S9 Ep6: Imagining the Past—Summer/Autumn Season—2025—Kim Kelly in conversation with Judy Nunn.
Author Kim Kelly interviews Judy Nunn on her love for historical fiction which have encompassed stories across diverse eras from colonial periods, WW2, the Cold War to more modern times. Her most recent novel, Showtime, features a showdown between rival entrepreneurs in 1880s Melbourne with comedy, tragedy, passion and betrayal; economic depression, the Black Death and the horrors of World War One waiting in the wings.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
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48:23
S9 Ep5: Imagining the Past—Summer/Autumn Season—2025—Greg Johnston in conversation with Kelly Rimmer, Victoria Purman and Nicole Alexander.
Kelly Rimmer, Victoria Purman and Nicole Alexander have conjured various characters across their many books. Greg Johnston examines their inspiration for key characters, the methods used to fully develop them, whether unexpected plot twists arose when placing them in predicaments, and if their creations took on a life of their own once delivered to readers.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
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56:25
S9 Ep4: Imagining the Past—Summer/Autumn Season—2025—Elisabeth Storrs in conversation with Mirandi Riwoe and Devika Ponnambalam.
Mirandi Riwoe's The Sunbirds tests the identities and loyalties between Dutch and Indonesians in colonial Java on the eve of the Japanese invasion. Devika Ponnambalam's I Am Not Your Eve is an imagining of the life of Teha’amana, Paul Gaugin's Tahitian 'child-bride'.
Both authors join Elisabeth Storrs in discussing the complexities of bringing alternative perspectives to previously Euro-centric stories, and the research challenges experienced in delving deeper into such histories.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
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52:16
S9 Ep3: Imagining the Past—Summer/Autumn Season—2025—Claudia Chan Shaw in conversation with Christopher Cheng, Daryl Lim and Siang Lu
View from the East—Christopher Cheng, Daryl Lim and Siang Lu discuss with Claudia Chan Shaw their novels, Asian histories, and the challenges of being an Asian writer within the current publishing industry.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
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47:34
S9 Ep2: Imagining the Past—Summer/Autumn Season—2025—Stephen Romei in conversation with Fiona McFarlane & Jock Serong
Writer and critic Stephen Romei is in conversation with Jock Serong and Fiona McFarlane. Jock discusses part three of his Furneaux trilogy, The Settlement, which was short listed for the 2023 ARA Historica Novel Price. Part two of the trilogy, The Burning Island, won the ARA Prize in 2021. Fiona discusses her second novel, The Sun Walks Down, which was shortlisted for the 2023 Walter Scott Historical Fiction Prize, and long-listed for the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts.
The Imagining the Past podcast series is brought to you by the Historical Novel Society Australasia (https://hnsa.org.au/) . We feature authors appearing at our biennial conferences (https://hnsa.org.au/conferences-events/) or have been recognised in our $150,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize (https://hnsa.org.au/ara-historical-novel-prize/) .
Our HNSA hosts, Greg Johnston and Kelly Gardiner, discuss researching, writing and publishing historical fiction with acclaimed writers of the genre in its many forms from crime to fantasy to literary fiction, set in eras stretching from ancient times to the Swinging Sixties, and for readers of all ages.
Subscribe to our newsletter (https://hnsa.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=49e3be019736f1209eb79eaab&id=9291f1437e) for updates on our writing programs and the ARA Historical Novel Prize. #writing #history #historicalfiction #fiction #books #podcast
Imagining the Past is listed in the Top 25 Historical Fiction Podcasts (https://podcast.feedspot.com/historical_fiction_podcasts/) .
Our hosts
Greg (G.S. )Johnston is the author of three historical novels – Sweet Bitter Cane (2019), The Cast of a Hand (2015), and The Skin of Water (2012), and a fourth novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, Consumption (2011). After completing a degree in pharmacy, a year in Italy re-ignited his passion for writing and he completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. Feeling the need for a broader canvas, he started writing short stories and novels. He is the Treasurer of HNSA.
Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction for all ages. Her latest series is The Firewatcher Chronicles. Her other books include Goddess, based on the life of Mademoiselle de Maupin; 1917: Australia’s Great War, shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Young People’s History Prize and Asher Award; the Swashbuckler pirate trilogy; and a picture book, Billabong Bill’s Bushfire Christmas. Her young adult novels Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, were both shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, while Act of Faith was shortlisted for the ASA’s Barbara Jefferis Award.
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