Robert Dessaix was the producer and presenter of ABC Radio National's Books and Writing program from 1985 to 1995. Born in Sydney in 1944, he studied Russian language and literature at the Australian National University in Canberra, where he also taught for some twenty years until joining the ABC. After joining the ABC he began to publish his own short fiction and essays and in 1993 co-edited Picador New Writing . In 1994 he published to critical acclaim "A Mother's Disgrace", while his bestselling first novel, "Night Letters" (1996) won the ABA Book of the Year Award in 1996 and the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal in 1997. This was followed by "Secrets", written with Drusilla Modjeska and Amanda Lohrey, in 1997. "(and so forth)", a selection of Robert Dessaix's short fiction, essays and journalism, was published in to rave reviews and won the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies H.T. Priestley medal (Best Book of the Year) in 1998. He lives in Tasmania.