Fullers Bookshop
Tasmania's leading booksellers, and Australia's oldest independent bookshop. We run a very busy events program, with upwards of 50 launches, author talks and panel discussions each year.
Tunapri Lutruwita - True Names for Country Map
Thursday 2 July 2026
A Tasmanian Aboriginal-led palawa kani map to launch in the lead up to NAIDOC Week 2026; a two-year collaboration bringing language, Country, and illustration together.
This new printed map of palawa kani place names across Lutruwita / Tasmania, created by Nunami Sculthorpe-Green and illustrated by Joshua Santospirito, will officially launch in the lead up to NAIDOC Week 2026 at Fullers Bookshop.
Titled ‘Tunapri Lutruwita – True Names for Country’, the map is a 100% Tasmanian Aboriginal-owned project that centres palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
The work brings together language, illustration, and cultural practice into a resource designed to support learning and deeper engagement with Country.
The release marks a continuation of Sculthorpe-Green’s work across writing, art, and Blak-led tourism, extending her work in public education and cultural practice into a tangible resource grounded in Country and language.
Illustrator Joshua Santospirito, known for his graphic novels, has hand-drawn the landscape that features illustrated depictions of flora, fauna, and natural features specific to Lutruwita. The visual storytelling reinforces the relationship between language, people, and Country
Tunapri Lutruwita does not translate palawa kani into English. Instead, it invites audiences to encounter place names on their own terms. Hopefully encouraging a decolonised understanding of Country.
Originally initiated in 2023, the project had its first iteration as a public exhibition at Moonah Arts Centre, where an interactive version of the map invited community members to fill in the palawa kani place names as part of a language lesson. This community-centred approach continues to underpin the final release.
In recognition of the ongoing work of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre in reviving and maintaining palawa kani, five percent of all profits from the map will be donated to the organisation’s campaign fund. The project also directs audiences to the Centre’s digital language resources for pronunciation guidance and appropriate language use. All language has been shared in accordance with the palawa kani language use policy.
Join Nunami and Joshua at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Festival of Voices Pop-Up | Cooee
Friday 3 July 2026
The NSW Choir Cooee will join us at Fullers Bookshop for a pop-up performance during the Festival of Voices!
This is a free event, all welcome.
Fullers Bookshop
Hobart Silent Book Club | July
Friday 3 July 2026
The first Silent Book Club started in a local bar in San Francisco in 2012 by a couple of friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich. There are now Silent Book Club chapters all over the world.
There are no ‘reading books’ prescribed: you simply bring a book you are reading, or want to read, and then have an hour of uninterrupted reading time. There is no requirement for you to discuss your book with anyone either.
Created for introverts, there is no pressure to speak, converse, or cringe through awkward small talk. Engage as much or as little as you like.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join.
The Hobart Silent Book Club meets on the first Friday of each month at Fullers in the Afterword Cafe. Reading begins at 5.30pm and finishes at 6.30pm. You are welcome to come at 5.00pm and grab a coffee beforehand.
This is a free event.
Contact: hobartsilentbookclub@gmail.com
Fullers Bookshop
Contaminated Country: In Conversation with Jessica Urwin
Wednesday 8 July 2026
Analyses environmental injustice, Indigenous land rights and Australia's nuclear history
During the twentieth century Australia was embroiled in the military and civilian nuclear programs of numerous global powers. From uranium extraction to weapons testing, Australia's lands became sites of imperial exploitation under the guise of national development and was subject to rampant nuclear colonialism. Aboriginal communities, bearing the brunt of these processes, persistently resisted, reclaiming their rights to Country and demanding reparations.
As Jessica Urwin shows, extraction, testing and waste disposal have caused incalculable physical, spiritual, and cultural harm to Aboriginal communities and lands. Tracking the colonial mechanisms Australia used to pursue nuclear industry, Urwin simultaneously highlights how Aboriginal peoples rejected and reshaped those same mechanisms. Contaminated Country reveals how Australia's nuclear past has been entangled with colonialism locally, nationally, and internationally.
Jessica Urwin is a Lecturer in Environmental History at the University of Tasmania interested in the intersections between nuclear processes, environmental (in)justice and colonialism. She has published in several leading history journals and her work has received numerous awards, including the American Society for Environmental History's Rachel Carson Prize, Australian National University's John Molony Prize for History, and Australian Academy of Science's Moran Award for History of Science Research.
Dr. Tilman Ruff is a public health and infectious diseases physician, was Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW, Nobel Peace Prize 1985) from 2012 to 2023, and is a current board member. He has been active in the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) (MAPW) since 1982 and is a past national President and current International Councillor. From 2005, he was a co-founder and founding chair of the governing bodies of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), an initiative of IPPNW and MAPW. In 2017, ICAN became the first Australian-born Nobel Peace Laureate "for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons". The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), negotiated at the UN that year, entered into legal force in 2021 and now includes over half the world's nations. He is a member of the TPNW Scientific Network.
Join Jessica and Tilman at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Festival of Voices Pop-Up | Three Bags Full
Thursday 9 July 2026
The VIC Choir Three Bags Full will join us at Fullers Bookshop for a pop-up performance during the Festival of Voices!
This is a free event, all welcome.
Fullers Bookshop
Style as Vision: On Translating Proust | With Brian Nelson
Thursday 9 July 2026
The task of the translator is to capture a writer’s style and the ways in which that style expresses meaning. If you don’t get the style, you miss the vision. Literary translation is intrinsically a form of close reading and critical interpretation. Brian Nelson's aim in this talk is to bring out the inseparability of translation and criticism, with reference to his experience as general editor (with Adam Watt) of the new, seven-volume Oxford World's Classics edition of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time (2023–27) and translator of three of those volumes: The Swann Way, The Fugitive, and Time Regained. His discussion of issues involved in literary translation will necessarily involve an evocation of essential features of Proust's writing.
Brian Nelson is Emeritus Professor of French at Monash University, Melbourne, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. His publications include The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature, The Cambridge Companion to Zola, Zola: A Very Short Introduction, Zola and the Bourgeoisie, and translations of Zola's Germinal,The Assommoir, The Fortune of the Rougons, The Belly of Paris, The Kill, Pot Luck, The Ladies’ Paradise, His Excellency Eugène Rougon, and Earth (with Julie Rose) for Oxford World’s Classics. He is the general editor (with Adam Watt) of the new Oxford World’s Classics edition of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time.
Join Brian at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Furnishing Van Diemen's Land
Wednesday 15 July 2026
This beautifully illustrated book is the first publication dedicated solely to Tasmanian-made furniture of the early colonial period.
Furnishing Van Diemen’s Land tells the story of how British design traditions were translated to the conditions of a new land by skilled furniture-makers, some of whom who arrived as convicts and others as free settlers. The island’s booming economy and high immigration in the first half of the century created a strong demand for locally made furniture.
The book explores Tasmania’s rich legacy of late Georgian, Regency and early Victorian furniture, characterised by restrained design, fine craftsmanship and beautiful ornamental timbers, including the island’s famed endemic species, Huon pine, blackwood and musk. It showcases pieces from the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection, Government House Tasmania, and from collections held around Australia.
Featuring stunning photography and expert insights, Furnishing Van Diemen’s Land is an essential for collectors, historians and design enthusiasts.
Peter Hughes is Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, a position he has held for more than two decades. Educated in Sydney, Hobart, and Canberra, his training uniquely combines art practice and history, cultural theory, and furniture making. His research focuses on the social and technological revolutions of the nineteenth century, particularly their impact on design and the emergence of consumer culture. Peter is also deeply interested in the complexities and paradoxes of identity in colonial societies, as expressed through material culture.
In conversation with Peter is James Boyce. James is a multi-award-winning historian. His first book, Van Diemen’s Land, was described by Richard Flanagan as ‘the most significant colonial history since The Fatal Shore’. He is also the editor of Inga Clendinnen and the author of Losing Streak, Born Bad, Imperial Mud and 1835, which was The Age’s 2012 Book of the Year.
Join Peter and James at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
The Scam Self-Defence handbook | The Everyday Technologist
Thursday 16 July 2026
Scams are no longer a tech problem. They are an everyday life problem.
This short, practical handbook is designed to be:
- Read in an afternoon
- Kept on a shelf, not buried online
The Scam Self‑Defence Handbook does not try to turn anyone into a tech expert. It helps everyday people recognise danger early, slow down, and make safer decisions when it matters most.
Inside you will find:
- The most common scam approaches, explained in plain language
- Do / Don't skill tips for a clear decision-making framework
- Background on how scams work and how you can support yourself, your family and your community.
Kevin O’Flaherty is the Everyday Technologist. For nearly three decades, Kevin has worked across Ireland, the UK, and Tasmania in roles ranging from government IT leadership to Microsoft’s Account Manager for the state. While his career has been in technology, Kevin’s real motivation has always been people. He focuses on demystifying technology and helping everyday Tasmanians feel safer, more capable, and more in control online.
Join Kevin at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
The Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History
Friday 17 July 2026
Join Fullers Bookshop for a special evening celebrating the best in recent Tasmanian historical writing. The three shortlisted authors for the prestigious biennial Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History, Stefan Petrow, Angela Baker, and Alistair Scott, will be in conversation with award judge Alessandro Antonello from the University of Tasmania, discussing their research, writing journeys, and the stories that have shaped our understanding of Tasmania’s past.
This event offers readers the opportunity to hear directly from the authors shortlisted in one of Australia’s premier awards for historical research and writing, gain insight into the craft of historical scholarship, and explore the enduring relevance of history and historical fiction in contemporary life.
The evening will conclude with the announcement of the winner of the 2026 Dick and Joan Green Family Award for Tasmanian History.
Alistair Scott was born and raised in northern lutruwita/Tasmania. In 2022, he gained a PHD at the University of Tasmania after completing a thesis on the life courses of the male juvenile convicts held at the Point Puer Boys establishment near Port Arthur between 1834 and 1849. Alistair is currently a director of National Trust Tasmania.
Stefan Petrow is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Tasmania and has been acclaimed for his research on many aspects of Tasmanian history.
Angela Baker is a Tasmanian writer with a special interest in the people, places, past and present of the island. Her first historical fiction novel, Umarrah & George, was released by Forty South Publishing in November 2024.
Join us at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Seasonal Poets | Winter
Monday 20 July 2026
We invite you to a special Winter Seasonal Poets event on Monday 20th July, 5.30-7pm at Fullers Bookshop. We’re offering something a bit different ‒ where the Festival of Voices has the Big Sing, we’re having the Big Conversation.
We’re inviting 6 poets to the Fullers fireside. Each of them will give us a glimpse into the conversations they have with particular poems. Each will read just two poems ‒ one that they’ve conversed with and one of their own which connects to that poem.
So who will be conversing?
Anne Kellas writes award-winning poems that range ethereally and exquisitely through mother-grief to red angels. They have the elegance and tensile strength of steel bridges ‒ as well as the capacity to transport us.
Alex McKeown has his debut collection, We Leave Gaps, out now with Walleah Press. Exciting ‒ Alex writes as readily in Urdu as in German or French or computer languages. He frequently and dexterously uses constrained writing techniques from other traditions.
Garth Madsen spent much of his wild youth working, bush-walking and hitch-hiking on the west coast of Tasmania. He’s published 4 books of poetry one of which, Thirteen Jesuses, was produced as a radio show for the ABC in 2007.
Ivy Alvarez writes and performs electric poetry which makes you sit up and rearrange your thinking ‒ especially about traditional sayings from the Philippines. Her most recent poetry collection is the powerful Disturbance (Seren Books). She works at Fullers.
Pam Schindler migrated from Brisbane to Blackmans Bay where she revels in the sea, clouds, trees and birds. Her 2nd book, say, a river, won the Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry in 2025. This May she was selected to take up a residency in a Tuscan village. Conversazione?
Ross Coward hales from Devonport (Tas). He had a 30 year gig as a professional cloud-watcher as your local Weather Man. Has that led to conversations with clouds and other natural phenomena through haiku and other forms of poetry, perhaps?
Join us at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Musquito | In Conversation with Naomi Parry Duncan
Thursday 23 July 2026
Naomi Parry Duncan has uncovered the dramatic and tragic story of one of the better known First Nations resistance warriors of the early colonies. Then she discovered uncanny connections with her own convict ancestors.
A vivid, compelling portrait of the intertwined lives of Aboriginal people and new arrivals in the fledgling colonies.
Musquito was just a boy when a convoy of eleven British ships assembled in the waters of Port Jackson in January 1788. Seventeen years later, he was a warrior fighting for Country west of Sydney, hunted by white colonists.
Exiled, in Van Diemen's Land he joined with local Aboriginal people as they began the resistance that ignited the colonists' Black War. Wrongly accused of being the ringleader, he was executed in 1825.
Musquito is one of the better known First Nations resistance fighters but even while he was alive, his story was shrouded in misinformation and myth. Historian Naomi Parry Duncan has uncovered the real story of this remarkable man. Searching the archives for evidence, she realised the lives of convicts in her family tree intersected with Musquito in disturbing ways.
Naomi Parry Duncan is a historian specialising in First Nations history and family history. She grew up in Tasmania and now lives in the Blue Mountains, NSW. She is president of the History Council of NSW, holds adjunct positions at the Universities of Tasmania and Western Sydney, and is senior research officer with the Indigenous Land and Justice Research Group at the University of NSW. She is co-author of New South Wales and the Great War, and winner of the 2022 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship.
Naomi will be in conversation with Lucy Christopher. Lucy is an award-winning, best-selling author for young adults, children, and adults, with wide readership; her books are published in over 20 countries, selling over 250,000 copies. She has won many international awards, including the Printz Honor Award, Branford Boase, Prix Farniente, Golden Inky, and an International Reading Association Award. Release, her debut psychological thriller for adults, was shortlisted for a Davitt award and is currently in development for a TV series.
Join Naomi and Lucy at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Remotely Lit Podcast Launch | With Liz Evans
Friday 24 July 2026
Remotely Lit is a new podcast from writer and Faber Academy tutor, Liz Evans, exploring and celebrating the extraordinary literary scene of lutruwita/Tasmania. Delving into a wide range of issues including writers' festivals, literary prizes, the challenges of nature writing, AI, independent bookshops, nipaluna/Hobart's UNESCO City of Literature designation, Palawa language and story traditions, and reading and writing for migrant communities, the show features in-depth interviews, themed discussions and book recommendations. Guests include Charlotte Wood, the Woman Booker Prize trio, Jane Rawson, Johanna Bell, Katherine Johnson, Theresa Sainty, Aimen Jafri, Rebecca Armitage, and Alex Okenyo among others, while Kate Kruimink joins Liz for a topical chat each episode.
Remotely Lit has been created with the support of Arts Tasmania.
Liz will be speaking with some of the guests from the podcast, including: Kate Kruimink, Rebecca Armitage, Theresa Sainty, and Megan Tighe.
Liz Evans is a British journalist, author, former psychotherapist and academic with a PhD in Creative Writing. Currently based on unceded melukerdee land in lutruwita/Tasmania, she has written for the NME, The Guardian, New Statesman, Elle, Dumbo Feather, Lunch Lady, Island Magazine, Womankind and The Conversation, among many others. She has been awarded two Varuna Residential Fellowships and the Katharine Susannah Prichard Fellowship, as well as an Arts Tasmania grant for an Education Residency. Catherine Wheel is Liz's debut novel.
Kate Kruimink is a writer from southern Lutruwita. Her first novel, A Treacherous Country, won the 2020 Vogel/Australian's Literary Award. It was shortlisted in the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction and longlisted in the UK for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In 2021, she was one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Novelists. Kate also writes short stories and essays, which have been published widely. Heartsease is her second novel.
As an ABC journalist, Rebecca Armitage has reported extensively on the royals and became fascinated by Harry and Meghan when they chose to step away from the royal family. She is the digital editor for the ABC's International Desk. She was previously a multiplatform producer with the ABC's Specialist Reporting Team and a producer at 7.30. She lives in Tasmania with her husband. The Heir Apparent is her first novel. It has been published in the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy. It was named as the December 2025 pick for Reese Witherspoon's Book Club.
Theresa is a pakana woman from the Northeast Coast of lutruwita/ Tasmania who is passionate about Aboriginal language, culture and heritage. She is an experienced and highly skilled consultant with a history in Government, program evaluation, curriculum development, and public speaking. Theresa is currently a Senior Indigenous Scholar with UTAS, undertaking a PhD which is a continuation of her decades long research (which began in 1997) as Aboriginal Linguistic Consultant with the palawa kani Language Program.
Megan Tighe is a policy analyst, failed PhD student, proud Tasmanian, keen cook and avid reader. Most importantly, she's a member of the Woman Booker Prize Club with several other (originally) local women who have become close friends over many years of book clubbing. The WBPC is an enthusiastic supporter of Tasmania's literary scene via their Instagram @thewomanbookerprizeclub, and 'Tassie Book Club' reviews in The Hobart + Launceston Magazine.
Join Liz, Kate, Rebecca, Theresa, and Megan at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
The Mary Poems | Irene Wettenhall in Conversation
Sunday 26 July 2026
The Mary Poems, by Tasmanian-born poet Irene Wettenhall, explores critical junctures in the life of her ancestor, Mary Burgess Wettenhall (1809-1896). Mary emigrated from Cornwall to Van Diemen’s Land in 1835 with her husband, Lieutenant Robert Wettenhall (1793-1877). Robert had been laid off from the Royal Navy on half pay in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. Their attempts at farming southeast of Hobart failed with the severe economic recession of the 1840s. A brief stint as lighthouse keeper on Swan Island also failed. Thereafter, they struggled to survive and educate their eight children. Robert became increasingly embittered while Mary faced their circumstances with fortitude. The poems are documentary poetry, based on historical sources transformed by poetic imagination, in the way defined by the acclaimed Australian poet, Jordie Albiston.
A seventh-generation Tasmanian, Irene Wettenhall was born in Nipaluna-Hobart in 1957 and attended The Friends’ School. She graduated with First Class Honours in History from the University of Adelaide. After a career of four decades working in international development, Irene now lives in Canberra but still strongly identifies as a Tasmanian. Irene and her sister Lynn have recently edited their mother Lois Calvert’s memoirs of 19th and 20th century Tasmania and Norfolk Island for publication at www.loiscalvertmemoirs.com.au
In conversation with Irene will be historian Alison Alexander. Alison Alexander is a leading and prize-winning Australian historian whose distinguished works include Corruption and Skullduggery (2015; republished by EER, 2024) and Land of Rogues & Scoundrels (EER, 2025).
Fullers Bookshop
Rich Kid, Poor Kid: The Battle for Public Education
Thursday 30 July 2026
For decades, Australia has been pumping money into private education while public schools struggle. Whether it’s crumbling classrooms, overworked teachers or cuts to music and STEM programs, the system is reaching breaking point. At the same time, with higher rates of private school attendance and the marketisation of education, parents have increased anxiety when faced with the decision of where to send their child. The current system contributes to greater inequity, decreased integration of different communities and even traffic jams as parents are more likely to drive their kids to a private school further from their house.
How did we get here?
Jane Caro walks through the decades of policy decisions that have created this situation and identifies the choices that have created the current education crisis. With her trademark no-nonsense analysis and drawing from her personal experiences, Caro lays out the steps that brought us to this point and what Australia can do to get a public education system worthy of such a wealthy country.
Jane Caro AM. Walkley award winning columnist, author, novelist & social commentator. She occasionally appears on TV, regularly on radio, makes a lot of speeches and writes often in SMH, Age, The Saturday Paper. She is on the board of the Public Education Foundation. She was awarded the B&T Women in Media Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023. She is a feminist and an advocate for public education. She’s written 14 books, including The Stupid Country. How Australia is Dismantling Public Education and What Makes a Good School both co-authored with Chris Bonnor. Her two latest novels the Mother and Lyrebird are best sellers.
Jane will be in conversation with Leanne Minshull. Leanne is the co-Chief Executive Officer of The Australia Institute. Formerly the Institute’s Strategy Director, Leanne has built an extensive network across political, advocacy, and business communities, working as a senior strategist in social, environmental, not-for-profit, and political sectors. Leanne was admitted to practice as a solicitor in NSW and holds degrees in politics, industrial relations and law.
Join Jane and Leanne at the Afterword cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Mine | In conversation with Adam Ouston
Friday 31 July 2026
While searching for inspiration for what will be his final work, an unnamed poet and defender of Tasmania's wild places finds himself trapped down an abandoned mine in the island's mountain rainforests. In the darkness he is visited by memories and voices both from his own past as well as the tortured history of the pillaged landscape to which he has devoted his life and work.
Lost in a fever dream, in a single sentence that carries the reader effortlessly along, the poet journeys through a kaleidoscope of Tasmanian history, mining lore, hauntology, poetry, rain and rainbow trout, drilling deep into the contemporaneous horrors of the North Mount Lyell disaster and Mawson's expedition becoming trapped in Antarctic pack ice.
An unparalleled reading experience, Mine is at once wondrous, terrifying and haunting; a story of environmental vandalism and exploitation as well as a luminous paean to the beauty which persists in a world spinning out of control.
Adam Ouston’s debut novel Waypoints was listed for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the ALS Gold Medal, and the Tasmanian Literary Prize for Fiction. He lives in Lutruwita/Tasmania. Mine is his second novel.
Adam will be in conversation with Beejay Silcox. Beejay is an essayist and literary critic. Her literary criticism and cultural commentary regularly appears in national arts publications, and is increasingly finding an international audience, including in the Times Literary Supplement, The Guardian and The New York Times. Her award-winning short stories have been published at home and abroad, and have been selected for a number of Australian anthologies.
Join Adam and Beejay at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Worry Doll |Laura McPhee-Browne in Conversation
Friday 7 August 2026
From the author of the acclaimed Cherry Beach comes a thrilling exploration of love and desire — obsessive, all-consuming, and impossible to look away from.
On an ordinary day, two women meet on a train.
Heloise — the older woman — lives with her boyfriend in Melbourne.
Lacey — the other woman — is from Aotearoa and studies the clouds.
What follows is anything but ordinary, a passionate affair that will consume them both in mismatched and maddening ways.
Propulsive and lyrical, Worry Doll examines desire, memory, and the delusion of love.
Laura McPhee-Browne is a writer, social worker, and counsellor living in Melbourne on Wurundjeri land. Her short stories have been published widely in Australia. Her first two novels, Cherry Beach (2020) and Little Plum (2023), were published with Text Publishing to critical acclaim.
In conversation with Laura is Keely Jobe. Keely is a writer of fiction and nonfiction living on the east coast of Lutruwita/Tasmania with her partner and two staffies. Her work has appeared in The Monthly, Island Magazine, Australian Geographic, and Cosmos. She has a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of Tasmania and is the nonfiction editor at Island Magazine. The Endling is her first novel.
Join Laura and Keely at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Survival in the Sublime | Fullers x Beaker Street Panel
Wednesday 12 August 2026
Fullers are delighted to collaborate with Beaker Street Festival to bring you a stellar line-up for a discussion surrounding Tasmanian nature and wilderness safety. What better way to learn more about how we can explore our magnificent back yard here in lutruwita, than from those who have braced storms, climbed mountain peaks, surfed some of the world's greatest waves, and documented their whole adventures for us? Most of us love to venture outdoors when opportunity strikes, but Tasmania's unpredictable and often ferocious weather can make it not only daunting, but a task to stay safe.
Paul, Piia, Adam and Marti will be chatting to Peter Marmion on their greatest explorations, closest near-misses with nature, research into local wilderness, and how we can respect the surroundings in which we seek adventure. There will be an audience Q&A followed by book sellings and signings.
Paul Helleman is the author of Fullers best-seller What Could Possibly Go Wrong. His forty-year career with Parks and Wildlife Tasmania has given him a unique perspective when capturing these true tales of tragedy in the Tasmanian bush. Adam Ouston is the director of Evercreech Editions and will be discussing his new novel Mine, in which a poet and defender of Tasmanian wilderness finds himself trapped down a mineshaft in the north-west mountain rainforest. Marti Paradisis is a Tasmanian big-wave surfer and the author of When the Ocean Awakens, an anthology of first-hand stories from surfers pursuing some of the most remote and treacherous waves on the planet. Piia Wirsu is an ABC reporter and author of Back From the Dead, narrating the story of the Blythe Star, a ship that left Hobart and sank off of the Tasmanian coastline in 1973. Peter Marmion is a Tasmanian adventure guide, naturalist, conservationist and author of Hidden Worlds, a photographic portrait of his fifty years of experience, research and adventure in this beguiling World Heritage area.
Join us at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Hobart Silent Book Club | August
Friday 14 August 2026
The first Silent Book Club started in a local bar in San Francisco in 2012 by a couple of friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich. There are now Silent Book Club chapters all over the world.
There are no ‘reading books’ prescribed: you simply bring a book you are reading, or want to read, and then have an hour of uninterrupted reading time. There is no requirement for you to discuss your book with anyone either.
Created for introverts, there is no pressure to speak, converse, or cringe through awkward small talk. Engage as much or as little as you like.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join.
The Hobart Silent Book Club meets on the first Friday of each month at Fullers in the Afterword Cafe. Reading begins at 5.30pm and finishes at 6.30pm. You are welcome to come at 5.00pm and grab a coffee beforehand.
This is a free event.
Contact: hobartsilentbookclub@gmail.com
Fullers Bookshop
Big Little Truths | In Conversation with Liane Moriarty
Thursday 27 August 2026
After all their big little lies, what happens next?
The gang is back.
Madeline is planning her 50th birthday party.
Jane is happily married to Tom (isn't she?).
Celeste is haunted by memories of her dead husband, and troubled by her very alive mother-in-law.
The kids are no longer kids.
And things are falling apart . . .
It's been ten years since Perry Wright fell from a balcony at the Pirriwee High trivia night but best friends Madeline, Celeste and Jane are still shadowed by his death.
When an anonymous package containing a severed finger arrives at the school, and a man in a green Volvo is seen lurking around the kids, everyone is uneasy.
Is the finger pointing to a mystery, or even murder?
A lie masquerading as the truth?
Or a secret about to blow up their lives?
What is clear is that the truth will always hurt someone.
Liane Moriarty is the author of ten internationally bestselling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist's Love Story, The Husband's Secret, Big Little Lies, Truly Madly Guilty, Nine Perfect Strangers, Apples Never Fall and Here One Moment. Her books have sold more than twenty million copies worldwide, including four million in Australia and New Zealand.
In conversation with Liane is Danielle Wood. Also known as Minnie Darke, Danielle is the author of the bestselling novel Star-crossed, winner of the Margaret Scott People's Choice Award, and which has now been published in over 30 countries. She is also the author of The Lost Love Song and With Love from Wish & Co. She lives in Tasmania with her husband and family.
Join Liane and Danielle at Hobart Town Hall.
Hobart Town Hall
The World Beneath Her Feet | Holly Ringland in Conversation
Saturday 26 September 2026
In her late thirties, Maggie Byrd lives a charmed life in London. She works with fossils and gems at the Natural History Museum and shares a home with the two people she loves most: her best friend, Harriet, and her partner, Joe. However, beneath this carefully constructed façade lies a past Maggie buried deep inside herself and resolved never to unearth: the story of a guilt-ridden, heartbroken girl who left Australia in her early twenties and swore never to return. But when she learns that she's inherited her beloved uncle's rewilded land in a lush valley of southeast Queensland, Maggie's London life begins to fracture.
In the nineties, this wild, vivid place shaped Maggie when she was an angry, lost teenager. It was her home and sanctuary, where she experienced the intoxicating powers and limitations of friendship, first love, desire and loyalty – until she betrayed everyone she loved there and fled. When the same land that Maggie turned her back on comes into her care, she is forced to face what we all cannot bury, abandon or forget.
From the international bestselling author of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding comes a luminous, deeply emotional and utterly absorbing novel about belonging, memory and the loves and landscapes that make us – and what it takes to come home to ourselves and each other. The World Beneath Her Feet is immersive Australian storytelling at its finest.
Holly Ringland is the author of two internationally best-selling and multi-award-winning novels, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart and The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, and one nationally bestselling work of non-fiction, The House That Joy Built. She writes a beloved and bestselling Substack, The Joy Rise, on the intersection of creativity and connection. Her books have sold more than 600,000 copies globally and have been published in over thirty international territories. In 2021, Holly made her TV debut co-hosting the ABC TV factual series Back to Nature, which aired in prime time and to critical acclaim. In 2023, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart was adapted into an award-winning seven-part series starring Sigourney Weaver.
In conversation with Holly is the wonderful Meg Bignell. Meg was a nurse and a weather presenter on the telly before she surrendered to a persistent desire to write. She is the author of four novels and one non-fiction book. Her third novel, The Angry Women’s Choir, won the People’s Choice Award for fiction at the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Awards. She has written and performed in short films, cabaret shows and a musical. She lives on the east coast of Tasmania with her husband, three children, one dog and about a thousand cows.
Join Holly and Meg at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Rite of Spring | Kris Kneen in Conversation
Thursday 25 June 2026
‘And here you are. You, who might feel the itch of an uncomfortable identity hanging heavy on your shoulders like a hair shirt. It is you I sing to. You who are tempted by the possibility of something more.’
In the hope of salvaging their relationship, Miranda and Richard become caretakers of a remote island lighthouse off the coast of Tasmania. Richard wants to shake up the malaise that had him falling into an affair, Miranda wants to understand what has changed and to recover from a diving accident that almost took her life. Both are excited about the renewal and adventure that the mysterious lighthouse promises. But what begins as a reuniting, quickly turns for Miranda in to an untamed journey back to the ocean that swirls at the core of her being.
Few write so vividly about bodily intimacy and spirit as Kneen. Rite of Spring beautifully fuses place, psychological drama, the primordial nature of the ocean and the personal search for a centre. It is a mind-blowing novel about a woman on the cusp of menopause that transcends our expectations about who and what we can be.
Kris Kneen is the award-winning author of memoir—Affection—and fiction: An Uncertain Grace, Steeplechase, Triptych, The Adventures of Holly White and the Incredible Sex Machine, Wintering, as well as the Thomas Shapcott Award-winning poetry collection Eating My Grandmother. They have written and directed broadcast documentaries for SBS and ABC Television. Rite of Spring is their latest book.
Kris will be in conversation with Rachel Edwards. Rachel is a former editor of Island Magazine, and was a senior producer for ABC local radio. She is currently the Events Coordinator at the State Library and Archives Tasmania.
Join Kris and Rachel at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Crip Stories: An Anthology of Disabled Writers
Thursday 18 June 2026
The word crip was once used to discriminate. Today, it is reclaimed and celebrated.
Crip Stories is a gathering of vibrant and diverse experiences from disabled people. Bringing together memoir, essays and poetry, these writers explore creativity, care, rage and refusal. Together, they offer a celebration of disability pride and community.
Michelle Cahill will introduce the event with one of the anthology editors, Laura Pettenuzzo, who is also a disability advocate and prize winning writer. There will be readings by the Tasmanian writers from the book: Priya Gore Johnson, Sam Hamad, Joey Harper, and Rosie Putland.
Michelle Cahill is a prize-winning Australian novelist and poet. She was the Red Room Poetry Fellow in 2020. Her most recent book Daisy & Woolf was longlisted in the Voss Literary Prize and ALS Gold Medal. Her short fictions Letter to Pessoa won the NSW Premier's Literary Award for New Writing and will be published in India this year. She was a Hedberg Writer-in-Residence at the University of Tasmania.
Laura Pettenuzzo (she/her) is a disabled writer, speaker and accessible communications professional living on Wurundjeri land. Her work explores disability pride, systemic and internalised ableism as well as the power of self-acceptance. Her reviews, memoir and opinion pieces have been published in places such as Griffith Review, Archer Magazine, Meanjin and The Age.
Join these incredible authors at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Enspiralled | In Conversation with Moran Wiesel
Sunday 14 June 2026
Enspiralled - a soul’s breath sparkles with an earthly mysticism. This poetry collection is a pilgrimage through the moss whispers and myrtle spirits of Lutruwita/Tasmania and Patagonia de Chile, as Moran follows the yearning of an infinite soul to find home here, amongst this exact moment. These are the kind of poems which beg us to sing to mountains, pray to stars, and to remember.
Moran Wiesel is a poet, storyteller, and eco-somatic counsellor. They’ve performed in forests, caves, and festivals, including the Woodford and Cygnet Folk Festivals, Dark Mofo, Red Room Poetry Month, the Tasmanian Poetry Festival and the Tasmanian Storytelling Festival. Moran has received the Andrew Hardy Youth Poetry Prize, the Huon Valley Storytelling Cup, and was a 2023 National Finalist in the Australian Poetry Slam. Lutruwita has been Moran’s home for the past six years. When not writing, Moran can be found decomposing in rainforest, kayaking with ocean, and creating sacred space for eco-somatic healing immersions. enspiralled - a soul’s breath is their first book. www.moranwiesel.com
In conversation with Moran is poet Anne Kellas. Anne's writing has appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and journals in Australia and elsewhere, and her work has appeared in the shortlists and longlists for prizes such as the Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize, the ACU Prize for Poetry and the inaugural Liquid Amber Poetry Prize. Kellas’ first collection won the People’s choice award for poetry in the 2025 Tasmanian Literary awards, and was also shortlisted for the Tim Thorne prize. Her 2015 collection, The White Room Poems, was shortlisted in the 2017 Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes.
Meahd Farnaby will introduce Moran and Anne. Meahd is a bookworm, writer, event organiser, avid supporter of the many literary happenings about town, and believes we live in one of the most creative and beautiful places around. She is Deputy Chair of both TasWriters and A Fairer World, championing for the storytellers as well as for inclusion, kindness and celebration of diversity within Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Join Moran, Anne, and Meahd at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Hobart Silent Book Club | June
Friday 5 June 2026
The first Silent Book Club started in a local bar in San Francisco in 2012 by a couple of friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich. There are now Silent Book Club chapters all over the world.
There are no ‘reading books’ prescribed: you simply bring a book you are reading, or want to read, and then have an hour of uninterrupted reading time. There is no requirement for you to discuss your book with anyone either.
Created for introverts, there is no pressure to speak, converse, or cringe through awkward small talk. Engage as much or as little as you like.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join.
The Hobart Silent Book Club meets on the first Friday of each month at Fullers in the Afterword Cafe. Reading begins at 5.30pm and finishes at 6.30pm. You are welcome to come at 5.00pm and grab a coffee beforehand.
This is a free event.
Contact: hobartsilentbookclub@gmail.com
Fullers Bookshop
Mantle | In Conversation with Romy Ash
Thursday 4 June 2026
Nature has another evolution in store for us
Ursula is a self-possessed geologist. In her life on the mainland, she’s a guardian of the timescale, dividing history into segments and reading the Earth’s depths. It sounds like science fiction, but it’s simply science.
When her ailing mother is struck with a mystery illness she is called to the coastline of lutruwita/Tasmania. What begins as an incurable rash evolves into something more dangerous.
With the sickness spreading across the island, and beyond, Ursula finds herself stranded, stuck in her mother’s house and increasingly entangled with a younger man who she met at the pub. She is grieving, beginning to unhinge – and now she too has the rash.
The wild places of the island are solace, even as the world around her begins to shift. As she faces this eruption of new life, and grapples with death and decay, Ursula realises that this change may not signal an end, but a beginning.
Deeply moving and utterly original, Mantle is a powerful novel that shows us our fate is intertwined with the people around us, and the fate of our world.
Romy Ash is the author of Floundering, which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin, Commonwealth Book Prize and Prime Minister’s Literary Awards; and a children’s picture book called As Bright as a Rainbow. She was named one of Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelists of the Year in 2013. Her work has been published in the Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Griffith Review, Meanjin, Best Australian Short Stories, Best Australian Essays, among others. She lives in Naarm/Melbourne with her family.
Romy will be in conversation with Kate Kruimink. Kate is a writer whose work has been recognised in prizes in Australia and the UK. Her most recent novel is Heartsease (winner of the Tasmanian Premier’s Prize for Fiction) and her most recent book is the novella Astraea (winner of the Weatherglass Novella Prize). She is the Fiction Editor at Island.
Join Romy and Kate at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
An "Amaaazing" Life | In Conversation with Jacqui Robertson
Wednesday 3 June 2026
When life crashes down around her, Jacqui Robertson refuses to stay grounded. Determined to protect the people and animals who depend on her, she steps boldly into the unknown. Then Geoffrey appears, fearless and free spirited, and suddenly the world feels much bigger.
One moment Jacqui is clinging to the remains of her old life. The next she is strapped into a small plane, bracing for a real life emergency landing. From that point on, adventure becomes the new normal. She climbs rugged outback peaks, roams the hidden corners of Moscow and discovers a daring new version of herself.
With every leap comes new confidence: a fresh law career, her own pilot licence and a mission into war torn East Timor to deliver thousands of chickens to hungry children. Each challenge proves that reinvention has no age limit.
Irreverent, funny and inspiring, Jacqui's "amaaazing" life is a celebration of adventure, resilience and finding the bravery to begin again.
Who knew midlife could be this wild?
A peripatetic childhood as the daughter of a colonial administrator in East Africa accustomed Jacqueline Robertson to a vivid life of changing scenery, smells (and schools) but did little to prepare her for the culture shock of suburban Melbourne. She built a successful career as a restoration designer, becoming a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Interior Designers. After leaving her first husband she reset her career path, studying law at night whilst continuing a solo design business by day. Post-graduation, she joined the Victorian Bar, practising in the Family Court. Jacqui’s childhood inclined her towards overseas aid projects with Rotary International and helped her deal with the conditions encountered in war-ravaged East Timor. In recognition of her involvement in Timor, she was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by Rotary, and also a citation from the Australian Government. A new husband added a private pilot’s license to Jacqui’s skill-set and eventually landed her in Tasmania supervising the restoration and management of historic Epsom House.
Jacqui will be in conversation with Christopher Lawrence. Christopher's career has encompassed broadcast and print media, studio recording, public speaking and arts administration over more than five decades.
Join Jacqui and Christopher at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
I Eat the Stars | Sarah Wilson in Conversation
Tuesday 2 June 2026
From New York Times bestselling author and journalist Sarah Wilson comes a deeply moving, wise guide to finding beauty and meaning in a collapsing world.
It’s hard to escape the feeling that something is deeply wrong with our world . . . that life has become precariously off-balance. We are hit hourly with headlines about climate catastrophes, tumbling democracies and fertility rates, AI singularity and nuclear threat, increasing economic inequality and genocidal slaughter, and the rise of technofascist and authoritarian rule.
Why now, and why everything, all at once?
In I Eat the Stars, Sarah Wilson argues we are undergoing what every sophisticated civilisation before us has – complex systems collapse.
But how do we continue to live as sensitive, tender-hearted humans amidst such a tumultuous shift? What does life look like when the systems we rely on deteriorate? How do we make financial decisions? Should we be prepping or homesteading? Should we be having kids? How do we hold the grief and process the moral injuries? And, so importantly, how do we avoid succumbing to doom and despair?
In I Eat the Stars, Sarah Wilson delves into these pressing questions (and her answers are rarely the obvious ones!). Drawing on wisdom gained from more than 200 conversations with scientists, energy futurists, historians, philosophers, game theorists and spiritual leaders, Wilson takes readers on an intimate journey as she lays out a path for living fully, meaningfully and beautifully through these troubled times.
Our predicament, she argues, is ultimately an urgent call to us all to relish what is valuable to us – “to eat the stars” – and to return to our humanity once again.
I Eat the Stars empowers. With her warm, incisively intelligent, wise and down-to-earth voice, Wilson creates a space for readers to confront their fears and anxieties about our uncertain future, guiding us toward one rooted in truth, kindness, justice, creativity, community, and to step up as “warriors” to meet this moment.
What if, she asks, this new world we’re entering is more stunning than we’d ever imagined?
Sarah Wilson is a multi-New York Times and Amazon bestselling author, social philosopher, international keynote speaker, minimalist and philanthropist. She edited Cosmopolitan magazine Australia at 29, founded the global I Quit Sugar movement, hosted the most-watched TV series in the nation’s history – Masterchef Australia – and wrote the international bestseller First, We Make the Beast Beautiful, which Mark Manson described as 'the best book on living with anxiety that I’ve ever read.' Her most recent book, This One Wild and Precious Life, won the US Gold Nautilus Prize and her recent TEDx talk on civilisational collapse is an 'editor’s pick' on the global site. Sarah leads dynamic, global conversations about modern philosophy, creativity, existential risk and climate change via her keynote speaking, Wild podcast, and her Substack and social communities of half a million followers. She lives nomadically, but is based between Paris and Sydney, is a compulsive hiker and adventurer.
In conversation with Sarah is Hannah Moloney. Hannah is a TV presenter on ABC’s Gardening Australia, permaculture practitioner, bestselling author and climate activist. When she has a quiet moment, you’ll find her in Nipaluna/Hobart gardening, playing the ukulele (badly but happily), trail running (badly but happily), painting birds and hanging with her delightful family.
Join Sarah and Hannah at Hobart Town Hall.
Hobart Town Hall
Bugger |Michael Mohammed Ahmad in Conversation (CANCELLED)
Friday 29 May 2026
The devastating and gritty fourth novel from Miles Franklin shortlisted author, Michael Mohammed Ahmad.
Some scars can never be seen, but will always be felt . . . long after the damage is done.
Hamoodi may only be ten years old, but he already knows that to speak out is dangerous. Lessons from the mother-land have taught him that standing out can see you lose everything. Or disappear. In a new place, he has learned to be quiet, contained. He carries the wisdom and knowledge of his mother and father. They have told him to trust no one - except family.
Alooshi understands first-hand the hurt words can bring. As a teenager, he's learned that knowing how to wound someone gives him power. But words can only give him so much. And when his younger cousin Hamoodi is bullied at school, Alooshi sees a way to get something else he wants.
Over one day and one night, Hamoodi will come to understand how vulnerable he is. He will discover that family is complicated and trust is a cruel weapon. For him, there will always be a before and an after. He will forever struggle to un-know. But maybe, in the knowing, he will find a way to take back his power. Maybe . . .
With a devastating poignancy and gritty tenderness, award-winning author Michael Mohammed Ahmad's new novel, Bugger, reveals an uncompromising representation of abuse and explores the impact one day can have on a lifetime.
Michael Mohammed Ahmad is the founding director of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and editor of the critically acclaimed anthology After Australia (Affirm Press, 2020). Mohammed's debut novel, The Tribe (Giramondo, 2014), won the 2015 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelists Award. His second novel, The Lebs (Hachette, 2018), won the 2019 NSW Premier's Multicultural Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Award. His third novel, The Other Half of You (Hachette, 2021), won the Queensland Literary Award for Fiction Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and the Voss Literary Prize. Mohammed received his Doctorate of Creative Arts from Western Sydney University in 2017.
Michelle Cahill (she/they) is a poet and novelist of Indian heritage. She was the 2023 Hedberg Writer in Residence at the University of Tasmania. Her short story collection, Letter to Pessoa was awarded the NSW Premier’s Literary Award for New Writing. Daisy & Woolf was longlisted in the ALS Gold Medal and the Voss Literary Prize. They have been shortlisted in the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Prize, the ABR Peter Porter Poetry Prize and received the KWS Hilary Mantel International Short Story Prize. Cahill is the artistic director of Mascara.
Join Michael and Michelle at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Cold Fire: Poems | David Mason in Conversation
Thursday 28 May 2026
David Mason’s poetry circles the globe. The urgent and beautiful poems of his new book, Cold Fire, have settings in Australia, India, Greece, Turkey and the American West. A title sequence takes up the Aboriginal practice of cool burning for fire mitigation, and moves to the Ring of Fire, the volcanoes of Mason’s childhood home in the Pacific Northwest—fires of creation and destruction. Here the dream life of art is pitched against human conflict. Here we have poems of family life, aging, and a deep conversation with history and myth. This is a book of light, love, and powerful remembrance from the edge of the world.
David Mason grew up in Bellingham, Washington and has lived in many parts of the world, including Greece and Colorado, where he served as poet laureate for four years. His books of poems began with The Buried Houses, The Country I Remember, and Arrivals. His verse novel, Ludlow, was named best poetry book of the year by the Contemporary Poetry Review and the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. It was also featured on the PBS NewsHour. He has written a memoir and four collections of essays. His poetry, prose, and translations have appeared in such periodicals as the New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, The Nation, The New Republic, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Times Literary Supplement, Poetry, and the Hudson Review. In 2015 Mason published two poetry collections: Sea Salt: Poems of a Decade and Davey McGravy: Tales to Be Read Aloud to Children and Adult Children.
In Conversation with David is Cally Conan-Davies. Cally hails from the island of Tasmania. Her poems have appeared in The Hudson Review, Subtropics, Poetry, Quadrant, The New Criterion, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Sewanee Review, Southwest Review, The Dark Horse, Harvard Review, and many online journals. She lives by the sea.
Join David and Cally at the Afterword cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Daughters of the Tide | Arianne James in Conversation
Tuesday 26 May 2026
Weaving historical fiction with folklore and Tasmanian gothic, this is a gorgeously atmospheric debut that explores memory and self, the resilience of women and a dangerous longing for the sea.
The Findlay family history has long been steeped in secrets, tragedy and dark rumours of madness. Generations of its women have been haunted by a dangerous luring melody and an insatiable longing for the sea.
It's 1923 and Isla Findlay lives with her parents on the edge of the ocean in Tasmania, in a rambling mansion full of whispers of this cursed legacy. When Isla discovers her estranged aunt is finally coming home, long-repressed memories of the selkie stories of her childhood start to resurface, along with disturbing dreams of seals and an eerie song that Isla starts to hear even in her waking hours.
As the line between what's real and imagined starts to blur, Isla and her aunt and mother must reckon with long-held secrets and ghosts who have not been properly laid to rest. The closer they get to the truths of the past, the louder they hear the seductive call of the ocean. Does it sing of freedom, or only more tragedy?
A tale of madness and miracles, secrets and sins, myth and reality, and the tenacity and resilience of women in the face of impossible choices.
Arianne James is a writer of fiction and avid reader. Her writing has taken her on residencies to Varuna, KSP Writers Centre, Patterdale House and Chateau d’Orquevaux. Arianne runs ‘Once Upon a Bookclub’ at Fullers, and hosts ‘The Book Shelf’ on Edge Radio. Daughters of the Tide, for which she was shortlisted for the 2024 ASA/HQ Fiction prize, is her debut novel.
In conversation with Arianne is Karen Brooks. Karen is the author of sixteen books – historical fiction, historical fantasy, YA fantasy, and one non-fiction. She was an academic for over 20 years, a newspaper columnist and social commentator. She has a Ph.D. in English/Cultural Studies and has published internationally on all things popular culture, education and social psychology. An award-winning teacher, she’s taught throughout Australia and in The Netherlands and keynoted at many education conferences. Nowadays, she finds greatest contentment studying history and writing, and helping her husband in his Brewstillery, Captain Bligh’s.
Join Arianne and Karen at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Wise AI | Daniel Sih & Paul Matthews
Friday 22 May 2026
AI will save you time. But will it make your life better… or just busier?
That’s the question at the heart of our upcoming book launch for Wise AI: Using Powerful Technologies in Deeply Human Ways. Join authors Daniel Sih and Paul Matthews for a live presentation exploring a more intentional way to use AI.
Enjoy canapés and a complimentary drink as part of an evening designed to challenge, inspire, and reset how you think about work and technology.
AI is transforming how we work, making us faster and more efficient. But for those already stretched thin, it doesn’t feel that way. The workload keeps growing, and we’re struggling to keep up. Wise AI offers a different path, helping you rethink how you use AI to make space for deep work, deep thought, deep rest, and deep relationships.
This is a practical book for busy professionals who want to use AI without losing their humanity.
Inside Wise AI, you’ll discover:
• Why time-saving technology rarely gives us more time, and what to do about it
• The Four Rhythms of Wise AI: deep work, deep thought, deep relationships, and deep rest
• The Pace and Space Curve: when to lean into AI and when to step back
• The LEARN Framework: five practical steps for using AI with confidence and clarity
• Ten core skills to work with AI without outsourcing your thinking
At its heart, Wise AI is about being human and serving humans — building the skills to live a productive, sustainable, deeply human life.
Daniel Sih is an award-winning author, professional speaker, and productivity thought leader who helps busy people make space.
Paul Matthews is a third-generation teacher, TEDx speaker, and a thought leader in AI, educational innovation, and leadership.
Join Daniel and Paul at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Seasonal Poets | Autumn
Monday 18 May 2026
Seasonal Poets is a quarterly gathering of poetic talent, organised by Gina Mercer, Anne Collins, and Irene McGuire, and has been running for ten years. At each session, three different poets are invited to share their work.
The Seasonal Poets program for the Autumn reading will feature Jane Williams, Liz Winfield and Susan Austin.
Jane Williams is a poet of gentle, compassionate insight. To hear her read is to be immersed in fierce and thought-full understandings of the overlooked. Her 10th collection of poems: afterimage - poems from the family album and elsewhere is imminent.
Liz Winfield is a stalwart of Tasmania’s poetry community. She’s dedicated decades to running readings and workshops, as well as publishing 4 luminous and moving collections. Her soon-to-be-released book is: In my heart, a rainforest.
Susan Austin is a poet, eco-socialist activist and mental health occupational therapist. She’s published 3 poetry collections including a verse novel exploring one couple’s infertility saga. Her work is dynamic, poignant, and tellingly funny.
Tickets are $12, and include a glass of wine or non-alcoholic drink.
You can purchase below, or on the night.
Join Jane, Liz, and Susan at the Afterword Café.
Fullers Bookshop
Numbers are the Devil's Work | Paul Frisby in Conversation
Wednesday 13 May 2026
There’s a new Independent Member for Braddon. The boys’ club is in for a shock.
No-one is sad when the Tasmanian premier dies, but it's one less vote for the minority government. Deputy Premier Bernard Wynyard has his work cut out if he is to gain and hold the premiership.
On the west coast, former House of Assembly candidate Beverley Petersen is wondering what to do with her life. Tasmania’s Hare-Clark electoral system means that question is answered one rainy morning (it’s Queenstown) when she returns home to find Bernard (call me Bernie) waiting with a proposition.
Bernie thinks he can handle Beverley. She’s thrown in at the deep end, finding her feet in Hobart as a new independent MP. But Beverley has an abusive marriage and a long career in the public service behind her, and before long, Bernie is facing a much bigger challenge than he expected.
Paul Frisby lives in Queenstown, Tasmania. After what he describes as a misspent youth doing everything from working in television to teaching horse riding, working in UK casinos, and advertising copywriting, he found a home in the public sector, principally in compliance and performance management related roles. He was a long-serving senior volunteer in the NSW State Emergency Service and a Justice of the Peace in NSW and Queensland. His quirky, satirical novels include Dance with the Devils and Not My Circus, Not My Clowns.
In conversation with Paul is Peter George. Peter is an independent member of Tasmanian Parliament in the House of Assembly.
Join Paul and Peter at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Dear Father | In Conversation with Jillian Brannock
Friday 8 May 2026
A gripping thriller of belief and betrayal – where the need to belong becomes a dangerous faith.
When Daniel’s father disappears, the world tilts. His mother retreats into silence, concealing a past Daniel barely understands. Years later, searching for meaning, he’s drawn to a man who calls himself Excalibur – a mentor, a saviour, a trap.
On a remote Tasmanian estate, Daniel joins a brotherhood devoted to purity and power. At its centre stands Rudolf Hoffman – charismatic, visionary, and the inheritor of an ideology that once condemned Daniel’s own blood.
As Daniel’s devotion deepens, the past begins to breathe again. Ideologies awaken. Love twists into control. And the question that has shadowed him all his life – what kind of father shapes what kind of son? – demands a final, devastating answer.
Jillian Brannock is a former university academic specialising in European history. She has been published widely and works as a freelance writer and radio presenter. Commissioned to write Rex Backhaus-Smith: An Artist’s Journey (Watson & Co., 2008), she has since produced and presented over 300 episodes of The History Show for the Australian Community Radio Network, recognised with a Federal Government incentive grant. Her essay ‘Hannah Arendt and the Banality of Evil’ appeared in Quadrant (2024), and her short fiction was longlisted for the Fabel International Short Story Award. A member of the Hobart Military Studies Group, she lectures on terrorism, military intelligence, and political assassination. Dear Father is her debut novel.
Jillian will be in conversation with Mel Hart. Mel is a Tasmanian host, entrepreneur and community contributor with a longstanding love of books, ideas and thoughtful conversation.
Join Jillian and Mel at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Every Wild Soul | Katherine Johnson in Conversation
Thursday 7 May 2026
The winner of the inaugural Australian Fiction Prize, Every Wild Soul is a lyrical and compelling tale of secrets, survival, and the healing power of nature.
On Tasmania's wild and remote Maria Island, eighteen-year-old Min is trying to break free from her controlling, overly protective father, the island's head ranger. Her unlikely ally is Werner, an eccentric, homeless biologist who has always taught her to care for the imperilled natural world around her - even as it sets them against Piers, her father, who has his own plans. When Lucie, a journalist haunted by her family's role in the thylacine's extinction, arrives from London to investigate the island's Tasmanian devil conservation project, she is drawn into the island's rare beauty and mysteries, discovering a community grappling with the tension between progress and preservation, care and control. After a tempestuous storm sees a stranger wash ashore, a chain of events is set in motion that ends in a shocking and mysterious death, only weeks later.
A breathtakingly beautiful and gripping exploration of humanity's connection to the wild - and the hope that can be born from even the darkest of times - Every Wild Soul is an absorbing and evocative exploration of resilience, rewilding and healing, a story with nature and courage at its heart. Perfect for readers of Where the Crawdads Sing, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Prodigal Summer, and Wild Dark Shore, it is a vivid and haunting ode to the wild in all of us.
'A heartfelt and intriguing novel set in a wild and beautiful place. A wonderful read.' Favel Parrett
'A tender, aching story of our elemental need for wilderness.' Robyn Mundy
Tasmanian writer Katherine Johnson is the author of four previous novels. Paris Savages (Ventura Press 2019/2021, Allison and Busby UK/US 2020, Jimenez Edizioni 2021) is based on the true story of 'human zoos' in Europe in the late nineteenth century. It was shortlisted in the ABIA awards and was The Times Historical Fiction Book of the Month in June 2020. Her other novels include The Better Son (Ventura Press 2016), set in northern Tasmania's caves; Matryoshka (Ventura Press 2018); and Pescador's Wake (HarperCollins/Fourth Estate 2009), the story of the danger and heartbreak of lives at the mercy of the sea during a three-week Southern Ocean chase.
Katherine will be in conversation with Geordie Williamson. Geordie has been chief literary critic of The Australian since 2008. He is publisher of the Picador imprint at Pan Macmillan, a former editor of Island Magazine and Best Australian Essays, and author of The Burning Library, a collection of essays on neglected figures from Australian literature.
Join Katherine and Geordie at the RACV Hotel
The RACV Hotel
In the Kelp Forest | In Conversation
Thursday 7 May 2026
Join Aunty Patsy Cameron, Reena Balding and Belinda Casey at Salamanca Arts Centre to discuss their new book, in the kelp forest. This event also celebrates the opening of Belinda’s exhibition, “In the Kelp Forest - Beneath the Waves”. This exhibition showcases the original illustrations and preparatory drawings for the book, and can be viewed in the Top Gallery at the Salamanca Arts Centre between 30th April and 25th May 2026.
A stunning picture book that explores the beauty and strength of Country beneath the waves and celebrates the living kelp forests, their creatures, and deep Cultural knowledge of Tasmania’s First Nations people. Kelp forests have intricate lives and play a key role in the balance of our oceans and seas. Myerlee, the giant kelp, sways beneath the waves, her forests alive with creatures that make her their home. Myerlee lives with the elements, shelters life, provides sustenence to those on the land and in the ocean and whispers her secrets to those who will listen.
Discover the wonders of the ocean and ancient connections that sustain all life.
Aunty Patsy Cameron grew up on Flinders Island and can trace her Aboriginal heritage through her mother’s line to four Ancestral grandmothers; Pleenpereener, Wyerlooberer, Teekoolterme and Pollerelbrener. At the head of her family is Teekoolterme’s father, the revered Pairrebeenne/Trawlwoolway Clan leader, formidable warrior and seer, Mannalargenna. Patsy has a Master of Arts in Tasmanian Aboriginal History and an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Tasmania. She was inducted onto the Tasmanian Women’s Honour roll in 2006 and was invested with an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2017 for distinguished service to Indigenous communities in Tasmania.
Reena Balding grew up in Tasmania and left to travel the world where she worked for a newspaper in Turkey and became a yoga instructor in Bali. Now living with her family in Hobart, Reena publishes books for the Australian government and writes for children and adults.
Belinda Casey is a proud great granddaughter of legendary Tasmanian Aboriginal woman, Fanny Smith, whose traditional homeland is Tebrakunna Country in North Eastern Trouwerner/Tasmania. Belinda graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours from the School of Creative Arts, University of Tasmania in 2018 and was a finalist in both the 2025 John Glover Art Prize and the 2022 Hadley’s Art Prize. Belinda’s art practice honours the legacy of her ancestral grandmother and the strength and resilience of the Tasmanian Aboriginal people, their culture and connection to Country.
* Ticket holders will receive a $5 token to redeem on the book on the night of the event. *
Join Aunty Patsy, Reena and Belinda at Salamanca Arts Centre.
Where
Founders Room
Salamanca Arts Centre
Level 2, 65b Woobys Lane
Hobart 7000
Accessibility
Accessible entry via Lift in The Courtyard (via Woobys Lane)
Accessible Toilet
Registered Assistance Animals welcome
Companion Card
Salamanca Arts Centre - Founders Room
Hobart Silent Book Club | May
Friday 1 May 2026
The first Silent Book Club started in a local bar in San Francisco in 2012 by a couple of friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich. There are now Silent Book Club chapters all over the world.
There are no ‘reading books’ prescribed: you simply bring a book you are reading, or want to read, and then have an hour of uninterrupted reading time. There is no requirement for you to discuss your book with anyone either.
Created for introverts, there is no pressure to speak, converse, or cringe through awkward small talk. Engage as much or as little as you like.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join.
The Hobart Silent Book Club meets on the first Friday of each month at Fullers in the Afterword Cafe. Reading begins at 5.30pm and finishes at 6.30pm. You are welcome to come at 5.00pm and grab a coffee beforehand.
This is a free event.
Contact: hobartsilentbookclub@gmail.com
Date
Fullers Bookshop
Niall Williams in Conversation
Thursday 30 April 2026
Beloved Irish writer, Niall Williams, reflects on his writing life and career and the country home that inspired his acclaimed novels.
Niall Williams was born in Dublin in 1958. His critically acclaimed and bestselling fiction has been shortlisted for the Irish Times Literature Prize and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the IMPAC Award. Williams’ debut novel Four Letters of Love, an international bestseller, has been adapted by the author for screen and will star Helena Bonham-Carter, Pierce Brosnan and Gabriel Byrne. His most recent novel Time of the Child was an instant Irish Times bestseller and was awarded the Kerry Group Novel of the Year Award. He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, with his wife, Christine.
Niall will be in conversation with Rachel Edwards. Rachel is a former editor of Island Magazine, and was a senior producer for ABC local radio. She is currently the Events Coordinator at the State Library and Archives Tasmania.
Join Niall and Rachel for an unforgettable night.
St Michael's Collegiate School Linmor Hall
For Her Love of Birds | Jane Melville in Conversation
Wednesday 29 April 2026
Jane Ward Tost defied 19th century societal constraints to become one of England’s leading naturalists and taxidermists. A peer of John Gould and John James Audubon, Jane’s artistic talent and technical expertise captivated museum visitors around the globe. But Jane’s incredible achievements were not easily won. She lived a highly eventful life, showing remarkable resilience in the face of profound difficulties.
Meticulously researched and beautifully written by museum curator, biologist and writer Jane Melville AM, this enthralling biography follows the extraordinary life of Jane Ward Tost (1816–1889), Australia’s first salaried female museum employee. Forgotten by history, she left an indelible legacy.
Jane Melville is a highly respected biologist and museum curator. She has over 20 years’ experience working in museums, leading research on Australia’s reptiles, frogs and birds. Jane’s research has been supported by a Fulbright Fellowship and a Churchill Fellowship. Her contributions to the museums sector have been recognised with the award of a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia.Jane is the author of Dragon Lizards of Australia: Evolution, ecology and a comprehensive field guide, along with numerous popular science articles in magazines such as The Conversation, Cosmos, Australasian Science and Science Victoria. Jane now spends much of her spare time uncovering stories about the people who have shaped our knowledge of the natural world.
Jane will be in conversation with Rachel Edwards. Rachel is a former editor of Island Magazine, and was a senior producer for ABC local radio. She is currently the Events Coordinator at the State Library and Archives Tasmania.
Join Jane and Rachel at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Bruno Cayoun in Conversation
Friday 24 April 2026
What does it really mean to live well? And how can cutting-edge psychological science and ancient meditation practice work together to help us get there? Join us at the Afterword Cafe for a rare evening with Dr Bruno Cayoun — clinical psychologist, mindfulness researcher, and one of Australia's most original thinkers in the field of mental health and pioneer in the integration of mindfulness in therapy.
Bruno will be in conversation with Dr Larissa Bartlett (University of Tasmania / Menzies Institute) discussing two new releases: the second edition of his wildly popular book Mindfulness-Integrated CBT for Well-Being and Personal Growth, and his new Mindfulness and Meditation Workbook for Anxiety and Depression.
Dr Cayoun is the developer of Mindfulness-integrated Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (MiCBT) and founder of the MiCBT Institute, which has been training mental health professionals internationally since 2003. His work brings together decades of clinical practice, mindfulness research, and a personal meditation journey that began in 1989 across France, Nepal, India, and Australia. He practises from Hobart, where he also runs Macquarie Psychology.
Dr Bartlett is a Research Fellow in Mental Health at UTAS's Menzies Institute and Wicking Dementia Research Centre. As a social psychology researcher, she has a strong interest in neurological health, and the effects of stress on disease progression and quality of life.
Join Bruno and Larissa at the Afterword Café. This is a genuine conversation between two researchers who care deeply about human wellbeing — and a chance to ask the questions that matter to you.
Fullers Bookshop
The Rainbow of God's Creation | Trish Hindmarsh
Thursday 23 April 2026
The Rainbow of God’s Creation is a must-have, user-friendly resource for members of religious orders, educators, parishes, priests, seminarians, lay Catholic leaders, families, and senior students.
Inside you will read about the approach of Pope Francis, and be informed of existing pastoral organisations. You will share in the experiences of many LGBTIQA+ people themselves. The book outlines the Catholic Church’s teachings and their historical origins. It explores current scientific and theological developments that can shape our understanding that our LGBTIQA+ siblings are precious expressions of God’s limitless, creative Love. Models of hope offer an opening towards a more inclusive and open-hearted Catholic Church in relation to people who identify as LGBTIQA+.
The final chapter introduces findings from global consultations such as the Australian Plenary Council and the Synod on Synodality (2023/24), with practical suggestions for response and action by the Catholic Church.
Trish Hindmarsh is a retired teacher and educational leader who has worked in Catholic Education across Australia, most recently as Director of Catholic Education in Tasmania. Trish has a lively interest in justice, peace and ecology, and has been part of the Catholic Earthcare Australia Advisory Committee since 2001. Her doctoral studies relate to education for ecological sustainability within Catholic school settings. Trish continues to have an active involvement in adult education and formation in university, school, parish and group settings and is committed to working collaboratively for Church renewal and reform.
Rodney Croome has been a champion of LGBTQIA+ rights throughout Australia for more than three decades and was Tasmanian Australian of the Year 2015. He led the successful campaign to decriminalise homosexuality in Tasmania, enact the nation’s best anti-discrimination laws in Tasmania in 1998, championed Australia’s first civil partnership scheme in Tasmania in 2004, founded Australian Marriage Equality the same year and was it national director until he left to fight the plebiscite. He has also led the national-first campaign to provide financial redress for those convicted former anti-gay and anti-cross dressing laws.
Join Trish and Rodney at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Why We Garden | Hannah Moloney in Conversation
Tuesday 21 April 2026
In a world of well-stocked supermarkets and florists, why do we garden, even though we don’t have to?
This was the question that fascinated Hannah Moloney. So she went out and asked. She spoke to politicians, artists, community leaders, activists and thousands of ordinary gardeners. This book explores their answers – sometimes surprising, often philosophical, always insightful. Much more than a gardening book, Why We Garden is a joyful, life-affirming exploration of nature, humanity and community. Featuring interviews with Tim Winton, Bruce Pascoe, Laura Tingle, Clare Bowditch, Bob Brown, Costa Georgiadis and many more.
Hannah Moloney is a TV presenter on ABC’s Gardening Australia, permaculture practitioner, bestselling author and climate activist. When she has a quiet moment, you’ll find her in Nipaluna/Hobart gardening, playing the ukulele (badly but happily), trail running (badly but happily), painting birds and hanging with her delightful family.
In conversation with Hannah is the amazing Bert Spinks. Bert is a Tasmanian storyteller, writer, poet and bushwalking guide. Focusing on social geographies and deep-map writing, his work is largely an excuse to go to interesting places and ask curious questions.
Join us on Tuesday the 21st April, 5.30 pm at Hobart Town hall for an unforgettable event.
Hobart Town Hall
Moriarty's Passage | Melvin Freestone
Saturday 18 April 2026
*This is a free event*
Moriarty and his wife, Kathleen, are driven by a desire to escape the hardships of their past and to seek a brighter future for their three children, Sean, Roisin, and Aisling. Moriarty's Passage tells the story of the life journey of the Moriarty family, focusing on their migration from Ireland to Australia, their struggles and triumphs, and the inevitable adapatation and evolution of their identitities within their new cultural landscape.
Moriarty's Passage is an intergenerational family odyssey expressed in evocative vignettes. Personal growth, family dynamics, cultural evolution, and community resilience are embedded in the adventures, challenges, and the spirit of enterprise of this Irish immigrant family, explored through generations within Australia's diverse social and environmental landscapes.
Dr. Melvin Freestone migrated with his family to Australia from Ireland in 1977. After extensive work in education at federal and state levels he retired in 2008 as principal of Montagu Bay Primary School. Since that time Melvin has worked in a voluntary capacity assisting educational initiatives in India, Nepal, Thailand, Brunei and the United States. In Tasmania he was President and founding member of Project Hahn Inc. which ran wilderness therapy programs for young people who were ‘at risk’ or disadvantaged. Melvin has written numerous educational resources including the full-length books – A Practical Guide to Technology – from pigs to optical fibres, and Thinking for Understanding. Moriarty’s Super Gene was his first venture into the field of fiction, followed by Moriarty’s Flight of Fancy, and now Moriarty's Passage (no previous reading required for the latter!).
In conversation with Melvin is Mead Farnaby. Meahd is a bookworm, writer, event organiser, avid supporter of the many literary happenings about town, and believes we live in one of the most creative and beautiful places around. She is Deputy Chair of both TasWriters and A Fairer World, championing for the storytellers as well as for inclusion, kindness and celebration of diversity within Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Join Melvin and Meahd at the Afterword Café!
The Afterword Café, Fullers Bookshop
The Season for Flying Saucers | Brendan Colley
Thursday 16 April 2026
A father who has been abducted by aliens; a mother who sees the spirits of dead people; a sister who communicates with angry dogs; and 29-year-old Noah Grey, whose life has gone off the rails.
In Tasmania, strange lights appear in the skies every summer, signalling we’re part of something bigger than the world of our worries. Bigger even than our hopes. When economic pressures force the Greys to live together for one season – the first time in twelve years since Noah left home after college – tensions are high.
Things get weird as locals become increasingly convinced the residents at this Hobart address have been targeted for alien abduction. As the summer unfolds Noah accepts things will never be normal again, even though his measure is the simplest of all. Family love.
‘Brendan Colley is writing the kind of book I want to be reading: joyous, weird, sad and loving, and with a sustained undercurrent of real kindness and real humanity. I love the slightly unhinged premise that a novel about family, community, and a poet adrift in his life is also absolutely about flying saucers, and Colley weaves the ideas together in a way that makes you think, Ah, of course.’
Kate Kruimink, author of Heartsease and A Treacherous Country.
Brendan Colley was born in South Africa, and made Tasmania his home in 2009. His first novel, The Signal Line, won the Unpublished Manuscript Prize in the 2019 Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Awards, and was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards and The Age Book of the Year Awards. The Season for Flying Saucers is his second novel. He lives in Hobart with his wife.
In conversation with Brendan is Adam Ouston. Adam is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, and the recipient of the 2014 Erica Bell Literary Award as well as the manuscript prize at the Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Awards in 2017. He holds a PhD and has worked as a copywriter, editor and bookseller. As a musician he performs as Costume. He lives in Hobart, Tasmania.
Join Brendan and Adam at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
One Night at Silver Lake | Katherine Scholes
Wednesday 15 April 2026
Set between Tanzania and Tasmania, this is a deeply moving novel about family and belonging, by the acclaimed bestselling author of The Rain Queen and The Beautiful Mother.
Once the boundaries of normality are broken, anything can happen …
In 1960s Tanzania, Sara Brayden spends years longing for a baby, while struggling in her conventional role as a mine manager’s wife. She was born into a life of moving with the seasons, in the company of nomad herding families, on the grassy plains of Serengeti.
As her marriage fractures, Sara’s quest for motherhood leads her on an extraordinary journey. It begins on the moonlit shores of Silver Lake, where a family tragedy sparks an encounter with a stranger she can never forget …
Her search takes her half a world away, to the island of Tasmania. There, in a place where the sound of a wild ocean floats on the air, she finds the power of a very special kind of love – only then is she ready for what comes next.
From the internationally bestselling author of The Rain Queen comes her landmark work, a novel that explores the meaning of family, identity and home, and looks at how – in the midst of heartbreak – hope and healing can be found.
Katherine Scholes is an international bestselling author with over two million books sold. She was born in Tanzania and six of her adult novels are set there, during the independence era of the 1960s. She was the first artist to travel to Antarctica as a guest of the Australian Antarctic Division. Her novel she wrote afterwards won a New South Wales State Literary Award. The Stone Angel, set in east coast Tasmania, was longlisted in the International Dublin Literary Awards. Her forthcoming novel, One Night at Silver Lake (2026), brings together her two homelands, Tanzania and Tasmania. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages and includes children’s fiction and non-fiction as well as novels for adults. She has also had a career as a filmmaker.
Dr Joce Nettlefold is an accomplished former ABC current affairs journalist and radio presenter, academic and media leader. She is a specialist in community engagement and a powerful advocate for public interest journalism, health and social inclusion.
Heather Rose is the bestselling author of ten books including The Museum of Modern Love, Bruny and the memoir Nothing Bad Ever Happens Here. Heather’s new novel – A Great Act of Love – is out now.
Join Katherine, Joce and Heather at the RACV Hotel.
RACV Hotel
Treeshape | Trace Balla in Conversation
Wednesday 15 April 2026
An extraordinary, inspiring and hope-filled graphic novel from the multi-award-winning creator of Rivertime, Rockhopping, Landing with Wings and Leaf-light, Trace Balla's stunning memoir reveals her personal and life-changing experiences of place, her understanding of the
natural world and her relationship to Country.
Ever since I was a kid my favourite place has always been up a tree – where everything I notice feels like a part of me. Every birdsong, every
leaf's light, every butterfly's dance . . .
This beautiful book tells the story of young Trace's awakening to the preciousness of the environment, including her participation in the
protests against uranium mining at Jabiluka in the 1980s. Channelling her gift for visual storytelling, Trace reveals emotional truths, shares her commitment to environmental activism, highlights trees that have been meaningful in her life, and explores her deep appreciation of place and connection with First Nations peoples.
With its delicate artwork, heartfelt storytelling and timely themes of compassion and environmental care, this graphic novel will resonate
with readers of all ages.
'Treeshape is brimming with humanity and bursting with the wholesome imagery and folk wisdom that magnify the small details of life - a
generous act of love from a rare Australian artist.' - Shane Howard, singer/songwriter, Goanna
Trace Balla is a much-loved Australian children's book author, illustrator and writer of song lyrics who lives on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. She
has won the CBCA Book of the Year Award, the Readings Children's Book Prize, the Wilderness Society's Environment Award for Children's
Literature, a Comic Arts Awards of Australia Bronze Ledger, and an Honour Award for the inaugural SCBWI Australian Picture Book Illustrator
Awards. She has also been shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Speech Pathology Book of the Year Awards (twice), Adelaide
Festival Awards for Children's Literature, and ALIA Graphic's Notable Australian Graphic Novel Award. Trace's stories explore themes of connection to Country and community, nature, friendship, gratitude, grief and human rights. She also loves to inspire others, of all ages and from all walks of life, through her talks and workshops, which explore creativity and caring for the planet. Trace does freelance illustration work, from logos to murals, and has a bookshelf ever filling with her nature journals and other reflections. Find out more about her at traceballa.com.
In conversation with Trace is Nic Gill. Nic loves to share stories about nature, humans and other animals. She is a conservation dog handler, and works with her detection dogs in the Tasmanian wilds. Bear to the Rescue is her most recent book published. She is also the author of Animal Eco-Warriors and co-author of Poo, Spew and Other Gross Things Animals Do!.
Join Trace and Nic at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
The Enigmatic Art of the Ross Bridge | Jennie Jackson
Monday 13 April 2026
With 186 architectural decorations carved in relief by convicts, the Ross Bridge is an expression of defiance against the monarchy and the establishment – a rare, historic document written in stone. Some stones are poignant, but many are subversive, satirical, cynical and lewd. They depict crime and punishment, home and separation, ever-present death and hope of re-birth.
The bridge sculptures are one of the great enigmas of Tasmanian art. Nobody knows whence came the strange shapes in the carvings: anthropomorphic and hybrid animals, human-like creatures from a fairy world, floral forms, images of water, the crushed earth, the U-forms that look like wombs, the lozenges that look like vulvas, and the phalli on ubiquitous hares, as well as weird masks, ropes and tools.
As a descendant of convict quarryman, Thomas Herbert, of the Ross Bridge party, Jennie Jackson was drawn to research the details of the carvings. Thanks to developments in photographic technology and easier access to archives, Jackson has been able to reconsider earlier interpretations and explore the intrigue of these stones.
Jennie Jackson’s work as a general practitioner in the midlands of Tasmania took her across the Ross Bridge between Oatlands and Campbell Town every rostered day, while she was majoring in sculpture at the Tasmanian School of Art. As she researched and interpreted the details of the carvings, she realised the value of her practice of Jungian psychology and women’s health. Over eight years, she has prepared biographies of Daniel Herbert, Charles Atkinson, Rum John Conn and Mary Witherington and has developed an archive, a web site, lectured, written essays and published a small book with The People’s Library, The Ross Bridge, A Cast of Characters (2018). Her aim is to educate everyone about the historical significance and rarity of the convicts’ subversive art before the carvings weather away.
Jennie will be in conversation with Jan Dineen, Tasmanian textile artist and Kathy Rundle, Tasmanian archivist, librarian and teacher.
Join Jennie, Jan, and Kathy at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Hobart Silent Book Club | April
Friday 10 April 2026
The first Silent Book Club started in a local bar in San Francisco in 2012 by a couple of friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich. There are now Silent Book Club chapters all over the world.
There are no ‘reading books’ prescribed: you simply bring a book you are reading, or want to read, and then have an hour of uninterrupted reading time. There is no requirement for you to discuss your book with anyone either.
Created for introverts, there is no pressure to speak, converse, or cringe through awkward small talk. Engage as much or as little as you like.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join.
The Hobart Silent Book Club meets on the first Friday of each month at Fullers in the Afterword Cafe. Reading begins at 5.30pm and finishes at 6.30pm. You are welcome to come at 5.00pm and grab a coffee beforehand.
This is a free event.
Contact: hobartsilentbookclub@gmail.com
Fullers Bookshop
Errol Flynn | In Conversation with Patricia O'Brien
Thursday 9 April 2026
Errol Flynn was one of the first larger-than-life celebrities, an icon of the screen. This major biography uncovers the real story behind the well-cultivated Hollywood myths of this Australian-born actor.
Handsome and charismatic, Errol Flynn was one of the first great screen idols. He mesmerised millions around the world with his swordsmanship, swagger and smouldering sexuality. He portrayed an array of heroes in the Golden Age of Hollywood, and his life off screen was no less colourful.
This groundbreaking biography is the first complete account of Errol Flynn's life, from his unusual childhood in Tasmania and damaging family secrets, to his time in the brutal plantations of New Guinea, and his discovery by a Warner talent spotter. He quickly found fame in lead roles in blockbuster films like Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood. He was the man who had it all, who every man wanted to be, who every woman wanted.
This is a revealing and intimate portrait of Flynn, and gives serious attention to the many women in his life for the first time. Flynn's 1943 rape trial uncovered the sexual trafficking of underage girls in Hollywood on a grand scale. Tragically, he died aged only fifty, the result of a life lived to excess.
Associate Professor Patricia A. O'Brien is an historian, author, analyst and commentator on Australia and Oceania. She is a faculty member in Asian Studies at Georgetown University and Honorary Associate Professor in the Department of Pacific Affairs, Australian National University. She is the author of Tautai and The Pacific Muse, and co-editor of League of Nations, and she writes for The Conversation and The Diplomat.
Patricia will be in conversation with Lucie Cutting. Lucie has a knack for finding and telling great stories that she’s honed through her years of experience as a reporter and producer at the ABC, as well as through her work as a writer and MC including at The Pin, which she co-founded in 2015 as a platform discussing race, culture and identity in Australia.
Join Patricia and Lucie at the Afteword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
The Hobart Hotel | In Conversation with Mary-Lou Stephens
Wednesday 8 April 2026
Fullers Bookshop and HQ Books invite you to join Mary-Lou and Karen at The Wrest Point Hotel in the Showroom from 6.00 pm for drinks and canapés for a 7.00 pm start.
A stunning gold dress, a forgotten key and a whisper through history ... the compelling new Tasmanian historical fiction from a bestselling Australian author.
December 1939: The grand opening of Australia's most glamorous and talked about hotel, the Wrest Point Riviera.The equally glamorous Sabine Winters, recently arrived in Hobart from the Continent, anticipates a safe port from the storm that rages in Europe along with a few select items of jewellery to add to her (stolen) collection. What she doesn't expect is to be blackmailed into becoming a spy, torn from the safety of Tasmania and taken to the viper's nest of intrigue and plots that is South America during the rise of Nazi power. Her instincts and charms will only get her so far ...
February 1973: The grand opening of Australia's most glamorous, talked about and controversial hotel, the Wrest Point Hotel Casino.Jenny Davies anticipates a night surrounded by dizzying decor and thrilling action. What she doesn't expect is an invitation to become a Ladybird, one of the casino's croupiers. But Jenny's choice to pursue this exclusive career creates a devastating chain of events that could destroy her life as she knows it. Can a mysterious letter and the gift of a key from a relative Jenny has never heard of somehow be the answer to all of her problems?
Mary-Lou Stephens was born in Tasmania, studied acting at The Victorian College of the Arts and played in bands in Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney. Eventually she got a proper job - in radio, where she was a presenter and music director, first with commercial radio and then with the ABC. She received rave reviews for her memoir Sex, Drugs and Meditation (2013), the true story of how meditation changed her life, saved her job and helped her find a husband. The Australian called her debut novel, The Last of the Apple Blossom (2021), 'an outstanding historical novel about women and the secrets and burdens they carry'. She is also the author of the bestselling novel The Chocolate Factory (2024). Mary-Lou has worked and played all over Australia. Now she travels the world with her husband, slowly, and writes, mostly.
Karen Brooks is the author of sixteen books – historical fiction, historical fantasy, YA fantasy, and one non-fiction. She was an academic for over 20 years, a newspaper columnist and social commentator. She has a Ph.D. in English/Cultural Studies and has published internationally on all things popular culture, education and social psychology. An award-winning teacher, she’s taught throughout Australia and in The Netherlands and keynoted at many education conferences. Nowadays, she finds greatest contentment studying history and writing, and helping her husband in his Brewstillery, Captain Bligh’s.
People purchasing tickets will receive a discount token on the book on the night of the event.
Wrest Point Hotel Showroom
Tattooing Sina | In Conversation with Moneka Tupua Knight
Thursday 2 April 2026
A powerful story of cultural pride and women’s resistance.
This inspiring book explores the lives of the women in the Samoan Women’s Mau resistance movement and the warriors who fought against the New Zealand colonisers to achieve Samoa’s independence.
Sina’s tattoo, the malu is a rite of passage she endures after the death of the grandmother, the village healer. As the taupou, or ceremonial virgin of her village, the sacred symbols inked onto her skin allow her to perform at the kava ceremonies. But when the missionaries discover it, she is expelled from school and her father, a high chief, is ordered to pay a hefty fine. To help pay the fine, Sina works at Vailima for Fanny Stevenson, wife of famed Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. Their relationship leads to engagement with Samoan politics and Sina and other female warriors work together to create the Women’s Mau resistance movement.
Moneka Tupua Knight is a former journalist who set up journalism training in Samoa and lectured at the National University of Samoa. She also worked in the media and as a media consultant. She is currently a senior school teacher in Tasmania.
Moneka will be in conversation with Nadia Mahjouri. Nadia is a Moroccan Australian writer, counsellor, and group facilitator specialising in maternal mental health. Her professional background is in health policy, governance and academia, where her research focused on ethics and feminist philosophy. Half Truth is her debut novel.
Join Moneka and Nadia at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Flowers in July | In Conversation with Anna Maynard
Wednesday 1 April 2026
From the author of Dancing with Bees comes a charming and heartfelt story about opening yourself up to love.
Disciplined and pragmatic, Mary Roberts feels she’s got her life under control. She’s recently moved to Hobart, she’s nearing the end of her training as an emergency doctor, and she keeps a tight handle on the wellbeing of her mother and her sister back home in Sydney.
But when it comes to her long-term boyfriend, Felix, Mary’s always had a blind spot. That is until she finds another woman’s G-string in their bed …
In need of a temporary escape, Mary signs up to help run a wilderness expedition medicine course. She soon discovers that rock climbing, plunging into freezing cold water, and working in the close company of a grumpy yet disconcertingly magnetic retrieval doctor are pushing her way out of her comfort zone.
Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about herself is starting to unravel. The question is, what will the fallout be? A breakdown in her relationship with her sister? Her mother’s brittle mental health reaching the point of catastrophe? Or – most dangerous of all – could Mary Roberts finally be ready to fall in love?
‘A delectable Aussie rom-com that delivers laugh-out-loud moments, heart-squeezing emotion and characters so real you'll want the at your next family BBQ.’ RACHAEL JOHNS
Anna Maynard’s experience as a writer had largely been restricted to medical letters and discharge summaries through her years of medical training. So after sitting her specialist medical exams she decided to turn her hand to romance.
When she’s not dreaming up fictional heroines and swoony love interests, Anna can be found working in the hospital, pottering in her garden or playing songs with her pop band. Anna lives in Hobart with her husband and children. Anna published her laugh out loud funny, debut novel, Dancing with Bees, in 2025 to rave reviews. Flowers in July is her second novel and has already received garnered a lot of interest.
In conversation with Anna is Meg Bignell. Meg was a nurse and a weather presenter on the telly before she surrendered to
a persistent desire to write. She is the author of four novels and one non-fiction book. Her third novel, The Angry Women’s Choir, won the People’s Choice Award for fiction at the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Awards. She has written and performed in short films, cabaret shows and a musical. The Good Losers (2025) is her latest novel.
Join Anna and Meg at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
The Endling | Keely Jobe in Conversation
Tuesday 31 March 2026
A feminist utopia crumbles with one impossible birth.
On an isolated mountaintop, a small feminist community is fracturing under the weight of ideological divides and dwindling numbers. Mila struggles to hold the women together, while deeper in the bush her aunt Frank — an ailing recluse — lives with only her dog, Chicken Midnight, for company. Nearby, an orchid endling approaches its own death, and the extinction of its entire species.
As Frank grows increasingly unwell and secretive about her condition, the community women begin mysteriously falling pregnant. When Mila gives birth to the only boy, their hardline separatist ideals face an impossible test.
Vividly expressed, wildly funny, and wholly original, The Endling examines the volatile intersection of community and politics, exploring what happens when the borders we construct between species, between sexes, between self and world prove more porous than we imagine.
Keely Jobe is a writer of fiction and nonfiction living on the east coast of Lutruwita/Tasmania with her partner and two staffies. Her work has appeared in The Monthly, Island Magazine, Australian Geographic, and Cosmos. She has a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of Tasmania and is the nonfiction editor at Island Magazine. The Endling is her first novel.
Keely will be in conversation with Jane Rawson. Jane is the author of essay collection Human/Nature: On life in a wild world, novels A history of dreams, From the wreck and A wrong turn at the Office of Unmade Lists, a novella, Formaldehyde, and the non-fiction book The Handbook: surviving & living with climate change. She is the Managing Editor at Island magazine and co-edited Breathing space, a collection of reflections and projections on nature in Tasmania.
Join Keely and Jane at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
The Hobart Hotel | In-Store Signing
Tuesday 31 March 2026
Join Mary-Lou at Fullers Bookshop for the release of her new book The Hobart Hotel! She will be in store from 10am-12pm for a signing.
A stunning gold dress, a forgotten key and a whisper through history ... the compelling new Tasmanian historical fiction from a bestselling Australian author.
December 1939: The grand opening of Australia's most glamorous and talked about hotel, the Wrest Point Riviera.The equally glamorous Sabine Winters, recently arrived in Hobart from the Continent, anticipates a safe port from the storm that rages in Europe along with a few select items of jewellery to add to her (stolen) collection. What she doesn't expect is to be blackmailed into becoming a spy, torn from the safety of Tasmania and taken to the viper's nest of intrigue and plots that is South America during the rise of Nazi power. Her instincts and charms will only get her so far ...
February 1973: The grand opening of Australia's most glamorous, talked about and controversial hotel, the Wrest Point Hotel Casino.Jenny Davies anticipates a night surrounded by dizzying decor and thrilling action. What she doesn't expect is an invitation to become a Ladybird, one of the casino's croupiers. But Jenny's choice to pursue this exclusive career creates a devastating chain of events that could destroy her life as she knows it. Can a mysterious letter and the gift of a key from a relative Jenny has never heard of somehow be the answer to all of her problems?
Mary-Lou Stephens was born in Tasmania, studied acting at The Victorian College of the Arts and played in bands in Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney. Eventually she got a proper job - in radio, where she was a presenter and music director, first with commercial radio and then with the ABC. She received rave reviews for her memoir Sex, Drugs and Meditation (2013), the true story of how meditation changed her life, saved her job and helped her find a husband. The Australian called her debut novel, The Last of the Apple Blossom (2021), 'an outstanding historical novel about women and the secrets and burdens they carry'. She is also the author of the bestselling novel The Chocolate Factory (2024). Mary-Lou has worked and played all over Australia. Now she travels the world with her husband, slowly, and writes, mostly.
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On Not Climbing Mountains | Claire Thomas in Conversation
Friday 27 March 2026
From the internationally acclaimed, prize-winning author of The Performance and Fugitive Blue comes a remarkable work of literary fiction
A woman arrives in Geneva, the first stop in a train journey through the country of her father's birth. She yearns to be outside time - untethered and alone - but she soon becomes immersed in the stories resonating all around her.
She visits a museum and stares into the oversized, disco-ball eyes of an insect, unsettled by the intimacy, 'like looking into the facial pores of a lover'. Later, she will tiptoe through the snow to find a portrait of James Baldwin on the window shutter of a chalet, his features rendered in rows of silver staples shot into timber.
She will find traces of Mary Shelley and Fleur Jaeggy; android pioneers in eighteenth-century Neuchatel; Charlie Chaplin, Patricia Highsmith, and striking workers drilling through the earth to create the vast Gotthard Tunnel; Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary as they summit Everest; Lenin and the Dada artists in early twentieth-century Zurich.
On Not Climbing Mountains is a tender and compelling novel from the internationally acclaimed author of The Performance. Beautifully conceived and deftly crafted, it is an exhilarating feat of storytelling, concerned with the fragilities of the natural world, the pains of grief and memory, and the endless reverberations of art.
'Not climbing, waiting, connecting. Thomas has written a novel that is truly novel - she plays with form and artfully constructs a journey through the mountains of Switzerland, braiding stories of artists, writers, and thinkers into a literary rope, a pulley system for the mind. Vivian Gornick meets Ali Smith, but unmistakably Claire Thomas' MADELEINE GRAY, AUTHOR OF GREEN DOT
Claire Thomas is a writer from Naarm/Melbourne. Her first novel was Fugitive Blue, which won the Dobbie Literary Award for women writers, and was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award. Her second novel, The Performance, also longlisted for the Miles Franklin, was internationally published to critical acclaim, and shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Award Christina Stead Prize for Fiction in 2022. Claire holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and has worked as a mentor, lecturer, supervisor and teacher for many years. On Not Climbing Mountains was written with the support of a residency at the Fondation Jan Michalski in Montricher, Switzerland.
Claire will be in conversation with Adam Ouston. Adam is a writer of fiction and non-fiction, and the recipient of the 2014 Erica Bell Literary Award as well as the manuscript prize at the Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Awards in 2017. He holds a PhD and has worked as a copywriter, editor and bookseller. As a musician he performs as Costume.
Join Claire and Adam at the Afterword Cafe
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[RE]TURN | In From The Wilds with Kristen Lang
Thursday 26 March 2026
“This is extraordinary work, pieces so rich in detail, experience, imagination and wisdom that one must read them slowly, aloud if possible, to savour and absorb each line and sentence. This is not theory, not preaching, not rancour, this is true love and knowledge of place. Lang takes her readers by the hand and, like a lover, introduces them gently to the mysteries of Earth.” David Brooks, winner of the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry.
What does the world we live in mean to us? More, when we bring it to mind, than just a platform for our daily living. Where we live is intricate, intimate, deep-time entangled and never, from the microbes of our guts to the minerals of the moon, only to do with humans. The poems of [re]turn are besotted not by the who but the inclusive where of what it is to be alive. Snout beetle, rain drop, these phone-cradling humans, the humpback whales, all of it, even AI, pours through these poems for the Earth we currently have. The world is not a stage. And perhaps, if we are lucky, there are ways to (re)turn to a being and becoming that is consciously, encompassingly, a part of it.
Kristen Lang lives in mountainous country in north-west Tasmania. In her writing, closeness and connection combine with a beyond-human view that celebrates ecological continuity. Kristen also works intensively as a volunteer wildlife surveyor, clocking up thousands of hours off-track to record the presences and behaviours of a diverse range of plants and animals. There are stones she knows intimately and many more yet to be understood. Together these lines of work – poetry and the gaining of an awareness of place – trace Kristen’s own understanding of what it is that matters, what waits for us if we listen, and what is in need of us doing just that.
Two of Kristen’s collections, SkinNotes and The Weight of Light, were published in 2017 by Walleah Press and Five Islands Press. Earth Dwellers was published in 2021 by Giramondo and was one of 20 books longlisted for the international Laurel Prize in that year. Earth Dwellers was also shortlisted for the Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry in 2022.
[RE]TURN picks up where Earth Dwellers left off and moves decisively forward. For the celebrated poet, Peter Boyle, it is “one of the finest new books I've read in a long time.”
From poet Michael Lavers: “This book’s great triumph is its vindication of a world already whole, an order that accounts as much for stars as star-nosed moles. And so saturated are Lang’s lines with wild places that they leave their traces on the reader. After handling these poems, I find their pollen on my fingertips. I brush their leaves out of my hair.”
From the much-loved poet Jane Williams: “Shimmering against the surface of exquisitely detailed imagery is the persuasive entreaty – beyond self-preservation or moral obligation – to care.”
Join Kristen at the Afterword Cafe.
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The Second Coming | Peter Edward in Conversation
Wednesday 25 March 2026
Everyone has their Judgement Day.
A Catholic priest is banished to a small country town where he becomes infatuated with a solar scientist. On the opposite side of the world two former hackers release a cyber scam - just for a bit of fun. The cyber virus doesn’t shut down systems or steal identities, it simply professes to be a message from Jesus Christ.
When natural occurrences align with false prophecies, the consequences are deadly, and a desperate world is thrown into chaos.
Peter Edward is a former advertising creative director and festival director. The Second Coming is his first fiction novel. Peter’s heritage is Polish, both parents having arrived in Australia as post-war displaced persons. He lives off-grid in the high country of Tasmania in what he describes as a writer’s paradise. Peter’s interests include all things creative; all things outdoor, sustainable, and delicious; world affairs; and above all, family. Peter writes poetry and short stories and is currently working on his next novel.
Peter will be in conversation with Jane Longhurst. Jane is an award winning actor, director, former broadcaster and popular presenter of events big and small.
Join Peter and Jane at the Afterword Cafe.
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Real Stories. Real Comics
Saturday 21 March 2026
Alyssa Bermudez (she/her) is a New York–born illustrator, designer, and cartoonist living in Lutruwita/Tasmania. She tells real-life stories through ink, watercolour, and digital illustration, often drawing from her own diaries, memories, and big feelings. She is the author and illustrator of the middle-grade graphic memoir Big Apple Diaries (2021), now held in the permanent collection of the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York City. Her latest graphic novel memoir, Run Home, explores friendship, running, and navigating grief with honesty and heart.
Alyssa’s work spans graphic novels, picture books, surface design, live event illustration, and performance, with artwork appearing in over a dozen children’s books, fabric collections, and on stage. When she’s not making comics, she works an art director, teaches workshops, live-sketches events, and obsesses over dogs, books, travel, and keeping plants alive. Find out more at www.alyssabermudezart.com
Georgina Chadderton (she/they) is an awkward yet friendly Australian cartoonist with an undying love of eating snacks, drinking green tea, patting dogs and playing roller derby. Although Georgina has been published all over the globe, Oh Brother is her first full-length graphic novel. When they're not making comics, Georgina co-directs Papercuts Comics Festival, runs comics-making workshops and reads comics by their favourite comics makers (basically, it’s all comics, all the time). Georgina lives on Kaurna Yerta (Adelaide) in South Australia with her partner Owen and their distressingly large collection of books. Find out more at www.georgerexcomics.com
Join us for a hands-on comic adventure! We’ll introduce our graphic novels and share behind-the-scenes photos from when we were kids, the real-life inspiration for our stories. We’ll also do a live drawing session, showing everyone how we create our characters. Kids can try worksheets, grab fun giveaways, and get their books signed and stamped. Recommended for ages 8+
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Gough Whitlam | In Conversation with Troy Bramston
Thursday 19 March 2026
A commanding biography of one of Australia's greatest and most visionary prime minsters by an acclaimed political journalist and author.
There has been no one like Gough Whitlam in public life - a charismatic, inspirational and visionary leader who ushered in a reform revolution to modernise Australia, which endures to this day. But Whitlam's immense self-belief, relentless determination, misjudgements and blunders were truly Shakespearean and help to explain his downfall.
Drawing on thousands of pages of newly discovered archives and interviews with more than one hundred people, Troy Bramston, Australia's leading political biographer, gives the most comprehensively researched account of Whitlam's life and career ever published. It is an epic story of triumph and tragedy, filled with revelations that will surprise and shock, and offers new insights into Whitlam's family and upbringing; wartime service and legal career; ascendancy through Labor ranks; prime ministership; and life after politics.
This is the definitive biography of Australia's twenty-first prime minister, and the first since his death in 2014, providing an unvarnished analysis of his achievements and failures, how he governed, and the dramatic story of his dismissal on Remembrance Day, 1975. Fifty years later, it could not be timelier.
Troy Bramston is a senior writer with The Australian newspaper, reporting on politics, policy and popular culture. He is an award-winning and best-selling author or editor of twelve books, including Gough Whitlam: The Vista of the New (2025), Bob Hawke: Demons and Destiny (2022), Robert Menzies: The Art of Politics (2019) and Paul Keating: The Big-Picture Leader (2016). He was co-winner of an Australian Book Industry Award (2016), finalist for the Walkley Book Award (2017), shortlisted for the National Biography Award (2018) and shortlisted for the Australian Political Book of the Year Award (2022). Troy is a member of the Library Council of the State Library of NSW and the National Archives of Australia Advisory Council. He was a judge of the Prime Minister's Literary Awards in 2021 and 2022. Troy was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for his contribution as a member of the NSW Centenary of Federation Committee. He lives in Sydney with wife, Nicky, and children, Madison and Angus.
In converssation with Troy is Ryk Goddard. Ryk is one of ABC's most experienced radio presenters. On Breakfast for ABC Hobart since 2010 he has also presented for ABC Classic FM, ABC Sydney and Melbourne. In his spare time, Ryk is a highly sought-after MC and award-winning presentation skills coach. Ryk is a former Artistic Director, actor and stand-up comedian and currently is making music solo and with the band.
Join Troy and Ryk at the Afterword Cafe.
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Beloved | In Conversation with Zoe Leavitt and Craig George
Friday 13 March 2026
Beloved by Zoe Leavitt is a soulful sanctuary offering solace, comfort, and reflection through evocative poetry and stunning photography. Rooted in Zoe’s spiritual journey and crafted over years of exploration, the book invites readers to connect with their inner being and embrace compassion and transcendence. Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Tasmania’s Tarkine region—the ancient ‘Mother Forest’— Craig George’s evocative images complement the verses, bridging inner and outer worlds. The collection encourages meditative reading, allowing one to dip in and out as needed, fostering a deep sense of peace and awakening. Praised for its heartfelt and inspiring meditations, Beloved is a guide to nurturing the soul and recognizing the divinity within. This anthology resonates with seekers longing for connection, hope, and transformation, making it a treasured companion for anyone on a path of self-discovery and spiritual growth.
Zoe Leavitt is a writer and a psychologist. This anthology of poetry has been developed through a period of marked spiritual exploration and practice. An accomplished therapist for the past 26 years, Zoe is accustomed to working within the inner space of others. She believes our inner worlds are so much a part of who we are, yet rarely are they spoken of, or given enough attention to.
Craig George, husband of Zoe, has carved an impressive path through an array of professions. In a 30-year career with Victoria Police, he mastered and taught the art of surveillance photography. He’s now an editorial photographer for the Launceston Examiner and his relocation to Tasmania in 2017 ignited a powerful creative renaissance, fuelled by the island’s awe-inspiring natural landscapes. Craig has exhibited his work internationally, including in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was AIPP Victorian Professional Landscape Photographer of the Year (2016) and awarded the “Master of Photography” accreditation in 2018.
Many images in this book were captured during a 2018 expedition to the pristine Tarkine rainforest. A collection was later showcased in a University of Tasmania exhibition inaugurated by former Greens Leader and environmental activist Dr Bob Brown.
In conversation with Zoe and Craig is Meahd Farnaby. Meahd is a bookworm, writer, event organiser, avid supporter of the many literary happenings about town, and believes we live in one of the most creative and beautiful places around. She is Deputy Chair of both TasWriters and A Fairer World, championing for the storytellers as well as for inclusion, kindness and celebration of diversity within Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Join Zoe, Craig and Meahd at the Afterword Cafe.
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Nature Writing Prize Panel
Thursday 12 March 2026
In 2025, Island Magazine, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and Fullers Bookshop collaborated on the inaugural Nature Writing Prize, setting out to discover what Australian writers are thinking about our changing relationship with the world around us. What are we thinking and feeling about climate change, deforestation, the depletion of wildlife, scientific discoveries, the roiling nature inside us all and the increasingly quieted nature outside? What does it all mean and how might we consider it differently?
As we continue thinking about these questions, join us for a panel discussion with the inaugural winner, Bridget Webster, who will be joined by Andrew Darby and Ben Walter, and chaired by Jane Rawson.
Bridget Webster is a writer and theatremaker living on unceded Wurundjeri Country. As well as winning the Island Nature Writing Prize, she has been shortlisted for Overland’s Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize, longlisted for Frontier Poetry’s Nature and Place Prize and awarded an Emerging Poet Prize by Liquid Amber Press. Their work has been featured in Meanjin, Island, Jacaranda, Liquid Amber Press anthologies, and elsewhere.
Andrew Darby is the author of Flight Lines, on long distance migratory shorebirds, and Harpoon on whales and whaling. Flight Lines won the Royal Zoological Society of NSW's Whitley Award for the Best Natural History, and the Premier's Prize for Non-fiction in the Tasmanian Literary Awards. It was shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Award for Non-fiction. He was the Hobart correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Ben Walter is a Walkley Award-winning essayist, the author of the short story collection What Fear Was, and winner of the John Shaw Neilson Poetry Award. A past fiction editor at Island, his writing has appeared widely in Australian journals, including Meanjin, Overland and Griffith Review, and internationally in 3:AM Magazine, Poetry Ireland Review and The Kenyon Review. Lithosphere is Ben Walter’s debut book of poetry.
Jane Rawson is the author of Human/Nature: On life in a wild world, as well as novels A History of Dreams, From the Wreck and A Wrong Turn at the Office of Unmade Lists, a novella, Formaldehyde, and, with James Whitmore, the non-fiction book The Handbook: Surviving & Living with Climate Change. You can read her essays in Living with the Anthropocene; Fire, Flood, Plague; and Reading Like an Australian Writer. She is the managing editor at Island magazine and lives in south-east Lutruwita/Tasmania, where she is studying a PhD in creative writing at UTAS.
Join Bridget, Andrew, Ben, and Jane at the Afterword Cafe.
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Nazis in Australia | Mark Aarons in conversation
Wednesday 11 March 2026
The incredible story of the special investigations unit that tracked down the Nazis who called Australia home after World War II.
In 1986 journalist Mark Aarons presented a Radio National series, which established that a significant number of Nazi collaborators and war criminals - particularly from Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania and Yugoslavia - had settled in Australia after World War II.
Aarons' explosive reporting led to the formation in 1987 of the Special Investigations Unit, which investigated over 800 suspected war criminals living in Australia. This book gathers the recollections of historians, archaeologists, police investigators, SIU leaders, translators and lawyers to create a detailed insiders' account of the unit's efforts to prosecute Australian residents and citizens believed to have participated in horrific war crimes.
The SIU left an important legacy. As well as pursuing justice for victims of the Holocaust, it demonstrated that historical investigation of war crimes was possible, even decades later. In the words of former SIU director Graham Blewitt, 'Australia should be proud that, for a brief period in our legal history, we stood up and did the right thing. There was a time when Nazi collaborators living in Australia were wondering when the SIU knock on the door would come.'
For this special event, Mark Aarons will be in conversation with Tim McCormack, and the event will be opened by Julia Flint. Join them at the Afterword Café.
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Mark Aarons is the author of several books, including War Criminals Welcome and The Family File. He worked as an ABC broadcaster and investigative documentary producer from 1973 until 1990 and has written many feature articles for Australia’s leading newspapers.
Tim McCormack is Professor of International Law at the University of Tasmania and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. He is the former Special Adviser on War Crimes to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in The Hague (2010-2024).
Julia Flint is the Chair of the Australian Red Cross (Tasmania) International Humanitarian Law Advisory Committee.
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Hobart Silent Book Club | March
Friday 6 March 2026
The first Silent Book Club started in a local bar in San Francisco in 2012 by a couple of friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich. There are now Silent Book Club chapters all over the world.
There are no ‘reading books’ prescribed: you simply bring a book you are reading, or want to read, and then have an hour of uninterrupted reading time. There is no requirement for you to discuss your book with anyone either.
Created for introverts, there is no pressure to speak, converse, or cringe through awkward small talk. Engage as much or as little as you like.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join.
The Hobart Silent Book Club meets on the fourth Friday of each month at Fullers in the Afterword Cafe. Reading begins at 5.30pm and finishes at 6.30pm. You are welcome to come at 5.00pm and grab a coffee beforehand.
This is a free event.
Contact: hobartsilentbookclub@gmail.com
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Cold Water Killer | Jude and Alison Alexander
Thursday 5 March 2026
What killed Derek Peabody? On a Tasmanian beach during the coldwater swimming group's nude midwinter dip?
No one liked him. Not his wife, his ex-wife, his brother, his wife's sister, his business partner, nor the collegues he'd cheated over the years. Certainly not the community of Coldwater Bay, where he planned to start a fish farm. And especially not the coldwater swimmers, a group of women of a certain age adamantly opposed to fish farming.
An intriguing thriller set on the beautiful ‘Apple Isle’.
Alison Alexander is a leading and prize-winning Australian historian whose distinguished works include Corruption and Skullduggery (2015; republished by EER, 2024) and Land of Rogues & Scoundrels (EER, 2025). Alison is a keen cold-water swimmer.
Jude Alexander works as a test developer with the Australian Council for Educational Research. Her passion is folk music. She is a member of two singing groups.
Jude and Alison will be in conversation with Judy Tierney OAM. A state and national award winning journalist with ABC radio and television for over 35 years, Judy Tierney continues to contribute to various programmes despite her ‘retirement’. Currently, Judy is on the board of Island, Tasmania’s most respected literary magazine and is a Leadership Champion with Tasmanian Leaders, the organisation that identifies and nurtures the best of our young, bright thinkers. She is an Ambassador for Second Bite, promoting the wonderful work done by the food distribution group feeding the needy.
Join Jude, Alison and Judy at the Afterword cafe.
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Department of the Vanishing | Launch
Wednesday 4 March 2026
Before the Anthropocene, the air pulsed with birdsong. Now, a silence is falling.
Ava spends her days at The Department, rebuilding lost species from the remaining fragments of art and scientific data. Her dying mother thinks she should quit. So does her lover, and the sex workers who loiter outside her apartment. But when a ghost from her past shows up, Ava is compelled to follow its broken song deep into the archives – uncovering a secret that could reverse the age of silence.
Set in a time of mass extinction, Department of the Vanishing blends documentary poetry, archival image, and narrative verse to explore the vital questions: Can we live in a world without birdsong and is it possible to create a new opus with the fragments left over?
Winner of the 2025 Tasmanian Literary Award (University of Tasmania Unpublished Manuscript Prize)
‘Rare and resplendent. A full-bodied roar at the crimes of extinction and a psalm for the wonder of the living world.’ – Jennifer Mills
‘A sexy, compelling and beautifully crafted elegy not only to birds but to feeling itself. The denouement is spectacular; I cheered and wept.’ – Angela O’Keeffe
‘Simultaneously fragile and furious, intimate and immense, Department of the Vanishing is a remarkable achievement.’ – James Bradley
‘Surprisingly seductive and at times deeply sad, Department of the Vanishing brilliantly explores what it takes to live life with grief for lost family and a vanishing wild.’ – Jane Messer
Johanna lives in Nipaluna (Hobart) where she writes fiction, poetry and children’s books. Her work is widely published and she has won a string of awards, including a Tasmanian Literary Award for Department of the Vanishing.
Johanna will be in conversation with Danielle Wood, author of several works of fiction and non-fiction, including the Vogel Prize winning novel The Alphabet of Light and Dark, as well as the co-editor of two anthologies of Tasmanian writing. As "Minnie Darke", she’s the author of six works of fiction including the best-selling romantic comedy, Star-crossed. With fellow Tasmanian writer Heather Rose, she is “Angelica Banks”, author of a trilogy of children’s books. Danielle writes a fortnightly column for the Mercury, teaches writing at UTAS and her most recent book is Minnie Darke's Three Juliets about forced adoption, dressmaking and the tangled threads of maternal love.
Join Johanna and Danielle at the Afterword Cafe.
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Philosophy Cafe: Cosmic Connection
Tuesday 3 March 2026
Charles Taylor’s new book Cosmic Connections: Poetry in the Age of Disenchantment, published 2024, invites us to think through, reflect, and, if one is so inclined, celebrate what Taylor calls our “cosmic connection,” our human embeddedness within a “cosmic home.”
Taylor argues that, corresponding to the disintegration of traditional beliefs in a cosmic order (largely due to the scientific revolution), Romantic poetry developed an original and compelling language to express our human connectedness to the world at large. As such, it does not fall victim to the forces of disenchantment and it cannot be “refuted” or “sidelined” as mere inconsequential daydreaming by recourse to the “facts” of science or the so-called "hard facts" of life. Instead, it opens up a powerful and still viable model for disclosing our place in the world, and indeed our human essence.
Taylor’s book is a passionate plea, filled with thought, to take inspiration from the poetry of the Romantics.
Let’s discuss it. All welcome.
For this Philosophy Café, Ingo will deliver some reflections on these themes, followed by discussion.
This is a free event, but please RSVP so we know how many people we’re expecting!
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Following the Ink/ All That Could Be Lost
Saturday 28 February 2026
Join Helga Jermy and Dr Melanie Jansen at the Afterword Cafe as they read from and discuss their new poetry collections.
Helga Jermy's zuihitsu, Following the Ink, is a poet’s daybook of a journey through Japan, a touching and quietly profound consideration of belonging, otherness, modernity, youth and aging, the passage of time, the kitsch and the classic, and, always, love.
Helga Jermy is an English-Estonian poet, now living on the northwest coast of Lutruwita/Tasmania. Her work has appeared widely in literary journals and anthologies. Poems and short fiction have been commended and shortlisted in major national and international prizes. Following the Ink is her fifth collection. See more of Helga’s work at helgajermypoetry.com.au.
Melanie’s first poetry collection combines an exploration of the complex emotional and ethical challenges of working in intensive care with a powerful documentation of suffering, joy and growth in the personal life that must be lived alongside the professional one.
Dr Melanie Jansen grew up in Logan City, and she lives, writes, and practises medicine on Turrbal and Jagera land in Meanjin Brisbane. A Churchill Fellow in clinical ethics and medical humanities, and now a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of Queensland, Melanie has had poems published in medical journals and poetry anthologies and one of her poems, “Some Days the Air is Soft”, won one of the major prizes in the Grieve Competition. All That Could Be Lost.
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Created from Chaos | In Conversation with Peter Manchester
Wednesday 25 February 2026
Tasmania's landscape, its rocks and tectonic structures, is one of the most understood yet less celebrated aspects of the state by its population. It is so unique geologically that much of Tasmania's geology is closer to that found in the Antarctic region, or the USA's Arizona Grand Canyon than it is to mainland Australia.
This updated version of "Created from Chaos" is the definitive book that interprets 104 observable geological and "geoheritage" localities using understandable geological langauge. Features as old as the 1300 million year old rocks on King Island to the most recent coastal erosional effects at Ocean beach on the West Coast. Using understandable explanations and definitions, photographic images of the "chaos sites", intrusions into the rocks, contorted folding and stretching, the author outlines how to acknowledge and understand these special places that made this island the Tasmania we see today.
"Created from Chaos" divides Tasmania into geographical "chaos regions", each containing a number of "chaos sites". These sites have been selected for their easy access and viewing from roads or short walking tracks. "Created from Chaos" will be invaluable to educators, researchers, students, fossickers and the interested and enquiring person, and could provide a first point of reference to scientists investigating Tasmania's geology and geological history.
Peter Manchester was born and educated in Launceston, Tasmania. After a short cadetship with the Mines Department, he attended the University of Tasmania, majoring in geology, geochemistry and education. After a short period in the mining industry, and after compulsory national service overseas, he served 49 years lecturing and teaching Tasmanian geology, photography, multimedia and geotourism to adults and children of all abilities. His wide knowledge of layperson Tasmanian geology has allowed him to conduct more than 360 field excursions since the 1970s, and he has frequently consulted on earth science collections. His recent book, "Peter Manchester's Guide to Tasmanian Fossils" (2024) is the first book on this subject and is highly coveted.
Peter will be in conversation with Professor Ross Large. Professor Large is a Distinguished Professor of Geology at the University of Tasmania and the recent past Director of CODES, the ARC Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits. Ross gained his PhD from the University of New England in 1973 and undertook a CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Toronto in 1974. For 10 years Ross worked in mineral exploration in the Northern Territory, Queensland and Tasmania. In 1984 he joined the University of Tasmania and, five years later, established CODES as a National Key Centre jointly funded by the Australian Research Council, University of Tasmania, the Mining Industry and the State Government. Under his leadership, CODES has grown to become recognised as one of the top ore deposit research centres in the world.
Join Peter and Ross at the Afterword Cafe.
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Looking from the North | Henry Reynolds in Conversation
Friday 20 February 2026
Henry Reynolds’ ground-breaking re-examination of Australian colonisation from the north down.
When acclaimed historian Henry Reynolds moved from Hobart to Townsville to teach Australian history in the 1960s, he discovered the books of the period covered very little about northern Australia and First Nations peoples. He set out to help remedy the situation and ended up transforming Australian history in ways he could never have imagined.
In 'Looking from the North', Reynolds again turns Australian history on its axis with an exploration of colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn. Reynolds tells the stories of the European, Chinese, Japanese and Pacific Islander people who were vital to the settlement of the north. Along with the experience of First Nations peoples, from employment on stations and as native police to the land rights and homelands movements, Reynolds shows how the colonisation of the north, officially beginning in 1861, was a very different venture to settlement in the south. He argues that it provides profoundly important lessons for the world we live in today.
Henry Reynolds is a historian who wrote an MA thesis on nineteenth- century colonial politics. He taught in Tasmania and the UK before accepting a lecturing position in Townsville University College (now James Cook University). He lived in North Queensland for over 30 years, teaching Australian history and politics, where he became deeply involved in race politics with local Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, which greatly influenced his teaching and research. Henry has written over 20 books—many of them prize winners including: The Other Side of the Frontier, The Law of the Land, Forgotten War and Truth-Telling.
David Marr has written for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Saturday Paper, The Guardian and The Monthly, and has served as editor of The National Times, reporter for Four Corners and presenter of ABC TV’s Media Watch. His books include Patrick White: A Life, The High Price of Heaven, Dark Victory (with Marian Wilkinson), Panic and six bestselling Quarterly Essays: His Master’s Voice, Power Trip, Political Animal, The Prince, Faction Man and The White Queen.
Join Henry and David at the Afterword Cafe.
Seating will be limited and you may need to stand. If you require a seat, please let staff know and we can accomodate. Ticket price includes a free drink on arrival.
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Moult | In Conversation with Andy Baird
Thursday 19 February 2026
What is left when we let go of everything? When all the stories we tell ourselves run out?
Three brothers, their lives traced in thirteen linked short stories as they grow up, fight, fall in love and try to let go. Mick is over it – the battle to perform. Bill’s story is written by a landmine in Vietnam. John seeks answers in the poets, in the monasteries and high places, chasing a mystery that only stopping will reveal. And daughter/niece Haley dances the narrow path of strip clubs and motherhood, raising a child of extraordinary insight.
Moult’s poetic, transcendent language traces a path of renunciation, moving between the inner world and a contemporary story of the New England Tablelands and the forests of Lutruwita / Tasmania. It asks the reader to explore the very essence of being.
Andy ‘Ryugen’ Baird has lived in Lutruwita / Tasmania for the last 35 years, drawn to the island as a sacred land of possibility, existential homecoming and deep natural beauty. He spent his early working life in environmental education, with time in high schools, outdoors in Landcare and Bushcare roles, and in places as diverse as Antarctica, the Arctic and as an environmental trainer in the Dalai Lama’s monastery in India. He also worked for many years at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. In 2021 he ordained as a Zen Buddhist monk and now resides in a straw-stone-timber home and hermitage he built with his partner in the Huon Valley.
Andy will be in conversation with Danielle Wood, Hobart author extraordinaire.
Join Andy and Danielle at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Seasonal Poets | Summer
Monday 16 February 2026
WEB SALES HAVE CLOSED, BUT THERE IS PLENTY OF SPACE! TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR
Seasonal Poets is a quarterly gathering of poetic talent, organised by Gina Mercer, Anne Collins, and Irene McGuire, and has been running for ten years. At each session, three different poets are invited to share their work.
The Seasonal Poets program for the Summer reading will feature Ben Walter, Adrienne Eberhard and Esther Ottaway.
Ben Walter is a Walkley award-winning essayist, and the author of a book of short stories, What Fear Was, and the new poetry collection, Lithosphere. His poems explore the Tasmanian natural world in surprising ways.
Adrienne Eberhard has published six collections of poetry. The latest, Marie & Marie, was published in Paris as a bilingual edition, translated into French by Catherine de Saint Phalle. Adrienne's poems explore love, nature, history and the way place shapes people.
Esther Ottaway is the winner of the $25,000 Tim Thorne Prize for Poetry in the Tasmanian Literary Awards, and holds multiple national and international shortlistings. Her poems are about family bonds, Tasmanian life, experiences of joy, and winter swimming!
Tickets are $12, and include a glass of wine or non-alcoholic drink.
You can purchase below, or on the door.
Join Ben, Adrienne, and Esther at the Afterword Café.
Fullers Bookshop
Earthquake | In Conversation with Niki Savva
Friday 13 February 2026
DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, WE HAVE MOVED THIS EVENT TO THE RACV HOTEL (COLLINS ROOM) OVER THE ROAD FROM US.
The best of Niki Savva's columns from The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, along with riveting new chapters, about an epoch-making period in Australian politics.
When the Coalition government was overthrown in 2022, it was tempting to portray the loss as merely a personal repudiation of Scott Morrison. Then, after Antony Albanese's initial honeymoon period, the Labor government became increasingly unpopular while having to negotiate a period of high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis while not provoking the Reserve Bank to either increase interest rates further or delay lowering them. And when opposition leader Peter Dutton torpedoed the referendum on establishing an Indigenous Voice to parliament, his credibility as a political leader improved at the expense of the prime minister's. That was when, according to Niki Savva, the conservative Coalition thought it had the forthcoming election in the bag.
What followed was a sequence of events that resulted in an improbable triumph for Labor and a historic drubbing for the Liberal Party.
Niki Savva is an award-winning political commentator and author. She was a staffer to former prime minister John Howard and former treasurer Peter Costello, and is a member of the board of Old Parliament House.
Sabra Lane has been the presenter of flagship ABC Radio Current Affairs program AM. She was a journalist more than 20 years, filling roles from TV reporting to being a chief of staff, executive producer of a national TV program and chief political correspondent for ABC Radio current affairs.
Join Niki and Sabra at the RACV Hotel.
RACV Hotel (Collins Room)
Naku Dharuk: The Bark Petitions
Wednesday 11 February 2026
In 1963—a year of agitation for civil rights worldwide—the Yolŋu of northeast Arnhem Land created the Yirrkala Bark Petitions: Naku Dharuk. ‘The land grew a tongue’ and the land-rights movement was born.
Naku Dharuk is the story of a founding document in Australian democracy and the trailblazers who made it. It is also a pulsating picture of the ancient and enduring culture of Australia’s first peoples.
And it is a masterful, groundbreaking history.
Clare Wright’s Democracy Trilogy began with The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka and continued with You Daughters of Freedom. It concludes with this compulsively readable account of a momentous episode in our shared story.
Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster, podcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media. Clare is currently Professor of History and Professor of Public Engagement at La Trobe University. She is the author of five works of history, including the best-selling The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (winner of the 2014 Stella Prize) and You Daughters of Freedom. Her latest book, and the final instalment in her Democracy Trilogy, is the highly acclaimed Ṉäku Dhäruk The Bark Petitions which won the ,Australian Political Book of the Year, Queensland Literary Award for Non-Fiction and NT History Book Award and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, Victorian Premiers Literary Awards, Age Book of the Year Awards and ABIA Awards, and was longlisted for a Walkley Award and the NIB Literary Award.
Clare will be in conversation with Geordie Williamson. Geordie has been chief literary critic of The Australian since 2008. He is publisher of the Picador imprint at Pan Macmillan, a former editor of Island Magazine and Best Australian Essays, and author of The Burning Library, a collection of essays on neglected figures from Australian literature.
Join Clare and Geordie at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
A Brain That Breathes | In Conversation with Jodi Wilson
Tuesday 10 February 2026
It's a lot, we say. And it's true – sometimes everyday life feels like too much. So what habits can we prioritise for mental clarity and creative verve? How can we continue to do what's normal and necessary but wind back to care for our basic human needs? In this gentle, wise and actionable guide, best-selling author and respected health journalist Jodi Wilson explores the simple, evidence-based changes we can make to give our brains the breathing space they need.
After a lifetime with anxiety, Jodi wanted to better understand herself so she could continue to be creative and productive without slipping into overwhelm and exhaustion. In this fascinating exploration of the brain and body, she discovers that neuroscientists and psychologists, as well as artists and sustainable living experts, all agree on the one habit that can change how we live. It's something our ancestors had in abundance but we've essentially eradicated from our lives: free time, spare time, leisure time – real space to breathe.
Jodi Wilson is a bestselling author, respected health journalist, and postpartum doula. Her work has been published in theGuardianand ABC, and she writes two weekly newsletters on Substack. She lives in Tasmania with her partner and their four children. This is her fourth book.
Jodi will be in conversation with Rachel Edwards. Rachel is a former editor of Island Magazine, and was a senior producer for ABC local radio. She is currently the Events Coordinator at the State Library and Archives Tasmania.
Join Jodi and Rachel at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
Hobart Silent Book Club | February
Friday 6 February 2026
The first Silent Book Club started in a local bar in San Francisco in 2012 by a couple of friends, Guinevere de la Mare and Laura Gluhanich. There are now Silent Book Club chapters all over the world.
There are no ‘reading books’ prescribed: you simply bring a book you are reading, or want to read, and then have an hour of uninterrupted reading time. There is no requirement for you to discuss your book with anyone either.
Created for introverts, there is no pressure to speak, converse, or cringe through awkward small talk. Engage as much or as little as you like.
Silent Book Club is about community. Everyone is welcome, and anyone can join.
The Hobart Silent Book Club meets on the first Friday of each month at Fullers in the Afterword Cafe. Reading begins at 5.30pm and finishes at 6.30pm. You are welcome to come at 5.00pm and grab a coffee beforehand.
This is a free event. RSVP is appreciated but not necessary.
Contact: hobartsilentbookclub@gmail.com
Fullers Bookshop
Between Worlds | In Conversation with Rosie Dub
Thursday 5 February 2026
Some bonds are too powerful to be broken, even by death . . .
Fern lives on Bruny Island in Tasmania, with her partner, Adam and their young daughter, Freya. Adam spends his time protecting the old-growth forests, while Fern is a herbalist who no longer heals. Instead, she’s filled with a growing sense of foreboding.
When a stranger tells Fern she must resolve the divide between herself and Freya, she dismisses him, but in the wake of a tragedy, she’s forced to reconsider his advice. Seeking answers, Fern and Freya travel to the home of a renowned past life therapist in the foothills of the French Pyrenees. Here she begins delving into the past and is drawn deep into an historic drama that threatens to possess her.
At once a metaphysical story and a celebration of the magic of everyday life, Between Worlds explores grief, healing, and the complications of love between a mother and her daughter.
‘A compelling and powerful story of how past lives can shape and shadow the present.’
Kate Forsyth
Rosie Dub is the author of Flight, Between Worlds and Gathering Storm, which is currently being developed as a feature film. Rosie’s short fiction and non-fiction works are published in Australia, the UK and the US. Her writing, teaching and mentoring are all deeply rooted in the role story plays as a vehicle for individual and social transformation. This was the subject of her PhD, and her Alchemy of Story newsletter on Substack continues this journey into the heart of story. She also runs a range of Alchemy of Story workshops in Australia and the UK, which fuse big ideas with practical techniques for creating stories that reimagine ourselves and our world.
Alchemy of Story: https://rosiedub.substack.com/
In conversation with Rosie is Meahd Farnaby. Meahd is a bookworm, writer, event organiser, avid supporter of the many literary happenings about town, and believes we live in one of the most creative and beautiful places around. She is Deputy Chair of both TasWriters and A Fairer World, championing for the storytellers as well as for inclusion, kindness and celebration of diversity within Lutruwita/Tasmania.
Join Rosie and Meahd at the Afterword Cafe.
Fullers Bookshop
