A New Way of Reading
In October 2026, we will launch my book I Am Kora as an audiobook.
And you can listen for free.
Audiobooks are one of the fastest-growing ways of enjoying books.
You simply press play and listen.
In the United States, 58 per cent of adults have listened to an audiobook. Australia is following the same path. More than a third of Australians now listen to audiobooks, and among younger Australian readers the habit is growing particularly quickly. One-third of readers aged 15 to 24 now listen to an audiobook at least once a week.
And it is easy to understand why.
You can listen to a book almost anywhere. Late at night, lying in bed, listen to a chapter or two before you go to sleep. Or listen while driving, travelling, walking, exercising or cooking.
You don’t need to sit at a desk. You don’t need to hold a book. And, perhaps increasingly importantly, you don’t need to stare at another screen.
But I think there is something else happening.
Reading With Our Ears
An audiobook is not a substitute for reading.
It is another way of reading.
Audiobooks can also support reading skills by building vocabulary, improving comprehension and developing fluency.
And for Papua New Guinea, perhaps that matters more than we realise.
PNG has a rich oral tradition. Long before information was stored in books, knowledge travelled through people. History, genealogy, culture, warnings, humour and experience were carried by voices.
Papua New Guineans are masters of storytelling.
Someone told a story.
Someone else listened.
Someone remembered it.
Perhaps the technology is finally catching up with us.
Next month, you will be able to hear I Am Kora for yourself.
For the first time, you will hear my voice.
I will share a new audio essay each week. Free.
No downloading. No complicated technology.
Just click. Press play. Listen.
Be part of it from the beginning.
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