The Book Show

Readers have lovingly followed the fictional lives of Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton for more than a decade. Now their creator, Elizabeth Strout introduces a new character to embrace and Claire Nichols finds out why. Plus Amanda Lohrey explains her fascination with the belief in aliens.
Artie Dam is an unassuming Massachusetts high school history teacher who seems to have it all, but is facing internal turmoil, even doubting the notion of free will. As Pulitzer Prize winning author Elizabeth Strout reveals in this interview, The Things We Never Say is a story reflecting our recent volatile times. 
And Miles Franklin winner Amanda Lohrey also dissects the idea of certainty in her latest novel. Capture is about a psychiatrist, Jim, who interviews people who say they've been abducted or visited by aliens. While assumptions may be challenged a truth is out there. Or is it? Amanda Lohrey explores life's mysteries with Claire Nichols.

Michael Winkler tells Claire Nichols why life might be better as a dog, particularly if you're middle aged and depressed like the main character in his new novel, Griefdogg. And British poet, performer and novelist Kae Tempest explains why he "writes what he can't bear to admit" in his second novel Having Spent Life Seeking.
Michael Winkler's second novel, Griefdogg follows his lauded genre-bending debut Grimmish about a boxer and a talking goat. It also made Australian literary history in 2022 as the first self-published novel to ever be shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Griefdogg is about a man who makes the unexpected decision to live as the family pet when the pressures of modern life get too much for him; in the conversation, Michael reflects on the appeal of "a dog's life".
Kae Tempest is a British musician, poet, playwright and novelist who - since he was a teenager - has built an international reputation in rap and spoken word poetry. Kae's second novel, Having Spent Life Seeking follows Rothko who's newly released from prison and has returned to the hometown where everything fell apart. Claire also speaks to Kae about the challenges of writing a novel while maintaining a demanding schedule of live performances and musical projects.

David Malouf was a giant of Australian writing who was known and loved for his iconic debut novel, Johnno, about a young Brisbane man during World War 2; a book partly inspired by his own life.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, David wrote plays, poetry, libretto, and more novels, including The Great World, and his Booker Prize shortlisted, Remembering Babylon.
And today, on this special episode of The Book Show, we're remembering David who has died at the age of 92.
Claire Nichols revisits her very special interview with David in 2025 in which he discusses his early life, sharing books with his mother, that first novel and the benefits of a daily walk on the beach.
This interview was first broadcast on 25 September 2025.

Twins separated by the role of a dice, the rise of AI, and a mystery behind lives trying to hold it together in a lonely fractured world.  These are just a few of the themes discussed with Claire Nichols about A Rising of the Lights, the latest darkly comic novel from the Booker Prize shortlisted author Steve Toltz.
Ian Kemish has used his considerable knowledge as a former Australian diplomat to write a debut that is ultimately about compassion. In Two Islands a young man flees the Balkan conflict to an isolated island on the west coast of Scotland. What does he find there and is he safe?

A fun wild ride here on the Book Show where Claire Nichols embraces the silly with Shaun Micallef and K-Pop with Chinese American writer Jenny Tinghui Zhang.
Jenny Tinghui Zhang has tapped into the K-Pop phenomenon with her latest novel Superfan. A knock-off American K-Pop group are set to make history, but at what cost to them and their loyal fans? It's an affectionate but covert satire on obsession, loneliness and fame.
And prepare for supreme silliness and a lot of blood letting when comedian, author, TV presenter Shaun Micallef debates vampires, zombie slaves and a cast of dead historical figures. His new book De'ath Takes a Holiday is a unique perspective on the Gothic romance horror where the harbinger of Dracula attempts mortality.