Imagining The Past: In conversation with Leah Kaminsky, Sue Williams & Alison Booth
In this episode of Imagining the Past, host Cecilia Rice explores how an author’s professional life outside of writing shapes their approach to historical fiction. She’s joined by three acclaimed writers whose careers span medicine, journalism, and academia: Leah Kaminsky, Sue Williams, and Alison Booth.
Together, they discuss how switching between ‘right and left’ brain thinking influences their research and storytelling, and what led each of them to the world of historical fiction. From the clinical precision of medicine to the investigative instincts of journalism and the analytical depth of economics, each profession brings unique strengths and challenges to the writing process.
About the Books
Leah Kaminsky – The Hollow Bones
Kaminsky’s novel is based on the true story of Nazi zoologist Ernst Schäfer, who led expeditions to Tibet in the 1930s. The Hollow Bones explores the moral compromises of science under fascism, and the seductive power of ideology. Kaminsky, a practising doctor, brings a sharp ethical lens to her storytelling, probing the human cost of historical ambition.
Sue Williams – Elizabeth & Elizabeth
Williams imagines a friendship between two iconic women of colonial Australia — Elizabeth Macquarie and Elizabeth Macarthur. Through her background in journalism, Williams uncovers the untold stories of women who shaped early Australian society, giving voice to those often left out of the historical record.
Alison Booth – The Philosopher’s Daughters
Set in the 1890s, Booth’s novel follows two sisters from London to the Australian outback. Drawing on her academic expertise in economics and gender studies, Booth explores themes of dispossession, feminism, and cultural collision, offering a richly layered narrative of personal and political transformation.
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.
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