History Unbound Festival Wrap Up - a feast of historical fiction
On 1st to 2nd November 2025 at the historic Parramatta Town Hall, the Historical Novel Society Australasia welcomed the historical fiction community to enjoy our newly rebranded History Unbound Festival. There we unloosened the bindings, blew away the cobwebs, and unlocked the secrets of bygone eras with a dynamic program celebrating historical fiction and storytelling in all its forms. Authors, readers, history enthusiasts and publishing professionals gathered together for an event dedicated to fostering engaging discussions, uncovering untold stories, and exploring how history shapes our narratives. Over 50 speakers presented across the weekend in a two stream program featuring interviews as well as panels on the writing craft.
Saturday 1st November
Our plenary sessions include conversations with our wonderful Guests of Honour kicking off with Toni Jordan. Toni is an international best-selling and award winning author. Her historical novel, Nine Days, was awarded Best Fiction at the 2012 Indie Awards. Over a decade later she has returned to the genre with her eighth novel, Tenderfoot.
Kelly Gardiner interviews Toni Jordan
Emily Maguire and Lauren Keegan are both debut historical novelists whose books were longlisted in the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize. Emily’s Rapture ultimately won the inaugural AHNP Readers’ Choice Award, and the Queensland Literary Award (among other accolades). Linda Funnell will explore why these authors decided to venture into historical fiction focused on different eras of European history, and the value of literary awards on their careers.
Lauren Keegan, Emily Maguire and Linda Funnell
Our ‘What would Jane think? The Bridgerton Effect’ panel where Pamela Hart will quiz Kelly Gardiner, Sharmini Kumar and Alison Goodman on the impact of Bridgerton and their own take on Regency mysteries as we marked the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth.
Kelly Gardiner, Sharmini Kumar and Pamela Hart with Alison Goodman looming large via Zoom to join the fun.
Robbie Arnott was awarded joint winner of the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize Adult Category with his novel, Dusk. Suzanne Leal took top honours in the CYA Category with The Year We Escaped. Greg Johnston will interview them on the inspiration for these books, the ideas behind certain techniques and stylistic choices, and what impact winning substantial prize money in a literary award has on a writer’s life.
Greg Johnston, our Imagining the Past podcast host with Suzanne Leal and Robbie Arnott via Zoom
Fiona McIntosh has sold well over a million books in a variety of genres ranging from adult fantasy, tense crime, to children’s novels. Her lush, best-selling historical adventures are loved the world round. Join Belinda Lyons-Lee as she asks Fiona how she manages to master so many genres, what draws her to historical fiction, and also the inspiration for her new novel, The Soldier's Daughter.
Guest of Honour Fiona McIntosh interviewed by Belinda Lyons-Lee
In our craft stream, we explored the Subjective Voice: Depicting Authentic Historical Characters
When a writer brings their own subjectivity to interpreting history can they truly create an authentic historical voice for modern readers? How does someone writing prehistory with few written sources depict their characters? Is it easier for an author writing about an era within living memory? And what challenges does a CYA author face when conveying history in a manageable voice for a younger reader? Robert Horne will tease out these questions with Marion Taffe (By Her Hand), David Dyer (This Kingdom of Dust) and Belinda Murrell, award winning author and judge of the CYA category of the 2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize.
Marion Taffe, Belinda Murrell, David Dyer and Robert Horne
Identity & Diaspora: Tracing Multicultural Identity
Angelo Loukakis (The Memory of Tides), Nadia Mahjouri (Half Truth) and Jelena Curic (Sing to Me) are descendants of migrants arriving post WW2 onwards to Australia. Renee Otmar explores with these authors the importance of family history as inspiration for charting the diaspora and integration of migrants into their adopted homeland. Have perceptions of multi-cultural stories changed over the decades? Have stereotypes successfully been challenged? And is a search for identity always the essence of these novels?
On the Cusp -
'Young Adult' fiction is a label beloved of booksellers and publishers but what does the term exactly mean? And should an arbitrary definition exist when books featuring teenager protagonists can appeal to readers of all ages? Sophie Masson, author of over 80 novels, discusses whether there are any differences in writing historical novels for children, teenagers and adults with Lauren Keenan and Rebecca Lim, two other authors who have successfully written for various age groups.
Our signature event is the First Pages Pitch Contest with $250 prize money on offer. ‘First pages’ from aspiring authors were read by a narrator, Lucy Watson, to industry experts who provided a critique of chosen submissions. The session assists other attendees to learn what attracts the attention of agents and publishers when seeking new historical fiction. Our judges were Cassandra di Bello (Allen & Unwin), literary agent Rochelle Fernandez (Alex Adsett Literary) and Sophie Masson (Eagle Books).
Lucy Watson (narrator) reading to judges (from left) Rochelle Fernandez, Cass di Bello and Sophie Masson.
Congratulations to Lee McKerracher for winning the prize with ‘You’re Not Welcome Here’. Lee is an emerging writer from Western Sydney who loves writing historical fiction. She also writes contemporary works on domestic violence, resilience, and climate change. Lee explores the darker sides of life to see what she discovers. A keen bird watcher and photographer, who likes dogs better than people.
Congratulations also to Linda Jackson and Jackie Dalton for being highly commended with ‘The Lieutenant’s Cook’ and ‘Plunge’ respectively.
Congratulations to Lee McKerracher for winning the contest!
Sunday 2nd November
Our first guest of honour on the Sunday was Pip Williams who has had a meteoric rise internationally with her historical novels, The Dictionary of Lost Words and The Bookbinder of Jericho. Kate Evans from Radio National’s The Bookshelf program interviewed Pip on why her books have resonated with so many readers, and explore the pressures and pleasures involved in writing her current work-in-progress.
Kate Evans and Pip Williams
Next up was a converstion with Matthew Reilly and Malcolm Knox (2025 ARA Historical Novel Prize shortlister). Matthew has achieved fame as a New York Times bestselling thriller writer. Malcolm Knox is a critically acclaimed author and award winning journalist. Both have now written novels playing with historical figures such as Lavrentiy Beria and Albert Einstein. Stephen Romei delved into why these authors chose to write historical fiction, and discussed the research required to create the world of Stalin's murderous coterie in Knox's The First Friend or the labyrinthine machinations of Hitler's inner circle and New York gangsters in Reilly's Mr Einstein's Secretary.
Matthew Reilly towering over Malcolm Knox and Stephen Romei
Our inaugural live Book Club featured doyennes of Australian historical fiction, Nicole Alexander and Kate Forsyth, who enjoyed answering questions on their writing process, inspiration, research methods, and novels: The Limestone Road and Psykhe.
Nicole Alexander and Kate Forsyth in our inaugural book club session