Author Talks 2024

Benjamin Stevenson

Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author. His first novel, Greenlight, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction, and his second novel, Either Side of Midnight, was shortlisted for the International Thriller Writers Award for Best Original Paperback.

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone, his third novel, was a huge bestseller and has so far been sold in twenty-seven territories around the world. It will soon be adapted into a major HBO TV series. It was shortlisted for the Dymocks Book of the Year 2022, ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year 2023 and BookPeople's Fiction Book of the Year 2023, as well as being named as one of The Sunday Times's best crime novels of 2022.

Benjamin Stevenson will discuss his latest title, Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, the eagerly awaited follow up to his international bestseller, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone - another deliciously witty locked room mystery.

The evening will conclude with book sales and signings.

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         Judy Nunn

Join bestselling author Judy Nunn as she discusses her latest book, Black Sheep, a sweeping historical novel about a prosperous sheep-farming family and the enigmatic young man with a dark past they let into their lives.  Judy Nunn once again brings Australian history vividly to life.Judy Nunn’s career has been long, illustrious and multifaceted. After combining her internationally successful acting career with scriptwriting for television and radio, Judy decided in the 90s to turn her hand to prose. 

Her first three novels, The Glitter Game, Centre Stage and Araluen, set respectively in the worlds of television, theatre and film, became instant bestsellers, and the rest is history, quite literally in fact. She has since developed a love of writing Australian historically-based fiction and her fame as a novelist has spread rapidly throughout Europe where she has been published in English, German, French, Dutch, Czech and Spanish.

Her subsequent bestsellers, Kal, Beneath the Southern Cross, Territory, Pacific, Heritage, Floodtide, Maralinga, Tiger Men, Elianne, Spirits of the Ghan, Sanctuary, Khaki Town and Showtime! confirmed Judy’s position as one of Australia’s leading fiction writers.

She has now sold over one million books in Australia alone. In 2015 Judy was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her "significant service to the performing arts as a scriptwriter and actor of stage and screen, and to literature as an author".

Natasha Lester

Join her as she discusses her latest compelling and lavish new novel The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard. Three generations. One chance to prove themselves. Can the women of the Bricard fashion dynasty finally rewrite their history?

French countryside, Present Day: Blythe Bricard is the daughter of famous fashion muses but that doesn't mean she wants to be one. She turned her back on that world, and her dreams, years ago. Fate, however, has a different plan, and Blythe will discover there is more to her iconic mother and grandmother than she ever knew.

New York, 1970: Designer Astrid Bricard arrives in bohemian Chelsea determined to change the fashion world forever. And she does - cast as muse to her lover, Hawk Jones. When they're both invited to compete against the French in the fashion event of the century - the Battle of Versailles - Astrid sacrifices everything to showcase her talent. But then, at this turning point in her career, she mysteriously vanishes, leaving behind only a white silk dress.

Paris, 1917: Parentless sixteen-year-old Mizza Bricard has made a vow: to be remembered on her own terms. Her promise drives her through decades and couture houses until, finally, her name is remembered, and a legend created - one that proves impossible for Astrid and Blythe to erase themselves from.

The evening will conclude with book sales and signings.

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Sophie Cunningham

Join Australian bestselling author Sophie Green as she discusses her new book. Weekends with the Sunshine Gardening Society is a warm, uplifting story of female friendship, community and new beginnings.

Noosa Heads, 1987: Newly divorced Cynthia has returned to her hometown from Los Angeles to reconnect with her 19-year-old daughter, who is pregnant and determined not to listen to her mother's advice. Cynthia's former best friend, Lorraine, has been stuck mowing lawns as part of a business she shares with her husband - his dream, not hers. When Cynthia convinces Lorraine to join the local Sunshine Gardening Society, they meet young widow Elizabeth, and rootless, heartbroken Kathy.

The four women soon discover the society is much more than an opportunity to chat about flowers. Rather, it offers them the chance to lend a helping hand to people whose lives need a bit of care and attention right along with their gardens.

Between pulling up weeds and planting natives, the women learn from each other that some roots go deep, and others shallow; that seeds can lie dormant for a long time before they spring to life, and that careful tending is the key to lives and friendships that reach their full potential.

The evening will conclude with book sales and signing.

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Belinda Alexander

How do you begin your life again when you’ve lost everything you’ve worked for and your dreams have been shattered? 
Best-selling author Belinda Alexandra discusses her new book, Emboldened, a compelling and exquisite blend of memoir and history. Belinda shows readers that, no matter what challenge they might be facing, there is always the possibility of building a bold life full of meaning again from the ashes.

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Sophie Cunningham

Join Sophie Cunningham as she discusses her latest book This Devastating Fever.  Shortlisted for the 2023 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards, this is Sophie Cunningham’s most important book to date. Complex, darkly funny and deeply moving,– a dazzlingly original novel about what it’s like to live through a time that feels like the end of days, and how we can find comfort and answers in the past.

Sophie is the author of 9 books and a member of the Order of Australia for her contributions to literature.

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