Bad Diaries Podcast

EPISODE 0

Bad Diaries Podcast

Show Notes

Diving into the world of diaries - the good, the bad and everything in between. Writers Jenny Ackland and Tracy Farr are fascinated by diaries: their own and other people’s. They’ve curated more than 20 Bad Diaries Salons across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand since 2017, and now have a podcast to keep the discussion going. Join them as they chat with each other and with some of the more than 70 authors who have read at the Bad Diaries Salons. Find full show notes for this episode on the ...

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Aug 18, 2025

In this episode of Bad Diaries Podcast, Tracy talks with writer Caroline Barron about diaries, speaking your truth with kindness, and the power and particular melancholy of nostalgia. Caroline is the author of two wonderful books – a memoir, Ripiro Beach, and a novel, Golden Days – and in this episode of the podcast, we talk about how both of these books use and connect with diaries. We talk about Caroline’s decades-long and very consistent diarykeeping practice, and we look at her latest pr...

Jul 21, 2025

In this episode of Bad Diaries Podcast, Tracy talks with writer Annabel Smith about throwing her diary across the room, hearting Michael J. Fox, and singing SexyBack at karaoke. Annabel has taken part in three Bad Diaries Salons, including our third ever salon back in 2017, in Perth. Annabel is also the creative force behind the live spoken word series To Whom It May Concern: Complaint Letters Live, and Tracy and Annabel talk about some of the similarities and differences with Bad Diari...

Jun 16, 2025

In this episode of Bad Diaries Podcast, Tracy talks with writer and academic Chris Brickell about ferreting in the Hocken research collections, the joy of collaboration, and editing writers’ diaries for publication. Tracy’s just back from a 6-week residency at Robert Lord Writers Cottage in Ōtepoti Dunedin, where she met Chris Brickell and Vanessa Manhire who, with Nonnita Rees, edited Robert Lord Diaries (OUP 2013). In this chat recorded for the podcast, Tracy starts by asking Chris whether...

Jun 6, 2025

Bad Diaries Podcast is ba-a-ack for Season 3! Tracy Farr is flying Bad Diaries Podcast solo, poised to land a new season of interviews with writers, talking about our own and other people’s diaries. Find Jenny Ackland on MY MUM'S BAD DIARIES. Find Tracy's new novel WONDERLAND. Follow BAD DIARIES PODCAST ahead of the first episode of the new season, dropping soon – or listen back to our earlier episodes while you wait. As the podcast season progresses, as well as interviews, we’ll have news o...

Sep 9, 2024

In this episode of Bad Diaries Podcast, Tracy talks with arts festival founder and director, arts events maven, book reviewer, books editor, essayist and novelist Claire Mabey about a life in the arts, the wisdom of teachers, and the transportive power of reading. Claire’s debut novel, The Raven’s Eye Runaways, was published only two months ago, and is already making its mark, flying out across the book world. Hera Lindsay Bird called it “powerfully atmospheric” and “immersive”; Elizabeth Kno...

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