CMIS Evaluation Fiction Focus

What better on a long journey, walk or stint on the treadmill than to catch up with informed opinion on the latest in books and reading? The advent of the podcast has revitalised our listening skills – the spoken word is cool again.

Here are some of our favourites. Subscribing is easy (particularly if you use iTunes, which has most of these available) but setting up a feed is also straightforward. It’s hard to go past ABC Radio National’s advice on getting started if you are new to this.

Some podcasts on books, reading and the spoken word

• BBC Radio Book Reviews
• Book Lust with Nancy Pearl
• The Book Show (ABC Radio National)
• Books and Authors (ABC  Fora TV)
• Edinburgh International Book Festival podcast archive
• Garrison Keilor’s The Writer’s Almanac
• The Guardian Books Podcast
• Horn Book Podcast
• Mornings with Margaret Throsby (authors often interviewed) (ABC Radio National)
• The Moth
• NY Times Book Review
• New Yorker Fiction
• The Penguin Podcast
• World Book Club

If there are others you would like to suggest, your comments are welcome.

Image from wikimedia used under Creative Commons licence

On ABC Radio National Life Matters. Here.

If you want to hear Melina Marchetta, James Moloney, Andy Griffiths, Mike Shuttleworth and Anita Silvey talking about elitism and snobbery in children’s book awards hurry over to ABC Radio National’s Book Show quick smart for the podcast.

English summer and the Hay Festival – oh, to be in England. But we can’t be right now, so the podcasts will have to do.

Patrick Ness, Philip Ardagh and Tanya Landman are among the speakers today. Not sure how long the files will be available for downloading though.

Well, the promised Perth Writers Festival summation didn’t happen for all sorts of reasons but the ABC podcasts are stll being posted. Do yourself a favour and spend an hour with James McBride, the latest of the sessions to go online. The author of The Color of Water was possibly the coolest and certainly one of the most entertaining (of many entertaining people) at the Festival.

And when the Sebastian Barry podcast is posted (soon) transport yourself to Ireland. To be there to hear him read from The Secret Scripture was a privilege and a highlight of the weekend.

It seems that Paul Jennings is targetting an older audience than usual with his latest book, The Nest. Hear him talk about this title – aimed at readers of 15 or older – in an ABC Radio National interview.

Another day to go and still digesting the two just past. Wondering which of the many books purchased to be read first – they are all begging. A more relective post later. Meanwhile, don’t forget the podcasts.

Last night’s highlight? The Moth. Yet another podcast to help the kilometres click past on long journeys.

OK, so you can’t make it to the beautiful campus of the University of Western Australia over the coming weekend. Doesn’t mean you can’t participate in the Writers Fesival.

ABC local radio is a Festival partner, so just pop this feed

http://www.abc.net.au/local/podcasts/perthwriters.xml

into your favourite RSS feed reader and enjoy the free podcasts.

A little over twelve months ago, a literary happening brought authors and their readers together in Teen Second Life. Since then a few writers have dropped by the virtual space, the latest being Cynthia Leitich Smith yesterday. You can hear her talk about the experience and her novels Tantalize and Eternal, in this podcast from YALSA. If you come late to the site, it’s podcast #64.

Radio National’s Book Show has an interview with the engaging title of ‘Books to read to children during financial ruin’. The guest is American Erica Perl, who seems to specialise in these sort of things.

The podcast will be available for a short time only.