Until the end of last year, ABC Radio National's flagship literature program, "Books and Writing", was a once-a-week affair presented by Ramona Kaval. With the start of the new 2006 programming schedule this has now changed to a daily literature program, "The Book Show", again presented by Kaval.
The program has been running for a couple of weeks now and I must say I'm pretty impressed with the work being undertaken. The programs aren't stored for podcast download - which is a bit restricting - but they are available for audio streaming so you can listen to them whenever you like, so long as you're near a web browser.
Today's program (which airs at 10:00am, a time when I don't have access to a radio at work) is a replay of the Malcolm Knox Overland lecture, titled "The Fate of Publishing". An excerpt of this lecture was published in "The Sydney Morning Herald" a few weeks back.
Recent programs have included an interview with Norman Lindsay from the archives, a talk by Shane Carmody about the new age of libraries, and an interview with Rosemary Cameron, the incoming director of the Melbourne Writers' Festival. It's a good line-up. Kaval is an experienced, relaxed and informed presenter. If you're at all interested in literature in Australia you should check it out. Long may it run.
