LUNCH with SUSANNAH

'A Feline Affair: Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them’

$77

Popular ArtsNational lecturer and author Susannah Fullerton has agreed to join us for lunch and discuss her latest publication (by the Bodleian Library in Oxford) looking at 17 great writers and their cats, showing how each cat was inspirational in creating poems, novels, short stories, essays, letters and children’s books. Throughout history, famous writers have loved and been inspired by their cats.

At The FISHBAR, Benowa

Wednesday 11^th February 2026 

11:30am to 2pm

Includes a welcome Prosecco, 2x course lunch, tea / coffee. Cash bar.

Lucky Door Prize.

SET MENU CHOICES:

MAIN                    Fresh Barramundi Fillets + lemon butter, beer battered chips, house cabbage salad

                                  BBQ King Prawns + signature sauce, beer battered chips

                                  Eye Fillet + 1000 layer potato, roasted tomatoes, jus

                                  Ricotta and Sage Ravioli + napoli sauce

DESSERT            Vanilla Creme Brulee - velvet French-style with crunchy toffee top + biscotti, fresh strawberries

                                 Chocolate Macadamia Brownie [GF] - house-made brownie + rich salted caramel sauce, vanilla bean ice cream

ABOUT THE BOOK    (Available for purchase - at Lunch and WHEN BOOKING):

'A Feline Affair: Great Writers and the Cats Who Owned Them'

Writers and cats go together beautifully. In the silence of a study, the cat is the perfect companion for an author – it doesn’t need to be taken for walks, yet is there for comfort. Throughout history, famous writers have loved and been inspired by their cats.

This exciting new book, written by popular ArtsNational lecturer Susannah Fullerton and published by the Bodleian Library in Oxford, looks at 17 great writers and their cats, showing how each cat was used in poems, novels, short stories, essays, letters and children’s books, and explaining the special relationship between writer and feline and the joy and ideas the cat provided.

Learn about Dr Johnson’s Hodge. What role did he play in the creation of the first great English dictionary and how did he come to be memorialised in a popular London statue? Robert Southey is best remembered today for a story about a little girl who meets three bears, yet his great passion was not bears, but cats. His pampered Rumpelstilzchen inspired a memoir. Edward Lear, author of The Owl and the Pussycat, was inspired by Foss, his cat with only half a tail. Dickens was more of a dog man, yet was won over by a deaf kitten named Bob. French author Colette had several husbands, but none of them ever mattered as much as her Chartreux cats, and her short story La Chatte reflects that passion. Mark Twain so loved cats that, when he went on holiday, he rented kittens to play with. L.M. Montgomery dedicated a novel to a beloved cat, Sir Winston Churchill claimed that his cat Nelson contributed to the war effort, and macho Ernest Hemingway turned into a total softie when it came to the more than twenty cats who shared his homes. Margaret Mitchell underwent the publicity of the film of Gone with the Wind with Old Timer at her side. Doris Lessing wrote movingly of her disabled cat, and Dame Lynley Dodd was inspired by two family pets when she created the memorable Scarface Claw and Slinky Malinki.

The book also includes fascinating anecdotes about literary cats – in hotels, book shops, theatres, nursery rhymes and stories. This is a book for anyone who loves cats and who also loves great writing.

Contact Organiser for more details.

Location

FISHBAR
Benowa Gardens Shopping Centre, 203 Ashmore Road, Benowa Qld 4217

Contact Event Organiser