Kate Mildenhall
This month I had the absolute pleasure of chatting with the wonderful Kate Mildenhall. Many of you podcast aficionados will know Kate from The First Time podcast which she co-hosts with Katherine Collette. I’ve always loved Kate’s interviewing style - she’s so warm and genuinely engaged with the writers she talks to. And, as a university tutor, she’s incredibly insightful on writing process and craft. So I knew she’d be brilliant for this podcast and she really was.
We were, of course, discussing Kate’s latest novel The Hummingbird Effect. What a novel. It’s one of those books where you read the last page and can’t stop thinking about it. In preparing for this interview, looking for snippets we could read to illustrate some of the craft aspects, I kept sinking back into the prose and the story. I pretty much read the whole thing again by the time I’d finished. It’s engaging and challenging and heartbreaking and hopeful and the writing, as you would expect, is first-class.
Kate was up for a massive deep dive on craft and did quite a few readings throughout the interview and I know you’re going to get so much out of this episode.
We discussed writing craft aspects including structure, voice, setting, editing, sentence work, inspiration, multiple timelines, journalling and the power of prompts.
You’ll find links to buy both paperback and ebook versions of The Hummingbird Effect here.
About Kate Mildenhall
Kate Mildenhall is a writer and teacher. Her debut novel, Skylarking, was named in Readings Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and her bestselling The Mother Fault was longlisted for the 2021 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the 2020 Aurealis Awards. Kate teaches creative writing and co-hosts The First Time podcast – which features conversations with Australian writers – and is currently undertaking a PhD in creative practice at RMIT University. Kate lives in Hurstbridge on Wurundjeri lands, with her partner and two children. Kate’s third novel is The Hummingbird Effect.
Website: https://katemildenhall.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kmildenhall/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katemildenhallwriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katemildenhall/
Kate’s upcoming events here.
References mentioned by Kate in the episode
The First Time Podcast: https://thefirsttimepodcast.com/
Simon & Schuster - video, extract, playlist, tour dates, etc for The Hummingbird Effect: https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/p/the-hummingbird-effect-kate-mildenhall
Sarah Sentilles Word Cave - http://www.sarahsentilles.com/the-word-cave
Eva Harbridge - algorithm artist
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders
Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon
The Luminous Solution, Charlotte Wood
All other books Kate mentioned are all listed here: https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/p/the-hummingbird-effect-kate-mildenhall-finding-inspiration
To enter this month’s competition, head to Writers Book Club Instagram or Facebook and look for the giveaway post.
Order The Hummingbird Effect by Kate Mildenhall here.
Order Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth here.
This podcast is recorded on the beautiful, unceded lands of the Garigal people of the Eora nation.
