About this episode

Katherine Johnson discusses her novel Every Wild Soul and the themes of control and identity set against the backdrop of Maria Island.

The Final Draft podcast is all about books, writing and literary culture. We're dedicated to exploring Australian writing, looking into the issues that drive our storytelling to discover more from the books you love. These are the stories that make us who we are. Katherine Johnson is the author of five novels including Matryoshka and Paris Savages. Katherine’s latest Every Wild Soul is the inaugural winner of The Australian Fiction Prize and Katherine is joining us to discuss today. To the world Maria Island is a paradise; an ecological wonderland off the coast of Tasmania. At eighteen years old Maria is all she’s known for so much of her life. She loves the beauty and the chance to learn about biodiversity, but she’s also conscious her life doesn’t look like other girls and that maybe she’d like to change that. Min’s father Piers has other ideas though. Ever since his wife left him he’s been determined to protect his daughter. Protection can look a lot like control though, so when a storm blows over Maria it promises more than a few ill winds for the residents. Final Draft is produced and presented by Andrew Pople Want more great conversations with Australian authors? Discover…

People in this episode

Host: Andrew Pople

Guest: Katherine Johnson

Topics covered

• Australian writing
• literary culture
• biodiversity
• parental control
• coming of age

Keywords

• Katherine Johnson
• Every Wild Soul
• Australian fiction
• Maria Island
• biodiversity
• parental control

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Final Draft, 2SER 107.3FM

Books & works: Every Wild Soul, Matryoshka, Paris Savages

Places: Maria Island, Tasmania

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