Cirrus@Austlit

'Real-life historical figures and 18th-century court cases dealing with adultery inspired one of two interwoven storylines in The Wife’s Tale, a new novel by Australian author Christine Wells. She tells Maureen Eppen how the true events from the past inform her tale of scandal, intrigue, murder – and love.'

'Creative writing lecturer Nike Sulway invented her own language during the early stages of creating her latest novel, Dying in the First Person. She talks with Angus Dalton about how the novel transitioned from fantasy into the real world, the fascinating bond between twins, and the strange land of Nahum.'

'We talk with novelist Jenn J. McLeod about how rural Australia is just as much about the coast as it is about the dust-caked heart of the country and she also tells us about more positive portrayals in fiction of people with albinism and her new book, The Other Side of the Season.'

'We talk with Patrick Holland, a longlist nominee for the 2011 Miles Franklin Award for his novel The Mary Smokes Boys, about his new novel, One, which tells the story of the real-life Kenniff brothers. These two late-19th-century Queenslanders were Australia’s last bushrangers, and Patrick questions the extent of their supposed villainy.'

'A Melbourne woman proud of her 7000-year-old Persian heritage shines a light on family violence in a memoir covering three generations. Sohila Zanjani, author of Scattered Pearls, speaks with Jennifer Somerville.'