Best selling Australian author of “rural noir”, Garry Disher hopes to be seen as novelist first and crime writer second. American Academic Saar Shahar discusses what sets literary journalism apart from the pack. Paul Gough shares the books that first made him fall for sci-fi .  Three great minds in this week’s episode, determined to rise above the throng and give us something worth reading. Guests: Garry Disher, author of “Days End”, the fourth book in his fabulous Hirsch series. Saar Shahar, author of “Among the Anti-vaxxers” recently published in the “North American Review” and American academic with the University of Southern California. Paul Gough, ABC radio producer, sci-fi devotee and music aficionado www.pimpod.com Other books that get a mention: Saar mentions Tom Wolfe’s “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test”, “The Right Stuff” and “Bonfire of the Vanities”. Also, “One flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey. And, literary journalists Joan Didion and Hunter S Thompson. (“The American Review” was the first literary magazine to be published in the USA, in Boston in 1815.) https://northamericanreview.org https://www.instagram.com/sarshahar Paul mentions “Ringworld” by Larry Niven, “Turtle Diary” & “Riddley Walker’ by Russel Hoban and “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” by Christopher Paolini. INSTA https://www.instagram.com/textpublishing https://www.instagram.com/1234_pimpod        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They’ve emerged from the marking void! Alive and insane, the Word Docs discuss activities, opportunities, Nic Cage, scientology, chaotic planning, Nosferatu, spiders, inch ants and hungry catfish... Eventually, they may also get around to discussing their books. You never know.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In September 1883, the South Australian town of Fairly huddles under strange, vivid sunsets. A child has gone missing and the whole town is intent on finding him. More than a mystery, Fiona McFarlane explores the varied townsfolks’ relationship with the complex landscape and unsettling history of the Flinders Ranges.  Tsundoku’s Annie Hastwell loved it from start to finish and joins the critics in their unanimous praise. + Self-declared fan of Barry Humphries, Annie Warburton, reviews the late comic’s opus, pays tribute to his satirical genius and comes down firmly on the right of “grumpy old conservatives” to be free to speak their minds. = Two very different takes on the Australian experience. Guests Fiona McFarlane, author of “The Sun Walks Down”, “The Night Guest” and a collection of short stories, “The High Places”  http://www.fionamcfarlane-writer.com/ Annie Warburton, retired ABC Tasmania broadcaster and Barry Humphries aficionado Other books that get a mention: Cath and Annie mention this year’s joint Pulitzer Prize winners, Barbara Kingsolver for “Demon Copperhead” and Herman Diaz for “Trust”. They go on to reference a number of past winners; “The Good Earth” by Pearl Buck, “Beloved” by Toni Morrison, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan, “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway, “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck and “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole. Annie Warburton mentions “The Adventures of Barry McKenzie” written by Humphries for Private Eye magazine. Also, “Dame Edna's Coffee Table Book: A Guide to Gracious Living and the Finer Things of Life by One of the First Ladies of World Theatre”, “Neglected Poems and Other Creatures”, “More Please” and “Women in the Background”.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alex is in the Mastermind hot seat! Many years after writing Japanese/Australian rock musical Once Upon a Midnight, Alex is trying to remember what he was on about and why it was interesting. Luckily the Word Docs are on hand to tease all the shades of grey out of the process. Join us as we travel the world from our studio and explore the cultural conundrums that arise when mythology, nationality and generational identity intersect.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Word Docs are slowly catching up with this mysterious invention called BookTok where all the young people are. Together, the intrepid geriatrics will sort through the virtual shelves and explore their favourite tropes with the usual blend of light-hearted humour, emotional pain and existential despair. If you’re a morally grey villain, a soul in search of a mate or a grump with a heart of gold, this episode is all about you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re off the rails again! Amy is trying her best to keep the troops under control, but the troops are idiots. The sage advice of Anne Lamott is pearls before bewildered swine as Sean’s eerie chanting and Alex’s fear of naked cults turns a perfectly reasonable vegetable metaphor into something chilling. In this episode we will wonder... why did Sean give up meditation? Why the hell can’t Alex remember going to France? And what’s up with Amy and purple sharkskin suits?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At first drawn to short stories, Louise Kennedy couldn’t resist expanding this ill-fated love story set at the peak of the Irish Troubles into a full and vividly depicted novel, “Trespasses”. + Is it too much to say that the author of Captain Cook’s “Voyages”  was “cancelled” by his contemporaries and the sexual exploits of Joseph Banks “went viral”? Not according to US literary academic Saar Shahar who has researched the writings around Captain Cook’s voyages. = The next best thing to reading is listening to writers talk about their creations.   Guests Louise Kennedy, author of “Trespasses” and a collection of short stories “The End of the World is a Cul de Sac”  Saar Shahar, 18th century scholar and PhD candidate in English at the University of Southern California,  puts the exploits of Captain Cook and Joseph Banks into historical literary context with surprising results. Other books that get a mention: Cath and Annie mention “Pachinko” by Min Jin Lee, “The Anniversary” by Stephanie Bishop, “The Sun Walks Down” by Fiona McFarlane, “The Tilt” and “Treasure & Dirt” by Chris Hammer, and “Summer Water” by Sarah Moss. Saar Shahar refers to “An Account of the Voyages….” by John Hawkesworth, and “An Epistle from Mr. Banks, Voyager, Monster-Hunter, and Amoroso, to Oberea, Queen of Otaheite”, by John Scott. Both were published in 1773. Emma has just finished reading “Never” by Ken Follett and her favourite book of all time is “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver.    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week it's Amy's turn to sit in the Mastermind hot seat and the topic is Popular Romance Studies. Join us for love, sex, happy endings, trauma porn, happy for nows, and all the feels. Does Amy have the answers? Has Alex done his homework? Will Sean write a romance novel? And who is killing all the butterflies? If you ever wanted to know the not-so-secret intellectual life of a romance author, now's your chance!   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Got any dead books lying around? Manuscripts that didn't work, or didn't sell, or are just dead in the water for reasons you can't quite put your finger on? The Word Docs sure do. Alex is curious to pry into Sean and Amy's literary closets, looking for dusty old relics of the past. There must be something to be learned from books that didn't work? Was it all a waste? Or are dead tomes valuable things? In response to Alex shining a light into their closets, Amy and Sean drag out Alex's juvenilia, discovering the glory that is Jimmy and the Wizard and King Mean Man. By the end of this episode, you'll be grateful for the books that never made it, and you may also be wishing that you were at the Proscenium in the 90s, pretending to be a Goth.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I’ve discovered an important truth and it’s all I care about, all I can depend on,the only thing that means anything, the one sure thing that will help me survive.No one can be trusted. I am on my own.” This devastating truth lies at the core ofShannon Burn’s memoir, “Childhood”.+Pandora, Jocasta, Aphrodite and Medea; these are just some of the women ofGreek mythology whose stories have grown and warped over the millenia.Associate Professor Lisa Bennett introduces us to the forensic work of classicistNatalie Haynes, a writer determined to reveal the true deeds and misdeeds ofthese fascinating characters.=Pop in your pods and let Michaela and Cath take you to another world. GuestsShannon Burns, author of “Childhood”Associate Professor Dr Lisa Bennett on “Pandora’s Jar” by Natalie Haynes Other books that get a mention:Lisa Mentions classicist, Emily Wilson, the first woman to publish a translation ofHomer’s “Odyssey” into English INSTA @text_publising@lisahannet@Picador  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.