Writing Podcast Episode 699: William J. Byrne and his historical novel, 'The Warrumbar'

It was a single photo of AWC graduate William J. Byrne's grandmother standing outside a ramshackle home that formed the spark that inspired this self-confessed history buff to explore stories of his past and the experiences of Aboriginal people leading up to the 1960s. The result is his debut novel, The Warrumbar – spanning half a century and casting light on a lesser-told chapter of Australia. In this episode, William shares his inspirations and publishing journey, and the AWC course that made all the difference. 00:00 Welcome 04:03 Writing tip: Enter writing competitions 07:18 WIN!: What Happened That Night by Nicci French 09:55 Word of the week: 'Puissance' 10:45 Writer in residence: William J. Byrne 11:05 What The Warrumbar is about 12:58 Why he wrote for this time frame 15:00 What inspired William to write the book 16:45 Stories from family members 18:00 Writing a teenage character 19:00 Balancing research with family stories 21:12 The note-taking process 22:23 Moses as a lens for the Aboriginal experience 23:38 Australia's historical awareness 25:44 The path to publication 29:11 Completing a writing course with AWC 30:50 The importance of writing communities 33:42 Major themes of the book 35:55 Advice for writers 36:34 Future writing projects 37:59 Final thoughts Read the show notes Connect with Valerie and listeners in the podcast community on Facebook Visit WritersCentre.com.au | ValerieKhoo.com

You can listen to Writing Podcast Episode 699: William J. Byrne and his historical novel, 'The Warrumbar' online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Writing Podcast Episode 699: William J. Byrne and his historical novel, 'The Warrumbar' is an episode from So you want to be a writer by Australian Writers' Centre.

This episode is 39:46 long.

This episode was published on Jan 12, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from So you want to be a writer when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.