On Friday 6 September we’ll be chatting with Nicola Evans, head of the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund and Reading Australia.

Our August reads include The Erratics by Vicki Laveau-Harvie, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, Unlike the Heart: A Memoir of Brain and Mind by Nicola Redhouse, and Brute by Emily Skaja.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

‘[Collaborative writing] can work wonderfully. Having someone you trust give an opinion about your latest idea helps a lot.’

‘Try to get words down if you can – every little bit adds up. But don’t be hard on yourself if some days it doesn’t happen. I’ve had plenty of days that have been wiped off and I’m still trying to tell myself that ‘it’s okay’.’

‘I believe that most writing comes from the body, and so I try to tap into that in early drafts. Music and photography, the visual and aural — and most of all, emotion — help me in that process.’