Appearing at the 2011 Festival
David Astle has written two novels, Marzipan Plan and Book of Miles, plus two non-fiction works: One Down, One Missing and Offbeat Australia. Last year Allen & Unwin published his memoir, Puzzled: Secrets and clues from a life lost in words. Between books, he drives the world to delight and despair as Friday's crossword setter, DA, appearing in both The Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age. Actor Geoffrey Rush, in fact, describes David as 'the Sergeant Pepper of cryptic crosswords - a complete mind fuck.' which is possibly a compliment. As a feature writer, David has investigated luck, lying and fridge magnets, plus a hundred different topics for various magazines. He also reviews books for Radio National. David's short plays have been performed in both Sydney and Melbourne, while his short stories have won awards, including a trip to Beijing via Dublin as part of the James Joyce Suspended Sentence Prize in 2001. He is currently Mr Dictionary on the SBS game show, Letters + Numbers.
Graeme Base has sold five million copies of his books world-wide and is highly acclaimed as one of the best known and leading creators of picture books. His humorous stories and superb illustrations have captivated many generations for the past twenty-five years. Graeme's book, Animalia (1986), received instant international acclaim and has achieved classic status with worldwide sales of three million copies and a TV series now screening.
Tony Birch's short fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction have been published widely. His most recent book is the short story collection Father's Day (Hunter, 2009) and his debut novel, Blood, will be published by UQP in October. He lives in Melbourne where he teaches in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.
David Campbell lives in Victoria and is currently enjoying retirement after a working life in various education-related fields, including twenty years as a teacher of senior mathematics and English. He divides his time at the keyboard between poetry (both traditional and free verse), short stories, and newspaper articles.
David Corlett is a freelance writer and author of Following Them Home: The Fate of the Returned Asylum Seekers, Black Ink Agenda, 2005 , and Stormy Weather: The Challenge of Climate Change and Displacement, UNSW Press, 2008. He is the host/presenter of the 3 part SBS documentary Go Back Where you Came From (June 2011).
Tim Gibson is a local retired academic who has enjoyed doing battle with cryptic crossword compilers for most of his life. Tim has presented numerous lecture courses and workshops on the art of solving cryptics. One of his favourite memories is of sitting on the top of a double-decker bus, travelling through the Hampshire countryside on the way to work (while on sabbatical leave in the U.K.), and trying to complete the Guardian crossword- not always successfully!
John Griffiths has been Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne for over thirty years and is one of this country's leading musicologists, particularly in Spanish lute & vihuela repertoire. He is a member of La Romanesca and is a visiting professor in Spain and France.
Roland Harvey was born in Melbourne and has always loved drawing. He trained as an architect but is best known for his distinctive books, calendars and greeting cards. Roland enjoys watching people at work and at play, mentally sketching them while they go about their business. He has always loved the outdoors and some of the scenes from At the Beach and In the Bush are from real life - Roland really did make kelp sandals (like the ones in At the Beach) for his son, James! He hopes to assist kids gain a greater sense of self by encouraging them to read critically and analyse what they read. More information can be found at these websites: Allen and Unwin and Roland Harvey
Kate Herd's interest in food production comes from her 'free-range' out-of-doors childhood spent up trees, in vegie gardens and hanging around paddocks and animals. Kate's love of good food is equalled by the pleasure she gets from growing produce, and she has developed a fascination with heritage food plants as well as with the stories that accompany them. Garden history, Australian plants and bush revegetation are all interests that inform her writing and her garden design practice. Kate creates gardens to be beautiful, functional and sustainable, whether for residential or commercial projects. Kitchen Gardens of Australia is her first book.
Matt Hetherington is a writer, musician and teacher living in Melbourne. He has published three collections of poetry, the most recent being I Think We Have (Small Change Press, 2007), and he was editor of the haiku/rooku anthology angles of a broken hill (Broken Hill Regional Writers Centre, 2008). He is one of the co-initiators of the Moving Galleries Project, and is also on the board of the Australian Haiku Society Some current inspirations are: Miles Davis, Jellaladin Rumi, and plain old sunshine.
Barry Hill, is an acclaimed writer in several genres, having won Premiers' awards for poetry, the essay, and non-fiction - most recently for Broken Song (2002), which also won the National Biography Award and the Tasmanian-Pacific Bicentenary Prize for History. His short fiction has been widely anthologised, and translated into Japanese and Chinese. His first collection, Raft (1988), was runner-up for the Anne Elder Award, and his second, the long narrative poem Ghosting William Buckley (1993), won the 1994 Victorian Premier's Award. Necessity: Poems 1996-2006 (2007) won the 2008 ACT Judith Wright Prize and As We Draw Ourselves (2008) was short-listed for the 2008 Victorian Premier's Awards. He was also short-listed for the Melbourne Prize for Literature 2009. Four Lines East, published by Whitmore Press in 2009, was his seventh collection of poetry. Between 1998 and 2008 he was poetry editor for The Australian, and at present he is the recipient of an Australia Council Fellowship. His most recent publication is Lines for Birds, collaboration with artist John Wolsley. He lives by the sea in Queenscliff, Victoria, with his wife, the singer-songwriter Rose Bygrave.
Elizabeth Honey is popular, award-winning author of poetry, picture books and novels. Her playful humour, originality and energy strike a chord with children everywhere. Elizabeth is also an artist and she illustrates her own books. Elizabeth's picture books include I'm Still Awake, Still! (with music by Sue Johnson), The Moon in the Man and Not a Nibble, a CBCA Picture Book of the Year. Her novels include 45 & 47 Stella Street and Everything That Happened and Don't Pat the Wombat, and her poetry books are Honey Sandwich and Mongrel Doggerel. Elizabeth's novels are published in the USA, Italy and Germany.
A. Frances Johnson is a writer and artist. She teaches creative writing at the University of Melbourne, and completed her PhD on the representation of Indigenous voices in Australian historical novels (1989-2006). She has been published in various journals and anthologies, including Best Australian Poems 2009 and 2010. Her novel Eugene's Falls (Arcadia, 2007) tells the story of the life of colonial painter Eugene von Guerard. A poetry chapbook, The Pallbearer's Garden, was published by Whitmore Press in 2008, and a full-length collection, The Windup Birdman of Moorabool Street, is forthcoming from Sydney publisher Puncher and Wattmann.
Jackie Kerin is a trained actress and a teacher. These days she is primarily recognised as a storyteller working in the oral tradition. She is a member of the Storytelling Guild of Australia (Victoria). She is also a short story writer. Jackie has won several awards for her storytelling and writing. She is the only person to have won the Pat Glover Memorial Storytelling Prize at the Port Fairy Folk Festival three times. In 2007 she won The Spirit of Woodford Performance Award for Original Stories and Yarns. Her first picture storybook Phar Lap the Wonder Horse (illustrated by Patricia Mullins pub. Museum Victoria) was published in 2008. In 2009 Phar Lap was listed as a Notable Book of non-fiction by the Children's Book Council of Australia. Phar Lap also appeared in the Anthology of Award Winning Australian Writing 2009 along with a short story, 1984, winner of the Ada Cambridge Williamstown Literary Festival Prize 2009. Jackie works throughout the year in kindergartens, schools, libraries, cultural institutions, folk and community festivals and literary festivals. Her repertoire reflects her love of traditional stories from around the world and passion for turning Australian yarns into Tellable Tales. She enjoys collaborating with other storytellers and musicians in creating lively and entertaining story events.Jackie's love of story and story- telling traditions is infectious.
Jamie King-Holden, winner of the 2010 Whitmore Press/Poetry Idol Manuscript Prize, lives in Geelong and studies literature at Deakin University. Her poetry has appeared in Eureka Street, Eklesographia and Verandah. She was shortlisted for the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize in 2010, and co-edits the literary zine Windmills. Whitmore Press published Jamie's debut collection, Chemistry, in February 2011. She is guest emerging writer at the 2011 Mildura Writers Festival
June Loves is the author of over one hundred non-fiction books for both children and adults. Her books have been published nationally and internationally. They include reference, trade non-fiction, children's fiction, non-fiction and academic publications. June's books have been short-listed also prize winners. June's books include her six-title series Shops & Markets, Plants, The Great Outdoor Camping Trip, Elmo's Elephants, Cherry Cheng's Writing Journal - How-to write stuff for English, My Guardian Angel, One Week with my Grandmother, One Wild Weekend with my Grandmother, and One Slow Saturday with my Grandmother.
Cameron Lowe, lives in Geelong, where he was born in 1973. He has studied at Deakin University and The University of Melbourne, and for many years has worked as a plasterer. A chapbook of his poems, Throwing Stones at the Sun, was published by Whitmore Press in 2005, and a full-length collection, Porch Music, was published in late 2010.
Anthony Lynch writes poetry, fiction and reviews. He works as an editor with Deakin University and is the publisher for Whitmore Press, specialising in poetry. His writing has appeared in anthologies and journals in Australia and in the USA and UK, been broadcast on ABC Radio National, and adapted for short film. His collection of short stories, Redfin (Arcadia), was shortlisted in the 2008 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards. A collection of his poetry, Night Train, is forthcoming in 2011 from Clouds of Magellan.
David McCooey's first book of poems, Blister Pack, won the Mary Gilmore Award, and was shortlisted for four other major awards. His poetry chapbook Graphic was published by Whitmore Press in 2010. His poetry, essays and reviews have appeared in numerous books, journals and newspapers. He is the author of a prize-winning critical work (Artful Histories: Modern Australian Autobiography), and he is the deputy general editor of the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature, which won a New South Wales Premier's Literary Award. He is an associate professor at Deakin University in Geelong, where he lives.
Jan McGuinness, is a journalist with over 30 years experience in print and electronic media as former section editor and columnist for daily metropolitan newspapers, Melbourne bureau chief of The Bulletin, producer/reporter ABC TV current affairs, commissioning Editor Arts and Entertainment, ABC TV , corporate media relations.
Hartley Newnham has sung as counter tenor here and abroad for over thirty years, performing and recording with La Romanesca, Nicholas Routley and Ann Murphy. He also is known as a composer of song, a conductor and pianist.
Alice Pung is a Melbourne writer and lawyer. Her bestselling memoir Unpolished Gem received the Australian Book Industry's Newcomer of the Year Award and was short-listed for the Age Book of the Year, the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards and the Book sellers' Choice Awards. In 2008, Alice edited the collection Growing Up Asian in Australia. Alice's next book, Her Father's Daughter, will be published in September 2011. Alice's work has appeared in The Monthly, Good Weekend, the Australian, Age and Meanjin.
Millie Ross is a horticulturist, writer and near obsessive gardener. By day she chats to gardeners around the country as a researcher and writer for the Gardening Australia TV program; by night she gets her fix renovating her own rented garden or preying on those of friends. Millie can often be spotted at the local tip scavenging materials for her next project. She is a regular broadcaster on both community and ABC radio, written for the Organic Gardener Vegie Book and is the Gardening Australia Magazine 'Thrifty Gardener'.
Brendan Ryan grew up on a dairy farm at Panmure in Western Victoria. His first collection of poetry, Why I Am Not a Farmer, was published by Five Islands Press in 2000. His second collection, A Paddock In His Head, was published by Five Islands Press in May 2007. In 2008 Whitmore Press published his poetry chapbook A Tight Circle. A Paddock In His Head was shortlisted for the 2008 ACT Poetry Prize, and the poem, Back Roads, Local Roads was shortlisted for the 2006 A.B.R Poetry prize. He has had poems published in Best Australian Poetry and Best Australian Poems since 2005. He has had poems and essays published in Heat, Island, Meanjin and Sleepers Almanac. He lives in Geelong.
Robert Sessions has been a book publisher for more than forty years, publishing books for adults and children. Whilst he has spent most of this time working for large international companies, he also owned his own small publishing company for a number of years, and was a director of another. He has been with Penguin Books Australia for more than twenty-five years, and was Publishing Director from 1988 to 2011. He is now a Publisher at Penguin, working with a select list of key authors, as well as Chair of the Course Advisory Committee for the Graduate Diploma in Editing and Publishing at RMIT University, and a member of the Board of the Australian Film Institute.
Maria Takolander is the author of a book of poems, Ghostly Subjects (Salt 2009), which was shortlisted for a Queensland Premier's Literary Award in 2010. Her poetry has been widely published, appearing in The Best Australian Poems or The Best Australian Poetry every year since 2005. She has performed her poetry at the Mildura Writers' Weekend and on ABC TV. She is also an award-winning short-story writer, an essayist and a literary critic. She is a senior lecturer in Literary Studies and Creative Writing at Deakin University in Geelong.
Pam Talamanidis. The term 'A la Grecque', meaning 'in the Greek way', conveys perfectly the kind of food Pam and Kosta Talimanidis are famous for: stylish yet homely dishes that look to both sides of the Greek/Turkish divide for inspiration. Clever and understated offerings include ribbons of silverbeet tossed in the pan with roasted walnuts and gorgonzola, which melts over the other ingredients; or fillets of whiting simply dressed with olive oil, dill and lemon sauce, and a tangle of shaved fennel. There's proper taramasalata, salt cod croquettes and other mezze, plus delectable desserts like slowroasted nectarines drizzled with mascarpone or rich chocolate tart. Inspired by Kosta's Greek heritage and by the many years she spent in his home village of Polypetron learning about Greek food and cooking from Kosta's formidable mother Yiayia, Pam has gathered recipes, both traditional and modern, that showcase the simplicity and incredible flavours of the cuisine. This is Greek food at its best, combined with a charming personal narrative and illustrated with spectacular photography of the dishes and the breathtaking coastal surrounds and village life in Greece.
Tom Trumble has lived his whole life in Melbourne, and has made a range of poor career choices involving hospitality, journalism, policy development, data entry, envelope stuffing and book retailing. He has studied music and journalism. Unholy Pilgrims is Tom's first book.
Tony Wilson works as a broadcaster, author and television presenter. He made his name as a keen observer and comic talent on the ABCTV documentary show Race Around the World. More recently, he's been a panellist on The Einstein Factor and a World Cup correspondent for Santo, Sam and Ed's Cup Fever. For six years he co-hosted The Breakfasters program on 3RRR, rising at 5am each day to discuss news, sport, politics, film, television and music. The show's easy banter and humorous off-the-cuff style was perfect training for Tony's MC work, and he has become a popular choice for conferences, panels, festivals and dinners. His polished style has also seen him co-host Jon Faine's Conversation Hour and Lindy Burns's Drive program on ABC Melbourne 774, as well as appearances with Tony Martin on Triple R and 774 as The Two Tones. Tony is a successful author himself. His first novel, Players (Text Publishing, 2005), earned him the accolade of SMH 'Best Young Australian Novelist 2006'. A true satire, Players is a comic novel with a black heart, investigating the very recognisable themes of out-of-control sporting celebrity and the dominating hand of the media. Tony is himself an ex-listed AFL footballer, having spent just a year at Hawthorn in 1992, but now he is equally passionate about round ball football. His 'conversion' was captured in his classic sporting memoir Australia United (GSP, 2006), a hilarious, passionate, and sometimes tear-jerking account of his travels around World Cup, Germany, 2006. His follow up novel, Making News (Murdoch Books, 2010), is about a recently retired Socceroos and Premier League star who is lured into a tabloid generated sex scandal. He's also written five picture books. His latest, The Princess and the Packet of Frozen Peas, was a CBCA Notable Book for 2010.
Adam Zwar is a multi-award-winning actor and writer best known for co-creating the Australian comedy series Lowdown and Wilfred. He appeared in the feature films The Wedding Party, opposite Josh Lawson and Isabelle Lucas, and Rats and Cats, which he co-wrote and starred in. Rats and Cats premiered to sell-out audiences and critical acclaim at the 2006 Melbourne International Film Festival [1] and went on to screen at the SXSW Film Festival in 2009.[2] Since 2006 he has been head writer on the AFI Awards screened on the Nine Network, working alongside hosts Geoffrey Rush and Stephen Curry.[3] Adam's recent acting credits include playing Martin Gero in series one and two of the Network Ten crime drama Rush as well as the SBS series Carla Cametti PD, the ABC telemovie Valentine's Day, and the crime drama Underbelly for Channel Nine. In 2010 he joined the main cast of Foxtel's drama Tangle. Zwar's other screen-acting credits include both series of the Network Ten sketch comedy series The Wedge, Blue Heelers, Stingers, CrashBurn, SeaChange, BackBerner, and MDA. His stage-acting credits include Kissing for Australia, for which he received a Green Room Award nomination, and Cyrano de Bergerac for the Melbourne Theatre Company.[4] He has also written the plays Kissing for Australia, Primrose Hill, The Inner Sanctum, and The Fall and Fall of Jeremy Hawthorn. Currently he is the voice of Australia Post and ISelect. Other commercials he has voiced include the Herald Sun, Honda, HBA, Boag's, and RACV.
Also appearing at the 2011 Festival are some of the talented members of Anglesea Performing Artists and Torquay Theatre Troupe and classical guitarist Rod Tasker
