Books at the Brewery – 2024 Christmas Extravaganza
For those who were lucky enough to join us for the 2023 Books at the Brewery Christmas Extravaganza, you will know that this is a celebration of our literary year, of events that have made us laugh, cry, think a bit harder, ponder and engage with some of the best in the business.
The 2024 Extravaganza promises more of the same as we welcome to The Taproom, bestselling author, Rosalie Ham, local memoirist and legendary costume designer, Tom Robb and a panel of contributors from the music anthology of the year, Spinning Around. That panel will be made up of Kirsten Krauth (Anthology editor), Nathan Curnow, Chris Flynn, Christos Tsiolkas and chaired once again by Angela Savage who is also a contributor. This promises to be a very Kylie Christmas!
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We’ll start a little earlier and finish a little later. There’ll be pizza and drinks aplenty thanks to Shedshaker Brewing and their brand spanking new venue!
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Oh, and your ticket includes a $20 voucher so that you can finish off any last-minute Christmas shopping.
ABOUT OUR GUESTS:
ROSALIE HAM
Rosalie Ham is the author of The Dressmaker, Summer at Mount Hope, There Should be More Dancing, The Year of the Farmer and The Dressmaker's Secret.
Her new book Molly is out 29 October 2024.
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The Dressmaker was brought to life on screen by Jocelyn Moorhouse in 2015 winning five AACTA awards including:
· Best Actress for Kate Winslet
· Best Supporting Actress for Judy Davis and;
· Best Costume for Marion Boyce and Margot Wilson.
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Rosalie was born and raised in Jerilderie, NSW and now lives in Melbourne.
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TOM ROBB
Tom Robb is an Australian costume and set designer, sculptor, artist, entrepreneur, and producer.
Born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, he spent his working life, from 1970-2003 working with Ballet star and choreographer, Luis Moreno as owner and producer of their company, Australian International Entertainment (AIE)
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Together Tom and Luise presented Las Vegas/Moulin Rough style cabarets in more than sixty cities through twenty-one countries and were dubbed the greatest touring shows in the world.
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Tom now lives in retirement in Castlemaine, Central Victoria with his best friend, Possum.
For our SPINNING AROUND panel, we’ll welcome:
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KIRSTEN KRAUTH
Dr Kirsten Krauth is an author and arts journalist, poet and podcaster.
Her novel, Almost a Mirror, was shortlisted for the Small Press Network Book of the Year Award and Penguin Literary Prize, and named in The Guardian’s Best 20 Books of 2020. The novel was developed into a successful podcast and live festival show, exploring ’80s pop and post-punk songs, and went to #1 on the Apple Music Podcast Charts in Australia. Kirsten loves to write poetry and her poem ‘Pencils From Heaven’ was judged runner-up/ highly commended in the 2021 Blake Poetry Prize. Her PhD in Creative Writing was awarded the Stephen Parker Medal for Most Outstanding PhD at the University of Canberra.
Most recently Kirsten has been the commissioning editor on the anthologies, Minds Went Walking (Paul Kelly), Into Your Arms (Nick Cave) and now, Spinning Around (Kylie Minogue) – which are collections of original stories by Australian writers using these musicians and their work as a springboard.
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An 80s tragic, Kirsten once won a dancing competition at Festival Hall in Melbourne that was judged by … Kylie Minogue.
ANGELA SAVAGE
Angela Savage is an award-winning writer, former CEO of Writers Victoria, and current CEO of Public Libraries Victoria. Her debut novel, Behind the Night Bazaar, won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Unpublished Manuscript, and all three of her Jayne Keeney PI novels were shortlisted for Ned Kelly Awards. Angela’s short stories have been published in Australia and the UK and she won the 2011 Scarlet Stiletto Award for short crime fiction. Angela holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Monash University. Her most recent novel, Mother of Pearl, is published by Transit Lounge.
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NATHAN CURNOW
Nathan is an Australian poet and spoken word performer who has had some amazing roller-coaster adventures along the way, like staying overnight at ten haunted sites around the country. The Ghost Poetry Project has featured widely on ABC.
His most recent collection of poetry, A Hill to Die On was launched by Nick Lanyon at Ballarat Civic Hall, with a special-guest appearance by Geoffrey Williams as part of the Ballarat Be Hear Now Festival.
CHRISTOS TSIOLKAS
Christos Tsiolkas is the author of five novels: Loaded, which was made into the feature film Head-On, The Jesus Man and Dead Europe, which won the 2006 Age Fiction Prize and the 2006 Melbourne Best Writing Award. He won Overall Best Book in the Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2009, was shortlisted for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award, longlisted for the 2010 Man Booker Prize and won the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal for his novel, The Slap, which was also announced as the 2009 Australian Booksellers Association and Australian Book Industry Awards Books of the Year. He is also a playwright, essayist and screen writer. His most recent book is The In Between.
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Chris lives in Melbourne.
CHRIS FLYNN
Born in Belfast, CHRIS FLYNN now lives in a small town in regional Victoria.
He has written three novels, a collection of short stories, and three books for children.
His work has appeared in The Guardian, The Age, The Australian, Griffith Review, Monster Children, McSweeney's, The Paris Review and many other publications. His books have been shortlisted for and won prizes such as the Commonwealth Prize, Indie Book Award, Russell Prize for Humour, Aurealis Award and Queensland Premier's Literary Award.
Media sources have compared his writing to that of Salvador Dali, Etgar Keret, Kurt Vonnegut, Jorge Luis Borges, Aesop, Irvine Welsh, Elizabeth Gilbert, Thea Astley, Italo Calvino, Roald Dahl and Edgar Allen Poe.
Chris's next novel will be released in April 2025, through Hachette Australia.
Date: Wednesday December 18 2024
Time: 5 00pm for a 5 30pm start and 8 30pm finish (including signing)
Venue: Shedshaker Brewery, 9 Walker Street, Castlemaine 3450
Cost: $35
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