Talking Aussie Books with Michael Burge

About this episode

Michael Burge discusses his debut novel 'Tank Water' and its follow-up 'Dirt Trap', exploring themes of justice and the complexities of rural Australian life.

Michael Burge is an author and journalist who lives at Deepwater in the New England region of NSW. His debut novel ‘Tank Water’ was inspired by old family stories and explores the shameful legacy of unsolved gay-hate crimes, set in a fictional rural community - not unlike the place Michael calls home. ‘Dirt Trap’ is a follow-up to ‘Tank Water’ - though it can be read as a stand alone. A brilliant example of the rural noir novel Australians have come to love in recent years, but with Michael’s unique angle exploring the complexity and diversity of Australian country towns. A tense, compelling and rich story, 'Dirt Trap' is about one man’s dogged pursuit of justice and a town having to come clean of generations of secrets. Without a doubt - a five star read! And was delighted to welcome Michael to the podcast recently to chat about his work amongst many other things.

People in this episode

Guest: Michael Burge

Topics covered

• Australian literature
• rural noir
• gay-hate crimes
• justice
• family stories

Keywords

• Deepwater
• New England
• novel
• author
• journalist

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Tank Water, Dirt Trap

Books & works: Tank Water, Dirt Trap

Places: Deepwater, New England, NSW

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