57 | All in the Family (Live at the 2025 Sydney Writers' Festival)

Every family has its secrets—but what happens when a writer dives into the family archive to uncover and share those stories with the world? In this very special final episode of Season 7 (yes, already!) - recorded live on Gadigal land at the 2025 Sydney Writers Festival — Yves and Clare probe Australian-born Maori poet Anne-Marie Te Whiu (Mettle) and Queensland-born author and journalist Lech Blaine (Australian Gospel) about the promises and pitfalls of working with stories close to home. Why rattle the bones of family skeletons? How important it is to have one member of the family who is a hoarder of seemingly minor items or insignificant facts that can, to a writer, be like shards of gold? How to navigate the ethical and emotional minefield of finding uncomfortable truths about loved ones and forebears? And what does excavating the roots of the family tree do to the writer themselves?