I interview writers every week here on the Booktopia Blog. My Ten Terrifying Questions have been answered by over 250 published authors ranging from mega selling global stars like Jackie Collins and Lee Child to brilliant, relatively unknown debut authors such as Miles Franklin shortlisted Favel Parret and  Rebecca James. In each of these interviews I ask the following question: Q. What advice ... Read more

Booktopia would like to congratulate Anna Funder for winning the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award with All That I Am… Congratulations! [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yCr6cigqMo&rel=0] THE WINNER: Anna Funder – All That I Am Ruth Becker, defiant and cantankerous, is living out her days in the eastern suburbs of Sydney. She has made an uneasy peace with the ghosts of h... Read more

THE SHORTLIST: Tony Birch – Blood From the moment he saw her, wrapped in a blanket at the hospital, Jesse knew that he’d be the one to look after his little sister, Rachel. Mum was always on the move and always bringing home trouble. When his mum’s appetite for destruction leads the little family into the arms of Ray Crow, beneath the charm and charisma, Jesse sees the broodin... Read more

From where I sit the 2012 Miles Franklin Literature Award longlist seems right. The names I expected to see are listed, Elliot Perlman, Kate Grenville, Gail Jones, Alex Miller, as are some of the names I hoped to see, Charlotte Wood, Charlotte Wood and Charlotte Wood. There are a few disastrous exclusions,  though. The Life by Malcolm Knox, for one. Kylie Ladd’s Last Summer, is another. A... Read more

Frank Moorhouse author of The Edith Trilogy – Grand Days, Dark Palace and now, Cold Light, reveals The 5 best novels I’ve read are… Liber Amoris or The New Pygmalion by William Hazlitt, 1823. Frank Moorhouse: One critic has looked at the reception this book received and said, ‘seldom in literary history has a small work evoked such resolute hostility and aversion’. The critic, Cyril Conno... Read more

The Booktopia Book Guru asks Frank Moorhouse author of The Edith Trilogy – Grand Days, Dark Palace and now, Cold Light, Ten Terrifying Questions ————– 1. To begin with why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself – where were you born? Raised? Schooled? I was born in a small country town on the coast of NSW where my father was a successful inventor... Read more