Encore: David Malouf on growing up in Brisbane and his life of letters

Encore: David Malouf on growing up in Brisbane and his life of letters

From Conversations by ABC Australia

April 30, 2026 · 49 min

About this episode

David Malouf reflects on his upbringing in Brisbane and his literary career in this interview from 2014.

Award-winning Australian author, poet and essayist David Malouf died last week at the age of 92, he spoke with Richard in 2014. The first son of a Lebanese family, David spent his early years in South Brisbane, his vivid memories of life as it was then are captured in his classics, Johnno and 12 Edmondstone Street. Although his father played representative rugby league and was a champion boxer, David pursued a life of letters and during his career he published numerous highly-awarded novels and collections of essays. This episode was first broadcast in March 2014 To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.

People in this episode

Host: Richard

Guest: David Malouf

Topics covered

  • Australian literature
  • biography
  • cultural identity
  • memory
  • writing

Keywords

  • David Malouf
  • Brisbane
  • Australian author
  • literature
  • interview

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ABC Australia

Books & works: Johnno, 12 Edmondstone Street

Places: Brisbane

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