The Bibliotherapy Project
Throughout COVID-19, the South Coast Writers Centre invited local writers and curators to speak on what reading they prescribe for these challenging times. Introduced by SCWC director Dr Sarah Nicholson, these bite-sized videos are warm, intelligent, and engaging. Bibliotherapy Season One was produced with support from Shellharbour Council’s PosARTivity Project. Bibliotherapy Season Two was produced with support from Wollongong City Council, and filmed at Merrigong Theatre Co.
Pamela Cook is a South Coast-based author and the co-host of Writes For Women, a podcast that speaks with women writers across a range of genres. Her first novel Blackwattle Lake was published in 2012, since then she has published three other novels.
In this episode, she speaks about Gulliver’s Wife by Lauren Chater, and Phosphorescence by Julia Baird.
Caroline Baum is a South Coast-based journalist and author of ONLY: A Singular Memoir. She was the founding editor of Good Reading magazine and the Editorial Director of Booktopia.
In this episode, Caroline discusses The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert.
Amy Molloy is a South Coast-based journalist, editor and content producer. She is the author of two memoirs, Wife Interrupted and The World is a Nice Place, and the children’s book How to Recycle Your Feelings.
In this episode, she speaks about her reading recommendations: I Choose Elena by Lucia Osborne-Crowley, and Anatomy of The Spirit by Caroline Myss.
Laura Brading is a South Coast-based bookseller and a former book publishing professional. In 2019 she co-founded WellRead, a curated book subscription service that handpicks the best new literary releases.
Laura recommends: Weather by Jenny Offill, Writers & Lovers by Lily King, and Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld.
Isabella Luna is a queer writer and performing artist whose work has been featured across numerous publications and many festivals, and was previously the host of Enough Said Poetry Slam.
Isabella speaks about This Is How You Lose The Time War By Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, How it Feels to Float by Helena Fox, and The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern.
Joshua Lobb is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and author whose writing has appeared in several publications and anthologies, and is part of the multi-authored project, 100 Atmospheres: Studies in Scale and Wonder.
In this episode, Joshua offers us his reading recommendations: The Mirror & the Light by Hilary Mantel, From The Forest by Sara Maitland, and Autumn by Ali Smith.
Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai Woman and award-winning international writer of poetry, plays and picture books. She is a teacher, cultural consultant and artist. In 2020, Kirli was named the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year.
In this episode, she discusses Throat by Ellan Van Neervan.
Published to critical acclaim both nationally and internationally, Claire Zorn’s novels have won multiple awards, most notably the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards for Young Adult Fiction, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards – Young Adult Fiction Prize, the Western Australia Premier's Book Award for Young Adult Fiction and the Children’s Book Council of Australia Book of the Year (Twice). In the final episode of Bibliotherapy, Claire offers her reading suggestion of A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole.