News

Just when we thought Kelly Canby’s star couldn’t keep rising, we were sent the amazing news that the North American edition of her picture book The Hole Story has just been named a Teacher Favourite in the 2024 North American Children’s Book Council Awards. Kelly Canby said she was surprised and delighted by the news. She […]

Children’s publisher Cate Sutherland can’t resist a dog book – especially written by master storyteller Deb Fitzpatrick. She asked Deb to share all the waggily, woofy goodness of writing Deb’s entertaining new adventure Kelpie Chaos. Tell us about your latest book and why you wrote it. Kelpie Chaos is a novel for younger middle readers […]

Children’s publisher Cate Sutherland says she loves the way Cristy Burne’s Into the Blue combines a snorkelling adventure with real-life conundrums that kids face every day. We asked Cristy to share more about the book’s themes and her writing process. Tell us about your latest book and why you wrote it. My latest book is Into the Blue […]

How to Avoid a Happy Life is Julia Lawrinson’s story of a messy family legacy and a lifetime of extraordinary events that have to be read to be believed. Publisher Georgia Richter says, ‘Julia’s writerly superpowers of observation and analysis, along with a robust sense of humour, allow her to survive and then write about […]

Anatomy of a Secret by Gerard McCann was shortlisted for the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award. Publisher Georgia Richter says, ‘Gerard McCann’s memoir documents the experiences of a Catholic boy who was just one of scores of young boys sexually assaulted by convicted paedophile Leo Leunig in Perth in the 1960s. Despite the confronting […]

About the show The life of beloved children’s author Julia Lawrinson is stranger than fiction – and she draws on all her power as a storyteller to turn a life of intense headlines into a wild, marvellous tale.  In the first episode of this 6-episode series, Julia immerses herself in the history of her own […]

We’re excited to bring you another event in the Great Big Book Club series. This time Julia Lawrinson will be joined for an in conversation with journalist and writer Gillian O’Shaughnessy to discuss Julia’s debut memoir How to Avoid a Happy Life.

Join two brave new names in fiction, Brooke Dunnell and Deborah Pike, for an evening in conversation as they discuss their tantalising new novels Last Best Chance and The Players.

In Into the Blue, what starts as a fun snorkelling adventure quickly becomes a test of character and conscience when Blair loses his brother’s beloved GoPro in the sea. On this map of the Omeo wreck on Coogee Beach, draw and label the plants, animals, lost objects, trash and treasure you might see on an old […]

Activity Sheet
'Ship to Shore'

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In Kelpie Chaos, a kelpie puppy is about to be sent to the pound and Eli knows he has to do something to save him. After adopting the flame-chested kelpie, now named Zoom, the family falls in love, but they soon learn there’s a lot to remember when raising a working dog. In this activity, kids are […]

Activity Sheet
'Draw A Dog You Know with Deb Fitzpatrick'

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Back when If I should lose you was first published, Natasha said, ‘My mother will assure you that I am in no way artistic – although my children very kindly tell me that I do beautiful drawings! I love art though and there is nothing better than a quiet walk through a gallery looking at pieces […]

Events

Sydney Writers Festival

   May 23May 26, 2024

An eight-day celebration of literature, stories and ideas. Meet the people behind your favourite books and become part of the conversations that bring them to life through an exciting program of events and activities.

In Death Leaves the Station we were introduced to a nameless mendicant monk who helped solve a baffling crime in Western Australia’s Outback. Now the monk’s road leads him to the wheatbelt where despised landholder Fred O’Donnell is discovered with a fatal bullet wound, all by himself in a locked room. It’s a classic plot handled […]

Tim Minchin has called The Players ambitious and moving, Bem Le Hunte says it is enticing, and Melinda Harvey says it is funny and wise. But long before she found herself garnering praise, Deborah Pike was dreaming of a cast of characters whose passion and rivalry would bind them across time and continents. In this interview […]

With her prize money, Fogarty Literary Award winner Brooke Dunnell travelled to Eastern Europe to research her second novel, Last Best Chance. Just as her debut, The Glass House, was a work of exquisite tension and ambiguity, Brooke says she wanted Last Best Chance to embrace uncertainty, with characters dealing with multiple moral complexities and who struggle […]

Fremantle Press has been shortlisted for the Australian Book Industry Award for Small Publisher of the Year. The Australian Book Industry Awards, which were inaugurated in 2001, celebrate excellence and innovation from the teams and individuals across the industry who get books into the hands of readers – from authors and artists to publishers, editors, […]

Published in association with THEATRE 180, Courage Be My Friend by Jenny Davis OAM is the story of Sister Vivian Bullwinkel, who was the only survivor of the Bangka Island Massacre during World War II. Vivian’s selfless efforts to support her fellow prisoners of war in a Japanese camp garnered her many medals and saw her go on to […]

Events

Join authors Wayne Bergmann and Madelaine Dickie in conversation at Success Library

   April 16, 2024
   6.00pm—7.30pm
   Success Library

Come join us at an evening in conversation with the remarkable Wayne Bergmann, Nyikina man and Kimberley leader.

Sister Bullwinkel was a WWII hero who tended to patients in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Indonesia. Find the right illnesses to diagnose the WWII patient like Vivien Bullwinkel does in Courage Be My Friend. We’ve collated some common diseases she may have encountered. Use the internet to come up with your best […]

Activity Sheet
'Diagnose the WWII illness'

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Brobot is the first children’s graphic novel in the Sally Tinker series. The series follows Sally Tinker and her brother as they navigate through all of Sally’s inventions. The Design Your Own Robot activity sheet is a great resource to spark creative and logical thinking and to encourage attention to detail. For more teaching activities, download […]

Activity Sheet
'Design your own robot'

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This year’s festival is a fantastic opportunity for aspiring writers of all ages and readers of all genres to listen to their favourite local writers and expand their literary horizons.

The launch will be hosted by Gleebooks in Glebe, NSW and launched by publisher at large at Pan MacMillan and chief literary critic of The Australian Geordie Williamson.

Events

25th anniversary edition of Benang: From the Heart by Kim Scott

   May 10, 2024
   7.00pm—9.00pm
   City of Fremantle - Walyalup Civic Centre

Fremantle Press Presents the 25th anniversary edition of Benang: From the Heart by Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Kim Scott.

Events

Book launch: Gerard McCann presents his debut memoir, Anatomy of a Secret.

   May 2, 2024
   6.30pm—8.30pm
   Kidogo Arthouse

Join Gerard McCann for an evening in conversation with special guest Caroline Wood from the Centre for Stories, as they discuss his memoir, Anatomy of a Secret.