Unfolded

Melanie Cheng talks about how she sees a natural connection between writing, and her career as a doctor. We also go learn about the influences and traditions behind Australian Ghost Story, how we might break the mythology of exaclty what we consider ‘Australian’.     Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Melanie Cheng Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner based in Naarm, Melbourne. Her debut short story collection won the 2018 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction and her novel, Room for a Stranger, was longlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin Award. Her latest novel, The Burrow, has been translated and published internationally in North America, Hungary and Spain. It was shortlisted for many Australian awards including the 2025 Stella Prize and has recently been nominated for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award.    melaniechengwriter.com   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A grieving granddaughter finds a surprising stowaway.   Australian Ghost Story by Melanie Cheng Read by Sonya Chong.   Synopsis Alice brings an unexpected guest back from her grandfather’s funeral, in an experience that makes her question the routine of her day-to-day life, what comes next, and the nature of grief. Originally published in Kill Your Darlings.   Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Melanie Cheng Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner based in Naarm, Melbourne. Her debut short story collection won the 2018 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Fiction and her novel, Room for a Stranger, was longlisted for the 2020 Miles Franklin Award. Her latest novel, The Burrow, has been translated and published internationally in North America, Hungary and Spain. It was shortlisted for many Australian awards including the 2025 Stella Prize and has recently been nominated for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award.  melaniechengwriter.com   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Helena Pantsis takes Seth and Tony through her writing process, talks genre, the surreal moments we all have in childhood, and how first and foremost she views herself as a short story writer.    Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Helena Pantsis Helena Pantsis (she/they) is an editor, writer and artist from Naarm, Australia with a fond appreciation for the weird, the dark, and the experimental. She is the author of her debut short story collection, ‘GLUTT’. Her poetry collection 'CAPTCHA' and short story collection 'Mother Salad' are both forthcoming in 2026. More can be found at hlnpnts.com.    Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A birthday is removed from the calendar.    The Last Birthday by Helena Pantsis Read by Ellen Pennell.   Synopsis Lucy and Mother couldn’t be closer. She’s a perfect daughter, so when mother throw’s her a perfect 17th birthday party, she couldn’t be more grateful, but what comes next is a different kind of surprise.   The Last Birthday blurs the fairytale genre with elements of horror and the surreal, in a story that will stay with listeners for many Birthdays to come.   The Last Birthday is part of Mother Salad, available now from UWP.     Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Helena Pantsis Helena Pantsis (she/they) is an editor, writer and artist from Naarm, Australia with a fond appreciation for the weird, the dark, and the experimental. She is the author of her debut short story collection, ‘GLUTT’. Her poetry collection 'CAPTCHA' and short story collection 'Mother Salad' are both forthcoming in 2026. More can be found at hlnpnts.com.    Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final episode of Unfolded for this season, Claire G. Coleman takes us into the workings of her story, Ancestral Memory / As Slippery as an Eel. We talk about how she finds inspiration in all kinds of mediums (especially music), how writing speculative fiction allows her to speak about the real world, and the importance of Ancient Knowledges and stories being told, without being exploited.    About Claire G. Coleman  Claire G. Coleman is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose Country is on the south coast of Western Australia. She writes prose, non-fiction, verse and criticism and has written 4 books including Terra Nullius and Lies, Damned Lies. She is a founding collaborator on the Creative Climate consortium with her collective the Centre for Reworlding.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A navigator reckons with the gift, and burden, of ancient knowledge.     Ancestral Memory / As Slippery as an Eel by Claire G. Coleman Read by Chelsea Hawke.   Down in the belly of the ship, a crewmate waits for the test that will determine her role, and how she will pay her way on this ride across the stars. But it's in her dreams and the memories that can't possibly be hers that destiny awaits. A destiny shaped by blood.  Ancestral Memory / As Slippery as an Eel, considers how there are some knowledges as old as time, ways of being, and knowing that will survive long into the future, perhaps even once we have left this world.    About Claire G. Coleman  Claire G. Coleman is a Wirlomin Noongar woman whose Country is on the south coast of Western Australia. She writes prose, non-fiction, verse and criticism and has written 4 books including Terra Nullius and Lies, Damned Lies. ' She is a founding collaborator on the Creative Climate consortium with her collective the Centre for Reworlding.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We get the dirt on how 'Farrow' came to be with Miriam Webster, and talk about our love of 'sparkly' language despite (or perhaps because of) it's limitations, writing for all the senses, and how Miriam was always going to be a writer, despite her best efforts.    Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Miriam Webster  Miriam Webster's fiction and essays have been published in Aniko Magazine, HEAT, Island, Overland, The Suburban Review, swim meet lit mag and certain zines. She was a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellow and won the Peter Steele Poetry Award in 2025. Her first book, The Slip, is out now.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A gardener seeks solace in the earth.   Farrow by Miriam Webster Read by Molly Holohan   Synopsis On the day of his Grandmother's death, a gardener digs back through the fertile ground of his memory, seeking something down in the roots of his family tree. He finds comfort amongst fecund, and a connection to the earth few of us will ever understand. Farrow delivers a sensory experience that goes beyond the page or the headphones, and leaves listeners tingling.    Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Miriam Webster  Miriam Webster's fiction and essays have been published in Aniko Magazine, HEAT, Island, Overland, The Suburban Review, swim meet lit mag and certain zines. She was a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellow and won the Peter Steele Poetry Award in 2025. Her first book, The Slip, is out now.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join us as we speak with Paige Clark about what made her story possible. From inspirations and influences, to writing the specific and the hyperlocal. 'It's Possible' is a story about the big issues, and menace playing out in the minor moments.    About Paige Clark Paige Clark is a Chinese/American/Australian writer and teacher. Her first book of fiction, She Is Haunted, was shortlisted for the Readings Prize and longlisted for the Stella Prize.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A young mother wrestles with the unknown.   It's Possible by Paige Clark read by Gabrielle Ng   Synopsis On an unseasonably beautiful day, a trip to the park paints a picture of potential. From a moment on the monkey bars, to a dog without a lead, there is what is, and what could be. There is what is safe, and what's known, and then, there's something else ... It's Possible presents a scene of the everyday, a story that is equal parts charming and sinister. It reminds us that life is lived on the edge of uncertainty, and there is beauty in the balance.    About Paige Clark Paige Clark is a Chinese/American/Australian writer and teacher. Her first book of fiction, She Is Haunted, was shortlisted for the Readings Prize and longlisted for the Stella Prize.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hear from Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun how to make a story about a table, and so much more. Frankey takes inside his practice of writing non-human voices, the relationship between the objects in our lives and how we understand climate change, and why writing, or simply existing, might be an act of resistance.    About Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun is a Chinese-Mauritian-Australian writer living in Narrm who recently completed a Master of Creative Writing, Editing and Publishing at the University of Melbourne and seeks to explore new ways of being through nonhuman perspectives.    Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A table speaks.   How to make a table a table from memory by Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun read by Alfie Baker   Synopsis What might your kitchen table say to you? What about the phone in your hand? Or the shoes on your feet?  How might the things in our lives look back on where they came from, or where they're going?  How to make a table from memory tells us a powerful, non-human story, that highlights how we, as humans, might reconnect with natural world, and what we take from it.    About Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun Frankey Chung-Kok-Lun is a Chinese-Mauritian-Australian writer living in Narrm who recently completed a Master of Creative Writing, Editing and Publishing at the University of Melbourne and seeks to explore new ways of being through nonhuman perspectives.    Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Come visit the Territory with Laura Jean McKay. Hear how a visit to community on Australia's fringes and a real – stranger than fiction – experience inspired this story, how giving voice to the voiceless has become part of Laura's practice, and why the voice we gave her story caught her off guard.    Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Laura Jean McKay Laura Jean McKay is the author of The Animals in That Country which won the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award and The Victorian Prize for Literature. Her latest collection is Gunflower. She is the 2025 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Fellow and teaches Creative Writing at Massey University.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A pig hunt doubles as a first date.    Territory by Laura Jean McKay read by Ben de Pagter   SynopsisTerritory takes listeners inside an Australia that few of us ever get to see: from the dried creek beds of the Northern Territory, to a Sunday afternoon at the pub unlike any other. It's a visceral story, that captures a sense of heat, violence, and tension of a place, that makes us reconsider the relationships with have with animals, and each other.     Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Laura Jean McKay Laura Jean McKay is the author of The Animals in That Country which won the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke Award and The Victorian Prize for Literature. Her latest collection is Gunflower. She is the 2025 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Fellow and teaches Creative Writing at Massey University.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Flynn takes us inside the world of Kitsune, discussing the scattered moments that gave life to the story, his literary inspirations, why he's sceptical of the term 'speculative fiction', and how it's best to write short stories like mini-novels.    Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Chris Flynn Chris Flynn is the author of four novels, the most recent of which is Orpheus Nine, a collection of short stories Here Be Leviathans and three books for children in association with Museums Victoria. He lives in regional Victoria.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A fox bite changes a life.   Kitsune by Chris Flynn. Read by Harry McGee.   Synopsis Plans change for Christmas morning when a bite from a fox sends a man to the emergency room, but a rabies shot is only the beginning. Soon, strange dreams of nine-tailed foxes, a sensory overload, and a sex drive he can't contain push him to the brink of his reality. Kitsune is a story of vulpine velocity that is equally parts hilarious and compelling.    Listeners are advised that this episode of Unfolded comes with a language and content warning.    About Chris Flynn Chris Flynn is the author of four novels, the most recent of which is Orpheus Nine, a collection of short stories Here Be Leviathans and three books for children in association with Museums Victoria. He lives in regional Victoria.   Unfolded is produced with support from the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative, on the unceded lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Eastern Kulin Nation. The producers would like to pay their respects to the traditional owners, to their Elders past and present, and to acknowledge their storytelling history, which goes back tens of thousands of years. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.