I'm a Serious Book Person

Welcome to another episode of I’m a Serious Book Person. This time Robert sits down with the award-winning essayist, poet and novelist, Fiona Wright, to discuss her reading and writing life. From the shock of recognition she found in an Australian Literature course at Uni to her specific writing rituals at her local café, this episode dives into why stories are the ultimate machines for empathy and why we must stop being so self-deprecating about our creative pursuits. Grab a drink and settle into your favourite reading chair—just be prepared to fight the dog for it!Fiona Wright is a writer, editor, poet and critic from Sydney. Her book of essays Small Acts of Disappearance: Essays on Hunger won the 2016 Nita B. Kibble Award and the Queensland Literary Award for non-fiction, and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the NSW Premier’s Douglas Stewart Prize. Her first poetry collection, Knuckled, won the 2012 Dame Mary Gilmore Award, while Domestic Interior was shortlisted for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her most recent book of essays, The World Was Whole, was longlisted for the 2019 Stella Prize. She completed a PhD at Western Sydney University’s Writing & Society Research Centre. Her poems and essays have been published in The Australian, Meanjin, Island, Overland, The Lifted Brow, Seizure and HEAT. Her debut novel, Kill Your Boomers, was published by Ultimo Press in April 2026.Follow FionaInstagramBooksKill Your Boomers (2026) Paperback | Ebook | AudioThe World Was WholeDomestic InteriorSmall Acts of DisappearanceKnuckledBusiness enquiries: [email protected] in touch by sending us a textI'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by Robert Watkins and produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. If you'd you'd like to support the show you can rate & review I’m a Serious Book Person wherever you get your podcasts.Join the conversation: Leave a comment, tag us on social media or send us a message at [email protected]. Instagram: @seriousbookperson and @ultimopress Facebook LinkedIn  TikTok I'm a Serious Book Person is recorded and produced on the lands of The Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our deepest respects to elders past and present.

Is it possible to love books deeply while being a totally 'unserious' book person? According to Sita Walker, the answer is a resounding yes. In this episode, Robert sits down with the author of the soul-bearing memoir The God of No Good and the stunning new novel In a Common Hour to discuss why stories matter more than the medium they come in. Sita takes us back to her childhood and the role stories played in her house growing up - The Simpsons was off-limits but Enid Blyton was everything. Hilarity ensues as Robert and Sita attempt to 'free the noun', discuss whether Steinbeck was 'hot' and wax lyrical about the many wonders of silent reading time.Sita Walker is a high school literature teacher, freelance writer and award-winning author whose first book, The God of No Good (Ultimo Press, 2023), won The Courier-­Mail People’s Choice Award at the Queensland Literary Awards and the University of Sydney People’s Choice Award at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.Follow SitaInstagramSita's BooksThe God of No Good (2023)Paperback | Ebook | AudiobookIn a Common Hour (2026)Paperback | Ebook | AudiobookBusiness enquiries: [email protected] in touch by sending us a textI'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by Robert Watkins and produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. If you'd you'd like to support the show you can rate & review I’m a Serious Book Person wherever you get your podcasts.Join the conversation: Leave a comment, tag us on social media or send us a message at [email protected]. Instagram: @seriousbookperson and @ultimopress Facebook LinkedIn  TikTok I'm a Serious Book Person is recorded and produced on the lands of The Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our deepest respects to elders past and present.

Are you a serious reader, or just someone who skips to the spice? In this episode, host Robert Watkins sits down with Alex Sarkis, author of Something Blue and Something New, to interrogate her literary credentials.Alex reveals why she considers herself a 'mostly no' on the serious book person scale, admitting to a ruthless habit of skim reading and abandoning books that don't hook her in the first few chapters. She shares how her family life and her sister’s influence shaped her love for storytelling, and why Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals served as the blueprint for her own vibrant, character-driven writing style.Alex Sarkis was born and raised in Sydney’s West to Lebanese immigrant parents. Her main source of inspiration has always been the wild and wonderful landscape of her hometown, her family’s heritage, and the pride she feels in being an Australian. Something Blue, her debut novel, was published in 2022. Follow AlexInstagramAlex's booksSomething New (2026)Paperback | Ebook | AudioSomething Blue (2022)Paperback | Ebook | AudioBusiness enquiries: [email protected] in touch by sending us a textI'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by Robert Watkins and produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. If you'd you'd like to support the show you can rate & review I’m a Serious Book Person wherever you get your podcasts.Join the conversation: Leave a comment, tag us on social media or send us a message at [email protected]. Instagram: @seriousbookperson and @ultimopress Facebook LinkedIn  TikTok I'm a Serious Book Person is recorded and produced on the lands of The Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our deepest respects to elders past and present.

This time on I’m a Serious Book Person, Robert is joined by Jaclyn Moriarty. Jaclyn reveals the delightful (and slightly eccentric) roots of her career, sharing how her father commissioned her and her famous sisters to write stories for pocket money—only to win the cash back in a game of roulette. Whether she is discussing her 'panicky' need to always have a book on hand, identifying as the 'mysterious' Emily Brontë of her family, or enthusing about the books that shaped her own imaginative worlds, this conversation is delightfully warm and witty - just like Jaclyn.Jaclyn Moriarty is the internationally bestselling author of novels for children, young adults and adults. Jaclyn’s books have been translated into several languages, won the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Queensland Literary Award, the Aurealis Award and named as CBCA Honour Book and Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor book. They have also been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, the Nebula Prize and the Russell Prize for Humour Writing for Young People. A former media and entertainment lawyer, Jaclyn grew up in Sydney, lived in the US, UK and Canada, and now lives in Sydney again. Follow Jaclyn Website Instagram Facebook Jaclyn's BooksTime Travel for Beginners - released this August!Gravity is the ThingI Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk PancakesThe Spell Book of Listen TaylorThe Colours of Madeline TrilogyKingdoms and Empires SeriesFeeling sorry for CeliaFinding Cassie CrazyThe Betrayal of Bindy MackenzieDreaming of AmeliaJaclyn mentioned Coco Chocolate in this episode, a chocolate shop in North Sydney where she loves to write. Business enquiries: [email protected] in touch by sending us a textI'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by Robert Watkins and produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. If you'd you'd like to support the show you can rate & review I’m a Serious Book Person wherever you get your podcasts.Join the conversation: Leave a comment, tag us on social media or send us a message at [email protected]. Instagram: @seriousbookperson and @ultimopress Facebook LinkedIn  TikTok I'm a Serious Book Person is recorded and produced on the lands of The Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our deepest respects to elders past and present.

In the first episode of I’m a Serious Book Person, Robert sits down with best-selling crime novelist Ashley Kalagian Blunt to dissect her reading and writing life. Tune in to find out why Ashley is one of the most compelling voices in crime writing today, what kept her turning the pages as a child and how a youthful brush with a 'poetry scheme' set the stage for her success. Don't miss this deep dive into the mind of a master storyteller. Ashley Kalagian Blunt writes to expose the myriad ways our technology makes us vulnerable. She is the number-one bestselling author of Dark Mode, a psychological thriller published in multiple territories and languages. Dark Mode was shortlisted for the 2024 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year, and was voted number 20 in the Better Reading Top 100. Her most recent crime novels exploring the dangers of contemporary technology are Cold Truth, which was shortlisted for the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel, and Like, Follow, Die. Follow Ashley Website Instagram Facebook Sign up to Ashley’s NewsletterListen to Ashley's podcastAshley's BooksLike Follow Die Paperback / Ebook / AudioCold Truth Paperback / Ebook / AudioDark Mode Paperback / Ebook / Audio Business enquiries: [email protected] in touch by sending us a textI'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by Robert Watkins and produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. If you'd you'd like to support the show you can rate & review I’m a Serious Book Person wherever you get your podcasts.Join the conversation: Leave a comment, tag us on social media or send us a message at [email protected]. Instagram: @seriousbookperson and @ultimopress Facebook LinkedIn  TikTok I'm a Serious Book Person is recorded and produced on the lands of The Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our deepest respects to elders past and present.

Is your TBR pile becoming a serious health and safety hazard? Did you stay up too late last night JUST so you could finish the good bit at the end of Chapter 8? Have you ever found yourself sniffing the pages of a new paperback book like it's a fine perfume? If you answered yes to any of those questions you just might be a Serious Book Person.  Join our host, Robert Watkins, as he sits down with an author, a reader or a fellow book-obsessive (or maybe they're all three at once) and uncovers their favourite stories, the books that changed them, and why we still cling to the glorious, dusty power of paper and ink.Get in touch by sending us a textI'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by Robert Watkins and produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. If you'd you'd like to support the show you can rate & review I’m a Serious Book Person wherever you get your podcasts.Join the conversation: Leave a comment, tag us on social media or send us a message at [email protected]. Instagram: @seriousbookperson and @ultimopress Facebook LinkedIn  TikTok I'm a Serious Book Person is recorded and produced on the lands of The Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our deepest respects to elders past and present.