Northern Beaches Readers Festival Inc
Connecting readers with their favourite authors.
2024 Festival Opening Night Cocktail Party
Friday 27 September 2024, 6.30 - 9.00 PM
Join us in celebrating the opening night of the Northern Beaches Readers Festival 2024.
This will be a strictly first come first-served, exclusive evening of drinks and nibbles, giving attendees the chance to rub shoulders with many of the festival authors and sponsors.
Ticket price includes finger food and welcome drink.
The bar will be open for the duration of the cocktail party, should you wish to purchase further beverages.
Attendees MUST have photo ID in order to enter Club premises.
Avalon Beach RSL Club
Stories that Don't Play by the Rules: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September 2024, 9.45 AM
Whether it's cricket, rugby, soccer or tennis, Australia has had a love affair with sport. But how does the drama of chasing a ball around grass translate to fiction?
Discover three authors who have thrown out the rule book in bringing love, humour and high emotion to the games we love to watch and play.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
The Suspense is Killing Me: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September, 9.45 AM
Sulari Gentill, Kelli Hawkins and Ashley Kalagian-Blunt chat with fellow author Tim Ayliffe about the motivation behind their suspenseful stories and how they keep readers turning pages.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Crime Writing Workshop with Candice Fox
Saturday, 28 September 2024, 9.45AM-1PM
Queen of Australian crime writing Candice Fox delivers a one-stop-shop of all things crime fiction - from writing heart-wrenching victims to terror-inducing villains, heroes we root, twists that make us gasp and settings we remember.
There is no one more equipped to guide you in all things crime writing.
Activity Room 4, Avalon Recreation Centre
When Life Gives You Lemons: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September 2024, 11.15 AM
Join Amal Awad, Maxine Fawcett and Karina May along with fellow author Amy Lovat as they take us behind the façade of middle-age perfection to reveal the out of control reality confronting women today.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
Michael Robotham In-Conversation
Saturday 28 September 2024, 11.15 AM
Festival Patron and international bestselling crime writer Michael Robotham in conversation with festival director Sandie Docker talking about his latest novel 'Storm Child' and his twenty-year career as one of Australia's most successful and loved authors.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Caught Between Worlds: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September 2024,1.30 PM
Winnie Dunn, Will Kostakis and Saman Shad chat with Claudine Tinellis about the rising popularity of stories that explore notions of identity, race and what it means to belong.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Festival Fiver Session: You CAN Ask That
Saturday 28 September 2024, 1.30 PM
Bestselling authors Sandie Docker, Cassie Hamer and Penelope Janu will be on hand to answer the curly questions nobody is brave enough to ask...How long does it take them to write a book? What happens if you disagree with your editor or if you hate your cover?
Ticketholders will be contacted in advance of the session and given the opportunity to submit questions anonymously prior to the session.
Activity Room 4, Avalon Recreation Centre
Writing Women Back into History: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September 2024, 1.30 PM
Author Claire van Ryn chats to Tea Cooper, Julie Janson and Alli Parker about their novels and how their female characters offer a different perspective on historical events.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
Festival Fiver Session: Publishing Insights
Saturday 28 September 2024, 3.00 PM
A writer, editor and publisher walk into a bar. Join Claudine Tinellis as she chats with a publisher and editor, delving into the process that sees a manuscript evolve into a published book.
Activity Room 4, Avalon Recreation Centre
Fun, Feisty & Fabulous: the Rise of the 50+ Heroine
Saturday 28 September 2024, 3.00 PM
Penelope Janu talks to Amanda Hampson, Joanna Nell and Tricia Stringer about their fun and feisty 50-plus protagonists and what the future holds for them.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
On the Edge of Your Seat: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September 2024, 3.00 PM
Candice Fox, JP Pomare and Greg Woodland chat to Rae Cairns about how they keep their readers on the edge of their seats in their thriller novels.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Fantastic Tales: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September 2024, 4.30 PM
Pamela Cook chats to Kate Forsyth, Jo Riccioni and Kell Woods about their fantastic tales and how they take their readers into other worlds.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
Festival Fiver Session: Book Club
Saturday 28 September, 4.30 PM
Join Avalon Community Library President and volunteer Meg Dunn along with author Cassie Hamer and bookseller Anna Loder in a lively discussion about international bestselling sensation, Bonnie Garmus's, 'Lessons In Chemistry'.
**Please make sure you've read the book as spoilers will be discussed.**
Activity Room 4, Avalon Recreation Centre
Messed Up Millenials: Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 September 2024, 4.30 PM
Michelle Barraclough talks to Madeleine Gray, Amy Lovat and Jessie Stephens - authors who've struck a major cultural chord with twenty-something-year-old protagonists as they confront the messiness of life, love and dawning adulthood in an age of uncertainty.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Chef's Kiss: Our Love Affair with Food in Fiction
Sunday, 29 September 2024,10.00 AM
Cheryl Akle along with authors Sophie Beaumont, Vanessa McCausland and Maya Linnell will explore the rising popularity of food in fiction and what exactly makes these tales resonate with readers.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
Killers in Plain Sight: Panel Discussion
Sunday 29 September 2024, 10.00 AM
Jo Dixon, Jack Heath and Benjamin Stevenson chat to Cassie Hamer about their mystery novels and the danger that comes not from people we don't know, but those we do.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
A Touch of Magic: Panel Discussion
Sunday 29 September 2024, 11.30 AM
Valerie Khoo chats to Jane Tara and Michael Thompson about their highly original debut novels and how they used magic to shine a spotlight on real world issues.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
Shankari Chandran In-Conversation
Sunday 29 September 2024, 11.30 AM
Shankari Chandran, 2023 Miles Franklin Award winner, in conversation with Claudine Tinellis discussing Shankari's work and meteoric rise to fame with 'Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens' and her more recent release 'Safe Haven'.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Climb Inside Your Character's Skin Workshop with Pamela Cook
Sunday, 29 September 2024,1PM-4.30PM
Join author, podcaster and highly experienced writing instructor Pamela Cook in this popular workshop to delve deep into what makes our characters who they are, how to use their experiences to create a page-turning plot and how to show their emotions to create empathy with our readers.
Activity Room 4, Avalon Recreation Centre
Dark Places: A Panel Discussion
Sunday 29 September 2024, 1.45 PM
Claudine Tinellis chats to Chris Hammer, Hayley Scrivenor and Darcy Tindale about the global popularity of Australian crime novels set in extreme places. Each year the bodies continue to pile up with more Australian writers than ever penning uber successful novels in this genre.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Past Lives and Present Challenges: A Panel Discussion
Sunday 29 September 2024, 1.45 PM
Author Kaneana May chats to Julie Bennett, Sandie Docker and Claire van Ryn about long-buried secrets, their impact on the present and how they have explored this phenomenon for powerful storytelling.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
Characters Who Make Us Feel: Panel Discussion
Sunday 29 September 2024, 3.15 PM
Join celebrated authors Emma Grey, Amy Hutton and Penelope Janu in a discussion with Claudine Tinellis about the memorable characters they create from the messiness of everyday life. Why do their characters resonate with readers?
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre
Tackling Big Issues in Fiction: Panel Discussion
Sunday 29 September 2024, 3.15 PM
In this session we hear from Tim Ayliffe, Michael Brissenden and Kate Solly as they discuss with Cassie Hamer the role fiction can play in confronting some of the world's big issues in an entertaining, thrilling and moving way.
Activity Room 2, Avalon Recreation Centre
Battle of the Bookish Brains: Free Session
Sunday 29 September 2024, 4.45 PM
Come and watch the fun as five festival authors join forces with members of the audience to battle for bookish trivia supremacy. Which author/reader team will take out the coveted NBRF Bookish Brain Quiz Champion Trophy? Don't miss your chance to team up with a festival author to show your prowess in this space! Hosted by special festival quiz master Michael Robotham.
Main Hall, Avalon Recreation Centre