Michaela Kalowski is an interviewer, moderator and presenter.
She’s interviewed writers and thinkers from the worlds of arts, science and politics. Highlight interviews include Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Amos Oz, Colum McCann, Tim Winton, Trent Dalton, Robert Jones Jr, Stan Grant, Turia Pitt, Holly Ringland, Robbie Arnott, Anthony Horowitz, Tim Minchin, Sarah Krasnostein, Etgar Keret, Zia Haider Rahman, The Indigo Girls (Amy Ray and Emily Saliers), Sasha Sagan and Laura Marling.
She has conducted radio interviews for Australia’s national broadcaster ABC on programs such as The Music Show and Big Ideas, for ABC Classic and has also presented programs on ABC Radio National, Local Radio and for ABC TV. She regularly facilitates panels and conducts interviews at writers and ideas festivals, including Sydney Writers’ Festival, Korean Cultural Centre, Brisbane Writers Festival, Sydney Jewish Writers Festival and for local libraries and community organisations.
She produces and hosts a monthly book conversation series for Petersham Bowling Club in Sydney called Readers: Books and Conversations, which commenced in 2023. Guests over the years have included Suzie Miller, Richard Fidler, Robbie Arnott, Charlotte Wood, Benjamin Stevenson, Nick Bryant, Shankari Chandran and others.
She’s the co-presenter and co-writer of the AWGIE (Australian Writers’ Guild) nominated 2-part podcast Laya’s Way Home. The podcast was produced and broadcast by ABC Radio National and traces part of her family history. It was a Finalist in the New York Festivals Radio Award and was a nominee in the Best History Podcast category at the 2023 Australian Podcast Awards.
Michaela is the Curator of the Big Weekend of Books – ABC Radio National’s on-air writers’ festival, which began in 2020.
Michaela was co-producer and presenter of Ideas Exchange, a discussion series running in Sydney from 2017-2024 through Woollahra Municipal Council. The series hosted discussions on topics including the future of Artificial Intelligence, North Korea, the changing face of news, the moral obligations of climate change, Death, Dying and Grief, the politics of food, Free Speech and combating racism.
Michaela worked for many years in the film industry as a Music Supervisor (‘Romulus, My Father’, ‘Balibo’) and producer. She also produced theatre in Sydney for 15 years. Michaela was the researcher/producer on The Margaret Throsby Interview Program (a flagship daily biographical program loved by a huge audience, on ABC Classic) for close to a decade until that program ended in 2016. She was also a producer/writer on SBS TV political interview series The Observer Effect hosted by Ellen Fanning.
In 2021 she was the Acting Program Director for the Sydney Jewish Writers Festival. In 2022 she was Curator of International authors series for the Brisbane Writers Festival. She was part of the Advisory Council for UNSW Arts and Social Sciences and is a member of the Witness Institute Advisory group, a US organization to promote moral courage and social justice activism. She worked in Radio for the ABC until 2023 and is now a fulltime interviewer, moderator and curator of writers and ideas events and festivals. She holds an arts/law degree from UNSW.
List of Interviews - International and Australian
Margaret Atwood (Booker Prize winning writer/poet/essayist)
Colum McCann (writer/activist)
David Mitchell (writer)
Amos Oz (writer/activist)
Michael Connelly (crime writer)
Zia Haider Rahman (writer)
Roger Cohen (New York Times journalist/writer
Tommy Wieringa (writer)
Laura Marling (musician/songwriter)
Carlos Acosta (ballet dancer/writer)
Assaf Gavron (writer)
Sasha Sagan (writer)
Christine Leunens (writer)
Dr Leonid Petrov (Academic/expert on North Korea)
Mark O’Connell (journalist/writer)
Nir Baram (writer)
Henry Marsh (neurosurgeon/writer)
Armando Correa (journalist/writer)
Yasmin Levy (Ladino singer/musician)
Sinan Aral (Professor MIT, academic/writer)
Professor Susan Neiman (moral philosopher/academic)
Garrick Ohlsson (pianist)
Etgar Keret (writer)
Dr Jane Park (Cultural Studies academic)
Deborah Feldman (writer)
Dr Rabbi Ariel Burger (writer/teacher)
Evie Wyld (writer)
Ryan Adams (musician/songwriter)
Amy Ray and Emily Saliers (The Indigo Girls)
Peter Frankopan (writer)
Zeruya Shalev (writer)
Michal Michaeli (MP)
Alisa Weilerstein (cellist)
Gideon Raff (screenwriter/producer)
Daniel Mendelsohn (writer/critic)
Imogen Cooper (pianist)
Anne Sebba (British historian/writer)
Kiran Hargrave (English writer)
Avni Doshi (Indian author)
Kate Murphy (American journalist, writer)
Sora Kim Russell (Korean author and translator)
Bora Chung (writer of fiction/short stories, translator)
Bassam Aramin (Palestinian activist)
Rami Elhanan (Israeli activist)
Thomas Roth (Austrian film director)
Ronen Steinke (German journalist/writer)
Lucy Adlington (British journalist/writer)
Julian Borger (British world affairs reporter/writer)
Damien Cave (American NYT journalist/writer)
Edouard Louis (French writer)Heather Mitchell (actor/writer)
Raimond Gaiter (philosopher/academic/writer)
Michelle Lesh (academic)
Dr Sung-Ae Lee (academic)
Kim Cornish (academic/writer)
Natasha Lester (writer)
Diana Reid (writer)
Anthony Sharwood (writer)
Ailsa Piper (writer)
Nick Bryant (journalist/writer)
Jim Moginie (songwriter/musician/writer)
Benjamin Stevenson (writer)
Marina Kamenev (journalist/non-fiction writer)
Candice Fox (crime writer)
Shankari Chandran (writer)
Anna Downes (crime writer)
Francesca de Tores (writer)
Cadence Bell (screenwriter/memoirist/writer)
Joanne Fedler (writer)
Chris Baker (non-fiction writer)
Karen Kirsten (essayist/memoir)
David Dyer (writer)Alison Croggan (writer/critic)
Dr Sarah McKay (neuroscientist/speaker/writer)
Shivani Gopal (finance expert)
Ashe Davenport (writer)
Lech Blaine (writer)
Fiona O’Loughlan (writer/comedian)
Ruth Wilson (academic/writer)
Steph Lentz (non-fiction writer)Shireen Morris (lawyer/adviser on constitutional reform)
Gary Field (community development/Indigenous Health expert)
C.S. Pacat (writer)
Rhiannon Wilde (writer)
Ashley Kalagian Blunt (crime writer)
Anwen Crawford (writer/artist)
Todd Alexander (writer)April McCabe (urban and social planner)
Tim Winton (writer)
Robbie Arnott (writer)
Trent Dalton (writer/journalist)
Kim Scott (writer/academic)
Robyn Davidson (writer)
Markus Zusak (writer)
Stan Grant (journalist/writer)
Suzie Miller (playwright/writer)
Lily Brett (writer/poet, OAM)
Dervla McTiernan (crime writer)
Holly Ringland (writer)
Tim Minchin (songwriter, performer, writer)
Charlotte Wood (writer)
Sarah Krasnostein (non-fiction/essayist/writer)
Jane Harper (crime writer)
Ben Quilty (artist)
Kate Morton (writer)
Thomas Mayo (writer/activist)
Craig Silvey (writer)
James Bradley (non-fiction/writer)
David Leser (journalist/writer)
Tom Keneally (writer)
Richard Fidler (writer/broadcaster)
Fiona McFarlane (writer/academic)
Bram Presser (writer)
Yumna Kassab (writer)
Julie Janson (playwright/writer)
Julia Baird (journalist/writer)
Michael Robotham (crime writer)
Turia Pitt (athlete, mindset coach, writer)
Jonathan Seidler (writer/columnist)
Dr Rodney Syme AM (euthanasia advocate)
Stuart Coupe (writer/journalist)
Mia Freedman (journalist/blogger/podcaster/writer)
Di Morrissey (writer)
Michelle de Kretser (writer)
David Williamson (playwright)
David Francis (writer)
Emile Shermon (film producer)
Anna Goldsworthy (writer/musician)
Eliza Henry-Jones (writer)
Catherine McKinnon (writer)
Nikki Gemmell (writer)
Alan Carter (crime writer)
Joanna Murray-Smith (playwright)
Diane Armstrong (writer)
Jodi McAlister (writer/academic)
Wendy Harmer (comedian/performer/writer)
Gabrielle Jackson (journalist/writer)
Sandra Leigh Price (writer)
Jessica Rowe (journalist/writer)
Michael Sala (writer)
Ali Whitelock (poet)
Suzanne Leal (writer/lawyer)
Alan Gold (writer/human rights activist)
Lally Katz (playwright/screenwriter)
Toby Marsh (Academic - Artificial Intelligence)
Jakelin Troy (Leading socio-linguist/academic)
Bibi Barber (painter/artist)
Tara Moss (writer/human rights activist)
Dr Meera Atkinson (writer/academic)
Ben Lee (musician/songwriter)
Samuel Wagan Watson (poet/writer)
Mick Harvey (musician/songwriter)
Rudi Bremer (Broadcaster/presenter)
Kate McClymont (award winning journalist/writer/podcaster)
Jacqueline Maley (Author, journalist)
Erica Power (somatic psychotherapist)
Emily Bitto (Author)
Miles Allinson (Author & painter)
Rhett Davis (Author)
Robert Lukins (Author)
Yumi Stynes (TV presenter/podcaster/writer)
Dr Melissa Kang (Medical doctor, health advocate/writer)
Claudine Ryan (podcaster, producer, writer)
Linda Jaivin (writer)
Bernadette Brennan (writer, literary critic/academic)
Bill Birtles (journalist/writer)
Dr Zac Seidler (Mental Health advocate)
Professor Helen Christensen (scientist, mental health expert)
Professor Caroline Hunt (Youth Mental Health expert)
Professor Jing Han (academic)
Mark Mordue (writer, poet)
Jock Serong (writer)
Kate Morton (writer)
Testimonials
“You could not possibly find a wiser, deeper, funnier, more professional person to be interviewed by or have moderate an event. You enter a Michaela Kalowski interview wanting to help her learn more about you. Then by the end of the interview you realise it was Michaela who was helping you learn more about yourself. Neat trick, and one you need to see for yourself.”
Trent Dalton, Author
“When you combine a questing mind and rigorous research with a big warm heart, you get one of the best interviewers in Australia. That’s Michaela Kalowski, every writer’s - and audience’s - dream interviewer.”
David Leser, Journalist & Author
“Interviewing me onstage is not a walk in the park, but Michaela was fully up to the job. Flexible, smart, light on her toes, funny -- a good time was had by all, me and the audience included.”
Margaret Atwood, Author.
‘Michaela Kalowski is a class act. She read not only my latest book, but was clearly familiar with my backlist, and waded through two decades’ worth of interviews and profiles. Michaela emailed ahead of time to ask which questions had been coming up repeatedly during my media round, so she could guide our interview towards fresher territory. (This matters more than ever in the digital book tour age when interviews will have a long-term afterlife on YouTube – too many identical interviews in which the author gives polished answers to identical questions reflects poorly on the author. Unfair but true.) She also asked about no-go areas and boundaries. As it happens, I don’t really have any, but not everyone bothers with this simple tactic to avoid live-streamed awkwardness.
During the interview Michaela was everything you’d wish – thoughtful, tactful, respectful, a great listener, an adept joiner of dots. Learning about her background in journalism came as no surprise – it feels as if she’s been perfecting her art of enquiry for decades. By the end of our hour, I had heard myself say things I hadn’t said before: not because of Michaela’s guile (!) but because she has a knack of finding new topics new angles of incidence onto old topics; and encouraging her interviewees to examine received wisdoms.
A conversation is a kind of collaborative artwork made by both / all participants, and in this spirit, Michaela is a gifted co-creator. She brings the merits of her personality to work, but leaves her ego at the door. As someone who has been interviewed by the good, the bad and the ugly (and once, even the mildly stoned) over 20 years and counting, I can attest that Michaela is a versatile, unflappable, curious and engaging interviewer.’
David Mitchell