Final Draft - Great Conversations 2SER 107.3FM

Back in 2013, when I was just a little baby radio producer starting out on Final Draft some incredible books came out. I’d like to say I read them all but that would be a lie.
Today’s book for book club has been on my radar since that time and so to inspire you all to dive deep into your to be read pile I’ve got Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites.
Back in 2013 Hannah Kent was a debut author and this would have been a short introduction. Now she is an international best selling, and multi award winning author. And it all started with Burial Rites.
In nineteenth century Iceland Agnes Magnusdottir stands accused of murder. 
As she awaits her sentence; execution, she is sent to labor on the farm of the district officer. There she is nothing more than a murderess. The family are horrified that they must keep Agnes in their home and throughout the surrounding district Agnes is a curiosity; part freak show, part warning on the fate of sinners.
Only a young clergyman, sent to deliver Agnes' soul, sees her as someone more than the sum of the charges laid against her.
Burial Rites was an extremely well regarded book on its arrival a decade ago and it is immediately apparent why…
The book balances character development with the sort of knife edge tension you need to keep the pages turning. It is deceptive in this as the bulk of the action occurs on the farm, and within the turf homestead where Agnes has been sentenced to live out her final days. It is through the dripping of Agnes' story; her life and the events leading up to the murders, as well as the developing relationships between Agnes and her gaolers that we are driven to believe that there is more here than first appearances.
The Icelandic setting is intriguing and I confess I knew little going in. What is apparent is that Agnes has suffered for her sex and her lowly status in the community. The mistreatment we are shown is both distant in space and time but also familiar as Agnes is used by men who have power over her.
The developing relationship between Agnes and the priest, Toti, allows us to glimpse into Agnes’ humanity even as she prepares to die. The book asks questions of life and what it can be, challenging the petty cruelties visited on those who cannot defend against them.
Of course all this is subject to Kent’s ability to render these characters, so distant from our experience convincingly. Of this there can be no doubt. Told through shifting perspectives we come to know the various characters through their dealings and impressions of Agnes. The writing reinforces the lives and evokes the harsh conditions, taking us into the freezing winter of Agnes last season.
I’m so glad I finally picked up this book and highly recommend it to lovers of both Australian fiction and historical fiction alike.

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.
Victoria Purman is a bestselling author in Australia and the US. Her historical fiction includes A Woman’s Work, The Nurses’ War, The Women’s Pages, and The Land Girls.
Victoria’s new novel is The Radio Hour.
The year is 1956.
When Martha Berry started out at the national broadcaster nearly thirty years ago she couldn’t imagine where it would take her…
Not so far it turns out, as she shunts between jobs as secretary for men who wouldn’t know one end of their pencils from the other if they didn't occasionally stick it in their… ear.
Now Martha has been tasked with looking after the new wunderkind writer. He’s been commissioned to create a new hit series but all he’s got so far is a title.
With television on the horizon, Martha refuses to believe that the days of the radio serial might be over. But if no one steps up to write As The Sun Sets, well the title might become more than a little prophetic!

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 from 2ser.

Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
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John Richards was shortlisted for the Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Award in 2021 and the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer in August 2022. The Gorgon Flower is his first published work of fiction.
The Gorgon Flower is a wonderful collection of dark and macabre stories. I’ve always thought of short story collections like albums or mixed lolly bags. The best of them have something for everyone but you’re probably still not going to share because you love it all.
The range of ideas in The Gorgon Flower extends from the historic to the speculative. Each story challenges the reader with tilted perspectives and invites you in to discover the world in a new way.
I’m not going to try and cover every tale in the book but I would like to give you a sense through the longest and perhaps darkest tale; the titular The Gorgon Flower.
The Gorgon Flower
In the mid nineteenth century Lord Tobias Henry Edmundson embarks on a quest to rediscover the enigmatic Gorgon Flower. The flower was first brought to European attention by Tobias' father, an eminent botanist.
Since his youth Tobias has been plagued, some might say obsessed with the flower that he remembers as a carnivorous marvel that entranced those who saw it. His father’s original find was destroyed in a fire that also took his father’s life and now Tobias plans to pick up the trail
This is a strange and dark story told in two parts; first through Tobias’ field diaries and then through testimony from the ship’s doctor. 
Tobias’ diary chronicles the long march into the jungle where the flower was last sighted. The expedition are met with horrific discoveries of missionaries left in some sort of decay that seems to pass over the indigenous inhabitants. The crew are alarmed, with many fearing it is only a matter on time before they are stricken by the horrible malady.
The Gorgon Flower combines psychological thriller with body horror to create a kaleidoscopic spiral into Tobias’ obsession. 
Within the story the Gorgon Flower is both a siren and something of a post-colonial wrecking ball leveling the ambitions of those who would exploit the terrain.
The prose is crafted just so to entice the reader to believe whilst sowing seeds of doubt (forgive the botanical reference). This is fun, intellectual horror at its best.
And that’s just one part of the collection!

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.
Nikki Mottram has a psychology degree from The University of Queensland and has worked in child protection promoting the welfare of children at risk of harm. These experiences inform her writing beginning with her 2023 novel Crow’s Nest.
Nikki’s latest novel is Killarney.
Dana Gibson has more than a little on her mind when she accompanies her colleague Lachlan on a welfare check in the town of Killarney.
With local tensions simmering, possible drug running through the town and an allegation against a member of the clergy things are starting to look bad. Then torrential rain breaks the banks of the river trapping Dana in Killarney.
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 from 2ser.

Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser 
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/ 
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Bri Lee is the award winning author of Eggshell skull and Who gets to be smart. 
The Work is her first novel.
The art scene in New York is one of the toughest in the world. While artists stay locked in their studios creating works of inspiration, the industry of ‘the arts’ whirs away creating the buzz that keeps it all relevant.
After years of struggle Lally is finally making her gallery work. Her risk is paying off and she is finally able to support emerging artists and pay the bills. Never mind the occasional cost if the art is good and the buyers are excited.
Patrick feels like he is teetering on the verge of something. It seems like everyone in the Sydney antiquities scene is suitably antique but maybe, with the right connections he can lower the age range. One big client is all he needs and there’s a new client with their eye on the handsome young associate 
Lally and Patrick both know they have to do The Work to prove themselves. In their world success might as well be a synonym of sacrifice.
They are together alone, until a chance meeting at a New York art conference throws them into each other’s orbits.
If you’re familiar with Bri Lee’s non-fiction you are certain to be a fan of The Work. If you’re not familiar with Bri’s earlier books, well then have I got a reading list for you.
The Work continues with the themes of Eggshell Skull and Who Gets to be Smart, exploring power and privilege; who has it and how they use it to perpetuate power dynamics in our world.
For Lally and Pat, Lee inverts many common stereotypes; Lally is older, she’s got money while Pat is struggling. Lally commands respect while Pat is essentially a handsome nobody. All this serves to highlight the level of scrutiny that Lally puts herself through, wondering at the fragility of her position. Pat meanwhile works hard but essentially believes he will get there.
As first they meet and then explore a transcontinental relationship we are treated to dynamic and vibrant dialogue that ranges from art history to the zeitgeist. There are some truly memorable moments as they spar with each other (and noone, not even the local community fundraiser is safe).
The Work deals with a darker side of the glittering world Lally and Pat inhabit. As power is leveraged against people based on their sex, their background or even just for the hell of it, we are confronted with our world as a place where caprice and indifference rise to the level of assault. Shock and awe are vehicles for public affirmation and it can be hard to find anyone with any principles left.
The Work is a striking, character driven exploration of the world of art, culture and the capital that drives it all. It asks questions of its characters and doesn’t flinch from their dark sides.
I know I was rooting for a happy ending for Lally and Pat, but in the journey I found so much more as their lives clashed with the issues and ideas driving us today.

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.
John Richards was shortlisted for the Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Award in 2021 and the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer in August 2022. The Gorgon Flower is his first published work of fiction.
His debut short story collection, The Gorgon Flower is a wonderful blend of dark and macabre stories ranging from the historical, speculative fiction and the joyfully uncanny.
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 from 2ser.

Get in touch with Andrew and Final Draft. We love to hear about what you’re reading!
Twitter - https://twitter.com/finaldraft2ser 
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/finaldraft2ser/ 
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/finaldraft2ser/