Join me at the Sydney Writers’ Festival in May, where I’ll be appearing at the following events, as well as a special event in Bathurst still to be announced.
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Thursday, 25 May, 11.30am–12.30pm
Sydney Dance 2, Pier 4/5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
Free event
This is a chance to see fresh Australian talent. Four of Australia’s most exciting new voices read and discuss their critically acclaimed work with Jill Eddington. Meredith Jaffé’s The Fence has been described as a ‘keenly observed satire on the boundaries we set’, and Julie Koh’s Portable Curiosities as a ‘biting collection of stories’. A Chinese Affair is the dazzling first collection from Isabelle Li, and Sarah Schmidt’s startling debut novel See What I Have Done is the moving tale of Lizzie Borden, famously accused of murdering her father and stepmother in 1892.
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Homemade Shorts: Australian Stories
Thursday, 25 May, 1.30pm–2.30pm
Philharmonia Studio, Pier 4/5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay
$15
Some of Australia’s most exciting short story writers talk to Margo Lanagan about what it takes to tackle the beast that is short fiction. You’ll hear from bold new talent Julie Koh on her debut Portable Curiosities, Isabelle Li on her exquisite, finely-tuned collection A Chinese Affair, award-winning author Sue Woolfe on her new collection Do You Love Me or What?, and Laura Elizabeth Woollett on her, at times, horrifying yet beautiful exploration of love in The Love of a Bad Man.
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Forest For The Trees: The Open Road
Thursday, 25 May
State Library of NSW Metcalfe Auditorium
Full: $65
Concession: $45
Forest for the Trees is a one-day seminar, presented with the NSW Writers’ Centre, that explores the current state of writing and publishing in Australia. I’ll be appearing on the final panel for the day.
The Open Road
3.30pm–4.30pm
The publishing landscape has shifted. Some aspects, like making a living from writing, have become more difficult, but there are new opportunities too, particularly in alternative pathways to getting published. How do you make the most of those opportunities and how can we all ensure that Australian publishing thrives and encourages a multiplicity of Australian voices? Jonathan Green (editor, Meanjin) talks with Michael Mohammed Ahmad (director, Sweatshop); Sophie Hamley (publisher, Hachette); author Julie Koh (Portable Curiosities); and Juliet Rogers (CEO, Australian Society of Authors).
