Songwriters on the Run
‘A comic odyssey, a crime thriller and a nuts-and-bolts account of making art. Not bad for one book!’
PAUL KELLY‘Completely marvellous! Couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. You’ll swear he wrote it just for you. Ain’t no world in which Robert effing Forster missed his calling, but, damn, the bloke was born to write books.’
TRENT DALTONIt’s 1991, and Australian singer-songwriters Mick Woods and Drew Lovelock – ‘tall and skinny, rock-star-wrecked handsome’ – haven’t yet managed to crack the big-time. But that’s soon to be the least of their problems.
On tour in Central Queensland, what seems like a minor marijuana bust turns ugly, and they’re incarcerated in a low-security institution in the middle of nowhere. With help from a couple of prisoners, they escape – but now what? They’re songwriters on the run, desperately evading the long arm of the law and trying to clear their names. On the upside, they might get a good song out of all the drama. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, a major film star takes a liking to their music...
Songwriters on the Run, Robert Forster’s debut novel, is a joyride. Burrowing into the netherworld of Australian independent music just as Nirvana’s grunge is about to swamp the planet, the former Go-Betweens vocalist and accomplished solo performer has crafted a hectic, sometimes hilarious tale that is as silly, profound and grand as the music it celebrates.
Songwriters on the Run is published by Penguin Random House Australia on 5th May 2026, as a paperback, ebook and audiobook.