I’m looking forward to appearing at the following Perth Writers Festival sessions in late February. Click on the headings for more details.
COURTYARD SESSIONS: LITERARY DEATH MATCH
Friday 24 February. Courtyard Sessions from 5pm–late; Literary Death Match from 9pm–10.30pm.
Hosted by Adrian Todd Zuniga.
Touted as Def Poetry Jam meets American Idol, this hilarious competition sees four authors perform a short excerpt of their most electric work before a panel of all-star judges.
Part literary event, part comedy night, part gameshow, Literary Death Match brings together Hera Lindsay Bird, Nathan Hill, Julie Koh and Jay Kristoff to compete in an edge-of-your-seat read-off. They will be critiqued by celebrity judges Peadar O’Guilin, Andrea Gibbs and Osamah Sami in a live showdown of wit and words.
Round 1:
- Julie Koh, award-nominated author of Portable Curiosities and a The Best Australian Stories regular
- Nathan Hill, debut author of The Nix, a finalist for the Leonard Award from the National Book Critics Circle for Best Debut of 2016
Round 2:
- Jay Kristoff, 2016 Aurealis- and ABIA Book of the Year award-winning author Nevernight and Stormdancer
- Hera Lindsay Bird, poet, winner of the Adam Prize and author of Hera Lindsay Bird
From 5–7pm, guests from the night will join RTRFM 92.1 for a special live broadcast of Drivetime, direct from the Courtyard.
Supported by Creative New Zealand and Culture Ireland.
Location: The Courtyard, State Theatre Centre of WA, corner Roe and William Streets, Northbridge.
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Saturday 25 February 2017, 1pm
Unique and wry viewpoints.
Family Skeleton by Carmel Bird is a witty, offbeat look at an affluent Toorak family keeping up appearances. Portable Curiosities by Julie Koh is a darkly funny, satirical look at contemporary Australian life. These two writers share their unique and wry viewpoints with William Yeoman.
Location: Writers Central, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley.
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Sunday 26 February 2016, 11.30am
Short stories that pack a punch.
Ken Liu’s multi award-winning short stories are inventive, playful and invoke magic from the mundane, Julie Koh reimagines our world with a dark, satirical twist in her new collection and Laura Elizabeth Woollett surprises us with another side to some of history’s infamous characters. They talk with Laurie Steed about short stories that pack a punch.
Location: Murdoch Lecture Theatre, Arts Building, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley.