Getting on board The Quiet Carriage

A show about books. And authors. And reading.

Each week on The Quiet Carriage host Paul Laverty invites you to his book club, discussing the week's text with a special guest - its author.

Not a worry if you didn't have a chance to read it, or just skimmed the blurb on the way over - this is a good chance to hear about a new book and all the interesting research that's behind it.

We caught up with Paul to see where his love of books came from, and the show itself.

What books are on your bedside table at the moment? Do you keep a daunting pile or are you disciplined with one book at a time?

I'm always reading new books for the show. But it's a joy considering they are novels from Australia's top authors and from noted publishers where the quality is always high. But I usually have another book on the go which I chip away at. At the moment it's Donna Tartt's 'The Goldfinch'. It's incredible.  

Tell us about The Quiet Carriage and what listeners here each week.

Each week I speak with an author (usually from Australia) about their latest release. Once a month I also do an 'Author Retrospective' on a celebrated writer who is no longer with us. Occasionally I'll also play a live recording from an author appearance here in Castlemaine just to mix it up.  

Why a show about books? How did it start?

I was releasing my own novella (Man Overbored available wherever people buy books) and contacted my local station MAINfm to see if I could appear on their book show. Turns out they didn't have one. So following a chat with the station manager Suzanne Donisthorpe (and then with my wife), I spotted an opportunity and haven't looked back. It's a lot of work, but it's great fun. 

Who have some of your favourite guests been?

It may sound twee, but I have not had a bad guest. And some of them, like Tobias McCorkell, David Whish-Wilson and Kirsten Krauth (to name a few), have become firm friends.

Alex Miller is up there because he's won the Miles Franklin twice and is a legend around these parts (as well as being an absolute gentleman). Di Morrissey was a buzz too, because she's Australia's biggest-selling female author of all time. 

Is it only authors you speak with, or other people in the literature world?

Just authors. There are other mediums that focus on the industry (such as Books+Publishing) and they do this very well.

If you can, your all-time three favourite books please.

A HUGE ask - and this can change on any given day but here goes:

• The Rum Diary - Hunter S Thompson
• A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
• Trainspotting - Irvine Welsh

For CRN subscribers:

• Program runs 27'50 minutes
• The Quiet Carriage distributes Thursdays 13:04 AEST/AEDT
• Available for on-demand broadcast by download and FTP
• Presented for a national audience
• For more information contact CRN staff on 02 9310 2999 or email [email protected]

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