Imagining The Past: Recent Episodes
Imagining The Past
The Imagining the Past podcast series features authors appearing at the Historical Novel Society Australasia biennial conferences or have been recognised in our $100,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Our hosts, Kelly Gardiner and Greg Johnston, discuss researching, writing and publishing historical fiction with acclaimed writers of the genre in its many forms from crime to fantasy to literary fiction, set in eras stretching from ancient times to the Swinging Sixties, and for readers of all ages. Selected sessions from the HNSA 2019 biennial conference are also featured.
Subscribe to our newsletter via the HNSA website for updates on the HNSA 2021 Virtual Conference on 22-24 October 2021, and the ARA Historical Novel Prize. #writing #history #historicalfiction #fiction #books #podcast
Our hosts Greg (G.S. )Johnston is the author of three historical novels – Sweet Bitter Cane (2019), The Cast of a Hand (2015), and The Skin of Water (2012), and a fourth novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, Consumption (2011). After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels. He is the Treasurer of HNSA.
Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction for all ages. Her latest series is The Firewatcher Chronicles. Her other books include Goddess, based on the life of Mademoiselle de Maupin; 1917: Australia’s Great War, shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize and Asher Award; the Swashbuckler pirate trilogy; and a picture book, Billabong Bill’s Bushfire Christmas. Her young adult novels Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, were both shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, while Act of Faith was shortlisted for the ASA’s Barbara Jefferis Award. A former journalist, Kelly teaches creative writing at La Trobe University.
Judith Rossell, multi-award-winning author and illustrator, chats with Greg Johnston about her novel, The Midwatch, which was shortlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize CYA Category 2025.
In July 2026, Mirandi Riwoe launched her new novel, A Short History of Longans, with author Emily Maguire at Newtown’s Better Read Than Dead bookshop.
On July 6th, 2026, Kate Forsyth launched her new novel, The Changeling, at The Fox Hole bar in Sydney’s Rocks area.
Malcolm Knox, winner of three Walkley Awards and a Human Rights Award, chats with Greg Johnston about his novel, The First Friend, shortlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2025 Adult Category.
Anna Ciddor discusses with Greg Johnston her novel Moonboy, shortlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2025 – CYA category.
Leonie Norrington chats with Greg Johnston about her novel, A Piece of Red Cloth, and the intricacies of writing in conjunction with Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga, and Djawundil Maymuru.
Dave Warner chats with Will Yeoman about his novel, Sound Mind Dead Body, at the City of Perth Library. Not only does Dave speak, he sings, accompanied by Will on guitar and Nicole Warner on backup vocals, a first for Imagining the Past.
Lauren Keegan chats with Greg Johnston about her first published novel, All the Bees in the Hollows, long-listed for the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2025.
In April 2026, Mary Lou Stephens launched her fourth novel, The Hobart Hotel, in the place the novel is set – Hobart’s glamorous Wrest Point Hotel Casino. Join Mary-Lou and author Karen Brooks in the Stardust room for a sparkling and twirling conversation.
Debra Oswald’s One Hundred Years of Betty was longlisted for the ARA Historical Novel Prize 2025. She chats with Greg Johnston about her long career writing for film, television, stage, radio, fiction and children's fiction.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
This podcast is truly a mesclun. In Feb 2026, Sue Williams launched her fourth novel, The Duke’s Secret, at the rowdy and aptly relevant pub, the Hero of Waterloo, in Sydney’s Rocks district. She was also interviewed by James Dunbar about some of the stories behind the story.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
In early December 2025, Shelley Dark launched her second novel, Son of Hydra, with book coach Hayley Saunders at the Noosa Library.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Alexandria Burnham’s debut novel, Swallow, through Westwords Publication, was launched by Lauren Chater at the HNSA History Unbound Festival dinner, held in Parramatta in November 2025.
www.westwords.com.au/product/swallow/
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Wendy J. Dunn launched her new novel, Shades of Yellow, on November 15th, 2025, at Eltham Library in Melbourne. Dr Anne Casey gave an enthusiastic invocation, followed by Wendy’s response and reading from the novel.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Konrad Muller’s debut novel, My Heart at Evening, is published by a new imprint, Evercreech Editions. In November 2025, Konrad chatted with Rodney Croome at the Devonport Library about the novel’s recreation of the final days of colonial surveyor, artist and amateur botanist Henry Hellyer.
https://www.evercreecheditions.com/shop
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Nicole Alexander travelled a long and winding road to promote her new novel, The Limestone Road. In September, she spoke with Goondiwindi Shire Councillor Susie Kelly at the Goondiwindi Library.
Imagining the Past Summer Season is here. Enjoy catching up with book launch discussions featuring your favourite authors and new voices.
Death at Booroomba is Alison Booth’s ninth novel, a deeply evocative historical whodunnit. It was launched at Gleebooks in Sydney in September 2025. Published through Ventura Press, Jane Curry was the session's convener.
Greg Johnston chats with Jane Harrison about her novel, The Visitors, and its long and winding road to being long-listed for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Greg Johnston chats to Beverley McWilliams about her second CYA novel, Spies in the Sky, which flew into first place in the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize – CYA category.
Greg Johnston chats to Mary-Lou Stephens about her tryptic of Tasmanian novels, all centred around various foods, The Last of the Apple Blossom, The Chocolate Factory, and The Jam Maker.
Greg Johnston chats with David Shield. His manuscript, Blind Dragon, won the 2024 Elizabeth Jane Corbet Mentorship Contest. The young adult novel is set in 17C Japan, rich in details and the drama of the period.
Greg Johnston chats to Stephen Daisley. Originally from New Zealand’s North Island, his first novel, Traitor, won the 2011 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Fiction. Coming Rain won the Ockham Prize in 2015. A Better Place was long-listed for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Host Greg Johnston chats with Catherine McKinnon. Her 2017 novel, Storyland, was shortlisted for five literary awards, including, in 2018, the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the Barbara Jefferis Award and the Voss Literary Prize. Her second novel, the complex and textured To Sing of War, was long-listed for the 2024 ARA Hist Novel Prize adult category and highly commended.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website**.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.**
Greg Johnston chats with Rebecca Lim, an award-winning Australian writer, illustrator, editor and author of over twenty books. Her work has been shortlisted for many awards, including the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and the Queensland Literary Awards. Her CYA novel, Two Sparrowhawks in a Lonely Sky, was shortlisted for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website**.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.**
Greg Johnston chats with Natasha Lester, a New York Times bestselling author. Her novels The Paris Seamstress, The French Photographer, The Paris Secret and The Riviera House, have been translated into many different languages and are published all around the world. The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard was long-listed for the 2024 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website**.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.**
Does time run in a straight line? Is history needed to give context to a futuristic novel? Can traditional cultures be highlighted through melding speculative and historical fiction together? What limits should be placed on a genre when encompassing past, present and future? All these questions and more will be explored by Ally Burnham with authors Gina Cole, Jennifer Mills and Kate Mildenhall.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.
How does an author's profession (outside their role as a novelist) inform their books? Cecilia Rice will explore with Leah Kaminsky (a doctor), Alison Booth (an economist and academic) and Sue Williams (a journalist) whether switching ‘right and left’ brains impacts their research and writing. What led them to historical fiction? And what strengths or weaknesses do their 'day jobs' afford them as authors.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great or small, are greatly appreciated.
Fine art, luxury jewellery, espionage, royal scandal and danger. Alexandra Joel, Christine Wells and Belinda Alexandra are expert in interweaving the intrigue of past lives into novels set in cities such as Paris, New York and Cairo. Diane Murray asks what inspired their stories, what methods they use to tease out their mysteries, and the challenges encountered when portraying time periods within living memory.
Imagining the Past is commercial-free. HNSA is a volunteer run, not-for-profit that can only continue to produce the podcasts with your support. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our secure website.
All contributions, great and small, are greatly appreciated.
Author Kim Kelly interviews Judy Nunn on her love for historical fiction which have encompassed stories across diverse eras from colonial periods, WW2, the Cold War to more modern times. Her most recent novel, Showtime, features a showdown between rival entrepreneurs in 1880s Melbourne with comedy, tragedy, passion and betrayal; economic depression, the Black Death and the horrors of World War One waiting in the wings.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Kelly Rimmer, Victoria Purman and Nicole Alexander have conjured various characters across their many books. Greg Johnston examines their inspiration for key characters, the methods used to fully develop them, whether unexpected plot twists arose when placing them in predicaments, and if their creations took on a life of their own once delivered to readers.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Mirandi Riwoe's The Sunbirds tests the identities and loyalties between Dutch and Indonesians in colonial Java on the eve of the Japanese invasion. Devika Ponnambalam's I Am Not Your Eve is an imagining of the life of Teha’amana, Paul Gaugin's Tahitian 'child-bride'.
Both authors join Elisabeth Storrs in discussing the complexities of bringing alternative perspectives to previously Euro-centric stories, and the research challenges experienced in delving deeper into such histories.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
View from the East—Christopher Cheng, Daryl Lim and Siang Lu discuss with Claudia Chan Shaw their novels, Asian histories, and the challenges of being an Asian writer within the current publishing industry.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Writer and critic Stephen Romei is in conversation with Jock Serong and Fiona McFarlane. Jock discusses part three of his Furneaux trilogy, The Settlement, which was short listed for the 2023 ARA Historica Novel Price. Part two of the trilogy, The Burning Island, won the ARA Prize in 2021. Fiona discusses her second novel, The Sun Walks Down, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize, and long-listed for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
In our Summer/Autumn season, we present selected sessions from our 2023 HNSA Conference. Enjoy RN's The Bookshelf host, Kate Evans, in conversation with Guest of Honour, Anna Funder, about the challenges of writing a blend of fiction and non-fiction in 'Wifedom', a book about George Orwell's wife, Eileen O’Shaughnessy.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
Alison D Stegert discusses with Greg Johnston her YA novel, Her Majesty’s League of Remarkable Young Ladies. She also discusses her win of HNSA’s inaugural 2020 Elizabeth Jane Corbett Mentorship and its great consequences.
Gail Jones chats with Greg Johnston about her complex novel, Salonika Burning, which won the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category.
Suzanne Leal chats with Greg Johnston about her 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize, CYA shortlisted novel, Running with Ivan, some of the differences between writing CYA and Adult fiction, and her interesting methods of research.
Lauren Chater chats with Greg Johnston about all things beautiful, including the research and writing of her new novel, The Beauties.
Melissa Lucashenko discusses with Greg Johnston the research and writing of her novel, Edenglassie.
Robbie Arnott discusses with Greg Johnston the many intricacies of writing the novel Limberlost, based on his family folklore and longlisted for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category.
Fiona Kelly McGregor discusses with Kelly Gardiner the many intricacies of writing her novel, Iris, shortlisted for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category.
Amelia Mellor discusses with Greg Johnston the intricacies of writing CYA Historical Fiction, and her novel, The Bookseller’s Apprentice, winner of the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize—CYA Category.
Thomas Keneally discusses his long literary career with Greg Johnston, and his novel, Corporal Hitler’s Pistol, which won the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize—Adult Category
Claire Saxby discusses with Greg Johnston the intricacies of writing CYA Historical Fiction, and her novel, The Wearing of the Green, shortlisted for the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize—CYA Category.
In this warm discussion, Robyn Mundy takes us to chilly Svalbard in the Norwegian archipelago to discuss her 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize, short-listed, Cold Coast.
Monty Soutar is an historian and author writing a trilogy— Kāwai—which tells the history of New Zealand through nine successive generations of a Maori family. With Greg Johnston, he discusses the particular features and challenges of this writing.
In this discussion, Robyn Cadwallader tells of her writing process, the research of Medieval England, and the making of myths.
Brian Falkner discusses his YA series, Kapito Joe—Blitzkrieg, Spycraft and Wolf’s Lair with Greg Johnston, exploring the slings and arrows of the research, planning and writing of the series.
Geraldine Brooks discusses her latest novel, Horse, with Greg Johnston, delving into many of the technical decisions taken to write this complex novel.
Kate Murdoch chats with Karen Brooks, Melissa Ashley and Lauren Chater of Midwives, Storytellers and Witches: Wise Women in History
The Inside Story: A Novel’s Journey through a Publishing House. Nadine Davidoff discusses with Mandy Brett, Jamila Khodja and Kate Lloyd
Paula Morris discussed with Julie Janson and Cassandra Pybus, the idea that History is written by the victors. But when such accounts are challenged, who then gets to define history in the context of a shared past?
Richard Lee, founder of the Historical Novel Society, joins international bestselling authors, Ben Kane and Colin Falconer to discuss how these authors approach writing epic novels, and the challenges encountered in finding new angles to depict stories within well traversed eras of history.
Jackie Ballantyne explores how each author approaches common themes of revenge, love, betrayal, isolation and treachery from these very different perspectives.
Renee Otmar discusses Writing the Other with Rachel Bin Saleh, Tim Darcy Ellis and Indrani Ganguly why questions of representation and appropriation matter, and whether respectful research is the answer to successfully ‘writing the other’.
Stephen Romei speaks with Pip Williams and Steven Carroll to tease out the intersections within their novels of hidden women’s histories.
HNSA Chair Elisabeth Storrs in discussion with Geraldine Brooks.
Geraldine Brooks’ first historical novel, Year of Wonders, has proved to be a portent of a world in lockdown. Her subsequent novels have restored or reimagined many lost histories. Elisabeth Storrs, HNSA Chair, explores the HNSA 2021 conference theme with Geraldine by discussing these award-winning books.
Kim Kelly discusses her latest novel, The Rat Catcher: A Love Story, with Greg Johnston, delving into technical decisions around Point of View and Voice, sensitivities required writing Australian History, and her long publishing history.
Stephanie Parkyn discusses her latest novel, The Freedom of Birds with Greg Johnston, delving into research, technical decisions, and an antipodean writing about Europe.
Felice Arena discusses with Greg Johnston his path to CYA Historical Fiction and his latest novel, The Unstoppable Flying Flanagan.
Anita Heiss discusses her landmark and groundbreaking novel, Bila Yarrudhanggalangdhuray—River of Dreams—shortlisted for the 2021 ARA Historical Novel Prize—with Greg Johnston.
Katrina Nannestad, winner of the 2021 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE—CYA CATEGORY, discusses We are Wolves with Greg Johnston, and the challenges of writing CYA Historical Fiction.
Jock Serong, winner of the 2021 ARA HISTORICAL NOVEL PRIZE—ADULT CATEGORY, discusses The Burning Island with Greg Johnston, and some of the challenges of writing his series set in the Furneaux Group of islands.
Pip Williams discusses The Dictionary of Lost Words with Greg Johnston and they gather up stories about her writing process and some of her choices.
Steven Conte speaks about planning and executing The Tolstoy Estate (2020), writing ‘behind the enemy lines’, the risks of shaking up a novel’s structure, and the Gurya Ghost and the Little Boy Lost with Greg Johnston.
CYA author Susanne Gervey discusses her new time-slip novel, Heroes of the Secret Underground, migration, sculpting stories from WWII for CYA, and Pálinka with Greg Johnston
Julie Janson is a Burruberongal woman of Darug nation. She discusses her recent novel, Benevolence, the challenges of writing First Nation's Historical Fiction, and of First Nation's writers finding publishers with Greg Johnston.
Shortlisted for the inaugural ARA Historical Fiction Prize 2020, author Sienna Brown discusses writing, multifaceted research, constructing Jamaican patois, and Master of My Fate with Greg Johnston.
Author and inaugural winner of the ARA Historical Fiction Prize 2020 Mirandi Riwoe discusses writing, research, gender-bending, sea-cucumbers and Stone Sky Gold Mountain with Greg Johnston.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our fourteenth episode explores the allure of France has often inspired historical novelists to conjure the romance and tumult of its history. Kate Forsyth’s latest novel, The Blue Rose, transports the reader to the perils of the French Revolution and the exotic world of Imperial China. Natasha Lester’s The French Photographer deals with more recent history of World War II France and America. Jackie Ballantyne discusses why Kate and Natasha were drawn to set their books in France, and how they discovered new stories to tell about a country that continues to fascinate.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our episode thirteenth explores the challenges faced in researching pre-history when there are no written records? How do you approach interpreting Middle Age chronicles? Or choose between a plethora of conflicting primary sources when delving into modern history? Isolde Martyn investigates the research challenges faced by Ilka Tampke, Gillian Polack and Pamela Hart when they tried to find answers that may or may not be known.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our twelfth episode explores History and Mystery: weaving a web of truth and lies in detective fiction. Writing historical crime fiction is like a treasure hunt for authors who dig up nuggets from the past to recreate old crimes and mysteries, both real and imaginary. How do authors lay down clues to keep readers (and the central characters) guessing whodunit? How do you balance the interlacing stories of detective, murderer and victim? What sources do authors use to set the scene and solve the crime using old-fashioned methods of crime detection? Felicity Pulman tracks down the answers to these questions and more with Malla Nunn, Katherine Kovacic and Tessa Lunney.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our eleventh episode explores the silver screen: scriptwriting and adaptations.
More and more historical novels are being adapted for screen with lavish production values and high profile stars. What is the secret to writing scripts compared to books? How do scriptwriters condense intricate plots into a few hours screen time while maintaining complexity of characters and themes? What elements are producers searching for when considering a story? And are compromises needed when wooing an audience compared to a readership? Jesse Blackadder, Malla Nunn and Mira Robertson discuss with Kelly Gardiner the different approaches required when writing novels, adaptations and screenplays.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our tenth episode explores Parramatta, the second penal settlement established in Australia. When Thomas Keneally and Meg Keneally decided to set their Monsarratt detective series there, Meg sought the assistance of local historian, Gay Hendrikson, to dig into the township’s history. Gillian Polack learns how Meg and Gay formed a working relationship to trace the footsteps of the Keneallys’ characters, locate potential murder sites, and pore over history together, and how their collaboration extended to Meg’s first solo novel Fled.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our ninth episode explores the survival of the fittest: challenging interior and exterior landscapes. A stark Australian landscape is both menacing and beautiful in Rachel Leary’s Bridget Crack with a protagonist who must overcome physical and psychological threats. David Whish-Wilson’s The Coves explores the brutality of Australian renegades in the unlawful streets of 19th century San Francisco while Stephanie Parkyn’s Into the World forces her heroine to face ocean hazards while striving to protect a dangerous personal secret. Lisa Chaplin explores these authors’ sources of inspiration, and what it takes to create characters who battle internal fears in a fight for survival against nature and man.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our eighth episode explores Regency madness and inspiration. The Regency period lasted a mere nine years while Prince Regent George ruled as his temporarily mad father’s proxy. The glamour and charm of the era has lasted far longer with a plethora of novels set in in those times first made popular by Georgette Heyer in the 1920s. Alison Goodman, Anne Gracie and Anna Campbell chat with Elizabeth Jane Corbett about their inspirational sources, their own passion for the period, and how they have played with the tradition of Regency romance.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our seventh episode is a personal history session: In conversation with Nicole Alexander and Ella Carey. Nicole Alexander writes sweeping epics evoking the grandeur of Australian landscapes, the hardships of rural life, and the turmoil of historic events. Ella Carey introduces her readers to the quiet interconnections through parallel narratives of women living in modern and past times. Both authors draw on the personal to weave tales into a wider historical context. Irina Dunn asks these authors about their writing journeys, the inspiration for their books, and why they draw upon family legend.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our sixth episode talks of Bette and Joan. Elizabeth I and Joan of Arc have been the subjects of countless books, engendering myth, obsession, and various interpretations of their lives. Linda Funnell asks Jane Caro and Ali Alizadeh why they chose to investigate the stories of these famous women, and how they bring fresh perspective to their histories.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our fifth episode explores The Feminine Mystique. Ensuring a female protagonist’s thoughts and actions remain true to the norms of by-gone eras and cultures causes headaches for writers – and readers. How does an author maintain immediacy if limited to second hand observations of male dominated history? Should women of the past be depicted with more power and influence than would have been afforded to them? And how do you treat a young heroine in an age where girls were restricted, and children expected to be ‘seen and not heard’? Sophie Masson examined how to portray plausible female protagonists with Juliet Marillier, Elizabeth Jane Corbett and Kirsty Murray.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our fourth episode explores parallel narratives. Interlocking stories crossing different eras have been used to great effect in historical novels. What plot devices do authors use to trace the connections between their characters? Do writers use the same techniques as in historical mysteries? And how do they balance the competing voices that must be heard in order for revelation to be achieved? Tea Cooper, Emily Madden, Carla Caruso discuss with Diane Murray the challenges of intertwining lives around historical eras.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our third episode explores point of view. When starting to write, deciding which type of point of view will be exploited is a significant decision with far-reaching consequences. Who knows what? Who sees what? How much do you want the reader to know? And when? Once the decisions are made, they can be both liberating and confining. Greg Johnston explores ‘the slings and arrows’ of point of view with Robyn Cadwallader, Julian Leatherdale and Belinda Castles.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our second episode explores Creative writing postgraduate degrees which have become increasingly popular in the last decade. Associate Professor Sara Knox (WSU) talks to Dr Jesse Blackadder, Dr Rachel le Rossignol and PhD candidate, Joshua Mostafa, about the benefits of combining the process of completing a novel with a deeper examination of the genre’s purpose, themes, and interpretation of research. Full details of the speakers are available in our News & Interviews tab on our website.
Imagining the Past’s new season features live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, Greg Johnston. Our first episode explores Dispossession and Betrayal: Recovering the Erased history of First Nations. Indigenous writers, Madison Shakespeare and Lisa Chaplin, discuss with Maori writer and academic, Dr Paula Morris, why Aboriginal history has been suppressed, what is needed to remedy the omission, and how historical fiction can play a role in ensuring past injustices and cruelties aren’t forgotten or repeated. Full details of the speakers are available in our News & Interviews tab on our website.
Our final episode for this season features a queen of historical fantasy, Alison Goodman, author of seven novels including her award-winning Lady Helen Regency supernatural trilogy. Alison talks with host Kelly Gardiner about combining fantasy elements in a meticulously researched historical story.
Our interview with best-selling author Nicole Alexander on writing about rural Australia: the challenges, the research, the histories, and the people.
In this episode, we speak with Catherine Jinks, award-winning author of this year's Shepherd, and the Theophilus Grey and Pagan series - on voice, character, and writing for readers of all ages.
Kelly Gardiner talks to David Whish-Wilson, author of The Coves, about the wild years of the American gold rush, fascinating people from the past, and the allure of crime writing.
Pamela Hart discusses her research processes and favourite resources, what makes a great idea for a book, and offers advice to emerging writers of historical fiction.
Our first podcast interview for 2019 features one of Australia's favourite authors, and our guest of honour at this year's conference – the incomparable Jackie French.
Kelly Gardiner and Catherine Padmore chat about the craft of writing Historical Bio-Fiction.
Kelly talks to Ngahuia and Deborah about the challenges of reinterpreting C19 narratives of first contact and colonisation
HNSA #NgahuiateAwekotuku #DeborahChallinor #historicalfiction
Kelly Gardiner chats with Lucy Treloar about specific issues encountered writing Australian colonial fiction
historialfiction #writing #history #fiction #LucyTreloar
Kelly Gardiner chats with Kate Forsyth about her passion for history, fairy tales and writing stories that combine both.
writing #history #historicalfiction #fiction #kateforsyth
Kelly Gardiner chats to Sulari Gentill and Robert Gott about their fictional detectives and the challenges of co-writing an historical mystery play.
writing #history #historicalfiction #fiction #Sularigentill #robertgott
Kelly Gardiner talks with publisher and novelist Sophie Masson about aspects of publishing and writing historical fiction for children and young adults.