OFFICIAL GUIDE
AUGUST 25 – 27 2017
Thirroul Readers & Writers Festival thirroulreadersandwritersfestival.org
AT T H I R R O U L DISTRICT COMMUNITY CENTRE AND L I B R A RY
All profits will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation
The festival is run in partnership with Wollongong City Libraries and we gratefully acknowledge their contribution
Artwork on cover (Yellow Vespa) and at top of this page (Thirroul Sandbar) by Donald Keys / www.donaldkeys.com.au / www.facebook.com/donald.keys
PROGRAM OF EVENTS
EXCELSIOR HALL, THIRROUL COMMUNITY CENTRE FRIDAY, AUGUST 25 7.30pm: Welcome to the Festival David Malouf will speak about the Indigenous Literacy Foundation Sally Forth, a local a cappella group, will sing. Jeff Apter will launch his new book, High Voltage; the life of Angus Young, ACDC’s Last Man Standing
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 MORNING SESSION 10.15am – 11.15am: Michael Adams will introduce us to his prize-winning essay on freediving, Salt Blood. 11.30am – 1pm: Gideon Haigh (A Stroke of Genius - Victor Trumper and the Shot that Changed Cricket) will talk cricket with Jeremy Wilshire (Test of Character; Confessions of Cricket Legends).
AFTERNOON SESSION
12.15pm – 1pm: Simon Luckhurst will talk about his book, Charlie’s Wives. 2pm – 3.30pm: Panel: Writing As Activism with Simon Luckhurst, Denise Russell and Jane Lymer, chaired by Josie Castle.
THIRROUL LIBRARY FRIDAY, AUGUST 25 5pm: PJ and Pizza Party For children 8-12 years, siblings welcome. Children will move around a series of stations in the library, as directed by library staff. At each station, one of six different guests will offer book signings and a simple relevant activity.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 26 10.30am – 12.30pm: Book tasting: Thirroul librarians have selected some delectable morsels from our favourite novels for you to ‘taste’ (i.e. read a snippet).
BOOKING INFORMATION
1.45pm – 2.45pm: Caroline Baum in conversation with Catherine McKinnon about Catherine’s book, Storyland.
Online bookings for sessions in the Excelsior Hall are available through:
3pm – 3.45pm: Ashleigh Wilson, Kerrie Davies and Jeff Apter discuss their biographies on Brett Whiteley, Bertha Lawson and Angus Young with Tim Douglas. Tom Wilkie-Black will read poems by Henry Lawson.
thirroulreadersandwritersfestival.org Note: All library sessions are free but please register for the PJ and Pizza Party as numbers are limited. For more, visit www.wollongong.nsw.gov.au/library/Pages/default.aspx
EVENING SESSION
COSTS FOR PAID EVENTS ARE:
6pm – 6.30pm: Canapes with the authors.
Full weekend: Friday – Sunday, including festival opening and Cabaret Gothique): $150 per person
6.45pm: Judy Stubbs, the director of Eklektika, will give a short talk about madness and how it informs her music. 7.30pm: Cabaret Gothique – Edge of Madness, an inspiring performance combining literature with modern songs.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 27 11am – 12pm: Libby Gleeson will share some insights about what it takes to be a successful writer.
Friday night festival opening: includes a glass of wine and canapes: $25 per person Morning events: $40 per person Afternoon events: Saturday $40; Sunday $25 per person Full day: Saturday or Sunday $70 per person Student concession: Morning or afternoon events $15 per person.
MEET THE PRESENTERS Michael Adams Michael is a human geographer at the Australian Centre for Cultural Environmental Research at the University of Wollongong. He also teaches at the Nan Tien Institute. While much of his writing has been within the framework of academic geography, he is strongly influenced by his first degree in English literature. He has published in Meanjin, The Guardian, and Australian Book Review. Jeff Apter Wollongong resident Jeff Apter is the author of more than 20 books, including biographies of the Finn brothers, Johnny O’Keefe, the Bee Gees, and John Farnham. His latest book is High Voltage: The Life of Angus Young. Jeff has also co-written and/or ghostwritten memoirs by the musicians Kasey Chambers, Richard Clapton and AC/DC’s Mark Evans, the boxer-turned-soldier Paul Warren and cricketer Michael Slater. Jeff helped with the memoir Somebody That I Used to Know: Love, Loss and Jack Thompson by Bunkie King, which was the bestselling non-fiction title in Australia on its release in early 2015. Jeff was also the creative consultant for the 2015 live show, A State of Grace: The Music of Tim and Jeff Buckley, which was nominated for a Helpmann award. Caroline Baum Caroline is a respected journalist and presenter. She has worked for the BBC, ABC, Time Life Books, Vogue magazine (UK and Australia), was the founding editor of Good Reading magazine and the Editorial Director of Booktopia. She has been a judge of the Stella Prize, the Ned Kelly and Kibble Awards. She is in demand as a presenter at writers festivals across Australia and has interviewed many of the world’s top international authors. Her writing has been published in major national publications and online media. She is researching a biography for a DCA in Creative Writing at University of Wollongong and is the recipient of the Hazel Rowley Fellowship 2015. She lives on the South Coast of NSW. Her most recent book is Only – A Singular Memoir.
Josie Castle Josie is a retired University of Wollongong history academic with publications on women in nursing and factories and the history of UOW. Kerrie Davies Kerrie is a journalist and media academic at UNSW and the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, where she teaches multimedia journalism and social media. She has written for Collective magazine, Elle, Vogue Australia, and The Weekend Australian Magazine, among others. She is completing her Doctor of Arts (Literary Journalism) at the University of Sydney and is co-author of the Colonial Australian Literary Journalism Database. The Wife’s Heart: The Untold Story of Bertha and Henry Lawson, is her most recent book. Tim Douglas Thirroul resident Tim is editor of Review. He was The Australian’s deputy arts editor from 2011 to 2013, and has worked as a reporter, features writer and editor on newspapers including The Scotsman, The Edinburgh Evening News, Scots national arts magazine The List, and the Illawarra Mercury. Libby Gleeson Libby Gleeson AM has published more than 30 popular, highly acclaimed books for children and teenagers, been shortlisted for 13 CBCA Awards, and won three. Libby has been a teacher and lecturer and contributes regularly to national conferences. She won the 2011 Dromkeen Medal, awarded for contributions to children’s literature. Gideon Haigh Gideon is a journalist from Melbourne, who has contributed to more than 100 newspapers and magazines, and written 32 books, most recently Stroke of Genius: Victor Trumper and the Shot That Changed Cricket (2016).
Simon Luckhurst Simon is a prolific and award-winning writer, researcher, journalist, filmmaker and playwright. He has had several plays produced on ABC Radio National and is the author of Eddie’s Country, described by John Pilger as ‘one of the most important Australian books of his lifetime.’ Jane Lymer Jane is a feminist philosopher working as a Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong and an Academic Program Co-ordinator at the UOW College. She will be on the Sunday panel, Writing as Activism, discussing her book The Phenomenology of Gravidity: Reframing Pregnancy and the Maternal through Merleau-Ponty, Levinas and Derrida, which aims to support women’s reproductive freedom while simultaneously supporting the importance of the mother/foetus relationship. David Malouf David is an award-winning poet and novelist whose books include Johnno, Remembering Babylon, and Every Move You Make. For David, “Reading brings the world to us. But reading can also open up a new world of people and events we have never imagined but which we can enter and become part of. This kind of reading takes us out of ourselves ...into other skins. Reading is a form of magic.” Catherine McKinnon Catherine is an award-winning writer of novels, plays and short stories. Her play Tilt was selected for the 2010 National Playwriting Festival, and another of her plays, As I Lay Dreaming, won the Mitch Matthews Award in 2010. In 2015 she was co-winner of the Griffith Review Novella 111 Award. Her short stories, reviews and articles have appeared in Transnational Literature, Text Journal, RealTime and Narrative. Catherine teaches performance and creative writing at the University of Wollongong. Her latest novel, Storyland, is published by HarperCollins Australia.
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COAST NEWS
designed this guide for the 2017 Thirroul Readers and Writers Festival.
Denise Russell Denise was the director of the first two Thirroul Readers and Writers Festivals (and, thankfully for us, is still on the committee!) She is the author of two non-fiction books, Women, Madness and Medicine and Who Rules the Waves: Piracy, Overfishing and Mining the Oceans, as well as many articles in philosophy journals and one short story about her cat, Tom. She also runs a website on alternatives to animal experimentation. Judy Stubbs Dr Stubbs is a composer, classically trained singer and teacher, and an expert in research, consultation, planning and development of innovative affordable housing solutions in diverse housing markets. The first performance of her first full orchestral piece, Fenguiang (The Phoenix Suite), was given by the Steel City Strings in June. She is the musical director of the Eklektika Choir that will perform Cabaret Gothique on Saturday. Jeremy Wilshire Jeremy completed a cadetship with News Limited and was a sports journalist and features writer for newspapers, agencies and magazines, before forging a career in sports marketing, public relations and events. His first book, One of Those Days, about a single day in the career of Australian sporting heroes, was published in 2002. His latest book is: Test of Character; Confessions of Cricketing Legends. Ashleigh Wilson Ashleigh has been a journalist for almost two decades. He began his career at The Australian in Sydney before spending several years in Brisbane. He moved north in 2004 to become the paper’s Darwin correspondent, during which time he won a Walkley Award for reports on unethical behaviour in the Aboriginal art industry. He has been the paper’s arts editor since 2011. His first book is Brett Whiteley: Art, Life and the Other Thing.
CHILDREN’S BOOK AUTHORS Dianne Ellis Over the past 10 years, Dianne has written many children’s picture books and chapter books, with two published: Rusty Rumble and his Smelly Socks and Rusty Rumble’s Day at the Beach. Sue Whiting Sue is an author and editor who lives and works in a small coastal village in the Northern Illawarra. Sue has written numerous books in a variety of genres: fiction and non-fiction, picture books through to YA, including the best-selling The Firefighters, and the award-winning A Swim in the Sea. Her latest book, Platypus, illustrated by Mark Jackson, was a 2016 CBCA Notable Book. Her new middle grade novel, Missing, will be released next year. Sue loves sharing her passion for stories and storytelling, reading and writing with people of all ages. Gabrielle Jones Gabrielle ‘Journey MC’ Jones will bring drum beats and rhymes to a storytime circle in which everyone will get to add their own words and create a rap story together! Journey MC has been using poetry and drumming to talk about social issues for more than 20 years. She is a social worker, spoken word performer and percussionist who believes we all have rhythm inside us and important stories to share. Pat Grant Pat is a cartoonist, writer and a designer based in Austinmer. His graphic novels have been published all over the world and translated into French and Italian. He teaches in the design and animation school at UTS. Sean Williams Sean, the author of new release My Nanna Nelly Will Tour the Illawarra Tomorra, is a keen outdoor enthusiast with a love for
his local surroundings. His work is a celebration of the setting’s scenery, history and natural beauty, and his individual style of rhyme gives the adventures of lovable character Nanna Nelly and her narrating granddaughter a secretive and wonderfully immersive sense of exploration. “Illawarra Tomorra is one story in a four-part series. Nanna Nelly has a lot more adventuring to do in Australia and all around the world,” Sean says. Jo Oliver Jo’s first book Pilgrim, released in 2008, was commended as a Notable Book by The Children’s Book Council of Australia and Jo was shortlisted for their Crichton Award for new illustrators in 2009. Pilgrim is about a boy’s first journey out to sea on their boat with his dad and together they share the power and beauty of the natural environment. Jo’s latest book, The Light, (released in March 2013), is about a family living at Montague Island Lighthouse in the early 1900s and how music draws them together and the lighthouse becomes a safe haven for others. Lisa Thompson Dragon & Bat is a set of illustrated chapter books that follows the humorous adventures of Dragon and Bat. The books have full colour illustrations, chapters and glossary. Each book has guided reading discussion points and narrative notes to help enrich and extend the understanding and reading of each book, making them perfect reading. Sean Farrar Sean’s journey to first time published children’s book author has taken a mere 45 years, collecting plenty of life experience through international travel, parenting, varied work experience and study along the way. Sean has written and produced real stories and profiles for programs, such as ABC Radio National, The Sports Factor and Racing and Sports Australia. He also writes about horse racing on a weekly basis.
The Thirroul Readers & Writers Festival gratefully acknowledges the generous financial support of Caroline Baum, 2515 Coast News and the Thirroul Seaside and Arts Festival (a project of the Austinmer/Thirroul Lions Club).