Enjoy our signature TWC First Pages pitch contest with $200 prize money on offer. ‘First pages’ from aspiring authors are read by a narrator to industry experts who will provide a critique of chosen submissions. The session will provide other attendees with a chance to learn what attracts the attention of agents and publishers when ... Read more
The Early C20th was a period of rapid change extending from the Suffragette Movement, WW1, Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression. Kim Kelly has written novels traversing all these periods. Christine Bell has focused on the Great War. Join them to share your favourite pocket of history or ask questions about writing across this period. ... Read more
Half the work or double trouble? Kayte Nunn digs into the tricky world of braiding multiple narratives and time periods, revealing the pleasures and pointing out the pitfalls. Together, we’ll examine character, plot, narrative arcs, dialogue, tone, language, pace, setting, creating and sustaining tension and balancing timelines. This workshop includes a 15 minute break. This ... Read more
Female hysteria, aristocratic waxen heads, and a secret cadre of Australian codebreakers. Kirsty Murray explores these intriguing lost female histories with the authors who reveal them - Josephine Taylor, Belinda Lyons-Lee and Alli Sinclair. How did they discover them? What was needed to bring the stories to life? The Panellists Kirsty Murray (Chair) Kirsty Murray ... Read more
Leaving one’s country of birth is a momentous and life changing decision. These challenging odysseys and new beginnings are of great interest to writers and readers. Join Roanna Gonsalves as she chats with Andrew Pippos, Mirandi Riwoe and Suzanne McCourt about their inspiration and reasons for writing novels examining the clash of cultures in an ... Read more
The C18th was a time of political upheaval and new political ideas of the Enlightenment which led to the French and American Revolutions. Join Stephanie Parkyn, author of Into the World and Josephine’s Garden, to chat about this tumultuous era. This chat salon will not be recorded. Stephanie Parkyn Stephanie Parkyn is the author of ... Read more
Jewish history is one of pogroms, dispossession and diaspora. Over the centuries, the process of dehumanisation lay the groundwork that underpinned the Holocaust. Medieval historian, Gillian Polack, talks to Tim Darcy Ellis, Richard Zimler and Bram Presser about hidden stories of Jewish faith, endurance and survival from the Middle Ages to present times. The Panellists ... Read more
Richard Lee, founder of the Historical Novel Society, joins international bestselling authors, Ben Kane and Colin Falconer to discuss how these authors approach writing epic novels, and the challenges encountered in finding new angles to depict stories within well traversed eras of history. Richard Lee Richard Lee founded the Historical Novel Society in 1997 after ... Read more
Are you interested in discussing history beyond the prism of the Western world? Meet with other writers and readers to share your love of fiction and history centred around the other half of the globe with Roanna Gonsalves, author of The Permanent Resident. It’s time for more diverse voices and history to be heard. Roanna ... Read more
This workshop with Meg Keneally will look at how historical crime fiction works. What makes a good historical crime novel? How do you create a pacey, immersive reading experience? We’ll look at character, plot, setting and voice. This workshop will be interactive, so come prepared with questions! This workshop includes a 15 minute break. This ... Read more
Sophie Masson’s publishing house translated Jules Verne’s historical novel, Mikhail Strogoff, into English. Ely Finch translated Wong Shee Ping’s, The Poison of Polygamy, the first Chinese-language novel to be published in Australia at the turn of the C20th. Agent, Laurie Blum Guest, specialises in negotiating foreign and translation rights. Join Elaine Lewis, translator and holder ... Read more
Elizabeth Chadwick’s much awarded novels chronicle the power and glory of England’s Medieval kings, queens and nobles such as William Marshal, Henry I and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Robyn Cadwallader focuses on the quiet inner lives of women in the Middle Ages. Gillian Polack asks why Elizabeth and Robyn are drawn to this era, and whether ... Read more
