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In this podcast you get to hear the voice of Screech, Jodie Tes’ titular character. What might surprise you is that Screech is a sulphur-crested cockatoo.

Jodie says, ‘I was on a morning walk, listening to Radio National, when an interview with a hilarious and passionate wildlife ecologist sparked the idea for Screech. She was discussing Australian birds, how some live very long lives, how they care for each other, live as communities, and experience grief and loss – not unlike us humans … A story came to me about a pet bird that lived alongside two generations of one family, and had the inside scoop on all of them. It was an added bonus that cockatoos can speak, so I could weave subtext and backstory into seemingly benign birdy phrases.’

Tune in on your favourite podcast app to hear a reading from the manuscript and to find out what fiction publisher Georgia Richter thought of Screech.

Show notes

About Jodie

Jodie Tes is a Fremantle-based musician, writer and high-school English teacher with degrees in Sociology, Music and Education. In 2016, she was shortlisted for the Hungerford Award for her manuscript, Barcarola. The following year she was accepted to the Eastern Frontier Writers Residency in the US for her manuscript, Wolf. Jodie views her previous works as her writing apprenticeship, manuscripts she might revisit once Screech takes flight. A WAAPA graduate and award-winning singer/songwriter, Jodie has performed nationally and internationally, and has appeared live on ABC Radio and Triple J.

Follow Jodie’s Hungerford journey on Facebook: jodie.tesoriero.37 or on Instagram: jodietes_

About the hosts

Georgia Richter has an MA (Creative Writing) from the University of Western Australia and is an IPEd Accredited Editor. She has taught creative writing, professional writing and editing at the universities of Melbourne and Western Australia, as well as at Curtin University. Georgia joined Fremantle Press in 2008 as the fiction, narrative non-fiction and poetry publisher.

Books by Georgia Richter, Fremantle Press publisher

How to be an Author: The Business of Being a Writer in Australia

Claire Miller is the Head of Sales and Marketing at Fremantle Press where she produces the Fremantle Press podcast and oversees the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award.

About the award

Anticipation Peaks as Four Writers Contend for the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award 

Proudly sponsored by the City of Fremantle, Fremantle Press and the Centre for Stories, Western Australia’s most prestigious award for an unpublished work of adult fiction, narrative non-fiction or young adult fiction by an unpublished writer offers a cash prize of $15,000, a publishing contract with Fremantle Press and a fellowship at the Centre for Stories. In 2024, the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award will celebrate its 33rd year.

Music: ‘Letter to a Daughter of St George’, from the Meat Lunch EP: Songs from Floaters. Written by Alan Fyfe. Performed by Trevor Bentley (guitar and vocals – @trevormb) and Chris Parkinson (harmonica). Produced by Blake Carnaby of Nuglife studios with impresario work by Benjamin P. Newton.

Producer: Claire Miller

Mastered and edited by: Aidan d’Adhemar