohesive work, and the emotional and structural role of white space on the page. Vincent also reflects on the difference between writing in grief and writing about it — and how distance, precision and form can open up new ways of expressing loss. At the heart of this conversation is a question central to Fully Lit: how do we find new language for difficult experiences — and what happens when form becomes a way of thinking, feeling, and remembering? This episode was recorded live on Gadigal land at Sydney's Gleebooks. Voices Erin Vincent is the author of Fourteen Ways of Looking as well as Grief Girl, which was named a New York Public Library Best Book and an American Library Association Best Book Nominee. Her work has appeared in Meanjin, the Guardian, Electric Literature, and the Offing, among other publications. She holds a Master of Arts in creative writing from the University of Technology Sydney and is currently studying for a PhD in creative writing. Sarah Attfield teaches creative writing at UTS. Her academic work focuses on the representation of working-class life in literature, popular music, film, TV and art. She has published books on working-class cinema and Australian working-class literature and is currently working on a new book about working-class participation in popular music scenes. Sarah is also a poet, and her creative work is informed by her working-class background and continuing connection to her working-class family and friends. Credits This episode was recorded on Gadigal land at Sydney's Gleebooks - for more literary events like this one, see the Gleebooks events page. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Edited and mixed by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Find more episodes of Fully Lit wherever you get your podcasts. Further reading 'Piecing Together in the Afterlife' - Rosalind Moran reviews Erin Vincent's Fourteen Ways of Looking for the Sydney Review of Books. You can buy Fourteen Ways of Looking at Gleebooks, in the bookshop and online.

31. Masculinity. Vulnerability. Growing up. Are the boys alright?

In this episode of Fully Lit, we head to the Addi Road Writers’ Festival for a wide‑ranging conversation on masculinity, vulnerability, and the inner lives of men. Writer Luke Carman is joined by George Haddad, author of Losing Face, and debut novelist Jet Williams to explore what it means to write — and read — men today. From graffiti culture and underground urban exploration to questions of embodiment, intimacy and cultural expectation, the discussion moves between lived experience and literary form. Williams reflects on writing for readers who don’t usually pick up books, while Haddad speaks candidly about hospitality, identity and the complexities of masculinity within family and culture. Together, they consider why art can still feel “embarrassing” for young men, the pressures of conformity, and the value of writing that resists easy answers. Along the way, they ask what it means to represent masculinity beyond crisis — and whether literature can offer something more honest, more expansive. At its core, this is a conversation about connection: how we find language for difficult experiences, and how the most personal stories can resonate far beyond the self. Voices Luke Carman is a writer and author of An Elegant Young Man and Intimate Antipathies. George Haddad is the author of Losing Face and winner of the Kill Your Darlings Creative Nonfiction Essay Prize. Jet Williams is the author of Off the Rails, a debut novel exploring youth, subculture and identity. Credits This episode of Fully Lit was recorded at the Addi Road Writers’ Festival on Gadigal land in Sydney. Special thanks to Mark Mordue at the Addi Road Festival. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program. Recorded my Maksim Voloshin-Cleary Produced and edited by Regina Botros Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang

30. Olivia Murphy on the politics of monster-fucking

Scholar, insomniac, and accidental romantasy expert Olivia Murphy joins us to talk about the wildly popular adults-only genre that blends Mills & Boon-style romance with Game of Thrones-style world-building, and explore its cultural significance. Olivia is an expert on the popular novel of the long 18th century. In this conversation she draws a direct line from the forgotten, formulaic, novels that formed the trashy foundations on which Jane Austen's masterpieces were built to the dragon-shifter billionaires and tiger-men with unusual appendages dominating today's bestseller lists — and makes a compelling argument for why we should take them seriously. Olivia Murphy is the author of Jane Austen, the Reader and is currently working on an edition of Pride and Prejudice for an American publisher. You can read her essay "Who Did This To You? Olivia Murphy on BookTok and the Politics of Monster Fucking" at the Sydney Review of Books. Voices Olivia Murphy is the author of Jane Austen, the Reader and is currently working on an edition of Pride and Prejudice for an American publisher. Sarah Gilbert is a writer and producer based in Sydney, and the author of Unconventional Women: the story of the last Blessed Sacrament Sisters in Australia. She is executive producer at UTS Impact Studios. Credits This episode of Fully Lit was made on Gadigal land in Sydney. Fully Lit podcast is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Recorded and mixed by Regina Botros. Further reading 'Who did this to you? Olivia Murphy on Booktok and the politics of monsterfucking', published by the Sydney Review of Books.

29. Vrasidas Karalis on Patrick White

In this episode of Fully Lit, recorded live at Gleebooks in Sydney, we turn to one of the most formidable figures in Australian literature — Patrick White. Nobel Prize–winning, fiercely private, and allergic to sentimentality, White remains both towering and divisive. But what does it mean to read him now? Writer and translator Vrasidas Karalis joins journalist and biographer Helen Trinca for a searching conversation about White’s life, art and legacy. From the quiet, enduring presence of his lifelong partner Manoly Lascaris to White’s metaphysics, irony and suspicion of tidy plots, the discussion traces both the intimate and intellectual worlds that shaped his work. They revisit the war years, White’s complicated “salvation” in Australia, his artistic obsessions, and the enduring challenge of adapting his novels for the screen. Along the way, they reflect on why Voss, Riders in the Chariot and The Vivisector still feel urgent — and unsettling. Patrick White distrusted comfort. He rejected easy narratives. He believed the novel should disturb rather than console. So how do we read him in an age that prizes clarity, speed and reassurance? Voices Hosted by Giramondo publisher and friend of Antigone, Ivor Indyk, the event brought together: Professor Vrasidas Karalis is a writer, translator and Professor of Modern Greek Studies at the University of Sydney. A prolific scholar of modern Greek literature, culture and cinema, he has published extensively on migration, identity and modernism. Karalis is also a leading interpreter of Patrick White’s work. Helen Trinca is a journalist and literary biographer. She is the author of Madeleine: A Life of Madeleine St John and Looking for Elizabeth: The Life of Elizabeth Harrower. Credits The live event was presented by Giramondo Publishing. This episode was recorded on Gadigal land at Sydney's Gleebooks - for more literary events see the Gleebooks events page. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Edited and mixed by Siobhan Moylan & Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Find more episodes of Fully Lit wherever you get your podcasts. Further reading Karalis' On Patrick White's Dilemmas: A Personal Essay, is available at Gleebooks and other good booksellers. Commemorative editions of the Poetry and Prose: https://giramondopublishing.com/books/poetry-antigone-kefala/ https://giramondopublishing.com/books/fiction-antigone-kefala/

28. Isolation, Place and Truth: Verity Borthwick and Judi Morison in conversation with Claire Corbett

In this episode of Fully Lit Live, UTS alumni Judi Morison and Verity Borthwick join writer and academic Dr Claire Corbett to discuss their debut novels at the 2025 UTS Writers’ Festival. Verity Borthwick’s Hollow Air is a psychological thriller set at a remote mining site in Far North Queensland, using isolation and an often-unseen industry to explore power, fear and uncertainty. Judi Morison’s Secrets is a family saga spanning six decades, centred on a matriarch facing the end of her life — and a truth she has carried for sixty years — illuminating histories of incarceration, racism and intergenerational trauma. The authors reflect on the importance of place in their storytelling, on isolation and truth-telling, and on the role UTS played in helping them develop their voices and navigate the path to publication. The episode also features readings from both novels. Voices Dr Claire Corbett is a writer, critic and lecturer in Creative Writing at UTS, where she teaches fiction and creative nonfiction. Her work spans literary criticism, essays and teaching, with a focus on contemporary literature, feminism and narrative form. Judi Morison is a writer and UTS alumna whose debut novel Secrets is published by Bundyi, Simon & Schuster’s First Nations imprint. Verity Borthwick is a writer and UTS alumna whose debut novel Hollow Air is published by Ultimo Press. Recorded at The UTS Writers' Festival held on November 7, 2025, to celebrate books by UTS Creative Writing staff, alumni, and students. Credits Fully Lit podcast is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Mixed by Siobhan Moylan & Regina Botros. Fully Lit is made on Gadigal land. Further reading Critical/Mineral - Roslyn Jolly on the Australian Mining novel, a review of Verity Borthwick's Hollow Air.

27. The Long Game: Felicity Castagna and writing Western Sydney

In this episode of Fully Lit Live, Felicity Castagna joins writer and producer Sheila Ngoc Pham for a wide‑ranging conversation about writing, class, place, and longevity in the arts. The evening opens with poetry by Lebanese Australian multidisciplinary artist Charnel Rizk, whose work reflects on heritage, land, and survival. What follows is an expansive discussion tracing Felicity Castagna’s journey from early short story writing to award‑winning novels, teaching, and cross‑disciplinary creative work. Together, Felicity and Sheila reflect on Australian literature, the decline of literary study in universities, and the changing role of reading communities outside academia. They explore the idea of “Western Sydney literature” — who it serves, where it falls short, and how writers can resist being pigeonholed while still honouring place and specificity. The conversation also touches on class mobility, migrant identity, writing in dark political times, adaptation for stage and screen, and what it means to sustain a creative life over decades. Felicity shares insights into her upcoming novel Peaches, as well as her approach to teaching, collaboration, and staying creatively engaged beyond the book industry alone. The event was hosted by writer Yumna Kassab. The episode concludes with audience Q&A, considering creativity across disciplines, writing through rage and despair, and the value of slow, sustained artistic work. This event was recorded at the Parramatta Literary Salon #4 on Wednesday 11 March, 2026, an Arts & Cultural Exchange, Parramatta event. Voices Felicity Castagna is a Sydney novelist, essayist, critic and teacher of creative writing. Her essays on books, art, suburbia, home and place are published both here and internationally on platforms such as The Sydney Review of Books, Electric Literature, LitHub, and ABC radio and television. When she’s not writing she spends most of her time talking about books and helping other people to write them. She’s taught everywhere from schools to festivals, art galleries and correctional centres and she has helped to establish, promote and run many writing and storytelling programs, particularly in Western Sydney. She is currently a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing with The Writing and Society Research Centre at Western Sydney University. Felicity has published four novels for adults and young adults including her most recent book, Girls In Boys’ Cars, which received The Victorian and Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards and is on its way to becoming a film. She is also the author of No More Boats, a finalist in the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Awards, and The Incredible Here and Now, which won a Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Her next book, Peaches, will be released in 2027. Sheila Ngọc Phạm is an independent Sydney writer, producer and researcher. She writes for a wide range of Australian and international publications, and her work has been recognised with listings in the 2023 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize, 2021 Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism and 2021 Woollahra Digital Literary Award. She has produced radio and podcasts for Monocle, ABC Radio National and SBS; worked on screen-based projects and series; and curated exhibitions for the State Library of NSW and Fairfield City Museum and Gallery. Sheila was the inaugural Imago Fellow at the State Library of NSW, examining Australian speculative fiction in the late 20th century, and is currently a researcher of refugee health at the University of Technology Sydney. Charnel Rizk is a Lebanese Australian multidisciplinary artist working across poetry, music, performance, theatre, and writing. She is the co‑owner of Parramatta Artists Studios and founder of the creative platform All The Rizk. Her writing has been featured on SBS and has received international attention. Charnelle is also a practicing speech therapist and is passionate about storytelling, identity, and community‑focused creative collaboration. Credits Fully Lit is made on the Gadigal lands of the Eora nation. Sevan Dermelkonian recorded this episode at the Parramatta Literary Salon #4 on Wednesday 11 March, 2026 and is an Arts & Cultural Exchange, Parramatta event. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program. Producer: Regina Botros Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang Find more episodes of Fully Lit wherever you get your podcasts.

26. Historical present & multilingual musicality: remembering Antigone Kefala

What does it mean to write in a language that isn’t your first — and to transform it completely? Antigone Kefala arrived in Australia from war-torn Europe and went on to reshape Australian literature with prose that was spare, luminous and unflinching. In this episode of Fully Lit Live, recorded at Gleebooks, writers, scholars and close friends reflect on her life, her exile and her modernism — and on the fierce clarity of a voice that refused to belong neatly anywhere. For some of the speakers, Kefala was a literary influence. For others, she was a close friend — someone whose wit, irony and indomitable spirit they continue to miss deeply. Together, they consider her historical present, her multilingual musicality, and her lasting impact on Australian letters. Antigone was a literary original. Voices Hosted by publisher and friend of Antigone, Ivor Indyk, the event brought together: Mireille Juchau — award-winning novelist, essayist and critic, and Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney. Her novels include Machines for Feeling, Burning In, and The World Without Us, which won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction. She wrote the introduction to Antigone Kefala: Collected Fiction. Anna Couani — writer, visual artist and co-director of The Shop Gallery in Glebe. A long-time friend of Kefala, she has written and spoken extensively about her life and work. Brigid Rooney — Professor of English at the University of New South Wales and co-editor (with Elizabeth McMahon) of Antigone Kefala: New Australian Modernities. Her biography of Shirley Hazzard was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Award for Non-Fiction. Lauren Aimee Curtis — novelist and short story writer, author of Dolores and Strangers at the Port, longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and selected for Granta’s Best of Young Australian Novelists. Nikos Papastergiadis - is the Director of the research unit in public cultures, and a Professor in the School of Culture and Communication at The University of Melbourne. Alex Wells — Berlin-based writer and editor, literary editor of The Berliner, whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Paris Review and elsewhere. A long-time advocate for Kefala’s international readership. Vrasidas Karalis — professor of Modern Greek and Byzantine Studies at the University of Sydney, translator and scholar, and an early academic supporter of Kefala’s work. Jim Provencher — poet and long-time friend of Kefala, who reflects on her craft, musicality and uncompromising standards. Credits Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. This episode was recorded at Gleebooks in Sydney - for more literary events see the Gleebooks events page. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang. Edited and mixed by Regina Botros. Find more episodes of Fully Lit wherever you get your podcasts. Further reading For those who can’t get enough of Kefala, we recommend Wells’ extended homage, ‘Alien Nation’, recently published in the Sydney Review of Books. Ranging across Kefala’s poetry and fiction, Wells argues for the lasting impact her writing left on Australian literature. Through its attunement to migrants’ sense of displacement, Kefala’s work brought new intensities of poetic vision as well as a heightened sensitivity to the alienating effects of time and language.

25. Multilingual homes - from 'My Language, My Country'

This episode of Fully Lit comes from our friends at the UTS Multicultural Women's Network, and features two poets, Anne Casey and Nadia Niaz, in conversation with host Elaine Laforteza. Both Anne and Nadia challenge the dominance of English in Australia by creating bold, multilingual poetry. What does embracing multilingualism sound like? How do these poets use language to disrupt, to heal, to remember, and to imagine a different, more ethical way of belonging in Australia? This is the second episode in a new series called 'My Language, My Country' - the first series on a new UTS podcast called Change the Story. The series explores the Australian tradition of acknowledging Country, and how that tradition might be enriched by embracing the hundreds of languages spoken in Australia. Guests Esita Sogotubu hails from Fiji and is the Employability Manager at UTS Careers. Her traditional roots are in Vunuku, Moala, Lau with maternal links to Nayavu, Wainibuka, Tailevu. She is a former international student who has over 15 years experience as a career development practitioner. Nadia Niaz is the author of The Djinn Hunters and the founding editor of the Australian Multilingual Writing Project. Her work explores multilingual creative expression, translation, ‘belonging’ and relationships with place. She is a Lecturer in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Melbourne. Anne Casey is originally from the west of Ireland and now lives in Australia. She is the author of six poetry books. Her work is widely published and awarded internationally, ranking in The Irish Times’ Most Read. She has a PhD from UTS where she teaches creative writing. Prankqueans are an ensemble of artists inspired by ancient Celtic mythology to celebrate all things female and Irish Australian. Credits This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People. Host: Elaine Laforteza Producer: Masako Fukui With the support of Jane Curtis, Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios Tile artwork by Alexandra Morris. This podcast was created by the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network and is part of the broader UTS Acknowledgment of Country in Our Languages project.

24. Writing the Real: Fiction, Work and Witness with Gretchen Shirm and Andrew Pippos

Recorded live at the 2025 UTS Writers’ Festival, this episode of Fully Lit Live features novelists (and UTS writing alumni) Andrew Pippos and Gretchen Shirm in conversation with Delia Falconer. In The Transformations, Pippos sets a love story inside a newsroom on the brink of digital collapse. What happens to intimacy when the workplace becomes all-consuming? How do you hold onto care, or truth, in an institution built on speed? Shirm’s Out of the Woods, shaped by her time observing war-crimes trials in the Hague, turns to the ethics of witnessing. How is atrocity translated into legal language? What does it mean to listen to testimony day after day? And who carries its weight? From newsrooms to courtrooms, this is a sharp, humane discussion about work, power and the radical patience of long-form storytelling. Fully Lit is produced by Impact Studios at the University of Technology Sydney. Credits Gretchen Shirm is the author of Having Cried Wolf, Where the Light Falls, The Crying Room and her latest, Out of the Woods. Her novels have been shortlisted for the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction and the University of Queensland Fiction Award. Gretchen teaches in the UTS Writing and Publishing Program. Dr Andrew Pippos is a writer of fiction and narrative nonfiction. His first novel, LUCKY'S (Picador), was published in 2020 and shortlisted for the 2021 Miles Franklin literary award. Transformations is published by Pan Macmillan. He teaches in the UTS Writing and Publishing Program. Dr Delia Falconer is the author of two novels (The Service of Clouds and The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers) and two works of nonfiction (Sydney and Signs and Wonders: Dispatches from a time of beauty and loss), which have been shortlisted for national and international awards across the categories of fiction, nonfiction, innovation, biography, history and research. She is the editor of three cohort-defining collections: The Best Australian Stories 2008, The Best Australian Stories 2009 and The Penguin Book of the Road. Delia's short stories and essays have been widely anthologised, including in the landmark Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature and The Penguin Century of Australian Stories. She has received grants and residencies from the Australia Council, the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship, Varuna and Bundanon, and the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Ireland. Since 2010 Delia has specialised in writing and teaching creative nonfiction, and she is a senior Lecturer in the UTS Writing and Publishing Program. Series Producer: Regina Botros. Executive Producers: Sarah Gilbert and James Jiang Fully Lit is an Impact Studios production, in collaboration with the Sydney Review of Books. Mixed by Siobhan Moylan.

23. The Critics’ Report: Freedom, Funding and ‘Social Cohesion’

In this episode of Fully Lit Live, we present The Critics Report, an event hosted by the Sydney Review of Books at the State Library of NSW in December 2025. Moderated by SRB deputy editor Tiffany Tsao, the conversation brings together critics, editors and scholars to assess a year that placed unprecedented pressure on Australian arts and cultural institutions — and on the artists and writers who depend upon them. Australia’s 2025 Venice Biennale entrants and Martu writer Karen Wyld, along with journalist Antionette Lattouf, all felt the impact of efforts to set the boundaries of acceptable expression. What are the longer-term effects of these cultural eruptions? And with “social cohesion” high on the political agenda, how might the arts respond? What can the arts tell us about what makes a society cohere in the first place? (Note that our panel took place before Adelaide Writers’ Week imploded, an event that suggests these questions remain urgent, and before the happy news that QUT had stepped up to rescue Meanjin.) The discussion ranges over other important questions, including the role of government and universities as cultural funders, the potential impacts of AI on the arts, and the strain placed on literary journals and critics asked to defend culture while also keeping it alive. Host Tiffany Tsao is Deputy Editor of the Sydney Review of Books. She is a novelist, translator and critic whose work has appeared in major Australian and international publications. Alongside her editorial work at the SRB, she has published multiple novels and is widely recognised for her literary translations from Indonesian to English. Guests Daniel Browning is a Bundjalung and Kullilli writer, journalist and radio broadcaster, and Professor of Indigenous Cultural and Creative Industries at the University of Sydney — a newly established leadership role within the School of Art, Communication and English. He is a former presenter of The Art Show and Arts in 30 on ABC Radio National. Nicholas Croggan is an art historian and critic, and Public Programs Coordinator at the Power Institute at the University of Sydney. He completed his PhD in Art History at Columbia University, New York. Roanna Gonsalves is editor of Southerly, Australia’s oldest literary journal, and a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at UNSW Sydney. She is the author of The Permanent Resident (UWAP), and her novel The Servants will be published in November 2026. James Jiang is Editor of the Sydney Review of Books. Prior to joining the SRB, he was Assistant Editor at Griffith Reviewand Australian Book Review. He holds a PhD in Modernist Literature from the University of Cambridge and has taught in the English and Theatre Studies Program at the University of Melbourne. Credits Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producer: Sarah Gilbert. Mixed by Siobhan Moylan. Find more episodes of Fully Lit wherever you get your podcasts.

• Chapters

22. How to Read a Poem

In this episode of Fully Lit Live, we bring you a panel discussion recorded at the Blue Mountains Writers Festival in November 2025. James Jiang, editor of the Sydney Review of Books, hosts Willo Drummond and Hasib Hourani for an exploration of how poems work - in the body, on the page, and in your ears. From a discussion of formative reading experiences to a shared close reading of Emma Lew’s Marshes, this conversation is an intimate encounter with poetry and its enduring value. If you’re a devoted reader of poetry, or someone who is yet to approach it, this episode is for you. GUESTS Hasib Hourani is a Lebanese-Palestinian writer, editor, arts worker and educator. His debut book, rock flight, won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Mary Gilmore Award, and was shortlisted for the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. Willo Drummond is a poet and lecturer in creative writing. Her debut collection Moon Wrasse was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry in the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and commended in the Five Islands Poetry Prize for a First Book of Poetry. James Jiang is a critic and scholar, and editor of the Sydney Review of Books. CREDITS Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books, and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producer: Sarah Gilbert Mixed by Siobhan Moylan

21. Geordie Williamson on Alexis Wright

Alexis Wright’s novels are often thought of as “difficult,” but this episode of Fully Lit Live challenges that label, and asks what that word is really doing. Critic Geordie Williamson is the author of the recent On Alexis Wright, part of Black Ink’s 'Writers on Writers' series. In this conversation with Ivor Indyk, Wright’s publisher and editor at Giramondo, we learn how to read Wright’s books on their own terms — with attention to rhythm, repetition, and scale rather than plot alone. Moving through Carpentaria, The Swan Book, and Praiseworthy, the discussion centres on Wright’s idea of ‘all time’: a narrative field where ancestral, mythic, and present time coexist, and where people, animals, weather systems and spirits all speak. What happens when we make space for Wright’s digressions and tonal shifts, and allow ourselves the time she demands? GUESTS Geordie Williamson has been chief literary critic of The Australian since 2008. He is publisher of the Picador imprint at Pan Macmillan, a former editor of Island Magazine and Best Australian Essays, and author of The Burning Library, a collection of essays on neglected figures from Australian literature. He lives in Hobart. Ivor Indyk is the publisher of the Giramondo book imprint and Whitlam Chair in the Writing & Society Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney. CREDITS This episode is brought to you in partnership with our friends at Gleebooks. Head to the Gleebooks events page to discover more great literary events featuring some of Australia’s best and best known authors. Fully Lit is brought to you by Impact Studios at UTS, the Sydney Review of Books and the UTS Writing and Publishing Program, and is produced by Regina Botros. Executive Producer, Sarah Gilbert. This episode was mixed by Siobhan Moylan. Find more episodes of Fully Lit wherever you get your podcasts.