Join us on Saturday 27 July at 2pm for the launch of The Sugarcane Kids and the Empty Cage, the second book in the award-winning Sugarcane Kids series. The book will be launched by CBCA Judge, Teacher Librarian and book reviewer, Kathryn Beilby. Books will be available for purchase and for signing. 

Charlie Archbold is an educator and an award-winning writer. Her first novel, Mallee Boys, was a CBCA older readers honour book. Her first book in the Sugarcane Kids middle-grade series, The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat, was shortlisted for the Text Prize and went on to win the Readings Children’s Prize and the Davitt Children’s Novel Award and was a CBCA notable book.

Meet author Louise Le Nay as she talks about her latest book, Edenhope. 

Louise Le Nay studied dramatic art at NIDA and has worked as an actor in films, TV and theatre, and as a TV writer and script editor. She has also taught professional writing and editing at various tertiary institutions. She lives with her husband in western Victoria.

This is the revelatory story of an ordinary woman who will let nothing, not even the law, stand in the way of her grandchildren’s safety. Simply, elegantly told and utterly compelling, Edenhope is an adventure for those who believe adventure can come from anywhere. And it is a love story for those who understand that love can be found everywhere.

Free, but booking essential. 

In writing one’s life, where do you begin and what – if anything – is concealed? Join memoirists Kris Kneen, William McInnes and Nova Weetman for an intimate exploration of putting their life on the page with Alan Close.

Whether as pets, companions, aids, property, or food, animals are deeply linked to human beings. Join prize-winning novelists James Bradley (Deep Water), Laura Jean McKay (Gunflower) and ethicist Peter Singer (The Buddhist and the Ethicist) to discuss how we depict animals in literature and value them in our lives. 

Kids Big Day Out returns with a stellar line-up of stories and music, including Nova Weetman (Outlaw Girls). A perfect outing for the whole family, kids can get involved in interactive sessions in our workshop space.

Fat child, self-denying adolescent, hungry young woman. A body burgeoning uncontrolled into middle age. Kris Kneen (Fat Girl Dancing) has borne the usual indignities: the clothes that won’t fasten, the mirror that affronts, the stranger whose gaze judges and dismisses. Join Kris in conversation about this frank, beautiful and triumphant ode to self-respect. With Amy Lovat.

Curious about everything and anything? Together with Imprints Booksellers & our wine partners we have tailored something just for you.

Starting July 9, the Strathmore Hotel is hosting Read Between the Wines—perfect for after work. Whether you come solo or with your tribe, expect a laid-back atmosphere where you can connect with fascinating people, dive into our book club’s latest reads, and discover the latest trends in wine. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to expand your community and connect with peeps!

Finegan Kruckemeyer was born in Ireland and now lives in Adelaide. He is an award-winning playwright, whose works have been performed on six continents and in eight languages. The End and Everything Before It is his first novel.

Do you like creating characters? Do you sometimes imagine what it was like to live in the ‘olden days’? Have you ever wanted to travel back in time?

Join Emily Gale and Nova Weetman, co-authors of Outlaw Girls and Elsewhere Girls, as they share where their story ideas come from, how they work together to create their novels and how the magic of time travel allows readers to learn about the past.

(Suitable for students in grade 4-7, ages 9-12 years old)

What happens when a veteran interviewer becomes the interviewee? Join historian and author Professor Clare Wright as she turns the spotlight on political journalist, podcaster and television presenter, Annabel Crabb in the Festival’s intimate opening event.

Includes special performances by acclaimed poets Jazz Money and Sara M Saleh.

Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media. Clare is currently Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University. In 2020, Clare was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for ‘services to literature and to historical research’. She is the author of four works of history, including the best-selling The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka and You Daughters of Freedom, the first two instalments of her Democracy Trilogy. She is popular public speaker, panellist and interviewer and makes frequent appearances at literary festivals and on radio and television.

Animals can be companions and resources, cyphers and symbols. But who gets to speak for them, and how? Join a novelist, a farmer and an ethicist to explore the four-legged world of creatures great and small. Maggie McKellar (Graft), Chris Flynn (Here Be Leviathans), Professor Peter Singer (Animal Liberation Now, The Buddhist and the Ethicist) with Stephen Romei.

Australian philosopher Peter Singer is Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and the recipient of the Berggruen Prize for ideas that shape human self-understanding. He is the author of more than twenty books, including The Ethics of What We Eat (with Jim Mason) and The Most Good You Can Do. Singer divides his time between Princeton and Melbourne.