News

Be entertained, write and draw with Western Australian superstar children’s authors and illustrators at the Backyard Book Fair, presented in partnership with The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (WA) and the State Library of Western Australia.

Join writers and friends Susan Midalia and Josephine Taylor as they discuss the connections between their new novels.

Described as ‘breathtaking’, ‘wise’ and ‘poetic’, Maria Papas’s City of Fremantle Hungerford Award winning novel Skimming Stones explores the impact of childhood illness and trauma on families. Set in a paediatric oncology ward and at Lake Clifton in Australia’s South West, Skimming Stones is about a nurse named Grace, who cares for and guides her […]

James Foley says the transition from a part-time day job to making a living from his craft was huge and he does not recommend any one quit their job, overnight, on a whim. It took James 14 years to get himself to the point of earning an income from his work as an author/illustrator. In […]

This Remembrance Day, I thought I’d share a few of the things I discovered while researching my novel Where the Line Breaks that I think deserve to be a little better remembered. My initial idea was to write about a real life Australian war poet, romanticising and fictionalising his or her life in a straightforward […]

Best known for her history of the Durack family, Kings in Grass Castles, Dame Mary Durack Miller was a friend and confidante to many celebrated writers, actors and artists, and an active and much leaned-upon president of the Fellowship of Australian Writers. Drawing on a great accumulation of firsthand sources, principally her mother’s diaries and […]

Based on the award-winning book by novelist Holden Sheppard, Stan and Screenwest have announced that the television series Invisible Boys is the successful recipient of their joint development initiative. Sheppard said it was a dream come true to hear the project now had the financial backing of both organisations, and he was heartened by their […]

Now’s the time for Western Australian writers to add the final touches to their manuscripts! Opening on 3 February 2022, the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award is for an unpublished work of adult fiction, narrative non-fiction or young adult fiction by an unpublished writer. The winner receives a cash prize of $15,000 and a publishing […]

Hello and welcome to November! Strap in everyone, the countdown to Christmas is on! This time of year our retailers are in a tizz, our sales reps are forcing spare boxes of books into their overloaded car boots, customer service are stuffing express post envelopes and the rest of us are making loud attention-seeking noises […]

Under the night sky and twinkling lights of the gothic Fremantle Arts Centre, some of WA’s talented authors and artists gathered to launch 19 new books and commemorate 45 years of publishing. The Great Big Book Launch, hosted by Fremantle Press, provided authors and book lovers alike with a warm, supportive place for important local […]

Stories on Stage is a meet-the-author, in-conversation event between iconic Australian authors Holden Sheppard (Invisible Boys, Brightlights, No City), Craig Silvey (Rhubarb, Jasper Jones, Honeybee) and Monique Mulligan (Wherever You Go).  Hosted by Monique Mulligan, this live conversation will explore Holden’s confronting young adult book, Invisible Boys, and Craig’s tender, profoundly moving novel, Honeybee.  Together, they will discuss […]

Cartoonist Sarah Winifred Searle helped launch Stars in Their Eyes by Jessica Walton and Aśka at Rabble Books in Maylands. Here’s what she had to say about this new graphic novel for ages 12+.

In which, via a series of plot twists and non sequiturs, a prose editor gets around to asking a poetry editor about how and why she does what she does. Metaphors abound.

It’s been ten years since Detective Philip ‘Cato’ Kwong was introduced to the world. He was in his thirties then; the classical piano playing, cryptic crossword solving, stubborn obsessive was badly in need of redemption in both his career and his marriage. We first met him in Prime Cut, persona non grata, exiled to Stock […]

I believe comics to be a medium with a potential to tell unique and complex stories, by taking the reader on a personal journey. Below are five of my (many) favourite books. I recommend these highly if you’d like to see the masters at work, want to understand what the graphic novel fuss is all […]

The fifth and final book in the award-winning Cato Kwong series, Crocodile Tears by Alan Carter, sees Cato’s life on the line with someone from the past as his only hope. Crocodile Tears will be launched by Andrew Wilkie and is hosted by Fullers Bookshop, Hobart. Alan will be in conversation with L J M […]

Join Dianne Wolfer as she shares writing skills to help you develop an anecdote, create a memoir and explore history writing methods and techniques. Dianne is the WA author of 20 books including the ‘Light’ series inspired by the WWI story of an Albany girl signaling to departing soldiers. That story led to three other […]

In this interactive session, Dianne Wolfer will share practical tips about writing from diverse animal viewpoints. If you love Animal Farm, Call of the Wild, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Black Beauty or Pig the Pug, this workshop is for you. Come along and find out more about writing in this genre. Dianne […]

Alex Forrest will be talking about his new book, Idle Torque, and reflecting on his years of writing a car column at Boya Community Centre.

Join Yuot A. Alaak, author of Father of the Lost Boys, for a Navigating the Emotional Journey of Memoir online workshop run by Writers Victoria. Writing a memoir is about deep personal reflections and it is important writers do not rely on shallow emotions at the expense of reason as readers will see through this. […]

Join Yuot A. Alaak at the City of Vincent Library talks about his experiences and his book, Father of the Lost Boys. Yuot is a former child refugee from South Sudan and was part of the globally known ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’, his memoir centres on his father Mecak Ajang Alaak who assumed care of […]

Australia has voted and the results are in for the Better Reading Top 50 Kids book list! Coming in at number 17, Invisible Boys is one of a growing number of debut Australian books identified as a favourite read.