The Great Big Book Club 2026
Welcome to the Great Big Book Club, Fremantle Press’ regular cosy nights out for people who love stories.
Join us in bookshops and libraries across Perth for bookish conversations with emerging and established authors. Browse the program below.
The Names of a Hare by Bernice Barry
17th-century Cornwall is a place of peril for a neurodiverse healer …
Inspired by and written as a prequel to R.D. Blackmore’s 1869 classic, Lorna Doone, The Names of a Hare is a new novel by Bernice Barry. Perfect for those who love historical fiction and are fans of Juliet Marillier, Maggie O’Farrell and Hannah Kent.
Bernice will be in conversation with poet Elizabeth Lewis. Come solo or bring a book-loving friend and immerse yourself in another time of herbal lore, witch hunts and the gorgeous, rugged Cornish coastline.
Thursday 26 March, Boya Community Centre, Helena Valley
I Remember Everything by Fiona Wilkes
Beginning in Bristol and moving to 1980s London, this novel follows Billie, a young queer woman, as she navigates the highs and lows of life, coming out, and finding her chosen family, only to lose them again during the AIDS epidemic. Thirty years on, Billie picks up her pen to celebrate the lives of these friends: quixotic Robert, Tolstoy the photographer, soft-spoken Eleanor, sweet-eyed Sasha, uncompromising Aggie, and Ted the dreamer. And, of course, Laura – the girl who has always captivated Billie, and the one person she can’t live without.
This is a story of queer joy, queer tragedy, and the strength to love deeply.
Thursday 28 May, Planet Books, Northbridge
This Is Where We Say Goodbye by Howard McKenzie-Murray
The day after Maud Tarkington turns twenty-one, she must attend the funeral of her favourite brother Lloyd. But instead, Maud is ricocheting around the city, looking for signs of life – will she even make it to Lloyd’s send-off?
Shortlisted for the 2024 Hungerford Award, This Is Where We Say Goodbye is a quirky, bittersweet story about family ties, memory and the unexpected ways we hold it together when everything has fallen apart.
Thursday 4 June, AH Bracks Library + Creative Space, Melville
Gone Guru by Nadine Browne
Thursday 10 September, AH Bracks Library + Creative Space, Melville
Coming soon!
The Book of the After by Rebecca Higgie
Thursday 15 October, City of Perth Library, Perth
Coming soon!
What can I expect?
Every Great Big Book Club event is held in a library or bookshop, so it’s a familiar and cosy setting from the moment you arrive. If you’re coming along solo, you won’t be the only one, so consider this an opportunity to strike up a conversation with a fellow booklover! We’ll start with a relaxed conversation between the author and a speaker, followed by an optional audience Q&A.
Afterwards, you can buy a copy from the bookseller and join the signing queue if you’d like. You can say hello to the author or simply get your book signed and head off. Light refreshments will be provided.
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