What makes a novel uniquely Australian? How do our stories stack up on the world stage?
Writer, critic and former diplomat Nick Jose joins Lynda Ng—Oz Lit scholar and literary critic—for a deep dive into the Australian novel and its shifting place in global literature.
Through powerful readings from literary giants like Patrick White, Peter Carey, Alexis Wright, and Christina Stead, we ask:
How has fiction shaped the idea of ‘Australia'?
How has that idea changed from the nineteenth to the twentieth century?
Nicolas Jose
Nicolas Jose is a novelist, essayist and playwright, whose thirteen books include the novels Paper Nautilus, Avenue of Eternal Peace (shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award), The Custodians (shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize) and Original Face; two short story collections; a volume of essays, Chinese Whispers; and the memoir Black Sheep.
Dr Lynda Ng
Dr Lynda Ng is a Lecturer in World Literature (including Australian Literature) at The University of Melbourne. She is the editor of Indigenous Transnationalism: Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria(2018), and is the recipient of an ARC Discovery Grant for a collaborative project on J. M. Coetzee and the Margaret Church Memorial Prize for the best essay published in MFS: Modern Fiction Studies.
Her research frequently considers Australian literature within a transnational paradigm, touching on the intersection between economics and literature as well as the environmental humanities. She is currently completing a project on Chinese diasporic writing.
Readings
An Australian Girl by Catherine Martin, read by Regina Botros
For the Term of His Natural Life by Marcus Clarke, read by Tug Dumbly
The Tree of Man by Patrick White, read by Humphrey Bower (with thanks to Audible)
The Middle Parts of Fortune by Frederic Manning, read by Glen Phillips
For Love Alone by Christina Stead, read by Trisha Starrs
Plains of Promise by Alexis Wright, read by Sharni McDermott
Carpentaria by Alexis Wright, read by Isaac Drandich (with thanks to Audible)
Oscar & Lucinda by Peter Carey, read by Steven Crossley (with thanks to Audible)
Farewell My Orange by Iwaki Kei, read by James Jiang
Voss by Patrick White, read by Humphrey Bower (with thanks to Audible)
Further reading
The Cambridge History of the Australian Novel, edited by David Carter
Indigenous Transnationalism: Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria, edited by Lynda Ng
The Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature, edited by Nicholas Jose
Credits
Fully Lit is presented by Anna Funder.
The podcast series is produced, edited and sound designed by Regina Botros.
Sound engineering by Simon Branthwaite.
Executive producers are James Jiang and Sarah Gilbert.
Fully Lit is a co-production between UTS Impact Studios and the Sydney Review of Books, with support from the UTS Writing and Publishing Program.
To cite this episode:
Impact Studios, Botros, R., Gilbert, S., & Jiang, J. (2025, May 15). Fully Lit: a podcast about Australian writing, Ep 1, Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15421502
