The Book Show

Finding joy in fiction with Pulitzer winner Andrew Sean Greer whose lovable character Arthur Less returns in Less is Lost and Craig Silvey's Runt, a book for children and adults young at heart. And the joy of being on the Booker Prize shortlist with Shehan Karunatilaka whose satire The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is set in 1989 during the Sri Lankan Civil War.

Can a book predict the future? AM Homes' latest novel The Unfolding follows a group of Republicans who plot to take over the government, but Homes says it was written well before the January 6th Capitol riots. Meanwhile, the oldest-ever Booker Prize shortlisted novelist Alan Garner evokes an enigmatic and mysterious world in his book Treacle Walker, and Tracey Lien's impressive debut All That's Left Unsaid explores the death of star student in Cabramatta's Vietnamese community.

Shortlisted Booker author Percival Everett kicks off our Booker Prize coverage with a discussion of The Trees and former Booker winner Ian McEwan reveals that his latest novel, Lessons, is his most personal work and certainly his longest.  Also, Jay Carmichael explains how he went beyond the archive for his second novel, Marlo, on gay relationships in 1950s Australia.

Maggie O'Farrell says her latest novel The Marriage Portrait came to her in "a lightning bolt moment". The book honours the short life of the 16th century Duchess Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici, who was rumoured to be murdered by her husband. Also, Australian author Robert Drewe's resurrection of the sporting hero you've never heard of in Nimblefoot and Zaheda Ghani's debut Pomegranate and Fig, a book that's been in her mind since childhood.

American humourist Sloane Crosley explores the dating scene in New York City, but with a twist, in her novel Cult Classic. Also, Neela Janakiramanan takes a break from her hospital rounds to tell you about her Australian medical drama The Registrar and Siang Lu takes on kung fu, comedy, and the history of cinema in The Whitewash.

From growing up surrounded by homophobia in a small Tasmanian town to getting married in 2021, award winning comedian and now writer Hannah Gadsby shares what it is like to be queer, autistic and at the top of her game.

Author of Room, Emma Donoghue questions the zealotry of monks in her latest novel, Haven, set on an inhospitable island in 7th century Ireland (Star Wars fans will recognise this island too!). Also, Pirooz Jafari on his gentle novel, Forty Nights, about war and displacement, and Grace Chan imagines a future dominated by virtual reality in Every Version of You.

It's been 40 years since Tim Winton published his first novel, An Open Swimmer. Today he is the beloved writer of 29 books, a four-time Miles Franklin winner (for Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music and Breath) and an incomparable observer of the Western Australian landscape. For the Big Weekend of Books, he joined The Book Show's Claire Nichols and a live audience at the ABC studios in Perth.

Women's Prize for Fiction winner, Ruth Ozeki, is also a Zen Buddhist priest and explains how this practice shapes her writing. Also, British crime writer, Ann Cleeves sets her tenth Vera novel, The Rising Tide, on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne where Christianity first came to the UK.

Trees take root in fiction—from family ties to climate change. Richard Powers, Hannah Kent, Elif Shafak, and Michael Christie explore how nature is becoming the story. Also featuring Matt Haig, Melissa Lucashenko, Emily St John Mandel, SJ Norman, and Shaun Tan.