What’s on Your Bookshelf?

Charlotte Mendelson has just published her sixth novel, Wife. Her previous novel, The Exhibitionist, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and was The Times Novel of the Year 2022, as well as a book of the year in The Telegraph and The Guardian. Her other novels include Almost English and When We Were Bad. She was a publisher for 20 years and has been the gardening correspondent for The New Yorker. 

Niall Williams is the author of nine novels, including History of the Rain, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize; Four Letters of Love, which was made into a major motion picture; This Is Happiness, which was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards Book of the Year; and most recently, Time of the Child. 

Kate Evans has a PhD in history and too many books – she regrets neither. She has worked in publishing, universities, TV and radio, and joined Radio National in 1997. In recent years she has specialised in interviews with authors on Books and Arts, Books Plus and The Bookshelf, which she co-hosts with Cassie McCullagh. 

Brian Castro is the author of 11 novels, including Birds Of Passage (1983), Double-Wolf (1991), After China (1992), Stepper (1997), Shanghai Dancing (2003) and The Garden Book (2006). In 2014 he received the Patrick White Award in recognition of his significant contribution to Australian literature. His latest book is Chinese Postman, a novel released by Giramondo in 2024. 

Cassie McCullagh is a presenter, journalist and writer. Since joining the ABC in 2007 she has presented and produced a wide range of programs for Radio National, Local Radio and ABC Classic. Most recently, Cassie presented RN’s flagship social affairs program Life Matters, and the popular culture programs TV Club and The List. In television in recent years, she has been a regular commentator on ABC TV’s arts program The Mix.