The guest writers

will give free talks on Saturday and Sunday of

Back to Booktown. 

They will also be available to sign copies of their books.

New this year is the chance to attend a master class or enjoy the conversation in a cafe atmosphere of the Writers Soirees

Sponsors

 

 

 

 

Free Writers Talks

On Fraser Street - Free Event

Details March 2012

Saturday
12.30- 1.30
2.00-3.30
4.00- 5.00

Sunday
1.00- 2.00
2.00-3.00
3.00-4.00

These writers have been supported by The Wheeler Centre; Royal Australian Institure of Science and Australian Book Review.

The 2012 Guest Writers at Back to Booktown

Free writers talks at Back to Booktown. Program details below

There is also a chance to meet the writers in smaller groups.

• Small goup master classes Tickets and information

 

Geoffrey Blainey is a leading historian and commentator.

His book, The Tyranny of Distance, observed the way in which isolation influenced the nation. It coined one of Australia¹s most widely-used phrases.

He has written about the Victorian goldfields in the books, The Rush That Never Ended, A History of Victoria and A Shorter History of Australia.

He spent part of his childhood in Ballarat and first saw Clunes at the age of 12 when he rode his bike there and back.

 

 

 

 

Anna Goldsworthy

Anna Goldsworthy is an Australian classical pianist and writer. In October 2009 her memoir Piano Lessons was released in Australia by publisher Black Inc. In November 2010 it was published in the United States by St Martin's Press (Macmillan). She is Artistic Director of the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, Board Member of the Australian Book Review, Kenneth Moore Memorial Music Scholar at Janet Clarke Hall at the University of Melbourne, and a founding member of the Seraphim Trio. She won Newcomer of the Year at the 2010 Australian Book Industry Awards and her CD Piano Lessons is out now on the ABC Classics label.

 

Peter Goldsworthy

Peter Goldsworthy grew up in various Australian country towns finishing his schooling in Darwin in the Northern Territory. After graduating in medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1974 he worked for several years in alcohol and drug rehabilitation, but since then has divided his working time between general practice and writing. He has won major literary awards across a range of genres: poetry, short story, novels, theatre, and opera libretti, including the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, the S.A. Premier′s Prize, the Anne Elder Award, the Australian Bicentennial Literary Prize for poetry in 1988. In 2003, his first novel Maestro was voted by members of the Australian Society of Authors as one of the Top 40 Australian books of all time. His novels have sold over 400,000 copies in Australia alone, and have been translated into European and Asian languages. His works have three times been short-listed for the NSW Christina Stead Fiction Prize, and twice for the Miles Franklin Award. Three Dog Night won the 2004 FAW Christina Stead Award, and was long-listed for the Dublin IMPAC prize.

 

Nicholas Jose

Nicholas Jose is a novelists and translator. His most recent novel is Original Face (2005). Other books include the novels The Red Thread (2000), The Custodians (1997), The Rose Crossing (1994), Avenue of Eternal Peace (1989), Paper Nautilus (1987; new edition, 2006) and Rowena’s Field (1984). His work has appeared in numerous journals including  HEAT, Asian Literary Review, London Review of Books, Australian’s Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement. Nicholas Jose co-translated The Finish Line by Sang Ye (1994) and The Ape Herd by Mang Ke (included in Poems for the Millennium, 1998). He co-edited Picador New Writing 4 (1997). He is General Editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. He has held the Chair of Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide from 2005-08. In July 2008 he joined the Writing and Society Research Group at the University of Western Sydney, with a Chair in Writing. He joins the English Department at Harvard University as Chair of Australian Studies 2009-10.

 

Alice Pung

Alice Pung is a practicing solicitor, whose most recent book is the memoir Her Father’s Daughter (2011). It tells the story of Alice and her father, a survivor of Cambodia’s killing fields and is set in Melbourne, China and Cambodia. Pung’s first bestselling memoir Unpolished Gem (2006) won the 2007 Newcomer of the Year Award in the Australian Book Industry Awards. Pung is also the editor of Growing up Asian in Australia (2008), the collection includes contributions from Jenny Kee, Jason Yat-Sen Li, Caroline Tran, Quan Yeomans, Shaun Tan, Annette Shun Wah, Tom Cho. Growing Up Asian in Australia and Unpolished Gems are texts on the Victorian and New South Wales, respectively, Senior Secondary English reading lists.

 

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