Thanks for listening to Unladylike podcast.
With episode 20, we’ve come to the end of season 2. We’re taking a break over our summer holiday season (apologies to everyone in the northern hemisphere). But we’ll be back early next year.
First up in 2018: an international, interdisciplinary roundtable on academic writing, especially for all of us starting or resuming our studies or research.
So stay tuned.
And thanks again for all your support.
Oh look, we’ve been a bit hopeless lately, haven’t we?
We’re not lazy – far from it. Just very, very busy. So we’re moving to releasing episodes in short series, rather than on a specific week of the month.
We’ll be back soon with some shit-hot new episodes of Unladylike, underway now.
You’ll hear from us soon. Stay tuned.
What do writers actually do?
We talk to two acclaimed writers of fiction about their process: where do they start, what do they think about, how does it feel, what on earth do they do all day?
Between them, Charlotte Wood and Paddy O’Reilly have published more than a dozen books and countless short stories, essays and articles, and have survived to laugh about it. They both think deeply about the work of writing, teach or mentor emerging writers, and share their experiences with us on Unladylike.
(If you’re on a mobile device, use iTunes, Audioboom, Stitcher or your favourite podcast app.)
Charlotte Wood
Photo credit: Wendy McDougall
Charlotte Wood is the author of five novels and two books of non-fiction, as well as essays and features – often about food, nature, or writing.
Her latest novel is The Natural Way of Things, a parable of hard-won friendship in a nightmarish prison farm for women. It won the 2016 Stella Prize, the Indie Book of the Year and Novel of the Year, and has been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award.
Her next book is The Writer’s Room, a selection of interviews with Australian authors.
Paddy O’Reilly
Paddy O’Reilly is the author of three novels, a novella, screenplays, and two award-winning collections of short stories, including her recent collection, Peripheral Vision. She is the editor of a series of memoir collections, beginning with It Happened in a Holden.
Her latest novel, The Wonders, is the story of three people whose bodies have been artificially altered, and who become global superstars. It won the Norma K Hemming award and was nominated for the Kirkus Prize.
Here are some of the writers’ tools Paddy and Charlotte mentioned:
Charlotte Wood’s The Natural Way of Things is published by Allen & Unwin in the UK, Australia and New Zealand and Europa Editions in the US. The Writer’s Room will be published by Allen & Unwin in August 2016.
Paddy O’Reilly’s Peripheral Vision is published by University of Queensland Press, and The Wonders by Affirm Press in Australia and New Zealand. Her comic novel The Fine Colour of Rust was published by HarperCollins in the UK and Australia. Both were published in the US by Simon & Schuster.
We’ve been plotting.
Now we have a few live episodes, they ought to keep you occupied for a day or two.
We’ll release a new one each month – or more often if we get a bit excited.
Here’s what we have in mind for a few future episodes of Unladylike.
On translation
Ann Goldstein on the art and science of translation, and her work on the novels of Elena Ferrante.
On festivals
Do writers festivals create programs with gender and diversity in mind? We talk to women making decisions for festivals in the US, New Zealand and Australia.
On labels
Anita Heiss and Jessica Walton on perceptions, constraints, representation and freedoms.
On heroines
Malinda Lo and Rebecca Lim on creating kick-ass protagonists.
On process
Charlotte Wood and Paddy O’Reilly on dreaming, plotting (or not), drafting and redrafting.
On rebellion
Lee Kofman, Silvia Kwon and Maria Katsonis are possibly not such dutiful daughters.
That’s the plan for the next little while. We’ve already recorded some of these, but others are in the calendar-juggling phase. It might turn out differently. Certainly themes can change or emerge when we get into the studio and start talking.
But we want you to know how we’re thinking and what might lie ahead.
Very soon, on Unladylike podcast, you can hear our first few episodes.
And they are stonkers*, if we do say so ourselves.
Vivian Gornick and Sian Prior, both journalists and memoir writers, in conversation about memory, imagination and language.
Fiona Wood, Simmone Howell and Cath Crowley talk about portraying friendship in writing for young adults, and their own collaborations.
Historian Clare Wright and editor Mandy Brett on the process of creating an award-winning bestseller.
Tessa Dare on romance fiction as a feminist genre, and why readers are in love with love.
Novelist Toni Jordan and playwright Patricia Cornelius on the power of purple language.
And after that? You just wait.
* stonker
noun BRITISH informal plural noun: stonkers
something which is very large or impressive of its kind.
(Oxford Dictionary, Oxford University Press)
Now what are we doing?
Editing. Mostly.
It’s only a few weeks until we release Unladylike into the wild.
We’ve been in the studio and on the road (in New Zealand and in the US), and we’ve recorded conversations with some wonderful writers. Now we’re getting the audio into shape for you.
So very soon, you’ll hear our first few episodes, with many more to come.
Stay tuned.
Brilliant idea, starting a podcast.
It’s also a whole lot of work.
In case you’re thinking about doing it too, here’s a list of all the stuff we’ve been doing in the lead-up to our June launch:
It seemed like we had months to do it all in, and now time is flashing by very fast.
We’ve also had so much enthusiastic support and feedback since we announced Unladylike. So thank you.
We can’t wait for you to hear the voices of all these amazing women.
Soon.
See? How gorgeous is gear? Who knew?
Unladylike 