When was the last time you travelled to a place where you didn't know the language? Did you bother to learn any phrases, or make any attempt at stepping outside of your English-speaking comfort zone? Are you someone who thinks everyone should have a mastery of basic English, no matter where they are in the world? If so, this episode is for you, as we delve into the power of language, storytelling, and diverse reading cultures.

Aimen Jafri is a training and engagement officer at Nipaluna/Hobart's Migrant Resource Centre who understands the profound relationship between language and personal safety. In this show, she explores the fundamental role played by story in forming cultural identity, and maintaining a stable sense of self, and explains the transformational potential that stories hold for all of us, everywhere. She also tells Liz why having access to translations is key to helping people feel settled, and why the way to a rich and healthy future is through collaboration.

For our Cities of Lit Book Picks, Alex Okenyo (our featured guest in an upcoming episode), of the gorgeous Black Swan Bookshop in Wulawali/New Norfolk, chooses Richard Flanagan's The Sound of One Hand Clapping and Apeirogon by Dublin-born author Colum McCann.

And for this week's Topical Chat, Liz and Kate give their author's perspectives on Nipaluna/Hobart's prestigious UNESCO City of Literature designation, the main subject of Episode One, which featured an interview with the fabulous City of Literature convener, Sue Hayes.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why on earth would anyone spend almost ten years writing and constructing a complicated verse novel using the tricky, painstaking framework of bricolage? And what exactly did this mean for the author, her book designer and her brave publisher? In this episode, author and community storyteller, Johanna Bell tells Liz why her award-winning novel, Department of the Vanishing, could only have been written using this intricate, highly visual approach. She also discusses her next book, which interrogates the reliability of memory, and explains why she's prepared to commute from Nipaluna/Hobart to Warrane/Sydney for her prestigious Copyright Agency Residency

For this episode’s Cities of Lit Book Picks, Meahd Farnaby of TasWriters chooses A Soul's Breath by Nipaluna/Hobart-based spoken word artist Moran Wiesel, and Boulder by Eva Baltasar who is from Barcelona. Shortlisted for the 2023 International Booker Prize the novel was translated from Spanish by Julia Sanches. 

And in our Topical Chat, Liz and Kate interrogate the real cost of writing residencies, asking who do they actually benefit, and what are they really for?

As always, find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While mainland Australia enjoys around 150 writer's festivals each year, in Tasmania, we're lucky if we have one, so when the first Island Reader's and Writer's Festival was announced in early 2026, with its sparkling line-up of bestselling authors, beloved local writers, university academics, Palawa writers, graphic novelists and poets, you can imagine the buzz around Nipaluna/Hobart. In this episode, all-round literary Renaissance woman and editor of Island magazine, Jane Rawson, tells Liz how she devised and curated this diverse and original festival with a delicate balancing act of small city diplomacy.

Our Cities of Lit Book Picks is from Kat of Fullers Bookshop, who recommends local writer Keely Jobe's incredible debut, The Endling, and the award-winning Piranesi by Susannah Clarke, from Nottingham in the UK.

And for this week's Topical Chat, Liz and Kate Kruimink return to the question of festivals, asking what makes a good one?

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exploring the unique literary scene on a tiny island at the edge of the world...

In this episode, one of Australia's best-loved and most critically acclaimed authors, Charlotte Wood, considers the benefits of living and working in a marginalised place, ponders the pedagogy of Creative Writing within academia, and explains why she won't use AI for anything, including rudimentary tasks.

Our Cities of Lit Book Picks is from Clinton of Hobart's beloved natural wine and book shop, Five Leaves Left, who recommends Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road to the Deep North, and Independent People by Halldór Laxness from Reykjavik in Iceland.

And for this week's Topical Chat, Liz and Kate Kruimink mull over the thorny question of what it means to be writing in and about Lutruwita/Tasmania.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Exploring the unique literary scene on a tiny island at the edge of the world...

In 2023, Nipaluna/Hobart became a UNESCO City of Literature, making it the second city in Australia after Melbourne to achieve this status. But what does it actually mean? And who does it benefit? Is it all just another marketing gimmick? Or does the award hold meaningful potential for genuine cultural exchange and creative opportunity?

For our first ever episode, creative practitioner and City of Lit convenor, Sue Hayes, unpacks the cultural significance and international possibilities of the title, while telling Liz all about her new play, Wallpaper Bandit, inspired by the life and times of iconic Australian designer, Florence Broadhurst.

Kicking off our Cities of Lit Book Picks is Liv from Fullers Bookshop, who recommends Department of the Vanishing by nipaluna/Hobart author, Johanna Bell, and No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy by Mark Hodkinson from Manchester, in the UK.

And for our first Topical Chat, Liz and Kate Kruimink consider the joys of libraries, list some of southern Lutruwita/Tasmania’s best independent bookshops, and swap notes about seeing their novels for sale in Big W.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Find the complete show notes at the Remotely Lit website.

Written and presented by Liz Evans. Produced by Tiffany Dimmack.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.