StorySALOON

In this week's episode we’re going to hear ‘In Disguise, Lying Low’ by Anne Casey-Hardy, read by Esha Jessy.

The story is taken from Anne’s debut collection of short stories, wickedly titled Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls (published by Scribner https://shorturl.at/Wk1To). Her acclaimed short stories are wonderfully sharp, irreverent tales of sisterhood, motherhood and friendships. In the words of one reviewer, her stories “cr...

In this episode we’re going to hear Margo Lanagan’s short story ‘Singing My Sister Down’, read by Paul Capsis. This is a story with a big heart that may well move you to tears.

Margo Lanagan is one of Australia’s most outstanding writers of short stories and novels for adults and young adults. Her work has been published widely in Australia and internationally.

For those amongst you who’re unused to the fantasy genre, what you’ll f...

In this episode we present three flash fictions by West Australian writer Gillian O'Shaughnessy, from our June live show.

Gillian is an award-winning writer whose flash fictions and short stories have been published widely in Australian and international journals and anthologies. 

The reading is by Monica Sayers, returning to StorySALOON a second time. Sayers is a proud Australian born Chinese actor, director, and voice artist. She...

Welcome to 'In the Saloon With...', where StorySALOON host Jane Messer meets with an author and actor from the live show for a deep-dive into the writing of the short story and the actor's performance of it.

In this episode we talk with Paddy O'Reilly, author of 'Baggage Claim' and Monica Sayers, who read the story live for StorySALOON's May 2025 show. 

Paddy's novels and short stories have been published, anthologised and broadcas...

Our final story from StorySALOON's live 6 May show is 'Baggage Claim' by Paddy O'Reilly. Paddy's novels and short stories have won and been shortlisted for a number of major awards, and been published, anthologised and broadcast in Australia, Europe, China, the UK and the USA. 

'Baggage Claim' was read by Monica Sayers, a proud Australian born Chinese artist who works as an actor, director, and voiceover artist. Her tv and stage ro...

This week's short story is 'GPS' by Cate Kennedy. It's a short story for lovers of twisted fairy tales and bushland suspense. Every girl should have a grandmother like this one in their lives.

Cate Kennedy has been writing and publishing short stories, along with poetry, novels and essays for over three decades. Recent short stories have been published in The Saturday Paper, and the anthologies The Scarlet Stilleto: 30 Years of My...

This week's short story is 'Aitu' by Oliver Coulter, was performed live by Chris Alosio for StorySALOON on May 6, 2025 at The Vanguard, Newtown. A young man of Samoan heritage is driving along a Northern Territory highway carrying special cargo. It's a road story that's both spiritual and darkly funny, and is about the importance of knowing your culture. In Polynesian languages the wor...

Welcome to the first of our in-depth conversations, 'In the Saloon With...', where StorySALOON host Jane Messer meets with an author and actor from the live show for a deep-dive into the writing of the short story and the actor's performance of it.

In this episode we talk with Nic Low, author of 'Octopus' and Taofia Pelesasa, who read the story live for StorySALOON's April 2025 show.  

Based in Melbourne and New Zealand, Nic L...

This week's short story is 'Protocols of Transference' by Kathryn Gledhill-Tucker, a Nyungar technologist, writer, and digital rights activist living on Whadjuk Noongar boodjar, Western Australia.

Build a mechanical brain to hold and remember First Nations stories. 'Protocols of Transference's' narrator is a First Nation person who is gat...

This week's short story is 'Octopus' by Nic Low, a writer of Ngāi Tahu Māori and European heritage. Based in Melbourne and New Zealand, Nic is the author of three acclaimed books, Arms Race, Uprising, and Little Doomsdays. 'Octopus' is set on New Zealand's South Island. It is about a rowdy road gang and an octopus, a story in which myth and reality energetically collide.

It is read by Taofia Pelesasa, Western Sydney creative practi...

This week's short story is "Tinder Date", written by Sydney fiction and travel writer Monique Choy. It's an inner city - rural love story. Set in a Marrickville bar. City Celia meets farmer Alistair. It’s hilarious and excruciating. How will the date go? 

Performed live by Zoe Carides at The Vanguard, Newtown. Zoe Carides' TV and film career includes Death in Brunswick, the Netflix TV drama Pieces of Her and thriller I...