This is a special episode brought to you in collaboration with the Apollo Bay Word Fest and their Warm Winter Words event that usually takes place in the Mechanics Hall at Apollo Bay on a Sunday afternoon in July surrounded by the bookish community.
We encourage listeners to sit back and enjoy these interviews as they would be heard usually in the Mechanics Hall at Apollo Bay – begin with Tony Birch, continue with Lucy Treloar and finish with this final interview with Michael.
To accompany your listening, we encourage you to read the books of these writers, which you can find at Readings Books, partner of the festival.
Michael Veitch is an actor, writer and broadcaster. He began his career in television comedy programs such asThe D-Generation, Fast Forward and Full Frontal, before freelancing as a columnist and arts reviewer for newspapers and magazines. For four years he presented Sunday Arts, the national arts show on ABC television, and has broadcast regularly across Australia on ABC radio.
Veitch is the author of eight published books, including Flak, Fly, & Heroes of the Skies – exploring his long term interest in the untold stories of Second World War airmen. The Forgotten Islands took him adventuring through the islands of the Bass Strait and 44 days explores the air defence of Port Morseby in early 1942.
For the past several years, he has toured nationally with his one-man show, FLAK, based on his interviews with World War Two airmen. His latest touring show is Hell Ship – the Journey of the Ticonderoga based on his latest book and his own family history.
Pandemic reading
Emily St John Mandel – Station Eleven
Meg Mundell – The Trespassers
Laura Jean Mackay – The Animals in That Country
Recommended Reading
JG Farrel – The Empire Trilogy
Elizabeth Gilbert – The Signature of All Things
Iain McCalman – Darwin’s Armada
You can watch Veitch perform his new Hellship – the story of the Ticonderoga online for Frankston Arts Centre on 22nd August
Michael hosted the inaugural Yarra Valley Writers Festival and you an find many of the sessions online.
The Warm Winter Words event at Apollo Bay Word Fest is supported by Writers Victoria and the Grace Marion Wilson Trust.
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