Readers: Books and Conversations Diana Reid

Diana Reid is a highly regarded young fiction author. She joined us to speak about her latest novel, Signs of Damage.

We discussed the idea that runs through so many cultural stories & scripts, that one moment of trauma can explain everything, and how Signs of Damage interrogates and plays with that trope.

I asked Diana to talk about how she writes characters that feel so real, about the way madness and sanity are perceived and judged in families,  unreliable narrators and we also got into psychological and physiological illness and how they manifest. The book is about memories and how they're formed, about self-awareness and what we bury even from ourselves. 

Diana was named Young Australian Novelist by the Sydney Morning Herald in 2022 and her books have garnered a heap of awards, nominations and praise. It was wonderful to have a sold out crowd to hear all about her new novel and a great joy for the PBC to be part of an author's book tour as well.