Our podcast, Imagining the Past, features interviews with writers of historical fiction from New Zealand and Australia.
Episodes are recorded and released in the months leading up to our conferences. You can subscribe to it in your favourite podcast app, listen to episodes on our blog, or follow us on Audioboom.
The 2021 Series
Hosted by G.S. Johnston, the 2021 series of Imagining the Past features several of the authors who will be appearing at our 2021 Virtual Conference. Authors chatted about writing, multifaceted research, and their latest novels. Guests included:
The 2020 Series
Imagining the Past’s 2020 season featured live recorded sessions from the 2019 HNSA conference brought to you by our host, G.S. Johnston. Episodes cover a range of topics, from how historical fiction can play a role in ensuring past injustices and cruelties aren’t forgotten or repeated, ‘the slings and arrows’ of point of view, and the challenges of intertwining lives around historical eras. Authors featured in this series included:
- Madison Shakespeare, Lisa Chaplin, and Dr Paula Morris
- Associate Professor Sara Knox, Dr Jesse Blackadder, Dr Rachel le Rossignol and PhD candidate, Joshua Mostafa
- Robyn Cadwallader, Julian Leatherdale and Belinda Castles
- Tea Cooper, Emily Madden, Carla Caruso and Diane Murray
- Sophie Masson, Juliet Marillier, Elizabeth Jane Corbett and Kirsty Murray
- Linda Funnell, Jane Caro and Ali Alizadeh
- Irina Dunn, Ella Carey and Nicole Alexander
- Alison Goodman, Anne Gracie, Anna Campbell and Elizabeth Jane Corbett
- Rachel Leary, David Whish-Wilson, Stephanie Parkyn and Lisa Chaplin
- Meg Keneally, Gay Hendrikson and Gillian Polack
- Jesse Blackadder, Malla Nunn, Mira Robertson, and Kelly Gardiner
- Felicity Pulman, Malla Nunn, Katherine Kovacic and Tessa Lunney
- Isolde Martyn, Ilka Tampke, Gillian Polack and Pamela Hart
- Kate Forsyth, Natasha Lester, Jackie Ballantyne
The 2019 Series
With host Kelly Gardiner back for a second year, the 2019 series of Imagining the Past delved into everything from combing fantasy elements in a meticulously researched hsitorical story, through to writing about rural Australia and the allure of crime writing. Authors featured in this series included:
The 2017 Series
The 2017 series of Imagining the Past was hosted by Kelly Gardiner. It was supported by Swinburne University and featured with conference guests about historical fiction, their writing practice, and reading:
