Author events


August

NSW

Joanne Fedler, When Hungry, Eat
26/08/2010
9.00pm
Growing Up Jewish: The Oy and Vey of Us
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10 - $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

Sharon Snir, Looking for Lionel
29/08/2010
9.30am
As They Grow Up
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10 - $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

Anna Fienberg, The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi
29/08/2010
12.00pm
Writing For Kids
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10 - $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

Thomas Keneally, Australians
29/08/2010
1.15pm
Writing our Yesterdays
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10- $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

Thomas Keneally, Australians
29/08/2010
3.45pm
Making the World Your Stage
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10 - $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

Joanne Fedler, When Hungry, Eat
29/08/2010
3.45pm
Not-So-Secret Women's Business
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10 - $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

Samantha Brett, The Chase
29/08/2010
3.45pm
Not-So-Secret Women's Business
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10- $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

Anna Fienberg, The Great Big Enormous Book of Tashi
29/08/2010
5.00pm
Transitions in Writing
Sydney Jewish Writers' Festival
Tickets: $10 - $20
Contact: www.sjwf.org.au

VIC

Michael Meehan, Below the Styx
27/08/2010
11.30am
Creating History
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Lisa Lang, Utopian Man
27/08/2010
11.30am
Creating History
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Peter Rose, Case of Knives
27/08/2010
11.30am
Creating History
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Alex Miller, Lovesong
27/08/2010
2.30pm
Writing Country
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Ross Gittins, The Happy Economist
27/08/2010
4.00pm
What Really Make$ The World Go Round?
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
27/08/2010
4.00pm
In Conversation
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Alex Miller, Lovesong
27/08/2010
7.00pm
Eight Ways To Be Human
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Leigh Hobbs, Mr Badger
28/08/2010
10.00am
ArtPlay
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Ross Gittins, The Happy Economist
28/08/2010
10.00am
Press Freedom
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

DBC Pierre, Lights Out In Wonderland
28/08/2010
10.00am
In Conversation
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Lisa Lang, Utopian Man
28/08/2010
10.00am
Morning Fix
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Alex Miller, Lovesong
28/08/2010
1.00pm
Why I Read
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Nikki Greenberg, Hamlet
28/08/2010
5.30pm
Author? Author?
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Alex Miller, Lovesong
28/08/2010
5.30pm
The Age Book of The Year Award Winners Read
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
28/08/2010
5.30pm
Meant To Be Spoken: A Celebration of Playwriting
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Ursula Dubosarky, Red Shoe
29/08/2010
10.00am
WordPlay & ArtPlay
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Alex Miller, Lovesong
29/08/2010
10.00am
In Conversation
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
29/08/2010
2.00pm
Seminar: Literary Fiction
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au

Tiffany Murray, Diamond Star Halo
29/08/2010
2.00pm
Seminar: Literary Fiction
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Peter Corris, Torn Apart
29/08/2010
2.30pm
Creatively Arcadian
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

DBC Pierre, Lights Out In Wonderland
29/08/2010
4.00pm
Modern Dystopia
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Jonathan Walker, Five Wounds
29/08/2010
4.00pm
Modern Dystopia
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

David Astle, Puzzled
29/08/2010
4.00pm
A Wordsmith's Dream
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Ursula Dubosarky, Red Shoe
29/08/2010
4.00pm
A Wordsmith's Dream
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
29/08/2010
5.30pm
And I See A Darkness
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

DBC Pierre, Lights Out In Wonderland
29/08/2010
7.00pm
Dog's Tales
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Tiffany Murray, Diamond Star Halo
29/08/2010
7.00pm
Dog's Tales
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

John Danalis, Riding The Black Cockatoo
30/08/2010
10.00am
Riding The Black Cockatoo
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Ursula Dubosarky, Red Shoe
30/08/2010
12.30pm
Sounds Funny To Me
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Ursula Dubosarky, Red Shoe
31/08/2010
10.00am
The Return of The Word Spy
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Steven Herrick, Cold Skin
31/08/2010
11.15am
Poetry Please
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Steven Herrick, Cold Skin
31/08/2010
12.30pm
The Beautiful Game
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Lili Wilkinson, Pink
31/08/2010
13.20pm
Growing Pains
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Ursula Dubosarky, Red Shoe
31/08/2010
12.30pm
The Word Spy Returns
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

QLD

Renata Salecl, Choice
20/08/2010
All day
Symposium/ lecture
Griffith University
Contact: 07 3735 3747

Renata Salecl, Choice
20/08/2010
5.00pm
Launch
Griffith Unversity
Contact: 07 3735 3747

WA

Robyn Mundy, The Nature of Ice
25/08/2010
7.00pm
Talk and signing
UWA Extension
35 Stirling Highway
Crawley 6009
Contact: Susan Marie 08 6488 2634

Robyn Mundy, The Nature of Ice
26/08/2010
2.00pm
Talk and signing
Mandurah Library
331 Pinjarra Road
Mandurah 6210
Contact: Debra Dearman 08 9550 3651

September

NSW

Ray Moynihan, Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals
01/09/2010
6.30pm
Talk and Signing
Gleebooks
49 Glebe Point Road
Glebe 2037
Contact: Christopher Cyrill 02 9660 2333

Ray Moynihan, Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals
02/09/2010
6.30pm
Launch
Mary Ryan's Books
21-25 Fletcher Street
Byron Bay 2481

Jonathan Watts, When A Billion Chinese Jump
06/09/2010
6.30pm
Talk and Signing
Gleebooks
49 Glebe Point Road
Glebe 2037
Contact: Christopher Cyrill 02 9660 2333

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Wavewatcher's Companion
07/09/2010
6.30pm
Talk and Signing
Gleebooks
49 Glebe Point Road
Glebe 2037
Contact: Christopher Cyrill 02 9660 2333

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
07/09/2010
Killara Golf Club
556 Pacific Highway
Killara 2071
Contact: Scott Whitmont 02 9416 4201

Ashley Hay, The Body in The Clouds
07/09/2010
6.30pm
Better Read Than Dead
265 King Street
Newtown 2042
Contact: Derek Dryden 02 9557 8700

Kristel Thornell, Night Street
08/09/2010
6.30pm
S.H. Ervin Gallery
Observatory Hill Sydney
Contact: Louise Tegart 02 9258 0135

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
10/09/2010
12.00pm
Signing
Dymocks
George Street
Sydney 2000
Contact: Shaun Mooney 02 9235 0155

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
15/09/2010
Talk and Signing
Gleebooks
49 Glebe Point Road
Glebe 2037
Contact: Christopher Cyrill 02 9660 2333

Charlie Pickering, Impractical Jokes
19/09/2010
12.00pm
Signing
Shearer's on Norton
99 Norton Street
Leichhardt 2040
Contact: Tony Horgan 02 9572 7766

VIC

Steven Herrick, Cold Skin
01/09/2010
10.00am
Slice: Juicy Moments from My Impossible Life
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Glenda Millard, Small Free Kiss in the Dark
01/09/2010
11.15am
When The Going Gets Tough
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Kirsty Murray, India Dark 
01/09/2010
11.15pm
Based on a True Story
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Sally Rippin, Go Baby Go
01/09/2010
12.30pm
Chicks with Sticks
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Bernard Caleo, The Tango Collection
01/09/2010
12.30pm
Seeing the World Differently
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Marianne Delacourt, Sharp Shooter
02-06/09/2010
Aussiecon 4 Science Fiction Expo
Contact: www.aussiecon4.org.au 

Deborah Kalin, Shadow Bound
02-06/09/2010
Aussiecon 4 Science Fiction Expo
Contact: www.aussiecon4.org.au 

Neil Gaiman, Odd and the Frost Giants
02/09/2010
10.00am
Neil Gaiman (via Satellite) with Shaun Tan & Andrea Innocent
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mfw.com.au 

Shaun Tan, Eric
02/09/2010
10.00am
Neil Gaiman (via Satellite) with Shaun Tan & Andrea Innocent
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Nikki Greenberg, Hamlet
02/09/2010
11.15am
The Alternative Hamlet
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Karen Healey, Guardian of the Dead
02/09/2010
12.30pm
The Lure of Ancient Magic
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Jonathan Watts, When a Billion Chinese Jump
02/09/2010
6.00pm
Writers at Deakin
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Jonathan Watts, When a Billion Chinese Jump
03/09/2010
1.00pm
When a Billion Chinese Jump
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Barbara Trapido, Sex & Stravinsky
03/09/2010
4.00pm
Fiction Giants
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Will Self, Walking to Hollywood
03/09/2010
4.00pm
Movie Screening: Obsessed with Walking
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Glenda Millard, Small Free Kiss in the Dark
04/09/2010
10.00am
WordPay & ArtPlay
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Sally Rippin, Go Baby Go
04/09/2010
10.00am
WordPay & ArtPlay
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Charlie Pickering, Impractical Jokes
04/09/2010
10.00am
The Edge of Comedy
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Jonathan Watts, When a Billion Chinese Jump
04/09/2010
11.30am
China from the West
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Barbara Trapido, Sex & Stravinsky
04/09/2010
11.30am
In Conversation
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Rebecca James, Beautifal Malice
04/09/2010
1.00pm
Great Expectations
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Kristel Thornell, Night Street
04/09/2010
1.00pm
Great Expectations
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Wavewatcher's Companion
04/09/2010
2.30pm
Wavewatching for Beginners
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Barbara Trapido, Sex & Stravinsky
04/09/2010
4.00pm
The Communal Voice
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Wavewatcher's Companion
04/09/2010
4.30pm
How to Start a Global Society in your back room
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Nicolas Dickner, Nikolski
04/09/2010
5.30pm
Personality of Place
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Nicholas Jose, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature
04/09/2010
5.30pm
A Year for Australian Writing
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Nicholas Jose, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature
04/09/2010
7.00pm
Asia Literary Review
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Charlie Pickering, Impractical Jokes
04/09/2010
8.00pm
Liner Notes: Fleetwood Macs Rumours
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Terry Denton, Wombat & Fox Thrillseekers
05/09/2010
10.00am
ArtPlay
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Gavin Pretor-Pinney, The Wavewatcher's Companion
05/09/2010
10.00am
The Morning Fix
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Kristel Thornell, Night Street
05/09/2010
10.00am
The Morning Fix
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Barbara Trapido, Sex & Stravinsky
05/09/2010
10.00am
Masterclass: Fiction with Barbara Trapido
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Rebecca James, Beautiful Malice
05/09/2010
11.30am
Unravelling Secrets
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Charlie Pickering, Impractical Jokes
05/09/2010
2.30pm
Launch
Readings Carlton
309 Lygon Street
Carlton 3053
Contact: Christine Gordon 03 9341 7726

Jonathan Watts, When a Billion Chinese Jump
05/09/2010
2.30pm
On the Ground: Treating Conflict and Trauma with Integrity
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Nicolas Dickner, Nikolski
05/09/2010
4.00pm
Universal Stories
Melbourne Writers' Festival
Contact: www.mwf.com.au 

Ray Moynihan, Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals
06/09/2010
Talk and Signing
Readings Carlton
309 Lygon Street 
Carlton 3053
Contact: Christine Gordon 03 9341 7726

Ingrid Laguna, Serenade for a Small Family
11/09/2010
6.00pm
Launch
Wesley Anne Hotel
Northcote Hill
Contact: Christine Gordon 03 9341 7726

Kim Kane, The Vegetable Ark
12/09/2010
10.00am
Author Event
Readings Carlton
309 Lygon Street 
Carlton 3053
Contact: Christine Gordon 03 9341 7726

Ingrid Laguna, Serenade for a Small Family
13/09/2010
6.15pm
Debut Mondays
The Wheeler Centre
Contact: Clare Smiddy 03 9094 7805

Kristel Thornell, Night Street
13/09/2010
6.15pm
Debut Mondays
The Wheeler Centre
Contact: Clare Smiddy 03 9094 7805

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
14/09/2010
6.30pm
Talk and Signing
The Wheeler Centre
Contact: Clare Smiddy 03 9094 7805

Jared Henry, Blood Sunset
16/09/2010
7.00pm
In Conversation
Eltham Bookshop
953 Main Road
Eltham 3095
Contact: Meera Govil 03 9439 8700

QLD

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
01/09/2010
10.00am
Getting Started
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Tiffany Murray, Diamond Star Halo
02-05/09/2010
Workshop: 20 Pages in 20 Minutes
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
02/09/2010
9.45am
Women in Extremis: Sex as the Weapon
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Tiffany Murray, Diamond Star Halo 
02/09/2010
10.00am
Workshop: Writng from Life
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Jaspreet Singh, Chef
02/09/2010
11.00am
Indian: Cynicism, Wit, New Money and Ancient Divides
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anita Heiss, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature
02/09/2010
2.30pm
Hush Your Mouth
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Tiffany Murray, Diamond Star Halo
02/09/2010
3.30pm
The Politics of Writing the Philipines
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anita Heiss, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature
02/09/2010
9.00pm
Readings in the Bar
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
03/09/2010
7.00pm
Visiting Writer
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Louise Doughty, Whatever You Love
04/09/2010
11.00am
Literacy Policy: Outstripped by Market Forces
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Alex Miller, Lovesong
04/09/2010
11.30am
Conversations with The Unconscious
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
04/09/2010
11.30am
Living Books: Stories of Triumph and Hope from the Refugee Community
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Leigh Hobbs, Mr Badger
04/09/2010
1.00pm
True Grit: Writing For Children
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Peter Goldsworthy, True Blue?
04/09/2010
1.00pm
Short and Curlies
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Matt Howard, Taking Off
04/09/2010
2.30pm
About Brisbane
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anita Heiss, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature
04/09/2010
2.30pm
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Illustrated
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Michel Streich, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
04/09/2010
2.30pm
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Illustrated
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
04/09/2010
5.30pm
Connection with Home: The Genesis of Hope
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
04/09/2010
8.00pm
Heart, Hilarity and Something Else beginning with H
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
05/09/2010
8.30am
BBQ Breakfast with Dad
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Peter Goldsworthy, True Blue?
05/09/2010
10.00am
Tell Me a Story: How Books Inspire People
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Tiffany Murray, Diamond Star Halo
05/09/2010
11.30am
Write with Bite
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Alex Miller, Lovesong
05/09/2010
11.30am
Writing to Win: Literacy Prizes and Celebrity Authors
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Susan Johnson, Broken Book
05/09/2010
12.00pm
How To Get Published
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Susan Johnson, Broken Book
05/09/2010
2.30pm
It's Time: Slow Time
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Alex Miller, Lovesong
05/09/2010
2.30pm
It's Time: Slow Time
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Jaspreet Singh, Chef
05/09/2010
2.30pm
This Thing With Food
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Peter Goldsworthy, True Blue?
05/09/2010
4.00pm
Down and Dirty with Australian Writing
Brisbane Writers' Festival
Contact: www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au 

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
06/09/2010
Talk and Signing
Mary Who Bookstore
414 Flinders Street Mall
Townsville 4810

Ray Moynihan, Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals
08/09/2010
Talk and signing
Avid Reader
193 Boundary Street
West End 4101
Contact: Krissy Kneen 07 3846 3422

WA

Justin Langer, Australia You Little* Beauty 
04/09/2010
11.00am
Signing
Dymocks Garden City
Shop 33-34 Garden City Shopping Centre
Riseley Street
Booragoon 6154
Contact: Ann Poublon

Justin Langer, Australia You Little* Beauty
04/09/2010
2.00pm
Signing
Dymocks Claremont
24 Bay View Terrace
Claremont 6010
Contact: Michelle 08 9385 2326

Justin Langer, Australia You Little* Beauty
08/09/2010
6.30pm
Talk and Signing
Aquinas College
Contact: Ann Poublon 08 9364 7687

Justin Langer, Australia You Little* Beauty
09/09/2010
12.30pm
Signing
Dymocks Hay Street
705-707 Hay Street
Hay Street Mall 6000

Marele Day, The Sea Bed
10-12/09/2010
Big Sky Festival
Geraldton 6530
Contact: Susan Smith 08 9956 6659

Robyn Mundy, The Nature of Ice
10-12/09/2010
Big Sky Festival
Geraldton 6530
Contact: Susan Smith 08 9956 6659

Justin Langer, Australia You Little* Beauty
14/09/2010
7.00pm
Talk and signing
Hale College
Hale Road
Wembley Downs 6019
Contact: Michelle 08 9385 2326

Justin Langer, Australia You Little* Beauty
16/09/2010
7.00pm
Talk and signing
Prendiville Catholic College
11 Prendiville Avenue
Ocean Reef 6027
Contact: Joanna joondalup@dymocks.com.au

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
21/09/2010
12.30pm
Signing
Dymocks Hay Street
705-707 Hay Street
Hay Street Mall 6000
Contact: Barbara 08 9321 3969

Anh Do, The Happiest Refugee
21/09/2010
6.00pm
Talk and signing
Octagon Theatre
University of Western Australia

 


For more information on events, email publicity@allenandunwin.com or phone (02) 8425 0134.

The books

Spotlight:

Lights Out in Wonderland

by DBC Pierre

Gabriel Brockwell, aesthete, poet, philosopher, disaffected twenty-something decadent, is thinking terminal. His philosophical enquiries, the abstractions he indulges, and how these relate to a life lived, all point in the same direction. His destination is Wonderland. The nature and style of the journey is all that's to be decided.
Taking in London, Tokyo and Berlin, Lights Out In Wonderland documents Gabriel Brockwell's remarkable global odyssey. Committed to the pursuit of pleasure and in search of the Bacchanal to obliterate all previous parties, Gabriel's adventure takes in a spell in rehab, a near-death experience with fugu ovaries, a sexual encounter with an octopus, and finally an orgiastic feast in the bowels of Berlin's majestic Tempelhof Airport. Along the way we see a character disintegrate and re-shape before our eyes.
Lights Out In Wonderland carries you through its many corridors of delight and horror on the back of Gabriel's voice, which is at once skeptical, idealistic, broken and optimistic. An allegorical banquet and a sly commentary on these End Times and the march towards insensate banality, DBC Pierre's third novel completes a loose trilogy of fictions, each of which stands alone as a joyful expression of the human spirit.

Spotlight:

The Happiest Refugee

by Anh Do

Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing - not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days - could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about.
Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was thirteen - they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university.
Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugee tells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination - a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it.

Spotlight:

Australia you little* beauty

by Justin Langer and Robert Wainwright

Justin Langer scored more centuries than Ian Chappell, Doug Walters or Bill Lawry and had a better average than Mark Taylor, David Boon or Mark Waugh yet lived almost every moment of his glittering Test career as if it was his last.
In this intimate and at times poignant account, Langer looks back on the mateship, change room antics and onfield triumphs which made up his 105-Test innings as a member of one of the game's greatest teams. Peer behind the scenes to relive the night they soaked the English change rooms at Lords in beer, the midnight frolic around the SCG in their underpants and baggy green caps and the Caribbean dinner which cost the ACB $16,000.
What was it like to face the barrage of the West Indies and Pakistan attacks at their peak, who was the best bowler he ever faced and why did an Adelaide pool table help Shane Warne hone his flipper. It's a journey from the world's great cricket grounds to the poorest areas of the sub-continent, Africa and the West Indies, and the luxuries of a feted sporting champion to the day Matthew Hayden arrived in India with a gas stove in his cricket bag.
Learn how meditation and martial arts helped him battle his chronic fear of failure and read first-hand snippets from childhood sweetheart Sue Langer who shines a unique light on life as a cricketer's wife.

Spotlight:

Australians

by Thomas Keneally

In this widely acclaimed volume, bestselling author Thomas Keneally brings to life the vast range of characters who have formed our national story.
Convicts and Aborigines, settlers and soldiers, patriots and reformers, bushrangers and gold seekers, it is from their lives and their stories that he has woven a vibrant history to do full justice to the rich and colourful nature of our unique national character.
The story begins by looking at European occupation through Aboriginal eyes as we move between the city slums and rural hovels of eighteenth century Britain and the shores of Port Jackson. We spend time on the low-roofed convict decks of transports, and we see the bewilderment of the Eora people as they see the first ships of turaga, or 'ghost people'. We follow the daily round of Bennelong and his wife Barangaroo, and the tribulations of warrior Windradyne. Convicts like Solomon Wiseman and John Wilson find their feet and even fortune, while Henry Parkes' arrival as a penniless immigrant gives few clues to the national statesman he was to become. We follow the treks of the Chinese diggers - the Celestials - to the goldfields, and revolutionaries like Italian Raffaello Carboni and black American John Joseph bring us the drama of the Eureka uprising.
Were the first European mothers whores or matriarchs? How did this often cruel and brutal penal experiment lead to a coherent civil society? Tom Keneally brings to life the high and the low, the convict and the free of early Australian society.
This is truly a new history of Australia, by an author of outstanding literary skill and experience, and whose own humanity permeates every page.

Spotlight:

Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals

by Ray Moynihan and Barbara Mintzes

'A brilliant dissection of the tragedy of greed preying on fear...this book offers the possibility of a different and less cruel future. Read, think and act!' - Dr Iona Heath, President, Royal College of General Practitioners, London
'An engaging expose of drug company campaigns...' - Amy Allina, National Women's Health Network, Washington DC
'This book tells the story of a turning point, something we may well look back on as a historical event in our lives...Very readable. Chilling.' - Dr Juliet Richters, University of New South Wales
Hard-hitting and provocative, this powerful expoé of the birth of a new 'disease' - and the multi-million dollar machine unleashed to market i - takes us inside the corridors of medical power from Paris to Melbourne to Manhattan to witness the creation of 'female sexual dysfunction' as a twenty-first century epidemic.
The characters in this corporate thriller are the global drug giants, the doctors and psychologists working with them, and the critics trying to untangle medical science from marketing who argue the new disorders of desire are a misleading and dangerous distraction from the real problems in sexual relationships.
With claims that nearly one in two women suffer from 'female sexual dysfunction', some of the most profitable corporations on the planet are poised to exploit some of wome' s deepest fears with hopes for new billion dollar markets.
Set against the great cultural contradictions of our tim - increasing sexual liberation coupled with seemingly increasing sexual anxiet - Sex, Lies and Pharmaceuticals explores with compelling clarity what is really happening as the world prepares for the 'pink' Viagra.

Spotlight:

Looking for Lionel

by Sharon Snir

'Looking for Lionel is a personal story. It is a story of how dementia crept into my family unannounced and left us struggling to hold on to a life that appeared to be slipping away from us like a balloon slipping out of a child's hand. It is a story of fear and courage, shame and pride, sorrow and joy. It is a story of paradox, where the least capable person in our family was, for a time, calling all the shots. It is a story of how our lives changed in ways we never could have imagined.'
Looking for Lionel is a warm, insightful memoir about how dementia entered Sharon Snir's family and left them struggling with fear and sorrow. As Sharon shares her inspirational story, she invites you into her world of laughter and tears. Written for family and friends of those with the disease, it helps readers regain their courage and find the joys of relating in the here and now.

Spotlight:

When Hungry, Eat

by Joanne Fedler

By the time Joanne Fedler's fortieth birthday loomed, she'd had it with several trouble-makers who'd been wreaking havoc in the kingdom of her heart for too long. It was time to deport them. In what she initially took to be an unrelated impulse, she figured she could also start to care again about how she looked before the fatty deposits on her rear-end fossilized.
And that's where the idea behind When Hungry, Eat began. Or so she thought.
She started a new eating plan ('a ridiculous euphemism for self-imposed starvation') which took her on a route to a much Greater Hunger - as Lauren van der Post calls it - which had nothing to do with food. What began as a mission to get back into a bikini became a pilgrimage back to faith, which had not been on either her food list or her itinerary.
When Hungry, Eat is a celebration of unexpected spiritual wisdom, small portions and the gifts of hunger.

Spotlight:

Impractical Jokes

by Charlie Pickering

'A diabolical ping-pong game of prank and counter-prank across the generations. Hilarious and warm-hearted, Impractical Jokes is both a comic evocation of the Australian larrikin spirit and an ode to a loving father. Don't just read the jacket blurb - buy it!' - Shaun Micallef
In 1986, Charlie Pickering's dad, Ron, was pushed into a pool by his best friend, Richard. What followed was an all-out water pistol ambush in a five-star restaurant and then ten years of tit-for-tat payback and near fatal hijinx that eventually involved the State Emergency Service. When maturity is the first casualty of war, things tend to escalate.
Impractical Jokes is the true story of two seemingly responsible, middle-aged men who opted out of having a mid-life crisis and instead gave themselves permission to be silly. It is also the tale of how Charlie finally learnt something from his dad - that being grown-up shouldn't mean losing your sense of humour - a lesson he lives to the full as one of Australia's leading comedians.

Spotlight:

Hamlet

by Nicki Greenberg

The play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king!
Denmark is in turmoil. The palace is seething with treachery, suspicion and intrigue. On a mission to avenge his father's murder, Prince Hamlet tries to claw free of the moral decay all around him. But in the ever-deepening nest of plots, of plays within plays, nothing is what it seems. Doubt and betrayal torment the Prince until he is propelled into a spiral of unstoppable violence.
In this sumptuous staging of Shakespeare's enigmatic play on the page, Nicki Greenberg has created an extraordinary visual feast that sweeps up all in its path as the drama intensifies both on stage and off.
An astounding work - unique, gripping and, as ever, tragic.

Spotlight:

The Chase

by Samantha Brett

From one of Australia's most engaging social commentators and dating experts comes this must-have manual for any woman who wants to meet - and keep - a man.
Samantha Brett has traded dating advice and tactics with everyone from model Heidi Klum to Eva Mendes and pickup artists Steve Santagati (author of The Manual) and Neil Strauss (author of The Game). She's also received letters from over one million men at her #1 dating, sex and relationships column. With this book, she finally shares all the tips, tactics and secrets she' s learnt along the way, all of which have been tried and tested by her friends, loyal readers and a select group of fans.
Broken down into 101 key lessons, this book shows you how to re-define yourself and attract better men with the NO CASUAL SEX CHALLENGE, and how to get the man of your dreams to pursue you with the MAN CHASE-ME PLAN. And if getting over your ex is proving hard, there's also Samantha's 30-DAY EX DETOX DIET.
This fun, easy-to-read 'user's guide to the modern man' is the ultimate how-to manual on dating, sex, relationships and the male mind - and there's no sugar-coating. So buckle up and enjoy the ride because if you follow the advice in this book' you'll have your ultimate man more quickly than you can say 'I do'!

Spotlight:

When a Billion Chinese Jump

by Jonathan Watts

When a Billion Chinese Jump tells the story of China's - and the world's - biggest crisis. With foul air, filthy water, rising temperatures and encroaching deserts, China is already suffering an environmental disaster. Now it faces a stark choice: either accept catastrophe, or make radical changes.
Traveling the vast country to witness this environmental challenge, Jonathan Watts moves from mountain paradises to industrial wastelands, examining the responses of those at the top of society to the problems and hopes of those below. At heart his book is not a call for panic, but a demonstration that - even with the crisis so severe, and the political scope so limited - the actions of individuals can make a difference.
Consistently attentive to human detail, Watts vividly portrays individual lives in a country all too often viewed from outside as a faceless state. No reader of his book - no consumer in the world - can be unaffected by what he presents.

Spotlight:

Serenade for a Small Family

by Ingrid Laguna

Ingrid Laguna never did things the easy way - she spent much of her young adulthood rebelling against conformism, playing in a mostly girl band and travelling around Australia, before marrying Ben and going to live in Alice Springs. Pregnancy didn't come easily either but, through IVF, she finally fell pregnant. And when she went into premature labour at 23 weeks and her twin sons were born-each weighing about the same as a pat of butter and small enough to fit into the palm of her hand - she had to call on all her reserves of strength and stubbornness to see the journey through and be the mother that her sons needed.
This is an earthy, honest and heartbreaking memoir about what it means to love; and about the terrible powerlessness and torment involved when there is fear of losing a child. Yet despite the pain and anguish, Ingrid's memoir is at its heart about how we can experience unimaginable difficulty - and still somehow find the spirit to come through blazing with love and optimism and even a kind of joy.

Spotlight:

Night Street

by Kristel Thornell

Night Street is the passionate story of a young painter, Clarice Beckett, who defies society's strict conventions and indifferent art critics alike and leads an intense private and professional life. With her extraordinary talent for making simple city and seascapes haunting and mysteriously revelatory, Clarice paints prolifically and lives largely, overcoming the seemingly confined existence as the spinster daughter in the parental home.
Night Street began with Thornell's first encounter with the paintings of Melbourne artist Clarice Beckett (1887-1935) at the Art Gallery of South Australia. The subtle power of Clarice's highly atmospheric, enigmatic landscapes enabled her to imagine Clarice's inner life and shape an extraordinary novel.