Australian novelist Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional, shortlisted for the 2024 Booker Prize, had its U.S. release on Feb 11, 2025, and on Feb. 20 was one of the seven new books recommended by The New York Times that week..

Associate Professor of English Sophie Gee recorded a conversation with Wood on Feb. 18 for her spring course “Contemporary Fiction” (ENG 370). Wood talks about the craft of fiction and her personal journey toward writing this globally acclaimed novel, the decision not to explain too much to readers, and the complex, unresolved status of fiction by white colonial descendants in Australia, a place where First Nations voices and stories are so important.

Video

Watch the conversation on the YouTube channel for the Secret Life of Books podcast.