Editor's note: This episode contains discussion of death and grief practices. Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For June that debut is The Eulogy by Jackie Bailey (Hardie Grant), an autofiction novel about family, death and grief that was shortlisted for the 2018 KYD Unpublished Manuscript Award. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Nial Hosken. Further reading: Read Ellen Cregan's review of The Eulogy in our June Books Roundup. Read about Jackie's favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. How To Be Between is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT Ellen Cregan: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings podcast. I’m KYD First Book Club host, Ellen Cregan, and today I’ll be bringing you our June First Book Club interview. Our book for June is The Eulogy by Jackie Bailey, out now from Hardie Grant. Jackie Bailey is a professional writer and researcher and a recognised international expert on cultural diversity in the arts. Her work has been published widely, including in the Roots anthology from the 2020 SBS Emerging Writers Competition. Jackie is also an ordained interfaith minister, trained death walker and practising funeral director. In The Eulogy, Kathy Bradley has driven from Sydney to plan a funeral with her five surviving siblings, most of whom she hardly speaks to, because their sister Annie is finally blessedly, inconceivably dead from the brain tumour she was diagnosed with 25 years earlier. This autofiction novel tells the tangled story of the Bradley family, weaving together storylines and relationships over decades. I sat down with Jackie to discuss her book. Ellen Cregan: Hey, Jackie, thanks for joining me. Jackie Bailey: No worries. Thanks for having me, Ellen. Ellen Cregan: We’re just going to start with a reading from Jackie to begin. Jackie Bailey: Cool. Well, before I start, I’ll just acknowledge country, that I’m dialling in from the traditional lands of the Wadi Wadi people of the Dharawal Nation. And I’m very blessed and privileged to be able to live on this land, which is where I wrote most of this book. Okay, so I’ll read you a little bit from The Eulogy. Don’t worry Annie, I won’t do it here. I know how terrible it is to be the finder of the body, and I would never want to put the big kids through that. Besides which, the bureaucratic procedures for transferring a body interstate would be a nightmare and I wouldn’t inflict the paperwork on anyone I loved, not even Barb. Much easier to drive back to Sydney after your funeral, where I will head straight out to the Garden of Remembrance. But first, your funeral. It is time to brave the crowds. The Hyperdome is less than a kilometre up the road, but it is never the right weather in Queensland for incidental exercise. Remember when I tried to get you to go for ‘mall-walks’ in the Logan Hyperdome? One of my many ideas for trying to get you fitter, more active, more independent. More like someone I did not have to feel guilty about leaving behind. The Logan Hyperdome has metastasised since I was last here. I attempt to interpret the directions of a touchscreen map, then wander around trying to look like I know where I am going until I stumble upon a jewellery shop not far from the cinema. A female shop assistant unlocks the cabinet of crosses for me. Her fingers are strewn with cubic zirconia. I sit down, weary at the mere thought of the hours that went into her make-up. She only has two necklaces that have body of Christ figurines fused to the golden arms of the cross. ‘This one is $329, the woman says, indicating the rose gold one. ‘The yellow gold one is $249. I can probably do a ten

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For May that debut is How To Be Between by Bastian Fox Phelan (Giramondo), a memoir about female facial hair, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and negotiating identity for those visibly between gender binaries. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Nial Hosken. Further reading: Read Ellen Cregan's review of How To Be Between in our May Books Roundup. Read about Bastian's favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. How To Be Between is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT (Music) Ellen Cregan: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings podcast. I’m KYD first Book club host, Ellen Cregan, and today I’ll be bringing you our May First Book Club interview. Our book for May is How To Be Between by Bastian Fox Phelan, out now from Giramondo. Bastian Fox Phelan is a writer, musician and zine maker living in Mulubinba Newcastle on Awabakal land. Their zines are held in connection around the world and they have worked with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Australia and National Young Writers Festival on major zine fair events. Bastian’s writing has been published in journals including Sydney Review of Books, Meanjin, Archer and The Lifted Brow. An exploration of youthful anxiety, medical discourse and shifting identities, How To Be Between shines a light on what it means to find joy, resilience and radical self-acceptance in a body that refuses to fit within gender binaries. I sat down with Bastian to discuss their book and other creative work. Hey, Bastian, thanks so much for joining me today. Bastian Fox Phelan: Hey, how are you? Ellen Cregan: Good, thanks. We’re just going to start with a reading. Bastian Fox Phelan: I was behind the curtain in the doctor’s office, naked from the waist down, sitting on a paper sheet. I come for a Pap test, but the doctor was unusually quiet as she performed the task. Afterwards, while I dressed, she told me what she had observed. ‘You’re very hairy.’ I looked at my legs. A covering, a warm mammalian coat. I’d heard remarks like that before, but never from a doctor. She questioned me about my periods, investigating the record of my female health. ‘I’m going to send you for an ultrasound, see what your ovaries are doing.’ I touched my belly, in the place where I imagined they were. Doing, or not doing, something. The doctor handed me a letter addressed to the Women’s Imaging Suite. On the street, I opened the envelope. Please see patient for pelvic ultrasound. Medical conditions: oligomenorrhea and hirsutism. I felt uncomfortable. ‘Hirsute’ was not how I described myself. I put the letter away. The next day, I lay on another bed, another paper sheet. The beauticians smothered my legs in warm wax, pulled the skin taut, and ripped. My follicles were in shock, the skin singing. I came to this salon, in a weatherboard cottage near my house, because it was more comfortable for me than a mainstream beauty salon. Yet even here I’d had conversations that made me uneasy, like the time the beautician told me that it takes a lot of physical strength to wax bodies, especially when people have a lot of hair. As she worked over me, denuding my legs, I thought about the ultrasound appointment I’d just booked. If I’d come here before the Pap test, perhaps the doctor would not have noticed anything. But once again, my hair was causing trouble. Once again, it was changing the script, and all I could do was follow. * The waiting room of the imaging suite was lined with vinyl chairs, occupied by women, most of them pregnant, in various weeks of gestation. I chose a seat in the corner. I felt annoyed about having t

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For April that debut is Hovering by Rhett Davis (Hachette), a powerful and kaleidoscopic story about three people struggling to find connection in a chaotic and impermanent world. Rhett discussed the novel with our First Book Club host Ellen Cregan at a live event at Bargoonga Nganjin, North Fitzroy Library on 7 April. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Nial Hosken. Further reading: Read Ellen Cregan's review of Hovering in our April Books Roundup. Read about Rhett's favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. Hovering is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT Ellen Cregan: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings podcast. I’m KYD First Book Club host Ellen Cregan, and today I’ll be bringing you our April First Book Club interview. Our pick for April is Hovering by Rhett Davis, out now from Hachette. Rhett Davis is from the Wadawurrung country of Geelong and its nearby coastal towns. He is published in places like The Big Issue, Meanjin and the Sleepers Almanac. Winner of the Victorian Premier’s Unpublished Manuscript Award, Hovering crosses genres, literary styles and conventions to create a powerful and kaleidoscopic story about three people struggling to find connection in a chaotic and impermanent world. The interview you are about to hear is from an event we hosted in partnership with Yarra Libraries with Rhett in conversation with me. And yeah, we’ll get started. So just to begin, we are going to start with a reading. So I’m going to get Rhett to read from his book, and just take it away whenever you’re ready. Rhett Davis: All right. How’s that? Lydia had lived in Fraser her entire life. She didn’t think of it as a city. It was larger than that. It was a country filled with cities. The theatres and once palatial bars of Guthrie Street were a city. The winding Almond Boulevard with its protesting palm trees and seaside cafes and kiosks was a city. The river restaurants and the twinkling lights that lined the Avenue Elms were a city. The Japanese district, the Italian village, the Irish pubs, the Indian Street, the Greek side, the Turkish thoroughfare, the Sudanese corners, the Chinese lanes. Fraser was a country with cities as foreign to her as Las Vegas or Madrid. She kept to her well worn paths: Embley, the quiet suburb in which she’d grown up; the sprawling mall on its outskirts; the business park a couple of suburbs away. She occasionally went to lunch with Amy and Jacinta, two of her university friends, and they always met at the same cafe nearby. She never needed to leave, so she didn’t. The first shift she noticed was ten years ago. She was walking on Ormond Street when she saw her neighbour, Aramis Cacciola, standing in his front garden. She said hello and he waved back. He pointed to a new letterbox planted incongruously in the middle of his yard. It had been installed carefully. It even had the correct street number on the front. ‘Bloody kids,’ he said. She shook her head with what she hoped looked like empathy. The next day, the front door of Fay and Luis Montana’s house had been moved several metres to the left. It now opened on their bedroom. Fay stood at the door in a Malinda Banksia festival 20— t-shirt, looking out at the street in some confusion. Lydia waved and shrugged. Fay—who hadn’t acknowledged Lydia’s presence in the three years the Montanas had lived there—glared at her as if she might be responsible. These minor incidents continued. Nature strips became tiny swimming pools. Formerly white houses were painted a lurid red overnight. Telephone and internet cables crossed streets in baffling configura

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For February that debut is Son of Sin by Omar Sakr (Affirm Press), a multifaceted tale brimming with angels and djinn, racist kangaroos and adoring bats, examining with a poet’s eye the destructive impetus of repressed desire and the complexities that make us human. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Nial Hosken. Further reading: Read Ellen Cregan's review of Son of Sin in our March Books Roundup. Read about Omar's favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. Son of Sin is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT Ellen Cregan: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings podcast. I’m First Book Club host Ellen Cregan. Our pick for this month is Son of Sin by Omar Sakr, out now from Affirm press. Omar Sakr is the author of two acclaimed poetry collections, These Wild Houses and The Lost Arabs. Born to Lebanese and Turkish Muslim migrants in Western Sydney, he lives there still. His first novel, Son of Sin, is a fierce debut that illuminates the bonds that bind families together, as well as what can break them. Jamal Smith is a young queer Muslim trying to escape a past in which memory and rumour trace ugly shapes in the dark. Torn between faith and fear, gossip and gospel, family and friendship, Jamal must find and test the limits of love. I spoke with Omar about moving from poetry to prose, translating personal experience into fiction, and the Western Sydney writing community. Hey, Omar, thanks for joining me today. Omar Sakr: Thanks for having me. Ellen Cregan: We’re just going to get started with a reading from the book, whenever you’re ready. Omar Sakr: It never failed to surprise Jamal how completely the outside world vanished even a metre into a canopied sky. The trees were enormous, the ground uneven and soft, treacherous in its gorgeous weft of leaf and mud, hiding loose rocks and thick roots. They had learned to tread carefully, but still fell often, muddying their pants and hands. The creek patterned the dappled dark with its wet music, accompanied by insect chirps and the call of birds. Emir was ahead, whacking a stick in lazy arcs at the ground, following what passed for a track. Watch it, Jamal said, as he came within range of the stick. Emir whirled, pentagram necklace bouncing. En garde! Nah, Jamal said, and Emi deflated with a sigh. I’m fucking bored, he said and threw the stick into the bush. They walked further in together, talk turning to Ilo’s upcoming birthday, their plan to get him the DVD boxset of Inuyasha. The tree line deepened around them, the slope up to the courts becoming steeper, and as they turned, it felt as if they were being cupped by the joined hands of the earth. The distant shouts of boys reached them. Their time here was almost up. Ugh, Emir sald, kicking at the dirt. Cart wait for this year to be over. Why wait? Jamal said. It’s not like you have to finish. He got an angry look back. The rents would kill me, that’s why. Maybe that was true, or maybe, like Jamal, Emir felt the end approaching and wanted to hold on for as long as possible. They stopped as the path opened into a huge green grove crammed with the layered chittering of flying foxes in their hundreds. According to the warning signs they’d ignored, this was a reserve, a restricted area because they were a protected species. They looked and sounded like bats to him, and Jamal wasn’t sure what the difference was between them, if any. Fruity fucks, Emir said, following his eyes up to the colony. I know you are but what am I? Jamal said, and Emir elbowed him in the side. They stood there for a moment, looking at the small dark creatures,

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For February that debut is The Cost of Labour by Natalie Kon-yu, out now from Affirm Press. Natalie was nine weeks pregnant when the trembling began. Two weeks later she checked herself into a mental health unit. Rather than a woman with a health concern, the doctors saw Natalie as a vessel carrying precious cargo. This loss of agency carried on through childbirth and into her early years as a mother. Natalie discovered that she was far from alone. In fact, her experience typifies the inequalities that weigh heavily on child-bearing women, as well as the devaluation of what is still perceived as ‘women’s work’. With bracing clarity and verve, Kon-yu tackles the outdated institutions, expectations and ideologies that hold us hostage as parents. The pressure is building and the cost on families is stacking up. Something has to give. Drawing on personal narratives, history, social research and interviews, The Cost of Labour tackles the expectations that keep us all hostage to a dynamic unfit for contemporary society and offers hope for a way out of the trap. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt. Further reading: Read a review of The Cost of Labour in our February Books Roundup. Read about Natalie’s favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. The Cost of Labour is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT [Music] Alice Cottrell: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings podcast. We’re excited to be back, bringing you more interviews with brilliant debut authors as part of the First Book Club in 2022. Our pick for February is the The Cost of Labour by Natalie Kon-yu, out now from Affirm Press. Natalie Kon-yu is a writer, academic and editor whose work has been published nationally and internationally. Natalie was nine weeks pregnant when the trembling began. Two weeks later, she checked herself into a mental health unit. Rather than a woman with a health concern, the doctor saw Natalie as a vessel carrying precious cargo. This loss of agency carried on through childbirth and into her early years as a mother, and Natalie discovered that she was far from alone. Drawing on personal narratives, history, social research and interviews, The Cost of Labour tackles the expectations that keep us all hostage to a dynamic unfit for contemporary society, and offers hope for a way out of the trap. First Book Club host Ellen Cregan spoke with Natalie to ask her about the book. Ellen Cregan: Hey, Natalie. Thanks for joining me today. Natalie Kon-yu: Pleasure, Ellen. Thank you so much for having me. Ellen Cregan: We’re going to start with a brief reading from the book for those who haven’t had a chance to read it yet. Natalie Kon-yu: Okay. It began with a trembling in my legs. I remember being on the sofa, watching TV and noticing that my legs were shaking. They were still trembling when I went to bed. I couldn’t make them stop. I was about eight weeks pregnant and my body was doing all sorts of strange things. But this felt different. I hadn’t read about trembling legs in any of the books that my friends had given me, hadn’t seen it listed as a symptom of early pregnancy on any of the websites I had been clicking onto in the last four weeks. My husband called a locum, who told me I was anxious and gave me a Valium. I went to sleep but woke at 2am and tossed and turned for the rest of the morning, my legs doing a cha-cha without my permission. This went on for days. I couldn’t still myself. I grew increasingly anxious and oscillated between thinking that the tremble in my legs was caused by the pregnancy and worrying that it was cau

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For November that debut is Permafrost by SJ Norman, out now from UQP. This brilliant collection of short fiction explores the shifting spaces of desire, loss and longing. Inverting and queering the gothic and romantic traditions, each story represents a different take on the concept of a haunting or the haunted. Though it ranges across themes and locations—from small-town Australia to Hokkaido to rural England—Permafrost is united by the power of the narratorial voice, with its auto-fictional resonances, dark wit and swagger. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt. Further reading: Read a review of Permafrost in our November Books Roundup. Read about SJ’s favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. Permafrost is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Soundcloud / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT [Music] Alice Cottrell: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings Podcast. I’m KYD publisher Alice Cottrell, and today I’ll be bringing you our November First Book Club interview. Our pick this month is Permafrost by SJ Norman, out now from the University of Queensland Press. SJ Norman is a writer and visual and performance artist, and they were also the winner of the inaugural Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award. Permafrost is a brilliant collection of short fiction that inverts and queers the Gothic and Romantic traditions, with each story representing a different take on the concept of a haunting or the haunted. First Book Club host Ellen Cregan spoke with SJ to ask them about the book. Ellen Cregan: Hey SJ, thanks so much for joining me today. SJ Norman: Thanks, Ellen. Lovely to be here. Ellen Cregan: So can you give a brief summary of your book Permafrost, for those who haven’t had a chance to read it yet? SJ Norman: Permafrost is a book of spooky stories, spooky, queer stories. It’s a book of hauntings, seven in total in the collection—it was more than that, there was, I think, originally ten stories in the original manuscript, I took a few out and reserved them for what will hopefully be a follow up project. But yeah, seven stories about ghosts, you know, in the broadest definition of that term. Ellen Cregan: So when you were bringing this collection together, how did you curate it? Was it stories you already had in your arsenal, or was it stuff that you wrote for this particular project to all live together, together? SJ Norman: Look, I wrote Permafrost very slowly over the course of the better part of two decades. I started writing this book when I was 19, and I’m 37 now, and I wrote the bulk of the manuscript in my early 20s and then sort of let it sit for a very long time, and then resurrected it fairly recently. So I have to kind of cast my mind back a fair distance in time to think about how to answer that question. I think I definitely did write these stories with a sense that they were going to be a collection, for sure, or at least I started—I started working on maybe one or two of them, some of the earlier stories, and noticed some themes and some common concerns arising, and so I definitely proceeded with the notion that they would be a collection, yes. And there are certain formal constraints and thematic concerns that unite every story in the collection. So, I think I was definitely thinking of them as a corpus of work for sure, from the outset. Ellen Cregan: And as well as your writing, you have other art practices that you make. How does your writing practice differ from the other art that you make? Or maybe how is it the same as well? SJ Norman: Mm. It’s tricky to answer that question, because I don’t know, it’s ju

Welcome to the second episode of our new interview series, Pub Talk, where we chat to some of Australia’s most experienced and influential publishers, editors and agents. During these conversations you’ll receive insiders’ information about the industry, as well as advice from experts on the many pathways to publication for new writers. We’re thrilled to have Leah Jing McIntosh as our guest this month. She is a critic, researcher, and the founding editor of Liminal magazine, an anti-racist literary platform that interrogates and celebrates the Asian-Australian experience. Alongside editing Liminal and establishing literary prizes for writers of colour, she produces literary events, often working in collaboration with major arts organisations. Tune in to hear KYD publishing director Rebecca Starford and Leah discuss the role of literary magazines, the politics of visibility and the power of community. Further reading: • Liminal’s interview with Radhiah Chowdhury. • Collisions is available now from your local independent bookseller—read KYD’s review! Our theme song is Johnny Ripper’s ‘Typing’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Soundcloud / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT [Music] Alice Cottrell: Hello and welcome to the second episode of Kill Your Darlings’ brand new podcast series called Pub Talk. Every couple of months we’ll be chatting to some of the most experienced and influential publishers, editors and agents about the Australian publishing industry, and revealing the many pathways to publication for new writers. We hope you enjoy this episode. Rebecca Starford: Welcome to Pub Talk, a Kill Your Darlings podcast. My name is Rebecca Starford, and I’m the publishing director at KYD. I’m also a published author of two books, a memoir called Bad Behaviour and a novel called The Imitator. For many years, I’ve also worked as an editor, both in-house as well as freelance. So I’m hosting this series about the inner workings of the Australian publishing industry with these different hats on. And we’ve got a really special conversation coming up now with Leah Jing McIntosh. Leah is a critic, researcher and the founding editor of Liminal, which she began in 2016. Liminal is an antiracist literary platform that supports and elevates talented writers and artists in so-called Australia. Liminal showcases creatives from a wide range of creative disciplines—literature, art, music, journalism and more. Working towards a more equitable art sector, Liminal is made by a dedicated team based around the continent and Leah is joining us today from Melbourne. Welcome, Leah, it is so great to have you on the podcast today. Leah Jing McIntosh: Ah, hello, thank you for having me! Rebecca Starford: (Laughs) Now, I hope you’re doing okay, we are speaking in around the middle of October, so you there in Melbourne, you’ve got some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the lockdowns as well. And I think, we’ll talk a little bit more about that, but I hope things have been going okay for you during this difficult time, and also for the whole Liminal team. I guess it’s all being quite remote kind of contact at the moment for you guys. Leah Jing McIntosh: Yeah, I was actually just thinking how nice it is that Pub Talk can now almost be at the pub. (Laughs) Rebecca Starford: Oh, good idea—next episode already planned. (Laughs) Leah Jing McIntosh: Slow paced, just having a few beers. Yeah, no, it’s been strange, but like, I was thinking how Liminal has always just kind of been run from my house, so (Laughs) our processes didn’t really change when we went into lockdown. Rebecca Starford: Yeah, I think that’s probably pretty common for a lot of arts organisations as well. So let’s talk about Liminal. As I mentioned in the intro, it started in 2016—many listeners will be

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For October that debut is The Psychic Tests by Gary Nunn, out now from Pantera Press. In The Psychic Tests award-winning journalist Gary Nunn investigates psychics, mediums and astrologers to understand their uncanny, under-investigated and unregulated power. Gary tries out some psychics himself, sometimes with hilarious results. He hears about their secret influence over world leaders, CEOs, news editors and the criminal justice system. Believe in them or not, psychics can impact who will date you, befriend you and even who’ll hire you. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt. Further reading: Read a review of The Psychic Tests in our October Books Roundup. Read about Gary’s favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. The Psychic Tests is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Soundcloud / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT [Music] Alice Cottrell: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings Podcast. I’m KYD publisher Alice Cottrell, and today I’ll be bringing you our October First Book Club interview. Our pick this month is The Psychic Tests by award winning journalist Gary Nunn, out now from Pantera Press. Gary investigates psychics, mediums and astrologers to understand their uncanny power, and whether it’s used for good or evil. The Psychic Tests is a gripping, often moving examination of trust, faith and connection. First Book Club host Ellen Cregan spoke with Gary to ask him about the book. Ellen Cregan: Hi, Gary. Thanks so much for joining me today. Gary Nunn: Pleasure. Ellen Cregan: So we’re just going to start with a reading from Gary from the book. Gary Nunn: Here we go. I wanted to start with just a bit of a preamble. I wanted to start with a good news story, because there’s a lot of darkness in this book, so I thought I’d start with some light. When, in this minefield maze of headfuckery, people seek out advice from something a bit other-worldly, I kind of get it. Love is the hardest to control of all things. No wonder we want a guiding hand, no matter which world it comes from. It’s the dream, isn’t it? To know what’s written in the stars for you, that there will be someone who’ll love you, alleviate your loneliness, appreciate you for who you are? This is why Agony Aunts and Uncles exist as a profession, and it’s another string to the bow of the psychic; they very often play this role and, I have to say, very often, they’re good at it—because of their intuition, their sharply tuned ability to read social cues and their willingness to decode the language of love.  And I’d do it because I could, potentially, get the kind of golden advice that Deborra-Lee Furness received. It changed her life.  The year was 1995 and Deborra, who is Australian, was living in Los Angeles. She wasn’t entirely happy. After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, the talented and optimistic actor thought she’d try her chances in LA, where it all happens.  She picked up a few roles, but didn’t get what every actor dreams of: her big break. And it was getting her down. Feeling dejected and crestfallen, Debora did what many people do when they feel they’re in a rut and they can’t seem to know their own minds to make the right choice: She went to see a fortune teller. ‘She told me I had to go back to Australia,’ Deborra has said. ‘She said: “You must go back because that’s where it’s all going to happen. You’ll get work—and you’ll meet a man.”’  It changed the trajectory of her life. ‘I thought, What have I got to lose?’ Deborra said. Shortly after moving her entire life back to Australia, she scored the lead role in the ABC crime dra

Each month we celebrate an Australian debut release of fiction or non-fiction in the Kill Your Darlings First Book Club. For September that debut is Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards, out now from Hachette. The night Eva shared a smile with Pat, something started. Two weeks later, lying together in her bed, Pat said, 'You can't live your life saying you'll get around to doing something you know will make you happy. You just have to do it.' Eva didn't know how devastating those words would turn out to be. Pat dies and the aftershock leaves Eva on unsteady ground. She is pregnant. And she has to make a choice. First Book Club host Ellen Cregan spoke with Allee about the book and the experience of writing it at a live online event hosted by Yarra Libraries. Our theme song is Broke for Free’s ‘Something Elated’. Sound production by Lloyd Pratt. Further reading: Read a review of Small Joys of Real Life in our September Books Roundup. Read about Allee’s favourite books and reading habits in this month’s Shelf Reflection. Read Allee's short story This Version of Her from New Australian Fiction 2019. Small Joys of Real Life is available now from your local independent bookseller. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Soundcloud / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT Alice Cottrell: Welcome back to the Kill Your Darlings podcast. I'm KYD publisher Alice Cottrell, and today I'll be bringing you our September First Book Club interview. Our pick this month is Small Joys of Real Life by Allee Richards, out now from Hachette. The following audio is from an online event we hosted in partnership with Yarra Libraries, with Allee in conversation with First Book Club host Ellen Cregan. Enjoy. Ellen Cregan: So we’re going to begin with a reading, but before that I will introduce Allee to you. Allee Richards’ short fiction has been published widely in Australian literary magazines and anthologies, including Kill Your Darlings, The Best Australian Stories, New Australian Fiction, Best Summer Stories, the Lifted Brow, Voiceworks and Australian Book Review. Small Joys of Real Life is her first novel. It was shortlisted for the 2019 Richell prize for Emerging Writers, and the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. She lives in Melbourne and works as a theatre lighting technician, and I think you can all see that tonight with the lighting she’s got going on. (Both laugh.) So Allee, if you wanted to read from the book for a minute, just to give everyone a taste of what it’s like, please go ahead. Allee Richards: Thanks so much, Ellen. Thank you all for coming. And before I start reading, I will also acknowledge that I am also coming to you on Wurundjeri Land. So I’m going to read a short section in the book, quite a way in actually, but it doesn’t give away any spoilers, so don’t worry if you haven’t got to it yet. Okay. There’s something I haven’t admitted to you yet. It’s about Virginia, the one with the striking face and thick eyebrows, who you taught to make passata. After I saw her comment on your Facebook page I clicked on to her account and trawled through her photos looking for you, obviously. But there was nothing I hadn’t already found on Travis’s page. There’s a photo of the three of you sitting on bikes in front of a suspension bridge over the Merri. You look sweaty and lively. Her smile is wide, her face alight with laughter. Underneath, you had written: Fitzroy North Riders. Virginia had added: Watch out. After your death Travis had gone back and added: Riders for life. Virginia echoed: For life. I googled her and found she teaches yoga at a studio in Brunswick. I searched the studio’s website and found photos of her looking sweaty but content, with lean, sinewy arms. Missives of health and wellness under the photos. The reason I’m mentioning all this is t

Welcome to the first episode of our new interview series, Pub Talk, where we chat to some of Australia’s most experienced and influential publishers, editors and agents. During these conversations you’ll receive insiders’ information about the industry, as well as advice from experts on the many pathways to publication for new writers. We’re thrilled to have Brigid Mullane as our first guest. She is the commissioning editor at Ultimo Press. Previously, she worked at Hachette Australia as both a managing editor and a senior editor. Tune in to hear KYD publishing director Rebecca Starford and Brigid discuss the role of a commissioning editor, Ultimo Press’s plans for finding and publishing new writers, some of the press’s publication initiatives over the coming months, and how Australian publishers need to do better on diversity in their organisations. Do you have a manuscript you’d like published? Check out KYD’s many writing courses that help writers get their work into the hands of editors. Our theme song is Johnny Ripper’s ‘Typing’. Stream or subscribe: Apple Podcasts / Soundcloud / Google Podcasts / Spotify / Other (RSS) Let us know what you think by rating and reviewing in your app of choice! TRANSCRIPT Alice Cottrell: Hello and welcome to Kill Your Darlings’ brand new podcast series called Pub Talk. Every couple of months, we’ll be chatting to some of the most experienced and influential publishers, editors and agents about the Australian publishing industry, and revealing the many pathways to publication for new writers. We hope you enjoy this first episode.  Rebecca Starford: My name is Rebecca Starford, and I’m the publishing director at KYD. I’m also a published author of two books, a memoir called Bad Behaviour and a novel called The Imitator. For many years, I’ve also worked as an editor, both in house as well as freelance. So I’m looking forward to hosting this upcoming conversation with these different hats on. This is the first episode in a series of conversations we’re having with leading publishers, editors and agents about the Australian publishing industry. Each episode is designed to give you an insider’s guide to the processes that make up publishing books. And for any budding writers out there, some advice and guidance about how to get your work into the right hands, and what development you might undertake in advance of that submission. So I’m so thrilled and excited to have Brigid Mullane as our first guest of the series. Brigid is the commissioning editor at Ultimo Press. Previously, she worked at Hachette Australia as both a managing editor and a senior editor. She was a communications manager at Writers Victoria, and is a former editor of Kill Your Darlings magazine, which means we still claim you as one of our own!  Brigid Mullane: (Laughs).  Rebecca Starford: Originally from Melbourne, Brig is now based in Sydney. So welcome Brig and a huge thanks for coming on to chat!  Brigid Mullane: No worries, hi Bec, it’s lovely to hear your voice.  Rebecca Starford: So as I mentioned in your introduction, you are the commissioning editor at Ultimo Press, and this is a new publishing house. How long have you been up and running now?  Brigid Mullane: I think we’re actually coming up to our first year birthday in September, but that is from inception to now. So I started in January of this year, so still new.  Rebecca Starford: So look. Tell us a little bit about Ultimo, for for listeners who aren’t familiar. As you said, you know, you’re relatively new. Tell us about the size of the company and the kind of books that you’re publishing and also, you know, the intentions of the press as well.  Brigid Mullane: Sure. So Ultimo Press is a new independent press. We’re based out of Ultimo in Sydney, which is where we get our name from. The founder James Kellow sort of noticed there’s a really vibrant indie scene in Melbourne, the majority of the indie publishers are concentrated