Fiona Wright

Welcome to another episode of I’m a Serious Book Person. This time Robert sits down with the award-winning essayist, poet and novelist, Fiona Wright, to discuss her reading and writing life. From the shock of recognition she found in an Australian Literature course at Uni to her specific writing rituals at her local café, this episode dives into why stories are the ultimate machines for empathy and why we must stop being so self-deprecating about our creative pursuits. Grab a drink and settle into your favourite reading chair—just be prepared to fight the dog for it!

Fiona Wright is a writer, editor, poet and critic from Sydney. Her book of essays Small Acts of Disappearance: Essays on Hunger won the 2016 Nita B. Kibble Award and the Queensland Literary Award for non-fiction, and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the NSW Premier’s Douglas Stewart Prize. Her first poetry collection, Knuckled, won the 2012 Dame Mary Gilmore Award, while Domestic Interior was shortlisted for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. Her most recent book of essays, The World Was Whole, was longlisted for the 2019 Stella Prize. She completed a PhD at Western Sydney University’s Writing & Society Research Centre. Her poems and essays have been published in The Australian, Meanjin, Island, Overland, The Lifted Brow, Seizure and HEAT. Her debut novel, Kill Your Boomers, was published by Ultimo Press in April 2026.

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Books

Kill Your Boomers (2026) Paperback | Ebook | Audio

The World Was Whole

Domestic Interior

Small Acts of Disappearance

Knuckled

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I'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by Robert Watkins and produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. 

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I'm a Serious Book Person is recorded and produced on the lands of The Gadigal People of the Eora Nation. We acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay our deepest respects to elders past and present.

Transcript

Music Introduction 

Robert: 

Hello and welcome to I'm a Serious Book Person, the podcast where we gently interrogate people who claim to be just that. I'm your host Robert Watkins and in every episode I sit down with an author, a reader or just a fellow book obsessive. Or maybe they're all three at once. To dive into their favourite stories, the books that change them and why we all still cling to the glorious dusty power of paper and ink. So grab your favourite drink and your current read because this is the place for those who truly love books. Let's get to it. 

Robert: 

Is your nightstand starting to look less like furniture and more like a structural hazard? Do you spend more time scrolling through book reviews than actually reading? Have you ever sacrificed your entire morning just because you couldn't leave a protagonist hanging at the end of a cliff? If that's you, then you've found your people. You are officially a serious book person. Today we're joined by the award-winning critically acclaimed essayist and poet Fiona Wright. Her newest book, her first novel, provocatively titled ‘Kill Your Boomers’ is a timely story of the lengths some of us will go to just to enter the property market. Welcome Fiona. I can't wait to find out what you love most about stories. 

Fiona: 

So lovely to be here Robert. Thank you for having me. 

Robert: 

Thank you for coming in. I'm just going to jump straight into it. Fiona, are you a serious book person? 

Fiona: 

I actually really struggle to think of myself as a serious person of any sort. [Laughs] Which is, you know, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but it's difficult to take oneself seriously. 

Robert: 

And just literature in general? Do you think it's hard to take literature seriously personally? 

Fiona: 

No, no… that is a whole different kettle of fish. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

Maybe you are a serious book person then. 

Fiona: 

I think I'm, you know, a serious book person. I'm not a serious person and it's not serious books, but the combination works for me. 

Robert: 

Ok. 

Fiona: 

They're all three together. All my life is books and reading and trying to write them. There's not much else that I do. 

Robert: 

I mean trying to or successfully. 

Fiona: 

Sorry, yes, yes. I get really cross when other people put things down like that. I shouldn't do that and it's naughty. 

Robert: 

Don't be too self-deprecating, I guess, is what we're saying in this space. But I am interested in this idea of serious books. What do you think that means? What's a serious book? 

Fiona: 

Yeah, it's really interesting because I do love big capital L literature. I love stuff that's juicy and hard. You know, uncomfortable reading. I love stuff that is, I described myself yesterday to some writer friends as hot for structure. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

Yeah. 

Fiona: 

And I stand by that. You know, I do love all the complicated stuff, but I also really love reading those books where you're just swept away and carried on the plot. 

Robert:

Yeah, yeah. 

Fiona:

And completely, there's something really wonderfully immersive about those at the best of times. I think they're both wonderful reading experiences. 

Robert: 

I think that's so interesting also, not least because if I think about the books that you've had published, then in some people's minds, perhaps even just by the title, ‘Kill Your Boomers’ would feel less serious than your two previous books. Would you agree? 

Fiona: 

Absolutely. And I mean, I do think of the book as both a piece of mischief, a big joke, but it is also deadly serious. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

Yes, yeah. 

Fiona: 

And actually, one of the hardest things to do was to get that balance right and maintain it, especially maintaining it across the piece. 

Robert: 

I think that's the interesting thing about the idea of like satire in work. Like I think when I read books that are attempting deliberately to be satirical, I often don't find them funny at all. And I think that is the weird kind of like serious boundary, I guess, between, you know, being funny and trying to be funny. 

Fiona: 

Yeah. Yeah. Or being absurd, because I think a lot of satire does work in the place of the absurd and I love the absurd, but still having it tethered to reality or believable enough or real enough that you can kind of imagine something that might push you or the world just that little bit further. 

Robert: 

I guess the interesting thing there also is that just because a book has an element of humour about it, doesn't make it not serious, if that makes sense. Like it's not an unserious work just because it's funny. Would you agree? 

Fiona: 

I think so. I mean, I happen to think that my sad girl books are very funny too. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

Yeah, yeah. 

Fiona: 

And in fact, it was very important in sort of the works of nonfiction too that we're dealing with dark material to have humour in there to kind of give the reader a bit of.. 

Robert: 

…relief. 

Fiona: 

Yeah, a bit of a break every now and again. But gosh, it was a joy to be able to lean into that tendency that I have always had and do have. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

To be unserious when you want to be. 

Fiona: 

Yeah, and to roll with it. And I think the other great liberty, the other thing I found really liberating too and has made me fall more in love with fiction is that there's so much work that you have to do in non-fiction to position yourself as a narrator or as the speaking voice in the book to make yourself authoritative, to get the reader to trust you, to make sure you're not pushing the pathos too far; 'I'm just like you, but...', and also 'believe me, believe me', especially for women writers probably. And to be sort of, I want to say unimpeachable. It's not quite the right word, but, you know, to keep the reader on side. And it was such a joy to be able to take the fiction and take the characters and go, No, they're horrible. They're horrible. They're going to be horrible. They're going to have horrible opinions. They're going to be entitled and snotty and think too much of themselves. And that's OK. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

Yeah! Yeah. And it can still be serious while being funny at the same time. 

Fiona: 

Yeah. I'm completely in love with horrible characters now. So much fun. 

Robert: 

My next question for you is, I think, always just a really telling point. When you're talking to writers and people who love stories, there's usually someone that almost gave you permission to fall in love with stories. So I'm really interested to know who this person is that has been the biggest influence in your mind on your love of stories and telling stories. 

Fiona: 

Yeah. I mean, I think I've been very lucky that I've had several and possibly even many. I say this a lot, but I'm from a very regular family. My parents were both public school teachers. Their parents were all tradies. My siblings are a nurse and a policeman, respectively. You know, this is good, solid, regular, respectable jobs. I didn't meet anybody with a creative job until I was an adult. And so then when I started messing about and being like, I think I might want to be a writer, I knew nothing. I knew no one was making it all up. My family were terrified for me and wonderfully did a beautiful job of not letting me know that until much later. [Laughs] Which is a type of permission and an invaluable one. I think I had some really wonderful English teachers in my last years of school who were very supportive. One of whom I remember asking if I should do extension two English, would I be capable of it? And he just looked me dead in the eye and said, You can do anything you want to do. And I went, Oh, oh okay. Alright. [Laughs] 

But just in that like you are, it was a sort of like, You know you are very good at English. If you want to do all of the English, then do all of the English. Because I had this strange idea about keeping my options open. 

Robert: 

I mean, I think the creative pursuits, like when you're a young adult moving into adulthood, you do almost need someone to just say, It's okay to follow this path if that's what you want. 

Fiona: 

And it's possible. 

Robert:

Yes. 

Fiona:

The idea that it was possible was not in my upbringing at all. It was this sort of, you know, there are some very famous actors in the world and that's about it. And so then when I was at university, I did an Australian Literature subject sort of out of curiosity and fell deeply in love with that. Had some wonderful teachers there. Bernadette Brennan was one of my teachers. She was always incredibly supportive. And once I started meeting writers, which I think is a really key point, I was met by the writing community with such openness and grace and excitement and support that I really feel like it was just other writers that made me a writer. 

Robert: 

Yeah, there's a real generosity of spirit, isn't there? 

Fiona: 

Yeah, yeah, there really is. And, you know, to be fair, I think part of that comes from the shared knowledge that we are all up against it. [Laughs] 

Yeah, but it is generosity, sharing what they know, sharing what they do, what are the journals, how do you get this done, who do you approach, all of those little things that you just don't know from the outside. And I've never met anyone who has been interested in gatekeeping that information and keeping other writers out. It's a really special community. 

Robert: 

Like, yeah, I think that's why this podcast has been such a joy to do is because each of these conversations just shows just how generous people are with their inspirations, why they love storytelling. I think that makes it like a really natural segue from writers being an influence on you, to what is the work or the book that really got you to love, I guess, storytelling. 

Fiona: 

Ooh. That's a tricky one too, because I was trying to think of one particular work. 

Robert: 

You're allowed to have more than one. 

Fiona: 

Well, I just also feel like I did grow up surrounded by books. My mother is a big reader and I can't remember ever not being just a massive, voracious reader. You know, often sitting apart from the other kids while they were doing other things, so I could read my book, which I still want to do. [Laughs] 

So I feel like they were always there. I do think, though, doing that Australian literature subject in my first year of uni, and then I then went on and did absolutely every Australian literature subject that was on offer. [Laughs] I do think that was a really important thing too, because it was the first time that I'd been given a reading list that was exclusively books about my world and where I was really able to see that interplay between the culture and the work. And I just found that so exciting. What do you know of the time in which it was written in this place and how is that coming into the book and how is the book speaking back to that? And that was really thrilling to me. I think they call it like the shock of recognition. [Laughs] But to me it wasn't a shock, it was just an absolute joy. So that brought me into like Auslit and Australian storytelling that I don't think I would have naturally gravitated to in the same way. 

Robert: 

So there's not a particular story then?  

Fiona: 

There's not a particular story. 

Robert: 

Or are you just trying to avoid saying that because you don't want to let any of your loves feel like they were neglected by having to choose one? 

Fiona: 

No, I mean at that time, I know I'd read ‘Cloud Street’ just before that and I absolutely loved that. That is such a capacious book. There is so much in it and I know it's got its problematic elements. All of your favourites have problems. [Laughs] 

But each of those characters is so complex and beautiful and interplay and it's weird as well as being so normal. And I bawled several times. I know that was a very important book, but I'm sure there are many others. 

Robert: 

It's so interesting because I think that in several of these conversations we've talked about like how humanity kind of leeches out through stories and I think maybe that's what you're describing there with ‘Cloud Street’ is being able to connect with like the human experience through those characters that are flawed and lovable but also maybe also complicated. 

Fiona: 

Yeah, there's that. And I also know that one of the reasons I love reading so much is those little glimpses of other worlds or other ways of living and other ideas that are central to other people and other ways to be in the world. And I think that's always been really important to me. You know, in hindsight now as a grown-ass adult, I blame the ‘tism. 

I think there really was some drive in there to try and understand the world a little bit better and find my place in it a little bit more. But still those little windows that you get into other people and other people's lives. I think books are machines for empathy in that regard. And just for ideas, I love ideas. 

Robert: 

Yeah. 

Fiona: 

You know, I get fascinated by all kinds of things all the time which again is probably neurodivergent but it's wonderful. 

Robert: 

I mean, yes and no probably because I do think that we all engage with reading and stories because both we're looking for things that we can relate to on the page but also to be provoked. I think that the best thing a reader can be is deeply inquisitive. 

Fiona: 

Yes, absolutely. And willing to go along for the ride. 

Robert: 

Totally. 

Fiona: 

Yeah. 

Robert: 

Our final question for you today is one that I find fascinating at all times because I feel like we all have a different space that we love either to escape so that we can get into story or to, you know, or to be amongst people. So where is the place that you like to go when you want to immerse yourself in stories either to write or to read? 

Fiona: 

Mmm. I think I have one for each side of the coin. 

Robert: 

Okay. 

Fiona: 

As it were. Yeah. I'm a cafe writer. 

Robert: 

Okay. 

Fiona: 

I was recently told that that's the term for us. But I do like to write in cafes in the morning because that's when my brain is sharpest. But to me there's something about being a little bit in the world but still a little bit in private that's really fruitful there and the sort of conversations that you hear around you but aren't part of what you're doing. I do like that sense of the almost social that's there. And I find that very productive. And I have a wonderful writing cafe at the moment which is Fleetwood Macchiato in Erskineville. Give them a little namedrop. 

Robert: 

That is such a great name for a café. 

Fiona: 

Isn't it? I mean, I love a pun. Obviously my dog's name is Virginia Woof. This is how I exist in the world. But the thing that I've grown to really love there is they have this sort of regular cast of ‘I'm here for my morning coffee’ people. So it I feel like they're my colleagues. There's like a dozen or so people who I do see almost every day. And I know some of their names and I don't know some of their names. The dog knows them all. And it's just that little nod and hello. And as everybody learned in the pandemic, but I had known since I was in my early 20s and working from home, you need those things. [Laughs] 

When you're alone for most of the day, it's really special to have those little passing connections and light touches. 

Robert: 

Well also because writing is pretty solitary, right? 

Fiona: 

It’s very solitary. And I think it's solitary not only when you're doing the work, but when you're not even when you're not doing like actively writing, you're very often carrying the world of what you're writing around in your head with you as you exist in the world. So this is part of you that's always kind of there with yourself in your head, as well as being with the people who are around you. I think it's this weird doubled solitary-ness. And I know I do know some writers who talk out their ideas with other people and get a lot of energy that way. But I'm not my ideas like wither on the vine. If I tell people about them too quickly, they've got to sit in that back space for a while and just quietly compost or whatever it is they do. 

Robert: 

So where do you go to read? 

Fiona: 

I have a reading chair. 

Robert: 

Okay. But where is the reading chair? 

Fiona: 

The reading chair is under the window in the front room of my house. It's a beautiful wing, I mean it's IKEA, but it's a beautiful kind of wing armchair with velour, kind of so it's nice and tactile. You can sit there and pat it. Under the window. It kind of feels like it's enveloping as a... 

Robert: 

Okay, it's hugging you. 

Fiona: 

Yes, it's a hug of a chair. And anybody else who's ever in my house has no interest in that room because there's nothing in there except for chairs and books and the stuff that people have thrown by the front of the door, as we all do. So any family activity is always happening in the back part. [Laughs] 

A room or two away so it's just kind of mine. And they know, I've got two step kids, and they know that they can come in to the reading room but they're not allowed to talk. [Laughs] So they can sit there and do whatever they're doing but they can't speak. And really the only challenge is that I do have to fight the dog for the chair sometimes but more often than not, the dog is curled up on my lap and that's very much part of the process. 

Robert: 

And fortunately you're bigger than her so you can displace her if you decide to. 

Fiona: 

But I'm like, you know, the book, the chair, the dog and the glass of wine and I am happy for the night. 

Robert: 

Window open or window closed? 

Fiona: 

Closed but you know we're talking about a shitty inner west terrace here so very permeable to sound. And I also want a street that's not far from the main road so we get this wonderful stream of drunky skunks especially on Friday and Saturday nights kind of a little bit lost on their… navigating their way between pubs and some of the little half conversations that I overhear just bring me so much joy. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

Helpful if you're reading something really grungy maybe. Like maybe that's a good background noise for something like that. 

Fiona: 

But it's just delightful. You know drunk people are so much fun. [Laughs] Especially when you don't have to put up with them. 

Robert: 

Maybe we should have been drunk for this.  

Fiona: 

Yeah. 

Robert: 

Anyway, I'm so grateful to you for spending this time with me today and having this opportunity to really interrogate your world of storytelling and I just can't wait for ‘Kill Your Boomers’ to be out there, your deeply unserious, serious novel. 

Fiona: 

I'm so excited to see it hit the world and start finding its way into people's hands. I think a lot of people are going to be very surprised. [Laughs] 

Robert: 

Particularly the serious book people. No, maybe the serious book people will love it. I think it will be fun to see.  

Fiona: 

But I've never had so much fun writing and I think that's really important. It's so easy to forget to have fun. 

Robert: 

Yeah, we all need some joy. Thank you, Fiona. 

Fiona: 

Thank you, Robert. 

Robert: 

Fiona, it's been an utter delight spending the time today getting to know more about what excites you about books and stories. Thank you for agreeing to be interviewed on our little podcast. Fiona's newest book, ‘Kill Your Boomers’, is simply one of the funniest and most thought-provoking things you'll read this year in turns of sharp and vulnerable and always deeply resonant. I urge you to get your hands on it by any means possible. Perhaps instead of buying your next slice of avocado toast you can spend that hard-earned deposit on a copy of Fiona's work. We have links to Fiona's newest in print, e-book and audio in our show notes for today's episode. 

Music Interlude 

Robert: 

If you enjoyed this conversation, please remember to follow I'm a Serious Book Person wherever you get your podcasts. A quick follow really helps us reach many more book lovers. Also, you can keep up with all the incredible titles and authors that we discussed by following Ultimo Press on all our social media channels. Finally, I would like to acknowledge that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and I pay our deepest respects to their Elders past and present. I'm a Serious Book Person is hosted by me, Robert Watkins, and is produced by Andrea Johnson and Murray Nance. Until next time, keep reading.