Backstory
A show about books, stories, the craft of writing - and the people behind the lines.
Presented by Melissa Cranenburgh.
- Select episodes:
- Broadcasts
- Podcasts
All podcast episodes
Last ever Backstory, with Toni Jordan & Phillipa McGuinness
Presenter Mel Cranenburgh winds up 4 years of presenting Backstory today, and joining her are two highly accomplished authors. First, Phillipa (Pip) McGuinness discusses her book 'Skin Deep', which deals with beauty, ageing…
Robert Lukins
'Loveland' follows the story of May, who travels from Australia to Loveland, Nebraska to claim a house on a poisoned lake as a part of her grandmother's will. As she seeks to escape…
Natasha Sholl
'Found, Wanting' is author Natasha Sholl's memoir about attempting to rebuild her life in the aftermath of her partner Rob's sudden death at the age of 27 years old and deal with cultural…
Melissa Manning
Winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for fiction, 'Smokehouse' is a collection of interlinked short stories all set in a small-town community in Southern Tasmania. Author Melissa Manning's book follows a fundamental…
Omar Sakr
Author and award-winning poet Omar Sakr discusses his debut novel ‘Son of Sin’. This coming-of-age story follows a young queer Muslim boy as he contends with an intergenerational legacy of family ties and…
Vanessa Len
Vanessa Len chats to Mel about her debut novel ‘Only A Monster’, a gripping young adult fantasy that is the first of a trilogy. It follows the tumultuous journey of a half-human, half-monster…
Jessica Au
‘Cold Enough For Snow’ is Jessica Au’s tightly crafted, award-winning second novel that wrestles with the tension that comes with words unspoken. As mother and daughter travel through Japan together, the unbridgeable emotional…
Diana Reid
Australian author Diana Reid delves into her debut novel ‘Love & Virtue’. The novel introduces Michaela and Eve, two fellow college students in Sydney who come to know the privilege, power and male-dominated…
Hannah Kent
Award-winning writer of ‘Burial Rites' and 'The Good People’, Hannah Kent, gives thoughtful insight into her latest novel, ‘Devotion’. Her lush descriptions of nature, religion, land, ghosts and queerness intertwine with the power…
Delia Falconer
Walkley Award-winning author Delia Falconer chats about her fourth book, ‘Signs and Wonders, Dispatches from a time of beauty and loss’. Comprising thirteen essays, it delves deeply into the human impact on the…
Emily Bitto
Stella Award-winning novelist, Emily Bitto delves into her new novel ‘Wild Abandon’. It follows Will, as he journeys to America in an attempt to mend his broken heart and hopefully find some peace…
Michelle de Kretser
In her latest book, two-time Miles Franklin award winner, Michelle de Kretser explores the ‘Scary Monsters’ of racism and misogyny. It follows two distinct novellas based in different times and places, though linked…
In Conversation with Tony Birch
Award-winning author of nine books; poet, essayist, historian and activist, Tony Birch joins Mel for a special ‘In Conversation’ event about his latest book, ‘Dark as Last Night’. It is a collection of…
Krissy Kneen
In her seventh book, ‘The Three Burials of Lottie Kneen’, Krissy Kneen introduces her late grandmother and family matriarch, Lotty Kneen. Her passing sparked Krissy’s quest to uncover more about her family. Using…
Jacquie Byron
In Jacquie Byron’s debut novel ‘Happy Hour’, we peer through the lens of 65-year old, newly-widowed Franny as she alternately revels in artistry and aloneness. Despite her escapist tendencies, her need for community…
Miles Allinson
Miles Allinson’s second novel, ‘In Moonland’ explores three timelines that draw on seeking answers to their past and grappling with a turbulent future. It's the follow-up to his highly acclaimed debut novel 'Fever…
Mark Brandi
Award-winning author Mark Brandi explores his new psychological thriller, ‘The Others’. Tensions rise in isolated rural Tasmania, as 11-year old Jacob’s curiosity and desire to discover what lies beyond his restricted world, boils…
Amani Haydar
Artist, lawyer and women’s health and safety activist, Amani Haydar, gives a confronting and powerful insight into her memoir, ‘The Mother Wound’. After losing her mother and grandmother, she divulges the brutal terrain…
Allee Richards
Introducing her debut novel, 'Small Joys of Real Life' Allee Richards talks us through the nuts and bolts of her writing. Set amongst pre-pandemic Melbourne, the novel explores how life can take us…
Michael Mohammed Ahmad
Award-winning novelist Michael Muhammad Ahmed provides insight into how he went about writing his new novel, ‘The Other Half of You’. Caught between his desire to reject oppressive traditions and live on his…
Laura Elizabeth Woollett
In her third and latest novel ‘The Newcomer’, Laura Elizabeth Woollett intertwines fiction and reality. Deriving elements from a real murder in 2002, she brings us into a fictional Fairfolk island filled with…
Larissa Behrendt
Award-winning author Larissa Behrendt takes a deep dive into her new novel, After Story. It follows a mother and daughter as they grapple with grief and loss, while reflecting on their cultural…
Sarah Krasnostein
Award-winning author of ‘The Trauma Cleaner’, Sarah Krasnostein, weaves us through her new book ‘The Believer’. From a death doula to a ghost hunter, to a woman facing death and another woman released…
Rick Morton
Journalist Rick Morton combines memoir with journalism in ‘My Year of Living Vulnerably: A Rediscovery of Love’. Whilst reflecting on childhood trauma and its resounding impact into adulthood, the book also explores loneliness…
Rebecca Starford
Author and editor Rebecca Starford walks us through the The Imitator, her new historical novel which weaves through pre, mid and post-war periods, through the lens of a MI5 wartime spy. Out…
Emma Batchelor
Now That I See You has won the 2021 Australian / Vogel Literary Award. Listen as the woman behind the words, Emma Batchelor, unravels this part-truth, part-fiction book; exploring the way her lens…
Susan Johnson & Oliver Reeson
Award winning author and journalist Susan Johnson goes into her epistolary novel ‘From Where I Fell’, which follows two women who find solace in one another after an accidental email unites them; and…
Madeleine Ryan
Australian writer, director and actor, Madeleine Ryan, chats about her debut novel ‘A Room Called Earth’. Taking the reader on a journey through the mind of a woman in the space of one…
Anwen Crawford
Writer and music and cultural critic Anwen Crawford talks about her new book ‘No Document’. The book-length essay weaves together narratives that explore grief, art and activism with themes of war, immigration and…
Claire Thomas & Fiona McGregor
Claire Thomas delves into her latest novel The Performance, following three women whose lives undergo revelations as they watch a play; and author and performance artist Fiona McGregor discusses her collection of…
Elizabeth Flux on her piece in Meanjin
Elizabeth Flux is Editor At Large for the Melbourne City of Literature Office and an award-winning author whose fiction and non-fiction has been widely published. In this long-form interview, she discusses her recent…
Zoya Patel on the Stella Prize Shortlist for 2021
Zoya Patel is an award-winning author, editor, founder of a feminist literary organisation and Chair of the 2021 Stella Prize judging panel. Discussing emerging themes in the stories shortlisted for the Stella Prize…
Alison Croggon
Award-winning novelist, poet, playwright, editor and critic Alison Croggon delves into her new book Monsters in a long-form interview with Mel. The book takes the form of both memoir and essay, confronting a…
Loraine Peck & Christy Collins
Lorraine Peck talks about her debut novel, The Second Son, a gripping, action-packed crime thriller; and Christy Collins discusses her beautiful and thought-provoking debut, The Price of Two Sparrows. With presenter…
Martin McKenzie-Murray
Martin McKenzie-Murray has worked as a teacher, Age columnist, and adviser to the chief commissioner of Victoria Police. But it’s his work as a scriptwriter that inspired his debut work of fiction. The…
Kavita Bedford
Kavita Bedford, an Australian-Indian writer with a background in journalism, anthropology and literature, talks about her novel, Friends and Dark Places, a novel of love and loss, of constancy and change, and…
Adam Thompson
Adam Thompson, an emerging Aboriginal (pakana) writer from Tasmania, joins Mel for a longform interview about Born Into This, his “engaging and thought-provoking” collection of short stories out now through the University…
Craig Munro & Kate Torney
Craig Munro discusses his new book, Literary Lion Tamers: Book Editors Who Made Publishing History; and Kate Torney, Chief Executive Officer of the State Library of Victoria, chats about the 165th anniversary…
Helen Garner
In this long-form interview, Helen Garner talks about her recently released book, One Day I'll Remember This: Diaries 1987-1995, the second volume of her diaries which sees her contemplating the ethics, difficulties…
Ewa Ramsey
Ewa Ramsey is an emerging writer and her debut novel, The Morbids, has been described as ‘a lively and often very funny book, and one that is hopeful and heartfelt.’ She talks…