Bookshop, Library & Festival Events – May 2024

DateHostEvent Details
1st

Readings Books

Anna Downes in conversation with Kate Mildenhall. Downes is back with another spine tingling novelRed River Road (Affirm)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
Yarra Libraries
Author Event: Life Skills for a Broken World with Ahona Guha
Time: 6.30pm Venue: North Fitzroy Library
2nd
Geelong Libraries
Author Talk: Fiona Basile Immerse
Time: 10.30am Venue: Queenscliff Library
Mary Martin BookshopStory time with RWR McDonald Happy Millionth Birthday (Larrikin House)
Time: 11.00am Venue: in store
Farrells Bookshop
Author Event: Garry Disher Sanctuary
Time: 6.30pm Venue: in store, Mornignton
Bayside Libraries
Lisa Medved (The Engravers Secret) in conversation with Katherine Kovacic
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Brighton Library
Readings KidsBook Launch: A Way Home by Emily Brewin (Midnight Sun)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Readings Kids, Carlton
Readings Books
Launch:  Mickey: The Cat Who Helped Me Through Times of Change by Helen Brown
Time: 6.30pm Venue: St. Kilda
Readings BooksStuart Kells (Alice TM) in conversation with Esther Anatolitis (MUP)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
3rd
Nice Stack of BooksAuthor Event: Anne Freeman Me That You See
Time: 7.00pm Venue: Meeinyan Town Hall
Readings BooksBook Launch: Suddenly Single at Sixty by Jo Peck (Text)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: St. Kilda
Mornington Peninsula LibrariesLisa Medved The Engravers Secret
Time: 11am Venue: Mornington Library
Your Library Ltd

Author Talk: Kate Solly Tuesdays with the Copeton Craft Resistance
Time: 2.00pm Venue: Miller’s Homestead
4th

Readings Kids
Book Launch: Saturday is Pancake Day! by Bernadette Green and Daniel Gray-Barnett (Scribe)
Time: 2.00pm Venue: Readings Kids

Jeffreys BooksAuthor Talk: Lisa Medved The Engravers Secret
Time: 2.30pm Venue: in store
Readings BooksBook Launch: Hana by Hana Assafiri (Melbourne Books)
Time: 2.00pm Venue: Church of All Nations
Q.Lit

Free Workshops, In-Conversations and an Evening Showcase in Sale
Time: 10am-4pm Sale Library
Time: 6pm – 10pm: Shirleys Bar and Cafe
5th

Readings Books

Author event with Rachel Matthews, What Does It Mean to be a Mum, author of Never Look Desperate
Time: 6.30pm Venue: St. Kilda
6th
Melbourne Writers ClubWriters Club Meet up with special guest Anne Freeman
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Arbory Bar & Eatery, Flinders Walk
Kingston Libraries
Readers are Writers Workshop with Dr Rachel Mathews – Never Look Desperate
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Cheltenham Library
Northern_Books
Book launch: My Father’s Suitcase by Mary Garden 
Time: 5pm Venue: Buda House, Castlemaine
7th
Geelong Libraries
Julie Goodwin Your Time Starts Now
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Geelong Library & Heritage Centre
8th-12thMelbourne Writers FestivalIn 2024 nearly 100 writers will be welcomed to Melbourne to take part in approximately 50 events for one extraordinary week. 
9th

Readings Books

Book Launch: No Church in the Wild by Murray Middleton, with Miles Allinson (Pan Macmillan)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
Green on Miller
Book reading and signing: Allee Richards A Light In the Dark
Time: 6pm Venue: Green on Miller, Thornbury
Wyndham City Council
Author Talk: Alison Goodman, The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Hoppers Crossing Library
11th
Paperback BookshopSalon Series with Irish author Sinead Gleeson Hagstone (HC)
Time: 4.00pm Venue: Bard’s Apothecary
13th
Geelong Libraries & The BookbirdAuthor Event: Bruce Pascoe & Lyne Harwood Black Duck
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Geelong Library & Heritage Centre
15th

Readings Books

Book Launch: Houdini Unbound by Alan Attwood (Melbourne Books)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: St. Kilda
Readings Books

Book Launch: Girt by Sea by Rebecca Strating and Joanne Wallis (Black Inc)
Time: 7.30pm Venue: Carlton
Port Phillip Libraries
Sam Elkin (Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal Saga) with Jasper Peach
Time: 6.30pm Venue: St. Kilda Library
Northern Books
An evening with Bruce Pascoe and Lyn Harwood Black Duck
Time: 7.00pm Venue: The Phee Broadway Theatre, Castlemaine
16th
Port Melbourne LibraryAuthor Talk: Fiona Basile Immerse
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Port Melbourne Library
Readings Books
Book Launch: Saltblood by Franceca De Tores (Bloomsbury)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
Brunswick Bound BooskhopBook Launch: Peripathetic by Cher Tan (New South Pub)
Time: 6:15pm for a 6:30pm start Venue: Brunswick Artists’ Bar
Yarra Plenty Library

Author talk: Will Kostakis, Michael Earp & Hanna McElhinney
Time: 7.00pm Venue: Eltham Library
Your Library Ltd

Author event with Sam Elkin Detachable Penis: a Queer Legal Saga
Time: 7.00pm Venue: Knox Library
16th-19thFESTIVAL
Lake Macquarie Libraries Write Here Festival
17th

ASA

New York Times best-selling author Kylie Scott appearing for the Ask Me Anything session
Time: 1.00pm Venue: ONLINE
17th-18th



FESTIVAL




Kyogle Writers Festival NSW
The Kyogle Readers and Writers is a community-led organisation that seeks to celebrate the very best of Australian story-telling in an effort to enhance the cultural life of our region by hosting regular events, large and small throughout the year, alongside our writer in residence and annual poetry competition programs. 
17th-19th
Margaret River Readers and Writers FestivalGuests include Holly Ringland, Wendy Harmer, William McInnes, Graham Akhurt, Laurie Steed, Prof AC Grayling, Andrew O’Hagan, Candice Fox, Clementine Ford, Graeme Simsion, Anne Buist, Jelena Dokic, Mark Smith and many more!
17th-19th

FESTIVAL


Write Here, Lake Macquarie, NSW
Write Here is a place for writers and readers to be inspired. Hear tips, tricks and tales from local and visiting authors across three days of workshops, discussions and presentations
18th



Q-Lit Victoria



Victoria’s Queer Festival of Words, City of Casey with Alison Evans, Sam Elkin, Jonathon Butler, Sally Goldner, Timothy Christopher Ryan, Xiaole Zhan, Julie Peters and Yves Rees
Time: 10am – 4.00pm Venue: Bunjil Place Library AND The Old Cheese Factory in the Chapel
Merribek LibrariesAuthor Event: Jasper Peach You’ll Be a Wonderful Parent
time: 2.00pm Venue: Brunswick Town Hall
18th-19th


KidLitVic Vic ONLINE
KidLitVic – Meet the Publishers was established to enable new, emerging and experienced writers and illustrators the opportunity to meet and hear from industry professionals about publishing children’s and YA books in the current Australian market.
20th-26th



FESTIVAL




Sydney Writers Festival NSW
Each year, more than 400 writers take part in over 300 conversations, debates, performances and panel discussions to audiences of more than 80,000.
“Australia’s most beloved celebration of literature, stories and ideas”
21st
Chelsea Library
Author Talk: Fiona Basile Immerse
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Chelsea Library
Melbourne Jewish Book WeekJulian Borger chats with Rachelle Unreich about his memoir I Seek a Kind Person
Time: 7.30pm Venue: Glen Eira City Town Hall
Wheeler Centre & RMIT CultureAuthor Event: Bonnie Garmus Lessons in Chemistry
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Melbourne Town Hall
Readings Books
Poetry Launch: Circadia by Judith Bishop (UQP)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
Mary Martin BookshopMystery Night
Time: 6.15pm Venue: Meet instore String Bean Alley, Melbourne
Merribek LibrariesSam Elkin Detachable Penis: a queer legal saga
Time: 7.00pm Venue: Coburg Library
22nd
Readings Books
Book Launch: For Everything A Time by Mark McAvaney with Louise Milligan (Ultimo)
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Emporium
Eltham Bookshop
Ella Mittas (Ela! Ela!) in conversation
Time: 6.30pm Venue: in store
Book and Paper
Garry Disher Sanctuary in convo with Katherine Collette
Time: 7.00pm Venue: The Eminence Restaurant, Williamstown
Victorian Law Week





Join Sam Elkin, a lawyer and trans masculine writer, at the launch of his new book Detachable Penis: A Queer Legal Saga. You’ll gain insight into practicing LGBTIQA+ specialist law within the trans community, inclusive practice, and the intersection of law and storytelling. The event will feature a keynote from Liz Bennet SC and hosted by historian Dr Yves Rees. Light catering will be provided.
Time: 6:00 pm Venue: Narrm Ngarrgu Library, 141 Therry St. Melb
23rd
Your Library LtdAuthor Talk: Megan Rogers The Heart is a Star
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Bayswater Library
Readings Books
Book Launch: Sugar by Edward Narain and Tarryn Phillips
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
23rd May-June 2ndBOOK FAIR


Melbourne Art Book Fair, NGV: Stall Holder Fair VIC
Melbourne Art Book Fair, NGV: Events

24th
ABDA Awards
ABDA Awards night, with MC Jacinta Parsons
Time: 7.00pm Venue: Craft & Co, Collingwood
25th

Mornington Peninsula Libraries
Author Talk: Fiona Basile Immerse
Time: 11.00am Venue: Mornington Library
Readings Books


Join us to celebrate the double launch of Dark Deeds Down Under 2 and The She Wolf of Baker Street.
Emma Viskic, Robert Gott and Narelle M. Harris with Katherine Kovacoc
Time: 2.00pm Venue: St. Kilda
27th

Readings Books

Ariane Beeston in conversation with Clare Wright, discussing Because I’m Not Myself, You See (Black Inc)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
28th
Readings Books
Jake Adelstein in conversation Tokyo Noir (Scribe)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Cinema Nova
Readings Books
Book Launch: The Desert Knows Her Name by Lia Hills (Affirm)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
Heads and Tales Bookshop, Barwon HeadsAn evening with Annabelle Hickson & Sophie Hansen, in conversation with Jaclyn Crupi
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Barwon Heads Community Hall
29th
Western Port WritesAuthor Talk: Garry Disher, Sanctuary
Time: 10.00am Venue: Tulum Store, Balnarring Beach


Farrells Bookshop
Author Event: Rosie Batty Hope
Time: 6.30pm Venue: The Studio, PCT
Readings Books
Book Launch: Artful Lives by Penny Olsen
Time: 6.30pm Venue: St. Kilda
Readings Books
Book Launch: Smoke by Michael Brissenden (Affirm)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
29th May-June 3rdFESTIVAL


Words on the Waves, Central Coast, NSW
Immerse yourself in a festival of stories and ideas on the scenic Central Coast
30th

Hill of Content

Writers on the Hill with Sophie Hansen, Annabelle Hickson in convo with Jaclyn Crupi
Time: 6.00pm Venue: in store, Bourke Street, Melbourne
Readings Books
Book Launch: Original Twin by Paula Gleeson (Amazon Pub)
Time: 6.00pm Venue: Emporium
Readings Books
Hugh Mackay in conversation to discuss The Way We Are
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Cinema Nova
Readings Books
Book Launch: Into the Mouth of the Wolf by Erin Gough (HG)
Time: 6.30pm Venue: Carlton
Port Phillip LibrariesAuthor Talk: Justine Sless Measured Silk & Other Stories
Time: 7.30pm Venue: St. Kilda Library
30th May-June 2ndFESTIVAL


Brisbane Writers Festival QLD
As Australia’s oldest continuous writers’ festival, BWF has a long and storied history of connecting communities, showcasing creativity and finding just the right words.