I’m thrilled to be in conversation with Patti Miller about my new novel Bone Memories at Sydney’s Better Read Than Dead Bookshop in June. I’d love to meet up with Sydney friends, old and new, so come along if you can.
The event is free but you will need to register your attendance here.
Venue: Better Read Than Dead Bookshop
Address: 265 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042
Date: Thursday 16th June 2022
Time: 6PM for a 6:30-7:30PM event (AEST)
I’m very pleased to be offering a 3-hour nature writing workshop called Witnessing Landscapes at Avid Reader Bookshop.
In the workshop, I take writers on a deep dive into their relationship with the natural world. Through a series of writing exercises, readings and discussions, participants will explore their connections to certain landscapes, beginning with the senses, then taking it into the emotional, philosophical and political realm.
The workshop is suitable for writers of all levels. All you need to bring to this workshop is pen, paper and a passion for the places that sustain us, and a desire to write about them in new and meaningful ways.
Bookings are essential and can be made here.
Venue: Avid Reader Bookshop
Address: 193 Boundary Road, West End QLD 4101
Date: Saturday 18th June 2022
Time: 10:00AM - 1:00PM (AEST)
I’m very excited to be in-conversation with Kristina Olsson, who will launch my third novel Bone Memories at Avid Reader Bookshop. The event is both instore and online with ZOOM.
Drinks will be available to purchase from Avid’s bar from 5:30PM
The event is free but seating is limited so you will need to register for it here.
I hope you can make!
Venue: Avid Reader Bookshop
Address: 193 Boundary Road, West End QLD 4101
Date: Friday 3rd June 2022
Time: 6PM for a 6:30-7:30PM event (AEST)
It all feels very real now that Australian streaming service Stan and Lionsgate have struck a television development alliance and will be working in partnership with the amazingly talented team at Aquarius Films and Dollhouse Pictures to bring The Geography of Friendship to screen in a limited series.
More information about the alliance can be found in a press release in Variety.
Here’s the cover for my third novel BONE MEMORIES, to be published by University of Queensland Press in June 2022. The cover design is by the hugely talented Sandy Cull and the stunning artwork is by Brisbane artist Tiel Seivl Keevers. I love it and can’t wait to hold a copy in my hands!
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Even though sixteen years have passed, Billie will never recover from the murder of her daughter, Jess, and clings to her memory — and the site of her death — like a life raft. Daniel, who was a toddler when his mother was killed, can recall little of what happened but knows if he’s to have any chance of a better future he needs to move on from that defining event – if only his grandmother would let him. Meanwhile Daniel’s stepmother, Carla, also feels trapped by Jess’s legacy but has a plan that she believes will help everyone to escape from the long shadow of the past.
Deeply human, evocative and beautifully written, Bone Memories explores themes of human connection and the memorialisation of place.
You can pre-order now via independent bookstores, online at booktopia.com.au or from UQP.
I couldn’t be more thrilled to have Rose Byrne’s Dollhouse Pictures join forces with Australia’s Aquarius Films and screenwriter Giula Sandler to adapt The Geography of Friendship for screen as a limited 6-part TV series. That such a powerhouse of female producers and creatives is to bring this story about the fear women feel and the threats they face in the world to the screen is beyond my wildest dreams.
The full press release - aptly announced on International Women’s Day - can be read at Variety.
Shannon Murphy, Krew Boylan, Jessica Carrera, Rose Byrne and Gracie Otto (Dollhouse Pictures)
Polly Staniford and Angie Fielder (Aquarius Films)
I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I’ve received funding from Arts Queensland to work on my third novel Bone Memories. It is a work of literary fiction that asks questions about place and how we memorialize trauma ground. It explores how physical and psychological trauma is held in the body and in the earth and how these traumatic connections are reconciled. It also interrogates prejudicial media representations of female victims of crime.
Thanks and gratitude to the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland for their support of this project.
I’m really looking forward to taking writers on a deep dive into their relationship with the natural world in this three-hour workshop hosted by Avid Reader Bookshop. Through a series of writing exercises, readings and discussions, participants will explore their connections to certain landscapes, beginning with the senses then taking it into the emotional, philosophical and political. All you need bring with you to this workshop is a pen, paper and a passion for the places that sustain us, and a desire to write about them in new and meaningful ways.
Bookings for the workshop can be made through the Avid Reader website.
Sorry, this event is now SOLD OUT.
Image courtesy of Avid Reader Bookshop
With large areas of the country still burning, assistance for those affected by the fires is as great as ever. To help those in need a mixed dozen of Queensland authors are coming together for an intimate evening at Brisbane City Hall to share the books and words that stopped us in our tracks, lit fires in our bellies or whispered to the future writer we dreamed of being. All proceeds from the night will go to the Australian Red Cross. Authors I’ll be sharing stories with on the night are Melissa Ashley, Matthew Condon, Trent Dalton, Nick Earls, Ashley Hay, Anita Heiss, Krissy Kneen, Melissa Lucashenko, Kris Olsson and Rebecca Sparrow. Avid Reader will be selling books on the night with 20% of sales donated to the Australian Red Cross.
Bookings for this very special night can be made here.
Sorry, this event is now SOLD OUT.
I will be on a panel with Amy McQuire and Ashley Hay at the Rose Scott Women Writers’ Festival in September where we will be talking about our contributions to Griffith Review 65: Crimes and Punishments. I have an extract from my third novel Memorial Park in the issue, and I couldn’t have asked for better company than the work it appears alongside, to include Matthew Condon, Gideon Haigh, Kristina Olsson, Behrouz Boochani and many others.
There is a great list of other authors appearing at the festival, to include Michelle de Krester, Drusilla Modjeska, Bernadette Brennan, Kate McClymont, Delia Falconer, Claire Corbett, Debra Adelaide, Josephine Rowe, Roanna Gonsalves, Kylie Bolton and Donna Abela.
For more information or to book for the festival visit the RSWWF website here.
Venue: The Women’s Club
Address: 4th Floor, 179 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW
Date: 13-14 September 2019
With the publication of the UK edition of GRACE’S TABLE by Legend Press on 1st August, the novel will be going on a Blog Tour for the month of August. Check out the schedule below if you would like to see what UK readers are saying about the book.
P&G Wells Bookshop in Winchester is the oldest (over 200 years old) literary venue I’m ever likely to do an event at, but it was a perfect one to bring friends old and new together for the UK launch of THE GEOGRAPHY OF FRIENDSHIP. The bookshop keeps good company as it’s next door to Jane Austen’s house and apparently her brother kept an account at the shop.
I love this cover design for the UK edition of GRACE’S TABLE. And I’m absolutely thrilled that the story is being given the opportunity to find a whole new readership by Legend Press, who will publish it in the UK on 1 August 2019.
For THE GEOGRAPHY OF FRIENDSHIP to make the longlist for the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards in the Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year category last month was exciting enough, but to hear today that it’s made the shortlist…now that takes excitement to a whole new level! Congratulations to all those authors shortlisted and longlisted across all 12 categories. What’s so good about these awards though is that they celebrate and acknowledge the great achievements of those who work within Australia’s publishing industry - the publishers, editors, publicists, booksellers, graphic designers, librarians, agents, media, and writers and readers. So hats off to everyone who contributes in their various ways to making the Australian literary landscape the vibrant, exciting and eclectic one that it is. The winners of the awards will be announced at a red carpet event at Sydney’s International Convention Centre on Thursday 2 May. Tickets for this event can be purchased here.
The UK publication of The Geography of Friendship will be celebrated at P&G Wells Booksellers in Winchester, Hampshire on Thursday 9 May from 6:30 - 8:30pm. This is a free event but please RSVP to Legend Press to assist with catering. I look forward to raising a glass with my UK friends on the night!
I am absolutely thrilled that The Geography of Friendship has been longlisted in the 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards in the Small Publishers’ Adult Book of the Year category, and that I find my book in such fine company! These awards are voted by the ABIA Academy, a group of more than 250 publishers, booksellers, agents, media and industry representatives, so I feel even more honoured to have my novel voted in by those who lead, promote, and nurture the Australian publishing industry to the extent that they do. Congratulations to all those authors longlisted across the 12 categories. To see the full list you can visit here. The shortlist will be released on 11 April, with the winners announced at a red carpet event at Sydney’s International Convention Centre on 2 May. Tickets for this event can be purchased here. I don’t know about yours, but my reading pile just grew much taller with the announcement of the ABIA longlists!
The Geography of Friendship was released in the UK and Ireland on 1st February by Legend Press. To coincide with its release it is going on a Blog Tour throughout all of February. Stop by if you can and check out the reviews!
The Geography of Friendship is sharing some very fine company in this list released by 10 daily of the 11 best books of 2018 to binge on over summer. It’s just added a few more books to my TBR pile!
It’s been a busy time since the publication of The Geography of Friendship eight weeks ago, but it’s also been a great time. I’ve travelled to Sydney and Melbourne, visited numerous bookshops while there, and I’ve had some terrific in-conversations, safe in the hands (and minds) of stellar writers Emily Maguire, Toni Jordan and Cass Moriarty. I’ve chatted with several radio stations and podcasters, from east coast to west (a number of those interviews are on the Books page of my website) and I’ve been part of the Lord Mayor’s Writers in Residence Author Talk series at Brisbane libraries. And now I’ve started to eat cake, courtesy of the book clubs I’m visiting, one of my favourite things to do in this writing life because I finally get to hear how readers connect with the story. So far so good!
The kindness and interest my book is being shown has been humbling, but also a relief. Because as any writer will tell you, putting your work out there feels a little like perching your confidence and heart on a cliff edge and hoping a gale doesn’t come along and blow them off. So thank you to all the readers, booksellers and reviewers for your kind words of support.
Here are a few pics from the past eight weeks.
