Katya Balen’s debut novel for young readers The Space We’re In (Bloomsbury) is an exquisite rendition of a family who, while buffeted by life’s trials, look to each other and the beauty and intricacy of the universe for comfort. Frank lost much of his loving parents’ time and attention when he was five and his […]
Read More The Space We’re In by Katya BalenThe Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story by Bob Graham The Corner of My Eye by Colin Thompson The Book of Stone by Mark Greenwood & Coral Tulloch Nop by Caroline Magerl Bob Graham is undoubtedly one of Australia’s and the world’s best picture book creators. The Underhills: A Tooth Fairy Story is his new companion […]
Read More Tooth Fairies, something lost, surprising stones and a forgotten bearStudents from the Tiwi Islands, eighty kilometres north of Darwin, have collaborated with the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Penguin Random House Australia and co-authors David Lawrence and Shelley Ware to create a new illustrated book, Ngiya Yintanga Japarrika, ‘My Name is Japarrika’. Japarrika means the Storm Bird. It follows the story of Kay-Bell who moves from […]
Read More Ngiya Yintanga Japarrika By Tiwi College Alalinguwi JarrakarlingaI treasure Favel Parrett’s debut novel Past the Shallows and have found There Was Still Love (Hachette Australia) to be similarly gemlike and told with shards of pain and love. It explores three generations of a family living in Prague and Melbourne in a fragmentary and episodic style with several points of view. These all […]
Read More There Was Still Love By Favel ParrettThank you for speaking to PaperbarkWords, Phillip. You are very well known for your YA novel Deadly, Unna? Why do you think this struck such a chord? It certainly has been a popular novel, 250,00 copies sold and still going strong. And now it is being translated into Mandarin. So next year some kid in […]
Read More Phillip Gwynne & The Lords of MelodyAt this year’s Brisbane Writers Festival I was fortunate to moderate the memorable session, People in the Margins. Melina Marchetta, Melanie Cheng and Tony Birch discussed their recent novels The Place on Dalhousie, Room for a Stranger and The White Girl respectively to explore the lives of people living on the margins of society. These […]
Read More Brisbane Writers Festival 2019 Tony Birch, Melina Marchetta & Melanie Cheng‘This Way Humanity’ was the theme of the Brisbane Writers Festival this year. I was honoured to moderate a session, The Incredible Uplift of Compassion, a subject that embodied the theme. Authors on the panel were the venerable Tim Costello, vivacious Chicago-based Marvel writer Eve L. Ewing and Ben Hobson, Brisbane-based author of two recent […]
Read More Brisbane Writers Festival 2019 ‘Compassion’ with Tim Costello, Eve L Ewing & Ben HobsonRogue (Pan Macmillan Australia) continues Hayley’s dystopian story – in a surprising, and very different setting – which began in Hive. Thank you for speaking to PaperbarkWords, A.J. Why have you written a duology? It is unusual to have two books rather than one stand-alone, a trilogy or a longer series. There’s no real reason, […]
Read More A.J. Betts and RogueIzzy Winkle in The Most Ungrateful Girl in the World (Puffin) is not naturally ungrateful but she needs to become so to enter the Most Ungrateful Girl in the World competition. In this book you will meet secret agents, a loyal best friend, mud, mystery and a surprising ending. Thank you for speaking to PaperbarkWords, […]
Read More Petra James & The Most Ungrateful Girl in the WorldTaryn Bashford has now written and published two YA novels, The Harper Effect and The Astrid Notes (Pan Macmillan Australia). Both are gripping and memorable, dealing with situations that are rarely encountered in Australian YA. Thank you for speaking to PaperbarkWords, Taryn. Thank you so much for having me and for your kind words about […]
Read More Taryn Bashford and The Astrid Notes
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