In the next episode of Imagining the Past, the 2023 ARA Historical Novel Prize winning author, Gail Jones, chats with Greg Johnston about her complex novel, Salonika Burning.
It’s a book that tells a greater truth about WW1 history through the braided narratives of historical figures, artists and storytellers.
About the book
Greece, 1917. The great city of Salonika is engulfed by fire as all of Europe is ravaged by war.
Amid the destruction, there are those who have come to the frontlines to heal: surgeons, ambulance drivers, nurses, orderlies and other volunteers. Four of these people—Stella, Olive, Grace and Stanley—are at the centre of Gail Jones’s extraordinary new novel, which takes its inspiration from the wartime experiences of Australians Miles Franklin and Olive King, and British painters Grace Pailthorpe and Stanley Spencer.
In Jones’s imagination these four lives intertwine and ramify, compelled by the desire to create something meaningful in the ruins of a broken world.
About the podcast
The Imagining the Past podcast series features authors appearing at the Historical Novel Society Australasia biennial conferences or who have been recognised in our $150,000 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Our hosts, Kelly Gardiner and Greg Johnston, discuss researching, writing and publishing historical fiction with acclaimed writers of the genre in its many forms from crime to fantasy to literary fiction, set in eras stretching from ancient times to the Swinging Sixties, and for readers of all ages.
KEY DATES FOR 2024
Shortlists Announced: 2 October
Winners Announced: 23 October
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