Monday, August 31, 2009

Brisbane Writers Festival

Hi friends

The Brisbane Writers Festival is set to launch on Wednesday 9 September. This year, the Festival has a new director, Jane O'Hara, who is featured on the cover of Brisbane News this week.

At the launch of the Festival program on 31 July, Jane said, "In almost 150 events over five word-drenched days, from September 9-13 a perfect storm of writers from around the globe will converge on Brisbane each ready and armed to discuss that lovely little thing: the word."

Festival highlights this year include:

  • Opening Night address by Noel Pearson, speaking to his Quarterly Essay On Education, and on an educatoin for the future that leaves no one behind.
  • Closing Night address will be by Thomas Keneally, a fantastic storyteller, whose new book Australians: Origins to Eureka is the first in a four-volume history of Australia (whoa!)
  • Tracy Chevalier, Girl with the Pearl Earring, is launching her new book Remarkable Creatures.
  • Clive Small, Australia's most famous policeman, launching his book Smack Express - How Organised Crime got Hooked on Drugs
  • Bettina Arndt - and a mature discussion about intimate relationships and her book, The Sex Diaries
  • Krissy Keen - Affection
  • Gretel Killeen - The Night my Bum Dropped
  • Julia Morris - Don't You Know Who I Used to Be?
  • The Chaser Boys - Dominic Knight and Chris Taylor
  • Christian Lander - who wrote the now famous blog stuffwhitepeoplelike.com
  • Jeb Brugmann - Welcome to the Urban Revolution - speaking about revolutions to make cities sustainable
  • John R Talbott - The 86 Biggest Lies on Wall Street
  • Tania James and Padma Viswanathan on their Indian heritage
  • James A Levine - The Blue Notebook
  • A photography exhibition on Afghani women, post-Taliban rule, by Lana Slezic
  • Joris Luyendijk - Fit to Print
  • Wayson Choy's moving memoir - Not Yet: a memoir of living and almost dying (about reflections of what a family is to a gay man)
  • Brissie authors Amy Barker (Omega Park) and Kirsten Reed (The Ice Age)
  • Ben O'Donoghue cooking events
  • Cold Chisel's Don Walker
  • The Sports' Stephen Cummings ...and about 100 more sessions!

The program is available via searching online at www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au.

I am chairing the following sessions, with these fabulous authors:

Friday 1:45pm - Sex and Marriage with Bettina Arndt (The Sex Diaries) and Kate Legge (The Marriage Club)
Friday 4pm - The Lost Mother, with Anne Summers
Saturday 10am - Coming of Age, with Tania James (Atlas of Unknowns), Kirsten Reed (The Ice Age), Chris Silvey (Jasper Jones)
Sunday 9am-11am - BBQ Breakfast and Talking Food with Ben O'Donoghue (Ben's BBQ) and Rebecca Huntley (Eating between the Lines).

All ticket information is available through the website.

Please, have a look at the program - there is something for everyone!


Book Shelf Book Club

This site also functions as a celebration of book clubs, formal and informal. For what greater a pleasure than good company, comforting food and wine, and a book to talk about into the wee hours?

Please, leave your suggestions on this site as to books you are reading, want to read, would like to see reviewed, or to request book club notes.

I happily provide services to book clubs, such as comprehensive book club notes and discussion points, book reviews, and book suggestions.

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