Cirrus@Austlit

'Sean Williams is a South Australian author who has published more than 50 books and well over 100 short stories for adults, young adults and children. Most of his work is science fiction or fantasy, and he has created several series, including Twinmaker (3 volumes) and The Books of the Change (10 volumes). He often co-authors with writers such as Garth Nix and Shane Dix. Sean is a multiple recipient of both the Ditmar and Aurealis Awards for science fiction and has appeared on the New York Times Bestseller list.
'I got to know Sean when he joined the staff of the English and Creative Writing department at Flinders University in 2019. I was intrigued to hear about Impossible Music (2019), a novel about a young musician who suddenly loses his hearing, and I read it with great enjoyment as soon as I could get my hands on it. When I heard him say in a public conversation that he read Jane Austen for inspiration when writing a realist novel (a new genre for him) I approached him and suggested we talk. I hurriedly read a very small fraction of his other output – the first novels in the Twinmaker and Change series, and Magic Dirt, a book of short stories – in preparation, and we met in his office in December 2019.' (Publication abstract)

'Professor Joost Daalder taught in the English Department at Flinders University from 1976 until his retirement in 2001, mostly in the area of English Renaissance literature. Prior to that, he taught at the University of Otago (New Zealand) from 1966 to 1976. He has an impressive list of publications, including several scholarly editions of Renaissance literary texts and many journal articles, book chapters, and reviews.  
'Joost was born in the Netherlands in 1939, and studied at Amsterdam University and Edinburgh University before moving to New Zealand with his wife Truus in 1966. Joost and Truus have an interest in collecting fine arts, and in 2017 donated the Daalder Contemporary Jewellery Collection to the Art Gallery of South Australia. They also often lend art objects to other institutions for exhibitions. Truus is known for her books on the visual arts, notably her Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment (2009).
'I first knew Joost as a lecturer when I was studying Honours in English in the mid-1990s – he was an inspiring teacher of Shakespeare’s plays and poems. Since then we have become friends and colleagues and it seems fitting to mark his 80th birthday with an in-depth conversation about his professional career. The interview was conducted via email in September and October 2019.' (Publication abstract)