On Better Words this week: Elise Esther Hearst

'Sad girl lit' but make it Jewish

This week, we’re talking about ‘sad girl lit’ with Elise Esther Hearst. Elise is a Melbourne-based playwright and author, working and living on Boon Wurrung country. She studied Creative Arts at Melbourne University and playwriting at the Royal Court Theatre in London.

Her upcoming productions include A Very Jewish Christmas Carol (Melbourne Theatre Company) and Yentl (Malthouse Theatre). One Day We’re All Going to Die, published by Harper Collins Australia, is Elise's debut novel.

🎧 Listen to the episode at the link below or search ‘Better Words’ in your podcast player 🎧

Things we talked about

• Being compared to Sally Rooney and Meg Mason as part of the 'sad girl lit' trend

• Writing about living as the descendant of a Holocaust survivor and exploring Australian Jewish culture

• The inspiration Elise took from her own grandmother in writing the character of Cookie

• The Pandemic Skip and not having our shit together

• Elise's journey from playwright to novelist and the differences between the two forms

Other recommendations

Before we chat with our featured author, we always share some other recommendations.

Caitlin recommends: The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead*

Alexis, a school librarian, gets caught in a fake relationship with local political candidate Logan. A fun slow-burn romance with heart.

Michelle recommends: Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen

A novel that's perfect for fans of Derry Girls. It's 1994 and Meave is waiting for her final exam results and praying it's enough to see her out of her small Northern Irish hometown.

- Caitlin & Michelle

🎧 Search ‘Better Words’ in your favourite podcast player to get new episodes as soon as they’re live. We’ll be back with another episode next Wednesday! 🎧