What does homelessness look like to you? In this episode, author Michelle Prak tells her latest story – thriller novel Barren Cape – through the lens of the housing affordability crisis. Michelle chats to us about the book's inspiration, her own writing beginnings and much more!
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Links mentioned in this episode
- WIN Invisible Woman by Katia Lief
- Buy So You Want to be a Writer – the book!
- Facebook group for So You Want to be a Writer
Writer in residence: Michelle Prak
Michelle Prak’s debut thriller The Rush was published by Simon & Schuster ANZ in 2023; Crooked Lane Books (US); and by HarperCollins France, as Le Deluge. The Rush was voted into Better Reading’s annual Top 100 reads (2024), and longlisted in the Sisters of Crime Australia Davitt Awards. Barren Cape was published by Simon & Schuster ANZ in 2025.
Also a short story writer, Michelle was runner-up in the Furphy Literary Award, 2021. Between 2019 and 2020, Michelle self-published three women’s contemporary novels.
She’s a former PR and social media consultant who served on several community boards; she now teaches in PR-related subjects at the University of South Australia.
Follow Michelle on Twitter and Instagram.
Follow Simon & Schuster AU on Twitter and Instagram.
This podcast is brought to you by the Australian Writers' Centre and our course Creative Writing Stage 1.
Find out more about your host, Valerie Khoo (@valeriekhoo on Twitter and @valeriekhoo on Instagram).
