Secrets from the Green Room
In each episode of the Secrets from the Green Room podcast hosts Irma Gold and Karen Viggers chat with a writer about their experience of the writing and publishing process in honest green room-style, uncovering some of the plain and simple truths, as well as some of the secrets – whether they be mundane or salubrious – and having a lot of fun in the process.
Episodes
82 episodes
Season 7: Episode 82: Robbie Coburn (Poet)
Irma and Karen answer a listener question about the transition from emerging writer to established, then chat about their latest reading recommendations.Then Karen talks to poet Robbie Coburn about how discovering Edgar Allan Poe when he...
Season 7: Episode 81: Ingrid Laguna
Karen and Irma chat about the environmental cost of publishing books, and uncover some positive take-aways. Then Irma talks to children’s author Ingrid Laguna about how running away from home impacted her as a creative, how the trau...
Season 7: Episode 80: Toni Jordan
Irma and Karen talk about how different platforms – Instagram, Facebook, X, Substack and author websites – help sell books (or don’t!)Then Karen chats to Toni Jordan about how to successfully inject serious subjects with humour, the book...
Season 7: Episode 79: Tasma Walton
Karen and Irma talk about the importance of writers centres, and urge listeners to sign the Writers Victoria petition.Then Irma chats to Tasma Walton about novelising the story of her ancestor Nannertgarrook, how she protected herself in...
Season 7: Episode 78: Fleur McDonald
Karen and Irma debate whether AI is useful to break writer’s block.Then they both chat to Fleur McDonald about pioneering the way in rural crime writing, how she built her profile over the years and then rebranded, connecting emotionally...
Season 7: Episode 77: Ingrid Rojas Contreras (Pulitzer Prize finalist)
Irma and Karen chat about the year ahead, and dive into their first Book Chat of the year, championing Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, and Colony by Annika Norlin.Then Karen talks to Colombian writer Ingrid Rojas Contreras ...
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 76: Craig Leeson (impact film maker)
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Craig Leeson (impact filmmaker) about how growing up in Tasmania made him an environmental activist, how to find a hook to capture your audience, how to tel...
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 75: Banu Mushtaq (International Booker Prize Winner 2025)
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Indian author, winner of the 2025 International Booker Prize, Banu Mushtaq about what drives her to write about the fundamentalist Muslim community in which...
Ubud Readers & Writers Festival Special Series: Episode 74: Jenny Erpenbeck (International Booker Prize Winner 2024)
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Irma chats to German author, winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize, Jenny Erpenbeck, about the pros and cons of coming from a family of famous writers, why she mou...
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival Special Series: Episode 73: Lech Blaine
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Karen chats to Lech Blaine about how to shape a memoir and find a meaningful throughline within the truth, what it was like being edited by Helen Garner, how to decide wha...
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2025 Special Series: Episode 72: Nina Karnikowski (travel writer)
In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Irma chats to travel writer Nina Karnikowski about why she no longer wants to do a five-day trip to Paris and would rather opt for longer more immersive travel, tips for h...
Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2025 Special Series: Episode 71: Green room stories
In this episode Irma and Karen chat about the 2025 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, painting a picture of the festival atmosphere and sharing some of the highlights. Then they ask six authors at the festival – Clare Wright, Jenn...
Season 6: Episode 70: Sophie Cunningham (ASA Chair)
Karen and Irma chat about early drafts and tips for gaining momentum again after a break.Then Irma talks to Sophie Cunningham in her role as Chair of the Australian Society of Authors about the impact of AI, the closure of Meanjin
Season 6: Episode 69: Craig Cormick
Irma and Karen chat about the upcoming Ubud Readers & Writers Festival at which they will be recording interviews with several international writers, as well as some of the books they've been reading recently.Then both Karen and Irma...
Season 6: Episode 68: Emily Maguire
Irma and Karen chat about small regional writers’ festivals.Then Karen talks to Emily Maguire about how a high school teacher initially crashed her dreams of becoming a writer, how she became a feminist without realising it, how she avoi...
Season 6: Episode 67: Pip Williams
Irma and Karen talk about copyright, and the productivity commission’s recent recommendations regarding AI. Then Karen talks to Pip Williams about how she shifted from academic research to writing novels, how COVID lockdown inadvert...
Season 6: Episode 66: Terri-ann White (publisher)
Karen and Irma chat about book to film adaptations, and recommend recent reads in their new Book Chat segment.Then Irma talks to Upswell Founder and Publisher Terri-ann White about the current state of the publishing industry and what ne...
Season 6: Episode 65: Graeme Simsion & Anne Buist
Karen and Irma chat about foreign rights deals, and Irma shares some shocking stats.Then Irma chats to Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist about how a conversation between them on their first wedding anniversary was pivotal in Anne’s career, t...
Season 6: Episode 64: Markus Zusak
Irma and Karen chat about how a two-book deal was secured via an explosive Booktok profile. Then in a new occasional segment, Book Chat, they share recent reads they’ve enjoyed.Next Karen talks to Markus Zusak about his family of storyte...
Season 6: Episode 63: Helen Farch (librarian)
Karen and Irma chat about BookTok and book publicity.Then Irma talks to school librarian Helen Farch about how she became an Instagram superstar, why so many schools no longer have a teacher librarian or even a library, the issues faced ...
Season 6: Episode 62: Favel Parrett
Irma and Karen chat about finishing a draft of a novel. Then Karen talks to Favel Parrett about why she decided to give up being a postie and become an author, why she signed up for a writing course but didn’t finish, how her novel ...
Season 6: Episode 61: Tania McCartney
Karen and Irma talk about the intel Irma has gleaned from booksellers on her Shift book tour. Then Irma chats to Tania McCartney about how she made the transition from self-publishing to traditional publishing, creative bur...
Season 5: Episode 60: Nardi Simpson
Irma and Karen chat about juggling jobs to survive while writing. Then Karen talks to Nardi Simpson about the creative crossover between making songs and writing books, why she decided to start writing novels, how writing helps her ...
Season 5: Episode 59: Katherine Collette
Karen and Irma chat about the challenges of being able to accept praise. Then Irma talks with Katherine Collette about how co-hosting The First Time podcast was life-changing, her most excruciating experience with the podca...
Season 5: Episode 58: Cate Kennedy
Irma and Karen chat about the changing shape of the Australian publishing industry as small publishers are bought up by larger publishing houses. Then Karen talks to short-story maestro Cate Kennedy about how she came to be a writer...
