Readers – Books and Conversation with Ailsa Piper

This is a monthly series hosted by Michaela Kalowski. Authors talk about their latest work, their body of work, writing process and ideas that inspire them.

Meet Ailsa Piper.

Ailsa Piper has worked with words her whole life – as a writer for major Australian newspapers and journals, as well as for radio, and as a director, actor, teacher, speaker, audiobook narrator ( Ailsa narrated 'The Natural Way of Things' by our previous Readers guest, Charlotte Wood ) and broadcaster. Highlights include being named co-winner of the Patrick White Playwright’s Award for her script Small Mercies in 2001; and publishing her first book the travel memoir Sinning Across Spain, told of a 1300 kilometre walk she took while carrying the misdemeanours of others. Then came The Attachment: Letters From a Most Unlikely Friendship, co-authored with Tony Doherty – a celebration of conversation across divides and differences. Her adaptation of The Duchess of Malfi was widely acclaimed when it was performed by the Bell Shakespeare Company. She is a respected moderator and interviewer at writers’ festivals, having chatted with many of our best Australian writers and internationals like Sarah Winman, Michael Cunningham, Anne Patchett and more. 

Her latest work For Life is an unforgettable and moving insight into loss, hope and starting again, aided by the incredible healing power of nature and a community of unexpected angels—for fans of Phosphorescence by Julia Baird.

‘After I swim, I watch an osprey hanging in mid-air. If those who came before really do dissolve and dissipate, and if their cells really are all around us, then that bird is held there by Mum and Peter and billions of others of the long-dead. The osprey is kept aloft by absences. Perhaps I am too.’

When her husband doesn't answer his phone, Ailsa Piper knows something is wrong. She calls their neighbour, and minutes later, he rings back. 'Oh, Ailsa. I'm so sorry,' he says. Five words to change a life.

Wanting to flee her shattered world in Melbourne, Ailsa migrates north to Sydney. She makes a nest. She learns to swim. She walks the harbour cliffs to the lighthouse, meeting the locals: winter swimmers and shoreline philosophers. But we never leave our past behind. Ailsa is drawn back south, and even further back, to the west's aqua waters …

Berkelouw books Leichhardt will have copies of 'For Life' and Ailsa's previous works for sale on the night and there will opportunities for signings as well.