After long deliberation, the HNSA committee have decided to ‘go virtual’ for our HNSA 2021 conference. Unfortunately, COVID19 continues to pose uncertainties for small organisations when planning events. Many of you will be disappointed you can’t meet in person but a virtual conference offers a great opportunity to enjoy the entire program. All sessions and workshops will remain accessible to registrants for 3 months after the event ends. So no more difficult choices! You can attend everything in your own time – and watch sessions as often as you like.
An online conference also gives more authors a chance to appear. Air travel and borders may be closed, but no such constraints exist in the virtual world. We’ll be able to bring you speakers from Western Australia to across The Ditch in New Zealand. Maybe even others from farther afield such as our wonderful guest of honour, Geraldine Brooks, who joins us all the way from the US.
GUEST OF HONOUR: GERALDINE BROOKS
Australian-born Geraldine Brooks grew up in Sydney. She worked as a reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Wall Street Journal, where she covered crises in the mideast, Africa and the Balkans. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 2006 for her second novel, March. Her novels Caleb’s Crossing and People of the Book were New York Times best sellers. Her first novel, Year of Wonders is an an international bestseller, translated into more than 25 languages and currently optioned for a major motion picture starring Andrew Lincoln. Her most recent novel is The Secret Chord.
Stay tuned for news about the program and the start of early bird registration. We have some ideas up our sleeve to ensure our community of historical fiction fans will have fun connecting across the ether on 22-24 October.
Unfortunately, HNSA’s Facebook page and website were blocked by Facebook during the current dispute with the Australian government so to ensure you receive all our news, please subscribe to our newsletter. It’s the most reliable way to stay up to date.
Elisabeth Storrs
Chair HNSA
