Celluloid Dreams - Saturday 19 November - The Tall Man interview

This week a retro Melbourne crime special! We have a couple of books that are both more whydunit than whodunit set among the mean streets of working class Melbourne, but that's about where the similarities end. We're starting off in 1933 with The Richmond Conspiracy by Andrew Grimes, which begins, as all good crime novels should, with a ruthless businessman found dead in a warehouse. Annamarie Reyes did some investigating and finds out what inspired the novel. Next up Jacqui Le chats with Peter Twohig, winner of this year's Ned Kelly Award for crime fiction for his novel, The Cartographer. In this story, an 11-year old boy who witnesses a murder relies on the bravado of superhero comics and detective stories as a guide for survival, on the run from a killer who's seen his face. And finally Neda Vanovac chats with American author Morgan Callan Rogers, whose first novel is set among the close-knit fishing communities of north-eastern America.

Tonight we are talking all about islands - those wonderful remote places that harbour some of the most unique landscapes and eco-systems, inspire some of the greatest literary adventures and forays into the human psyche and in their isolation can hide some of the worst abuses and dirtiest secrets. We talk with two authors who explore this unrestricted nature of islands by drawing on their own experiences. First up, Robert Drewe dropped by to talk with Neda Vanovac about the British nuclear tests on the Montebello islands off the WA coast in the 1950s. Jon Doust chats with Will Mumford about his new novel, To the Highlands - the second addition to his trilogy that chronicles the stages of a young man's development. And Allan Browne reads his poem, The Three Little Bops, featured in his first collection of poetry, Conjuror.

Playwright, librettist, essayist, screenwriter, novelist, memoirist… Louis Nowra, it seems, has tried his hand at writing almost everything. His new novel, Into That Forest, is ostensibly written for young adults, because Louis says he needed readers who could suspend their disbelief. And why? Well, Hannah and Rebecca are two young girls in the 1880s caught in a terrible storm who end up orphaned, lost, and taken in by two Tasmanian tigers. Their years in the forest will mark their lives forever, as they spend their adulthoods trying to sing themselves back. The story is about the brutality and kindness of people and animals, losing your language and the extinction of a species. I spoke to Louis while he was out walking his dogs, and he explained just how similar the Tasmanian tiger is… to a chihuahua. We also have a story for you by Elisa Parry. She's reading Illustrations, which was published in the Space issue of Voiceworks Magazine. It's about returning to and reimagining once-loved places of childhood.

Have you ever wondered how to read a novelist? Not just what they write, but who they are? Or rather, who we think they are, reading between their lines and superimposing our own lives upon theirs? Have you ever tried to figure out what makes them tick, the layers they dress their characters in, the way they lay themselves bare and the things they keep secret? Well, this week we have two very special interviews for you unravelling just that. Kate Burraston speaks with the very prolific Lily Brett about her new novel, Lola Bensky, which is loosely based on her own past as a rock journalist in the 1960s and 70s. And then later in the show we'll hear from John Freeman, the editor of Granta literary magazine, who has interviewed just about every big name in literature that you can think of, and a few you can't. He spoke to Neda about his book, How To Read A Novelist.

This week we’re talking about home and who we are. Which is fitting, really, because this week is also Supporter Drive, and we’d like to share with you who we are here at 2SER, and fill you in on some of the things that have been going on at this station. The next fortnight is 2SER's annual supporter drive, where we ask you to help keep us on air if you enjoy community radio and the interviews we've been bringing you. Rates start at just $35 per year for concession, $70 standard. EVERYONE who donates gets a prize, and you'll go into the draw to win a WHOLE lot of goodies - more details in the podcast. If you'd like to donate - at any time of year - please call 02 9514 9500 or visit our website: www.2ser.com. Now, on to the show! First up, novelist Toni Jordan talks to Neda about Nine Days, her sweeping family saga, which follows the most important day in the life of nine members of one family, from 1939 Melbourne to the present day, tracing their turning points, triumphs and tragedies. Then Una Butorac talks to political commentator Tim Soutphommasane about why he thinks multiculturalism in Australia today is succeeding despite recent riots and ethic tensions. His book is Don’t Go Back To Where You Came From.

In our globetrotting world, although we're dipping into the Middle East, this is also a show about Australia. About the consuming nature of place, about living across two countries, and of going away and coming home again. Foreign correspondent Irris Makler speaks to Will Mumford about her memoir, Hope St Jerusalem. A look at the adventure and unpredictability of working in a consuming and dangerous place like Israel. The Yasmin Parry caught up with Alice Melike Ülgezer about her first book, The Memory of Salt. A tale of family, Turkish culture, and coming to terms with the past. Featured music: David Byrne and St Vincent, Ice Age

Tonight we're going for a stroll down empty suburban streets and across wide-open isolated paddocks as we have a look at what constitutes Australian gothic. It's not always haunted houses, long white dresses, and psychological thrills... or is it? Jeanavive spoke to writer Chi Vu, who has transposed a gruesome Buddhist folktale to the immigrant Vietnamese community of 1980s Footscray in Melbourne. And Chloe Hooper spoke with Neda about her return to fiction with The Engagement, an unsettling exploration of sexual fantasy. And then we have Tim Burton's 1988 short film Vincent, a rhyming story about a young boy who idolises the actor Vincent Price, slowly becoming consumed by his fantasy and mirroring Edgar Allen Poe's classic gothic poem, The Raven. Featured music: Magic and Moonlight by Nox Arcana

Kara Kidman is a writer and broadcaster. She presents FBi's Out of the Box, and the unbelieveably popular Unwatchable TV segment on Radio National Drive. She was last seen onstage at her Year Six rendition of Agadoodoo, where she starred as the pineapple who got pushed. In this story, Hillary Clinton and a persistently rhyming Ellen DeGeneres end up at a dive bar, listening to Meatloaf.

Jessica Bellamy is a playwright and Lindsay Lohan anthropologist. She also has a Hot Or Not blog called "Would Jess Like It?" which can be found by googling 'shit in a bucket'. This is her first piece of erotic fan fiction and she's pulled out all the stops. It's called Princess of the Pilbara. Pairing: Gina Rinehart & Tony Abbott

Nick Coyle is a writer and theatre maker whose shows have travelled to the New York Fringe Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Here he is, reading his story about when Carrie Bradshaw meets Oprah Winfrey, and fiction and reality collide.