How to give an author talk & Melanie Cheng on short story, speeches & pressing send.

In this episode, Kate and Katherine discuss Author Talks. Katherine has to do one at the Word for Word festival at Geelong, but what is she even going to talk about? Kate explains what she does and how it changes, depending on the audience. There’s a lot to think about: Q & A versus presentation? Should you do a reading? What makes a panel work? Then Kate speaks to writer, Melanie Cheng.

Bring a pen for this one; there are lots of tips.

Melanie Cheng is author of the short story collection Australia Day (Text, 2017), which won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript in 2016, and went on to win, among other awards, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Fiction in 2018. Melanie is a writer and general practitioner and lives in Melbourne with her family.

We begin the interview talking about Mel’s first publication in Peril magazine under then editor Lian Low.

Mel mentions a range of writers who have influenced or mentored her, including: Maxine Beneba Clarke, Jennifer Down, Mark Smith, Emmett Stinson ,Jane Harper and Peter Goldsworthy.

She also credits the support of the Creative Doctors Network and Writers Victoria.

We discuss the art of making speeches and refer to the speech Mel gave to high school students on short story.

Mel recommends the debut books No More Boats by Felicity Castagna and Barking Dogs by Rebekah Clarkson, and she advises Katherine to avoid imposter syndrome, own it and allow herself to enjoy it all.

Find out more about Melanie Cheng on her website or follow her on Twitter.