Reporter

Australia’s 2023 Podcast Publisher of the Year is gearing up for another bumper crop of podcasts that shine a light on unique, Australian stories, starting this month with some of the nation’s best-selling authors and extraordinary Deaf Australians.

SBS is starting the year with The SBS Book Club which celebrates the power of a great story with some of the biggest names in Australian fiction including Shankari Chandran, author of the award-winning Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, Melissa Lucashenko, author of Edenglassie, Tony Birch, author of Women and Children, Yumna Kassab, author of The Lovers, and Mirandi Riwoe, author of Sunbirds.

Host and Executive Producer, Sarah Malik, discusses how novels reflect the realities of modern multicultural Australia – including the themes of race, family, friendship and love - and how today’s writing contributes to new perspectives of how Australia was, is and could be and how literature reshapes the way we see ourselves and the world.

“By sharing stories in thoughtful ways and discussing the characters we love, hate, and love to hate, this podcast aims to celebrate diversity, hybridity and complexity of our national stories in our modern multiracial Australia,” Malik says.

This year also marks a new chapter for Auslan podcast Our Deaf Ways; a follow up season titled Humans of the Australian Deaf Community. It is a series of short video profiles spotlighting the lives of Deaf people working in various fields around Australia starting with Queer, Deaf artist from Adelaide, William Maggs.

SBS Podcast and Digital Audio Manager, Caroline Gates, said the 2024 slate of podcasts would continue to amplify new voices and stories that were smart, thought-provoking and entertaining.

“This year, we have an exciting line-up of podcasts including a second season of the Seen podcast hosted by trailblazing Australian feminist icon, Yumi Stynes,” Gates said.

“Listeners can also expect to hear stories that will resonate in multicultural Australia – a series dedicated to our relationships with grandparents and how they shape us, insights into the lives of young Korean-Australians with Say Kimchi, bedtime stories from around the world with Story Globe, and a unique exploration into the business of dying in Grave Matters.“

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