We’ve moved our offices to West Melbourne and now that my bike commute is a little longer, I’ve taken to listening to podcasts, many of them produced by Readings. I was recently particularly taken by one of the New Yorker’s podcasts. It was a reading of one of its articles by journalist and writer JR Moehringer. Moehringer has won a Pulitzer Prize for his newspaper feature writing, and his memoir, The Tender Bar, was made into a film directed by George Clooney. One of his admirers was the tennis star Andre Agassi, who contacted Moehringer after reading The Tender Bar to tell him how much he admired it, that he was contemplating writing his own memoir, and wondered whether Moehringer could give him some tips. That phone call led to a close collaboration and the publication of Agassi’s autobiography, Open; and a few years later to working with Nike founder Phil Knight on his memoir, Shoe Dog. But his biggest gig, and his last, he says, was writing Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare. His account of this is fascinating. Most of the memoirs ‘written’ by celebrities have a ghost writer involved; people who have a good story to tell don’t necessarily have the skills to write it down. Many ghost writers are great writers, like Moehringer, who write their own work as well. Richard Flanagan got a ghost-writing gig early on in his career and he later went on to win the Booker Prize. By Moehringer’s own account, it’s a weird and often lonely profession. He recounts watching an interview with Agassi just after Open was published: as Agassi talks about the book, and thanks people, Moehringer shouts at the TV, ‘Say my name!’, over and over. Agassi doesn’t. By contrast, Prince Harry, at a launch of Spare for friends, graciously thanks Moehringer. You can find the article Moehringer wrote about the experience in the 15 May edition of the New Yorker, and can listen to it through the link online. I think you can read a few articles for free online if you don’t subscribe.

This month writer Tim Winton will be inducted into the Australian Book Industry’s Hall of Fame. At an industry function in June, he’ll be presented with the Lloyd O’Neil Award. Lloyd O’Neil was a pioneer in Australian publishing – and as a bit of trivia, father of our current Minister for Home Affairs, Clare O’Neil. When he was 21, Winton won the The Australian/Vogel’s Award for An Open Swimmer. Three years later, Shallows won the Miles Franklin Award (his first of four). Both those books were published by Allen & Unwin; he then moved to Fitzroy-based publishers McPhee Gribble. Over the years he’s built up an impressive body of work which is much loved by readers. His novels are usually about good people in a bit of strife and going through change, and the simple honesty of his work really resonates with readers. The sea and the West Australian coast often feature in his books, and his depictions of these are vivid and powerful. Winton could be called reclusive; he concentrates his time on his family, his writing and environmental work – the festival circuit is not for him. He has been a passionate campaigner for the preservation of WA’s Ningaloo reef, and he wrote and featured in the amazing documentary Ningaloo Nyinggulu currently on ABC iView. He’s also been a staunch advocate for Australian publishing and writing, and of independent booksellers around the country. As he has reached ever wider audiences, he wanted to make sure those booksellers who supported him early in his career were still able to sell his books, and he has shown his support with innovations such as creating exclusive editions for them. He’s a very worthy recipient of the Lloyd O’Neil Award!