Michael Brissenden on (writing) crime, corruption, and climate-fuelled wildfires
What secrets lie in the ashes…? This week on the podcast we chatted to author and two-time Walkley Award-winning journalist, Michael Brissenden about his latest crime-fiction novel, Smoke.
Michael worked as a political editor and foreign correspondent with the ABC for 35 years. In fact, you might just recognise Michael from ABC’s 7.30 Report or Four Corners program. He has published two previous novels, The List (2017) and Dead Letters (2021), and a non-fiction book, American Stories: Tales of Hope and Anger (2012).
In this episode, we traverse both fiction and nonfiction; we discuss environmental and forest management, climate-fuelled wildfires and the universal challenges they present, the precarious state of journalism, as well as the multiple hot-button themes entertwined in the book.
Although being a work of fiction set in the Californian sierras, Smoke draws many intersecting parallels with the world we’ve come to know since Black Summer. As a reader, you’re thrust into the smoky landscape; you become privy to small-town whispers, and soon discover this is about so much more than murder…
Listen to this latest episode where Michael talks to SWN host Bianca Millroy about (writing) crime, corruption, climate-fuelled wildfires, and much more, (No spoilers!)
Find out more about Michael Brissenden on his website, and follow him on X/Twitter. Smoke is available now through Affirm Press or your local independent bookshop! Catch him in September 2024 at upcoming Sydney BAD Crime Writers Festival, or Northern Beaches Readers Festival (Sydney).
The Science Write Now (SWN) Podcast is for people who love science and the arts. If you’re interested in learning more about great books, plays, and films; writing, research or editing; the lives of scientists; and creative insights into contemporary science; then you’ve come to the right place!
The SWN Podcast is hosted by Amanda Niehaus and Jessica White and produced by Taylor Mitchell with funding from the Australia Council for the Arts. Listen on-the-go on Google Podcasts (soon to be YouTube Music), Apple and Spotify now! You can also find and follow us online on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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