Festival guests Grace Chan (Every Version Of You), Shehan Karunatilaka (The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida) and Jason Reynolds (Oxygen Mask) join hosts Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh from ABC Radio National’s The Bookshelf to discuss the books they’re enjoying and being challenged by.
Bookings are essential.
Grace Chan (Australian)
Grace Chan is a speculative fiction writer. She has been shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards, Norma K. Hemming Award, and Viva la Novella. Her short fiction can be found in Clarkesworld, Going Down Swinging, Aurealis, and many other places. Her debut novel, Every Version of You, explores change, love, and loss through virtual reality and mind-uploading (Affirm Press, 2022). In her other life, she works as a psychiatrist.
Jason Reynolds (International)
Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including All American Boys; Long Way Down; When I was the Greatest, and Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. The recipient of the CILIP Carnegie Medal, a Newbery Award, a Printz Award, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honours, Reynolds was also the 2020–2022 US National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His latest book is the remarkable graphic novel Oxygen Mask (illustrated by street artist Jason Griffin), intimately set within the walls of a family home and an insight into the Covid years, climate change and activism.
Shehan Karunatilaka (International)
Shehan Karunatilaka is the winner of the 2022 Booker Prize for his second novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. He is also the author of the award-winning Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, which was selected for the UK's 2022 Big Jubilee Read selection. Born in Sri Lanka, he studied in New Zealand and has lived and worked in London, Amsterdam and Singapore. He lives in Colombo with his family, his guitars and his unfinished stories.
Kate Evans (Australian)
Kate Evans presents The Bookshelf on ABC Radio National (with co-host Cassie McCullagh). She has a PhD in history, too many books, and a tendency to over use post-it notes for fear of forgetting a beautifully-turned phrase.
Cassie McCullagh (Australian)
Cassie McCullagh co-hosts The Bookshelf with Kate Evans on ABC Radio National, a weekly review of the latest Australian and international fiction, and presents RN’s The Weekend. Cassie has also presented ABC Sydney’s Focus program, and RN’s flagship social affairs program Life Matters, and reported on books, arts and popular culture. Prior to joining the ABC, Cassie worked in print journalism as a feature writer, news reporter and columnist.
