Research

22. On murder

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What makes for a cracking crime story? We talk to three writers of crime fiction and fact – Kerry Greenwood, Vikki Petraitis, and Lindy Cameron – about murder,  survival, plotting (or not), research, and of course the Hon. Phryne Fisher.

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Our guests

Lindy Cameron is a crime writer and publisher.Lindy Cameron

Blood Guilt introduced us to her  fictional private investigator Kit O’Malley. Its sequels were Bleeding Hearts, which won the Readers’ Vote in the both Ned Kelly Awards and the Davitt Awards, and Thicker Than Water, which also won the Davitt Readers’ Vote.

She has written, co-written or edited true crime books including Meaner Than Fiction and the Outside the Law series, Killer in the Family , Murder in the Family, and Women Who Kill. Lindy also writes adventure stories of all kinds, including spy thrillers.

Her publishing company, Clan Destine Press, focuses on genre fiction, especially crime. She has been a National Co-Convenor of Sisters in Crime Australia for two decades.

 

Kerry GreenwoodKerry Greenwood is one of Australia’s most beloved authors. She has published more than 60 books, including the 20-book Phryne Fisher crime series which became the ABC TV series Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.

Kerry worked as a lawyer for many years, and her first Phryne book, Cocaine Blues, was published in 1989. Miss Fisher has since returned in a whole series of mysteries including Flying Too High, Murder on the Ballarat Train, Death Before Wicket, Away With The Fairies,  and The Castlemaine Murders.

Her other significant mystery series features baker/sleuth Corinna Chapman, who first appeared in Earthly Delights. Heavenly Pleasures, Devil’s Food, Trick or Treat, Forbidden Fruit, and Cooking the Books followed.

Kerry has also written plays, short stories, historical fiction including the Delphic Women trilogy, and fantasy and crime novels for young adults and children. Her nonfiction includes a book of essays on female murderers called The Thing She Loves: Why Women Kill, and two volumes of On Murder.

Kerry has a Ned Kelly Lifetime Achievement Award and the Sisters in Crime Davitt Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Vikki PetraitisVikki Petraitis is a queen of true crime writing. Over the years, she has interviewed thousands of police officers, detectives – even accompanying them on active duty – forensic experts, and victims of crime.

Her books include Crime Scene Investigations, Cops, Rockspider, Salvation, Forensics, and, perhaps most famously, The Frankston Murders: The True Story of Serial Killer Paul Denyer.

She has won or been shortlisted for the Scarlet Stiletto, Ned Kelly, and Davitt Awards and won the John Hill Award from the Australian Police Journal.

Her latest book is Once a Copper, the story of Brian ‘The Skull’ Murphy.

 

Phryne Fisher

The Hon. Miss Phryne Fisher (played by Essie Davis, ABC TV)

 

21. On academia

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We’re back.

Welcome to season 3 of Unladylike.

Here in Australia, it’s the start of the academic year. So in this episode, Kelly chats with a roundtable of women from different disciplines who all write and read academic articles, papers, books and essays – and teach other people how to write for academia. What makes good academic writing? And how do we master the form?

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Our guests

We gathered one evening, after a long day at the international symposium on Gender and Love at Aarhus University’s stunning Sandbjerg Manor House in Denmark.

The voices you can hear are:

Wernmei Yong Ade, Assistant Professor and Deputy Head in the English Programme, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Deirdre C. Byrne, Professor and Head of the Institute for Gender Studies, University of South Africa.

Serena Petrella, Associate Professor in Sociology and Gender and Women’s Studies as well as Chair in Sociology, Brandon University, Manitoba, Canada.

Marianne Schleicher, Associate Professor in Jewish Studies, Department for the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Denmark.

Chantelle Gray van Heerden, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Gender Studies, University of South Africa.

(l-r) Serena, Marianne, Deirdre, Chantelle and Mei: classic academic gathering in a conference venue bedroom (with wine)

15. On knowledge

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In our first live recording, at the Castlemaine State Festival, we asked two authors of nonfiction how they research complex subjects, manage their materials, and create compelling stories.

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Our guests

Robyn Annear is a history writer and Castlemaine local legend. Her books include Bearbrass: Imagining Early Melbourne, Nothing But Gold: The diggers of 1852, The Man Who Lost Himself: The Unbelievable Story of the Tichborne Claimant, and Fly a Rebel Flag: The Eureka Stockade. Her book A City Lost and Found: Whelan the Wrecker’s Melbourne grew out of a State Library Victoria Creative Fellowship. Robyn was also guest curator of the State Library’s exhibition Naked democracy: governing Victoria 1856-2006.

Lynne Kelly is a science writer with a background in engineering, physics, mathematics, information technology and gifted education. Her most recent book, The Memory Code and its academic counterpart, Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies: orality, memory and the transmission of culture, explore oral traditions and the concept of memory spaces. Lynne has written fourteen science books, particularly for school-age readers, and a novel, Avenging Janie. Her most popular science titles include The Skeptic’s Guide to the Paranormal, Crocodile and Spiders.

Robyn Annear’s beloved Bearbrass and A City Lost and Found have recently been republished by Black Inc. Lynne Kelly’s The Memory Code is published by Allen & Unwin.

Our thanks to Castlemaine State Festival for inviting us to be part of the festival, and to our fabulous audience.

Disclosure in the spirit of historical accuracy: Kelly was possibly over-excited to be told she was appearing on the same stage as Lola Montez, having recently written Madame Montez’s dramatic performance on the Goldfields into a short story, but got the year wrong in the heat of the moment. It was 1856, not 1857. The original timber Theatre Royal in Castlemaine burned down in 1887, so it’s not exactly the same stage. But we’re just going with it.

Robyn Annear's Shoebox

Robyn Annear’s shoebox

On stage at the Theatre Royal (from left): Adele, Lynne, Robyn and Kelly. And Robyn’s famous shoe box.  The ghost of Lola Montez lurks unseen behind us. Photo by Lisa D’Onofrio. 

14. On Austen

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It’s two hundred years since Jane Austen died at the age of only 41. The bicentenary will be commemorated all year with events, conferences, festivals and of course books.

We spoke to two writers about Austen’s legacy and her influence on them – and on so many of us.

 

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Our guestseea666bc-6af7-460c-ba36-c2f7a282ab77-5359-000004e3e1e28c0d_tmp

Alison Goodman’s most recent novel is The Dark Days Pact, the second in the Lady Helen trilogy of supernatural Regency adventures. The first book, The Dark Days Club, was an NPR Best Book of 2016, and the third volume is on the way.

Alison is also the author of the award winning and New York Times bestselling duology EON and EONA, Singing the Dogstar Blues and an adult thriller, A New Kind of Death.

You can read about Alison’s Regency research on her website.

 

 

Book cover Digital Afterlives

Kylie Mirmohamadi is a researcher at La Trobe University who specialises in cultural and literary studies. She has written extensively on literary sensations from Lady Audley’s Secret to Dickens to Harry Potter.

Her book The Digital Afterlives of Jane Austen: Janeites at the Keyboard, looks at the world of online Jane Austen fan fiction.

 

 

 

 

Jane Austen was born in 1775 and her first novel, Sense and Sensibility, was published in 1811, followed in quick succession by Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814) and Emma (1815). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously.

Jennifer Ehle as Lizzie and David Bamber as Mr Collins in the 1995 series of Pride and Prejudice

Jennifer Ehle as Lizzy and David Bamber as Mr Collins in the 1995 series of Pride and Prejudice

Austen 200 events include:

11. On research

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What does it take to recreate past worlds? How does a writer uncover the reality she needs to blend with imagination? Where do research and writing intersect?

We talk to two writers who’ve spent years researching and writing novels about the lives of real women from the past: Hannah Kent and Kate Mildenhall.

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About our guests

Hannah Kent’s first novel, Burial Rites, was an international bestseller and Photo of Hannah Kenthas been translated into 28 languages. It won the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the Indie Awards Debut Fiction Book of the Year and the Victorian Premier’s People’s Choice Award, and was shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Bailey’s Prize.

Her second novel, The Good People, is just out in Australia and New Zealand will be published in 2017 in the UK, Ireland and North America.
Hannah is also the co-founder and publishing director of Australian literary journal, Kill Your Darlings.

 

Photo of Kate MildenhallKate Mildenhall is a teacher and writer – she has taught in schools and universities, and worked at the State Library of Victoria, creating web content for students and teachers.
Kate is studying Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT University.

Her first novel, Skylarking, has just been published.

 

 

Burial Rites and The Good People are published by Picador (Macmillan) in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, and Little, Brown in the US. Skylarking is published by Black Inc in Australia and New Zealand, and will be published by Legend Press in the UK in 2017.

Book cover of The Good People

Book cover of Skylarking