City of Onkaparinga Libraries are presenting the free series of author talks, kicking off Friday 29 May, via video conferencing platform Zoom, bringing the conversations to your screens.
Northern Territory-based author Tanya Heaslip is first up on Friday 29 May; followed by 2019 Penguin Literary Prize winner Imbi Neeme on Friday 12 June; prolific international bestselling UK-based author Paige Toon on Monday 29 June; and internationally published bestselling author Josephine Moon on Tuesday 21 July.
Get the low-down on each author, their talk and their latest works below. Registered participants will receive a Zoom link via email on the day of the event to attend the talk online.
An Alice Girl – Tanya Heaslip
When: Friday 29 May, 1pm to 2:30pm, register online
Borrow Tanya’s books at Onkaparinga Libraries
Tanya Heaslip was raised on a remote cattle station north of Alice Springs during the 1960s and 70s so she knows more than many about living in isolation.
Tanya’s first memoir, Alice to Prague, documented her move to the Czech Republic to teach English in the 1990s, four years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and it was published to acclaim in 2019.
Her latest book, An Alice Girl, was published this week by Allen & Unwin. The memoir explores her childhood in the Red Centre, and the positivity, resilience and challenges forged in this isolated setting.
Imbi Neeme
When: Friday 12 June, 2pm to 3:30pm, register online
Borrow Imbi’s book at Onkaparinga Libraries
Debut novelist and accomplished short story writer Imbi Neeme was awarded the 2019 Penguin Literary Prize for her manuscript, The Spill, and it’ll be released by Viking in June.
The book is an exploration of the moments – small and large – upon which our lives can pivot, and it was inspired by an event that happened in Imbi’s childhood:
In 1982, a car overturns on a remote West Australian road. Nobody is hurt, but the impact is felt for decades. For sisters Nicole and Samantha this moment will echo through their lives and continually affect their responses to individual experiences and to each other.
Paige Toon
When: Monday 29 June, 7-8pm, register online
Borrow Paige’s books at Onkaparinga Libraries
Paige Toon has written 14 women’s fiction novels, a three-part spin-off series for young adults and a collection of short stories, with her novels selling 1.5 million copies around the world.
Her latest novel, The Minute I Saw You, has just been released via Penguin and it’s an escapist summer love story between protagonists Hannah and Sonny.
‘Paige Toon is the queen of will-they/won’t-they romance, setting up an ending that will leave you in bits’ SUNDAY EXPRESS
Josephine Moon
When: Tuesday 21 July, 7-8pm, register online
Borrow Josephine’s books at Onkaparinga Libraries
Josephine has long written ‘foodie fiction’ – novels about love and family, but also about the power and the pleasure of gorgeous food.
But it was her latest novel, The Cake Maker’s Wish (out 2 June via Michael Joseph), that turned this foodie fiction author into a real-life foodie – Jo recently came first place for her jam at the Royal Brisbane Show, and second at the Noosa Show for her Persian Love Cake, the recipe for which features in the book.
The Cake Maker’s Wish follows passionate baker Olivia and her little boy Darcy as they uproot their lives to join ‘The Renaissance Project’, an initiative to breathe life back into a dying village in the Cotswalds. Olivia opens a cake shop, and quickly finds herself torn between a new love, and a potential reunion with Darcy’s father.