Short days, but filled with books

At this time of any other year, I’d be counting down to the winter solstice, excited that spring might soon be around the corner.

This year it’s even better: the solstice means the Big Weekend of Books has arrived.

Yes, the days are the shortest they ever get here in the southern hemisphere, but RN is filling them with warm and stimulating conversations with some of the best writers from around the world.

The live program starts on your radio at 10:00am local time, with the opening session, a conversation between Soul Search presenter Meredith Lake, Phosphorescence author Julia Baird, and Boy Swallows Universe author Trent Dalton.

(You can also listen live on the website or the listen app from 10:00am AEST.)

If you’ve got time between now and then, I can recommend this article, where Meredith draws out some common threads from Julia and Trent’s books to explore what it means to pay attention.

Then Meredith will be speaking to Julia in a Facebook live from 11:15am AEST. If you’re a fan of Julia or her book Phosphorescence, don’t miss this chance to ask her a question directly – you can find this conversation on the ABC Radio National Facebook page.

Also on Saturday’s program:
•    11am: A special Big Weekend of Books edition of The Music Show with Andrew Ford
•    12 noon: A special Big Weekend of Books edition of The Science Show with Robyn Williams
•    1pm: Sarah L'Estrange in conversation with Christos Tsiolkas ahead of his off-air Zoom masterclass for eight competition winners
•    1:25pm: Hilary Harper in conversation with Swedish novelist Carolina Setterwall
•    2pm: Claire Nichols in conversation with Singaporean American writer Kevin Kwan
•    3pm: Sarah Kanowski in conversation with American author Deborah Feldman
•    4pm: Kate Evans in conversation with Bernardine Evaristo, and then Brit Bennett
•    5pm: Jonathan Green in conversation with Bruce Pascoe

In this newsletter I’ve also included videos from Trent Dalton and David Walliams, who were kind enough to answer audience questions as part of our online offering for the weekend.

Keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow – I’ll have catch-up links for today’s best sessions, as well as more detail about the Sunday program.

Until then,
Rosie Ryan, Digital Editor
 

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