SUNDAY 20 OCTOBER
TATHRA HALL
GINA CHICK: We Are The Stars
In Conversation with Sophie Longden
9:30AM TATHRA HALL
Winner of the first season of Alone Australia, Gina Chick’s 67 days of determination and connectedness with nature has earned her the respect and admiration of many Australians. Her extraordinary story of resilience and healing will make your heart sing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gina Chick is a rewilding facilitator, adventurer, writer and speaker. Writing is in Gina Chick's genes. Her grandmother, Charmian Clift, was an author, essayist and Australia's first female columnist in the early 60's. Charmian married George Johnstone (My Brother Jack) and they lived together on Hydra with Leonard Cohen and bohemian expats. Charmian's teenage indiscretion, an illegitimate daughter, was given up for adoption. Gina's mum, Suzanne Chick, who, after finally discovering her mother's identity at 48, wrote her own book, Searching For Charmian, which was shortlisted for the NBC Banjo Award. Gina was one of ten participants of the first series of Alone Australia, made by iTV and screened on SBS in 2023. After 67 days of unforgettable moments of searing vulnerability, Gina was the last person standing, and the second woman to win an Alone solo challenge. Her determination, passion, and love of the natural world endeared her to more than 5.5 million people around Australia. Gina's articles have been published in The Guardian, news.com.au, Mamamia and SBS online.
BRI LEE: The Work
In Conversation with Sarah Nicholson
11:00AM TATHRA HALL
Bestselling author of Eggshell Skull, Bri Lee’s non-fiction has interrogated the Australian justice system and the inequalities embedded into our system of education. In this her first thrilling work of fiction, Bri turns her eye onto the art world and the friction between art and commerce.
Presented in partnership with South Coast Writers Centre.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bri Lee is the multi-award-winning author of Eggshell Skull, Beauty, and Who Gets to Be Smart. Her journalism, essays, and short stories have been published widely, and she is the creator and editor of News & Reviews.
INGA SIMPSON: The Thinning
In Conversation with Karen Viggers
1:00PM TATHRA HALL
Award-winning writer Inga Simpson discusses The Thinning, her powerful new literary page-turner about two young people in a race against time to reach a monumental solar eclipse. The Thinning is both an exquisitely written novel of nature and urgent psychological suspense.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Inga Simpson began her career as a professional writer for government before gaining a PhD in creative writing. In 2011, she took part in the Queensland Writers Centre Manuscript Development Program and, as a result, Hachette Australia published her first novel, Mr Wigg, in 2013. Nest, Inga's second novel, was published in 2014 and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the Stella Prize and shortlisted for the ALS Gold Medal. Inga's third novel, the acclaimed Where the Trees Were, was published in 2016.
Inga was awarded the final Eric Rolls Prize for her nature writing and has obtained a second PhD, exploring the history of Australian nature writers. Inga's account of her love of Australian nature and life with trees, Understory, was published in 2017. Her first book for children, The Book of Australian Trees, illustrated by Alicia Rogerson, was published in 2021. The Last Woman in the World, her critically acclaimed environmental thriller, was published in 2021 and shortlisted for the 2022 Fiction Indie Book Award. Her bestselling and critically acclaimed 2022 novel Willowman was shortlisted for the BookPeople Adult Fiction Book of the Year 2023 and in 2024 was selected by Australia's leading booksellers in BookPeople's 100 Must-Read Australian Novels.
Inga lives on the New South Wales south coast among trees.
JULIE JANSON: Compassion
In Conversation with Sarah Nicholson
2:30PM TATHRA HAL.L
Join novelist, playwright and poet, Julie Janson as she discusses Compassion, the dramatised life story of her ancestor who went on trial for stealing livestock in New South Wales. A gripping fictive account of Aboriginal life in the 1800s, it is an exciting and violent story of anti-colonial revenge and roaming adventure.
Presented in partnership with South Coast Writers Centre.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Julie is a Burruberongal woman of the Darug Aboriginal nation NSW. She is a novelist, playwright, and poet. While living in remote Northern Territory in Yolngu communities in her early years as a teacher, Julie wrote plays and made giant puppets, masks and costumes with Yolngu students. Her career as a playwright resulted in ten productions at various theatres such as Sydney St Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre and Sydney Opera House Studio. Black Mary and Gunjies was published by Aboriginal Studies Press. Her plays have been produced in Arizona, USA and Makassar, Indonesia.
Her Indigenous crime novel Madukka the River Serpent (UWA Publishing 2022) was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award 2023 and the Davitt Award 2023. Benevolence, an Indigenous historical novel published by Magabala in 2020, and later published by Harper Collins in the USA and UK, was shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award 2022 and in 2020 was longlisted for the NIB Literary Award and the Voss Literary Prize. Compassion (Magabala 2024) is a sequel to Benevolence.
Environmental Dystopia and the Science of Destruction
Panel discussion with Inga Simpson and David Lindenmayer facilitated by Sophie Cunningham
4:00PM TATHRA HALL
Inga Simpson (The Thinning) and David Lindenmayer (The Forest Wars) share the stage to discuss extinctions, destruction of habitat, loss of diversity and the roles of science and fiction in the face of rapid climate change.
TATHRA UNITING CHURCH
JESSIE TU: The Honeyeater
In Conversation with Myoung Jae Yi
12:00 NOON TATHRA UNTING CHURCH
Jessie Tu’s The Honeyeater is an intoxicating novel of betrayal, ambition and love in the closely guarded world of translation and academia. Set in Paris, Taiwan and Sydney, Tu’s characters are beset by the ghosts of ancestors and the disastrous consequences of infidelity.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jessie Tu is a book critic at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and a journalist for Women's Agenda. Her debut novel, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, won the ABIA for 2020 Literary Fiction Book of the Year. The Honeyeater is her second novel.
INSIDE PUBLISHING - WRITING NSW
Panel discussion with Catherine Milne, Robert Watkins and Kate Kruimink facilitated by Sophie Groom
1:30PM TATHRA UNITING CHURCH
Find out how the publishing industry really works with HarperCollins Publisher and Head of Fiction, Catherine Milne, Ultimo Press Publishing Director, Robert Watkins, and award-winning author and Island Magazine Fiction Editor, Kate Kruimink with Writing NSW CEO, Sophie Groom. This event provides networking opportunities and information about the industry to writers in regional NSW.
Presented in partnership with Writing NSW
BRUCE NASH & KAREN VIGGERS: The Language of Care
Panel discussion with Karen Viggers and Bruce Nash facilitated by Gabbie Stroud
3:00PM TATHRA UNITING CHURCH
Karen Viggers (Sidelines) and Bruce Nash (All the Words We Know) look at how we care for our teens and elderly. How do we frame and carry out our duties and obligations to our loved ones and how can our own motivations derail our good intentions?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bruce Nash was awarded a 2022 Varuna Residential Fellowship for an earlier draft of this manuscript; indeed, he has enjoyed three such fellowships for his work. His previous books The Long River of Cat Fisher (2020) and An Island in the Lake (2019) were published by Australian Scholarly Publishing. He has been shortlisted for several writing awards and his short fiction has appeared in Meanjin, Australian Short Stories and anthologies. Bruce is a retired teacher and now lives on the southern New South Wales coast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karen Viggers is an author, veterinarian and podcaster. She is the author of five novels: The Stranding (2008), The Lightkeeper’s Wife (2011), The Grass Castle (2014), The Orchardist’s Daughter (2019) and Sidelines (2024).
Her work is set in Australian landscapes and communities, and explores contentious issues, such as dying with dignity, displacement of First Peoples, wildlife conservation, clear-felling of native forests, and now, modern parenting and junior sport. She is co-host of the Secrets From the Green Room podcast in which she interviews writers and other book industry colleagues about books and writing. Her novels have been translated into several languages and have enjoyed great success in France where she is a bestselling author and has won a literary award.
DYLIN HARDCASTLE: A Language of Limbs
In Conversation with Kate Kruimink
4:30PM TATHRA UNITING CHURCH
Set against the backdrop of milestones including Australia's first Mardi Gras, A Language of Limbs is an unashamed celebration of life in all its heartbreaking vibrancy and colour that finds the humanity in all of us. Trigger warning: Explores topics of family violence, overt transphobia, homophobia, racism, physical violence, the AIDS pandemic, the Stolen Generations, police brutality and stillbirth.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dylin Hardcastle is an author, artist and screenwriter. They are the author of three critically acclaimed books. Their first adult novel, Below Deck, was published in ten territories.
Trigger warning: Explores topics of family violence, overt transphobia, homophobia, racism, physical violence, the AIDS pandemic, the Stolen Generations, police brutality and stillbirth.
Dylin is the co-creator, co-writer and co-director of the TV show Cloudy River. In 2018, they were a Provost's Scholar and a research assistant in World Literature at the University of Oxford. Dylin is currently completing their PhD in Creative Writing. Dylin has travelled to Antarctica, South America and Europe for artist residencies, and has exhibited their paintings widely across Australia and the UK.
WORKSHOPS AT TATHRA BEACH HOUSE
SARAH TEMPORAL
10AM TATHRA BEACH HOUSE (WORKSHOP)
CONFESSIONS, SECRETS & LIES
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” – Brene Brown.
Join prize-winning poet Sarah Temporal to explore how poetry reveals our hidden selves. In an inclusive workshop suitable for beginner to advanced writers, you will be guided through creative exercises to unlock your secrets and transform them into powerful poems.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF HANDMADE BOOKS WITH PIP MARSHMAN
2PM TATHRA BEACH HOUSE (WORKSHOP)
Pip Marshman is a Tathra local and has a long association with the arts community. She has held exhibitions in New Zealand, Tathra, Cooma, Jindabyne and Bega. Her work is held internationally and in Australia. Making artist books has been a feature of her artmaking, along with painted canvases, drawing, eco dyeing, mono-printing and shibori.
The workshop will be an introduction to the wonderful world of handmade books. No previous experience is necessary.
We will make 2 projects: a folded, sculptural book and a simple book made from a single sheet.
If you have a protractor that would be handy; all other materials provided.
TATHRA HOTEL
STUART COUPE: Shake Some Action
In Conversation with Josh Becker
10:30AM TATHRA HOTEL - FREE EVENT
Join renowned rock music writer Stuart Coupe in conversation with ABC’s Josh Becker as they look back over four decades of the Australian and international music scenes. This is the story of how a gangly, music-obsessed kid from Tassie did everything, met everyone and continues to live a life of creativity and passion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stuart Coupe is an Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and music label founder. A renowned rock music writer, Coupe is best known for his work with Roadrunner, Rock Australia Magazine (RAM), The Sun-Herald, and Dolly; the music labels, GREEN Records and Laughing Outlaw; and the author of books including The Promoters, Gudinski, Roadies, Paul Kelly and Shake Some Action. Coupe is a former manager of the Australian bands Hoodoo Gurus and Paul Kelly and is currently a presenter on Sydney radio stations 2SER and FBI Radio. He is also known for his writing as a reviewer of crime fiction for the Sydney Morning Herald and for founding the Australian crime fiction magazine, Mean Streets.
TATHRA HOTEL DINING ROOM
ANDREW FOWLER: Nuked
In Conversation with Hugh White
10AM TATHRA HOTEL DINING ROOM - FREE EVENT
Award-winning investigative journalist Andrew Fowler explores the spectacular fallout from Australia's duplicitous AUKUS deal. Interviewing sources in Paris, London, Washington and Canberra, Fowler exposes a botched operation that severely compromised Australia's ability to defend itself, with ANU’s Hugh White.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Andrew Fowler is an award-winning investigative journalist and a former reporter for the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent and Four Corners programs. Fowler began his journalism career in the early 1970s, covering the IRA bombing campaign for the London Evening News. He has been the chief of staff and acting foreign editor of The Australian newspaper. He wrote The Most Dangerous Man in the World, the story of Julian Assange and WikiLeaks in 2011, which was updated in 2012 and 2020. Fowler first interviewed Assange for Foreign Correspondent in 2010, for which the program won the New York Festival Gold Medal.
His two other books are The War on Journalism (Random House, 2015) and Shooting the Messenger: Criminalising Journalism (Routledge, 2017). Fowler is a winner of the United Nations Peace Prize, has lectured on journalism at universities in Australia and the UK, and has contributed to various academic papers.
KATE KRUIMINK & RUBY TODD - UNSEEN CURRENTS
Panel discussion with Ruby Todd and Kate Kruimink facilitated by Jodie Stewart
3PM TATHRA HOTEL DINING ROOM - FREE EVENT
Ruby Todd (Bright Objects) and Kate Kruimink (Heartsease) discuss their compelling noir novels in which the weight of grief, the complexities of love and the search for truth and meaning can lead us to unexpected places.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Kruimink is a writer from southern Lutruwita. Her first novel, A Treacherous Country, won the 2020 Vogel/Australian's Literary Award. It was shortlisted in the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction and longlisted in the UK for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In 2021, she was one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Novelists. Kate also writes short stories and essays, which have been published widely. Heartsease is her second novel.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruby Todd is an Australian writer, creative arts researcher, and teacher, with a PhD in Writing & Literature. She is the recipient of the inaugural 2020 Furphy Literary Award, the 2019 Ploughshares Emerging Writer’s Contest award for Fiction, and the 2016 AAWP Chapter One Prize. She has completed residencies at The Wheeler Centre and La Trobe University, and her work has appeared in Ploughshares, the Guardian, Crazyhorse, Overland and elsewhere.