Join us as we host a variety of guests and explore the wonderful world of books and reading in WA on our podcast.
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Learn more about our guests and listen to our latest podcast episodes on this page.
Episode 18 with Brenton E. McKenna
Brenton E McKenna is a leading First Nations graphic novelist who blends his culture and history with comedy and fiction. He joins us to chat about how without comics he wouldn’t be the passionate reader and writer that he is today, and how creating his latest book, Hairy Holes, in black and white was a fun challenge.
Access the podcst episode as a transcript here.
Episode 17 with Holden Sheppard
Holden Sheppard is a passionate YA author whose country roots still inform his stories of teenage hope, fears, failures and triumphs. His audience is poised to expand worldwide following the adaptation of 'Invisible Boys' as a TV series. He joins us to chat about how he explores the topics of masculinity, sexuality and mental health in his books and how surreal it is seeing is characters on screen and in person.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript here.
Episode 16 with Renée Treml
Renée Treml is an author, illustrator and scientist who uses her environmental and biological science background to inform her artwork and share her love for Australian animals. She joins us on Between our pages to chat about the inspiration for her latest book and the technique she uses to create her art.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 15 with Dame Wendy Pye
Dame Wendy Pye is a passionate publisher who has paved the way for Australian and New Zealand publishers internationally. Her dedication to ensuring every child has the best possible start in life through reading has seen her Sunshine Books series sell over 300 million books world-wide. She joins us on Between our pages to chat about her new memoir which shares her achievements as well as what’s she’s learnt over her 40 plus years career.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 14 with Jelena Dokic
Jelena Dokic is champion tennis player, commentator and author, who uses her experiences of domestic violence to support others and bring about change. She joins us on Between our pages to share her plans of creating a children’s book with the messages of resilience, courage and power.
Acess the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 13 with Cristy Burne
Cristy Burne is an enthusiastic author who works in an intersection of story, science and creativity, using stories to inspire and encourage young readers. She joins us on Between our pages to share the true story that fuelled her latest book and why reading and science works perfectly together.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 12 with Norman Jorgensen
Norman Jorgensen is an award-winning children’s author who is passionate about adventure stories and his love for Book Week.
He joins us to discuss how characters and stories come to him and how important it is for children to have access to books set in or around Australia.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 11 with Layne Dixon
Layne Dixon is a para-athlete, writer and an activist for disability and inclusion.
Layne joins us to share their experience of living with Cerebral Palsy, managing and writing a blog and how they hope to one day write a book.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 10 with Taryn Brumfitt
Taryn Brumfitt is the 2023 Australian of the Year. She has reached more than 200 million people globally with her message about better body image.
She is an award-winning author, photographer and documentary filmmaker. She is the director of the inspiring documentaries Embrace and Embrace Kids. She is also the co-executive director of The Embrace Collective.
She joins us to talk about her first children’s book and why it’s important for children to hear positive messages about body image and self-love.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 9 with Aśka
Aśka is a graphic novelist and ex-quantum physicist with a passion for promoting visual literacy in the writing world.
She joins us to talk about how turning someone else's manuscript into art and creating a graphic novel is like designing a rollercoaster.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 8 with Sean E Avery
Sean E Avery is an award-winning illustrator who combines writing stories with his day job as an art teacher.
Sean's book 'Frank’s Red Hat' was awarded the Children’s Book Council of Australia’s (CBCA) Shadow Judging Picture Book of the Year for 2023.
He joins us on Between our pages to discuss how he tackles his graphic novels one page at a time, why humour is so important, and how his students inspire him and his characters.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 7 with Tracey Dembo
Tracey Dembo is a lawyer, community-based director and children's author.
Tracey is passionate about encouraging big questions, daring dreams and wild imaginations.
She joined us to discuss what sparked the idea for her first-ever picture book and why uplifting messages are so important for kids.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 6 with Craig Silvey
Craig Silvey is a best-selling author and screenwriter from Fremantle.
Craig's books have received worldwide acclaim and have showcased WA stories across the globe.
He joined us to discuss the huge change of pace in his latest book and why he is so proud his novels are used as educational resources in schools.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 5 with Dr Tony Buti MLA
Dr Tony Buti MLA is the Minister for Education, Aboriginal Affairs, Citizenship and Multicultural Interests.
A former teacher, lecturer, lawyer and AFL player agent, Dr Buti has written books on a range of subjects, but none as personal as his latest title, Alkira.
He joined us to discuss the importance of reading and writing in his busy life and why he wanted to share a deeply personal story about his daughter.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 4 with Dianne Wolfer
Dianne Wolfer is an award-winning author and self-confessed bookworm.
She joined us to chat about her new book, Scout and the Rescue Dogs, and how real events changed her approach while writing it.
Dianne also spoke about her passion for writing about animals and the environment around her.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 3 with James Foley
James Foley is an illustrator and children’s author with a great sense of humour and enchanting characters and stories to match.
He joined us to chat about the first book in his new series, Secret Agent Mole 1: Goldfish-Finger, and all things reading, writing and illustrating.
James explains how he gets his inspiration for his stories and how they come to life.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 2 with Chenée Marrapodi
Chenée Marrapodi is a journalist and podcaster with a passion for words and dancing.
Chenée joined us to discuss her debut book, One Wrong Turn, which is set for release in 2023.
She explains how her family and dancing experiences inspired this story and why she always dreamed of being an author.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.
Episode 1 with Suzy Urbaniak
Our first guest was Suzy Urbaniak, a limbo-dancing, volcano-hunting geologist with a passion for the outdoors.
We asked Suzy, one of the featured scientists in the Aussie STEM Stars series, about books that sparked her lifelong passion for science.
Suzy also explains why outdoor learning is so important to her and how it influenced the book.
Access the podcast episode as a transcript.