Stephen Romei

Irreplaceable writer, noblest friend

0:00 AMStephen RomeiIn Iain Shedden we’ve lost an adoring dad and the finest man.

Farewell to a friend

0:00 AMStephen RomeiIt has been a sad week, with the death of my friend and colleague Iain Shedden.

Warmly amusing romance

Reece Witherspoon and Pico Alexander in a scene from Home Again

0:00 AMStephen RomeiThere are good people in the world; ordinary good people, not superheroes. Sometimes it’s useful to remember that.

Saunders wins Booker for US

Author George Saunders of the United States with his book 'Lincoln in the Bardo' during a photocall after being announced winner of the 2017 Man Booker Prize, in London, Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

0:00 AMStephen RomeiIn his acceptance speech, George Saunders contrasted Abraham Lincoln with the present occupant of the White House.

Music man loved by the stars

Iain Shedden and his partner Christine Nestel. Source: Facebook

0:00 AMSTEPHEN ROMEI, STEPHEN FITZPATRICKTributes came in from musicians around the world yesterday following the death of music writer Iain Shedden.

Poignant sketches

A scene from tom of Finland. Tom and his sister

0:00 AMStephen RomeiThere are penises aplenty in the Finnish biopic Tom of Finland but is the film's hero an artist or a pornographer?

How could you forget?

0:00 AMStephen RomeiFilmmaker Bruce Beresford is among the readers who sent in thoughts about forgotten authors and film.

Actor’s life with infernos

Actor Mel Gibson (l) with Steve Bisley in scene from film "Mad Max".
/Films/Titles/Mad/Max

0:00 AMStephen Romei‘Actors are children who never wanted to stop playing, so they didn’t,’ says Steve Bisley in his cracking new book.

Life is too short for remakes

0:00 AMStephen RomeiFlatliners may be average, but I won’t call for the plug to be pulled. The same cannot be said for Kingsman.

A pair of ragged claws

0:00 AMStephen RomeiAuthors of books that have been turned into movies are part of a literary record their ghosts will resent.

Dog’s-eye view a page-turner

Pikelet, right, and Pork Chop, from the book The Extraordinary Life of Pikelet

0:00 AMStephen RomeiAs World Animal Day approaches, we can draw much joy — and many lessons — from books on the non-humans among us.

Forever groovy

A new movie about the Australian band The Go-Betweens will perform in Hobart. For Pulse

0:00 AMstephen romeiThis beautifully shot, thoughtful documentary has sent me to listen again to The Go-Betweens and their contemporaries.

Sting in a tale

Book cover: First Person by Richard Flanagan

0:00 AMStephen RomeiRichard Flanagan crosses the lines between the private and public selves in his new book, First Person.

King Jr hopes for dad’s magic

This cover image released by Scribner shows "Sleeping Beauties," a novel by Stephen King and Owen King. (Scribner via AP)

0:00 AMStephen RomeiWhen Stephen King published It, his second son, Owen, was aged nine, a bit too young for a novel in which a mad clown murders teenagers.

A dignified rage

James Baldwin Sitting Smoking A Cigarette

0:00 AMStephen RomeiThe real narrator of I Am Not Your Negro is James Baldwin, speaking 50 years ago — and as relevant today.

a pair of ragged clawsVale Agnes Nieuwenhuizen

0:00 AMStephen RomeiI never met Agnes Nieuwenhuizen but valued her as a writer and critic, and her dedication to kids’ and YA literature.

Bisley surveys the wreckage

0:00 AMstephen romeiActor Steve Bisley has had a full life — enough for a second memoir.

exclusive‘I’m so glad I can hear my kids’

0:00 AMStephen RomeiIt was 30 years ago today that Pia Jeffrey looked like she was going to bawl as her cochlear implant was activated.

Poets waste time if no rhyme?

0:00 AMStephen RomeiOur readers have spoken: and they do not like the trend for poetry that doesn’t rhyme.

Heart and soul

Albert Namatjira with wife Rubina, grandchildren and father Jonathon
Scene from 2017 documentary, Namatjira Project
Image supplied
To be used in conjunction with film only
Credit: Photo Pastor S.O. Gross, courtesy of Strehlow Research Centre

0:00 AMStephen RomeiTwo low-budget local films are worth seeing, for what’s on the screen and the force behind them.

Pick up a book and read

0:00 AMStephen RomeiAustralian Reading Hour is a day when we’re all encouraged to pick up a book and read for 60 minutes.

Second take on teenage chills

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Bill Skarsgard in a scene from "It." (Brooke Palmer/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

0:00 AMStephen RomeiThe more I have thought about the new remake of Stephen King’s It, the more unsettled I feel.

Novel idea wins Miles Franklin

19:42 PMSTEPHEN ROMEIJosephine Wilson’s manuscript was rejected because she wanted to include pictures. Now her book has won the Miles Franklin.

McKinty’s talent criminally good

0:00 AMStephen RomeiAdrian McKinty last night won a book prize for a novel starring a character he wanted to kill ages ago.

ExclusiveRushdie’s bid to trump Trump

FILE - This Sept. 8, 2012 file photo shows author Salman Rushdie posing during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto. Rushdie is promoting the film adaptation of his breakthrough novel, "Midnight's Children," winner of the Booker Prize in 1981 and one of the most highly praised works of fiction of its time. (AP Photo/The Canadian Presss, Chris Young, file)

0:00 AMStephen RomeiSalman Rushdie describes his novel for the Trump era, a portrait of power in which ‘grotesques and cartoons’ reign.

The Australian