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  • Book Club - On the Danger of Xmas reads

    Book Club - On the Danger of Xmas reads
    Dec 8 2025
    Xmas time is here and as sure we’ll be reaching for mince pies, gravy and white wine in the sun, we’ll also be turning our attention to festive tales that make us feel warm and full of cheer. Because festive cheer is what makes a Xmas story Xmassy right? I saw the other day that this year marks the 35th anniversary of Home Alone. Feeling old yet? This iconic Xmas movie is full of all the festive staples like child neglect, break and enter, and attempted murder (are we going to need a content warning Andrew?). And Macaulay Culkin has a job for life, trotting out every five years or so and acknowledging his place alongside Mariah Carey in the modern Xmas pantheon. On the occasion of Home Alone’s 35th Culkin decided to indulge another great Xmas tradition; weighing in on whether or not Die Hard is a Xmas movie. About now you’re probably wondering what this has to do with books. This is book club after all. Well Die Hard was a book; Nothing Lasts Forever, a 1979 action thriller novel by American author Roderick Thorp. Home Alone was novelised after the fact, so do with that what you will. What I’m interested in though is the fascination with danger and in particular our predilection for mayhem and murder alongside our carefully hung stockings. Agatha Christie knew all about this. The phrase ‘A Christie for Xmas’ was synonymous with the reading public's love of a cosy crime around the holiday season. The Golden Age great wrote several books and short stories with Xmas at the centre of the narrative. The larger motif of festive murder was celebrated more through the release of a new novel around Xmas time each year. The tradition continues long after the author’s death through the release of adaptations of the novels around the festive season. Cynics may wonder if this is simply a commercial imperative. Cashing in on a public with time on their hands, but of all the types of diversion I wonder why murder is so popular a choice. It’s not just Agatha Christie. I’m waiting to read Benjamin Stevenson’s 2024 installment of his Ernest Cunningham series, Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret. I gifted it to my wife, so I guess I have to wait for her to finish it first. Horror is also a big part of the Xmas cannon. From the thorough exploitation of Krampus, through to Gremlins and with many straight up slashers in between, we love some violent Xmas storytelling. It’s beginning to look a lot like whether it’s Kevin McCalister, John McClaine, or just Joe from How to Make Gravy, everyone is looking to survive their Xmas and praying that there’s no one in her who wants to fight. So if you’re hanging out for a tightly plotted, or wildly bloody Xmas story this year, don’t fight it. You’re in good company, whether we acknowledge it or not. The why may be harder to decipher, but I’ve got my elves working on it and I think I may have something for you for our next (and last) book club for the year!
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    4 Min.
  • Benjamin Stevenson's Everyone in this Bank is a Thief

    Benjamin Stevenson's Everyone in this Bank is a Thief
    Dec 5 2025
    The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Today Felix Shannon joins us in conversation with Benjamin Stevenson Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author of the globally popular ‘Ernest Cunningham Mysteries’, including Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone. Ten suspects. Ten heists. A puzzle only Ernest Cunningham can solve. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
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    49 Min.
  • Book Club - Evelyn Araluen's The Rot

    Book Club - Evelyn Araluen's The Rot
    Nov 24 2025
    Today's Book Club is a reading from Evelyn Araluen's new poetry collection The Rot. Evelyn Araluen is a Goorie and Koori poet, editor and researcher. She is co-editor of Overland Literary Journal. Evelyn’s first collection Dropbear won the Stella Prize in 2022 and she is joining us today with her new collection The Rot. Originally aired on 2ser 107.3
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    4 Min.
  • Katharine Pollock’s Starry Eyed

    Katharine Pollock’s Starry Eyed
    Nov 20 2025
    The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Dr Katharine Pollock (PhD) is the author of Her Fidelity. Her new novel is Starry Eyed. To say that Scarlett Fever is the centre of Addilyn’s universe would be to imply that there is only a finite number of universes and that Scarlett hasn’t traversed them all in her majestic ship Lynx. Ever since childhood, Addilyn has loved Scarlett Fever and the opportunity it’s given her to travel the cosmos in her mind. Scarlett’s certainly offered her more than the real world seems willing to, and so when Addilyn is given the chance to interview Scarlett Fever’s Wunderkind director, Josh Jolly Courtney (now sexily salt & pepper at the temples) she doesn’t hesitate to jet off to New York. Is this her hero's journey, or does another story await her? Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
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    42 Min.
  • Sally Hepworth’s Mad Mabel

    Sally Hepworth’s Mad Mabel
    Nov 17 2025
    The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Sally Hepworth is a New York Times bestselling author of ten novels. Her novels have been translated into over 30 languages. Sally’s novel The Family Next Door has recently been adapted for television. Sally joins us today with her new novel Mad Mabel. Elsie just wants a quiet life. She’s been more than thirty years in her quiet little Melbourne lane and she’d happily stay thirty more if she thought she had that much time left. Unfortunately for Elsie her elderly neighbour Ishaan has to go and die. Nothing suspicious of course and poor Elsie is the one to find the body. Nothing suspicious, but it only takes one curious person, one probing question and a short search and Elsie’s past is there to discover. And try as she might Elsie can’t seem to escape Mad Mabel. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
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    35 Min.
  • Book Club - Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s The Wolf Who Cried Boy

    Book Club - Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s The Wolf Who Cried Boy
    Nov 11 2025
    4 Min.
  • Luke Johnson’s King Tide

    Luke Johnson’s King Tide
    Nov 7 2025
    The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Luke Johnson is a physiotherapist and writer from Victoria. He’s joining us today with his debut novel King Tide. When you’re young in a small town it can feel like there’s not much to do. So you make your own fun. Maybe it’s footy, maybe church camp in the summer. Tate, Luther and Brylie are thick as thieves until the disappearance of Tate’s little brother shatters their world. The boys play footy and Brylie leaves town when her minister father gets a new posting. Years later and Brylie and her dad are back. Their return coincides with the discovery of a body on the beach. Another disappearance that connects them all. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover this and many more conversations on Final Draft every week.
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    33 Min.
  • Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s The Wolf Who Cried Boy

    Mark Mupotsa-Russell’s The Wolf Who Cried Boy
    Nov 3 2025
    42 Min.