Michaela Kalowski on the best sessions of 2023
| | | | Our Big Weekend of Books curator shares her highlights |
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It is a delight and an honour – and the highlight of my year – to curate the Big Weekend of Books.
I love hearing how people enjoyed the range of sessions in this year's line-up. Readers who never thought of picking up romance novels have been inspired to try some out. Fiction readers got turned on to non-fiction after hearing Adam Gopnik talk about how we learn to master new skills. People around the country reflected on the place names of their towns after hearing Jakelin Troy talk about First Nations language and the meaning of place. And listeners were inspired by conversations about fatness and bodies, about truth in memoirs, about the abstraction of money and the power of plays to change the world.
So many of this year's sessions delved into craft – how different authors, across their genre or style of writing, do what they do.
In Stan Grant's session, he discussed his latest book The Queen is Dead, striking a nerve with listeners reflecting on what he'd shared — particularly his idea that hatred must be fought with love.
Robbie Arnott speaking about Limberlost was another session listeners enjoyed, praising writing that's full of heart, and his gift for making ordinary moments seem magical.
It was Mat Osman, author of The Ghost Theatre, who spoke about the way that words are like magic spells: writers can speak or write words in a certain way and change the way people think and behave. I can't think of a better endorsement for the power of books and the transformative joy of reading.
Remember, you can catch all the sessions and listen again to ones you loved on the ABC listen app or the ABC RN website.
Until next year,
Michaela Kalowsk
Curator of the Big Weekend of Books
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| Walkley award-winning journalist, author and presenter Stan Grant talks with The Minefield's Scott Stephens about reckoning, the demand for justice and how the only response to hate is love. | | | |
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| Robbie Arnott's three novels — including his latest, Limberlost — have captured the hearts and minds of readers, who love to debate the true meaning of what he writes. He speaks with RN's Amanda Smith. | | | |
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| Kris Kneen speaks to Hilary Harper from Life Matters about being a fat person in a culture where insults and indignities about being fat abound. | | | |
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| In conversation with the host of Speaking Out, Larissa Behrendt, Jakelin Troy discusses place, song and how thinking about time and language differences can help people to understand Indigenous sovereignty more fully. | | | |
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| In Adam Gopnik's latest book The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery, he considers what it takes to master something, the joy that we get when we try and how having parallel passions might be the key to success when it comes to learning a new skill. He speaks with Saturday Extra's Geraldine Doogue. | | | |
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| British-Ghanaian writer Caleb Azumah Nelson is not yet 30, but already proving to be an innovative, exciting and tender observer of relationships, of love, and of culture. He speaks with The Bookshelf's Cassie McCullagh. | | | |
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| Suzie Miller started life as a lawyer, but the pull toward writing was great. Her plays have been staged, and won awards, around the world. Miller speaks with Conversations' Sarah Kanowski about why we all need to go to the theatre, and how plays are part of fighting for justice. | | | |
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| Sally Thorne's 2016 novel The Hating Game kicked off the rom-com novel as a genre. The latest from Jodi McAlister, Can I Steal You For A Second?, takes place on the set of a reality dating show — but it's during COVID, so none of the contestants can leave. They speak with Rudi Bremer, host of Awaye! | | | |
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| In Trust, Hernan Diaz explores the ways in which money can distort reality. He speaks with The Book Show’s Sarah L’Estrange about how he builds and demolishes trust with the reader again and again to create a joyful form of paranoia. | | | |
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| Mat Osman is the author of The Ghost Theatre and the bass player for much-loved UK band Suede. He speaks with The Music Show's Robbie Buck about reimagining the past, bird worshippers and his absolute love for writing novels. | | |
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