Cirrus@Austlit

Transcript available on the website.

Show Notes : 

• Erik cites Joseph Mitchell and Hunter S. Thompson as writing influences in his teenage years, although he soon moved on.
• In the newsroom, Erik counts David Marr and Kate McClymont as mentors. He does not buy into the appeal of All the President’s Men – either Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s book or the Hollywood movie – although notes that others do.
• When reading for pleasure, Erik prefers poets who have become writers like Kate Jennings and Jennifer Clement.
• Erik cites Martin McKenzie-Murray’s essay on pedophilia as one of the pieces he is most proud to have published in The Saturday Paper.
• Erik acknowledges the privilege he has in editing pieces from writers such as Imran Mohammad, a Rohingyan refugee held on Manus Island.
• Tom Wolfe’s The New Journalism and William Strunk and E. B. White’s The Elements of Style are the books on writing he recommends, although he thinks you can pick up what you need to know by reading widely.