21. Geordie Williamson on Alexis Wright

About this episode

This episode discusses the complexities of reading Alexis Wright's novels with Geordie Williamson and Ivor Indyk.

Alexis Wright’s novels are often thought of as “difficult,” but this episode of Fully Lit Live challenges that label, and asks what that word is really doing. Critic Geordie Williamson is the author of the recent On Alexis Wright , part of Black Ink’s 'Writers on Writers' series. In this conversation with Ivor Indyk , Wright’s publisher and editor at Giramondo , we learn how to read Wright’s books on their own terms — with attention to rhythm, repetition, and scale rather than plot alone. Moving through Carpentaria , The Swan Book , and Praiseworthy , the discussion centres on Wright’s idea of ‘all time’: a narrative field where ancestral, mythic, and present time coexist, and where people, animals, weather systems and spirits all speak. What happens when we make space for Wright’s digressions and tonal shifts, and allow ourselves the time she demands? GUESTS Geordie Williamson has been chief literary critic of The Australian since 2008. He is publisher of the Picador imprint at Pan Macmillan, a former editor of Island Magazine and Best Australian Essays , and author of The Burning Library , a collection of essays on neglected figures from Australian literature. He lives in…

People in this episode

Guests: Geordie Williamson, Ivor Indyk

Topics covered

• Alexis Wright
• literary criticism
• narrative structure
• Australian literature
• reading techniques

Keywords

• Alexis Wright
• Geordie Williamson
• Ivor Indyk
• literary criticism
• Australian literature

Sponsors

Gleebooks

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Giramondo, Black Ink

Books & works: On Alexis Wright, Carpentaria, The Swan Book, Praiseworthy

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