Holden Sheppard in conversation with Chenée Marrapodi

Join us for a stimulating evening as we welcome award winning author Holden Sheppard to share insights into his first novel for adults, King of Dirt. The discussion will be led by journalist and author Chenée Marrapodi.

Holden’s first two young adult novels, Invisible Boys and The Brink have each won multiple awards. Invisible Boys has also been adapted into a hit TV drama.

Chenée Marrapodi is a journalist and the author of the middle grade novels One Wrong Turn and Breaking Pointe.

​About King of Dirt

A gritty and heartfelt gay coming-of-age story from the author of the bestselling Invisible Boys.

Giacomo Brolo, aka Jack, is a mess. He works piecemeal construction gigs in remote WA, drinks himself to oblivion and is estranged from his family and friends.

But then Jack returns to his hometown of Geraldton for a family wedding. He hasn’t been back since he fled at the age of eighteen, and his past soon catches up with him.

Turns out Jack’s deeply conservative Italian family would prefer he remained in the closet. Then he finds out he may have conceived a son with his teenage girlfriend, and now Jack needs to convince her and her new husband that he’s fit to be a father figure. And whatever happened to Xavier, the former schoolmate who Jack was in love with and whose rejection spurred him to leave Geraldton in the first place?

Is Jack doomed to live a dead-end life – or can he open himself up to the possibility of love, found family and connection?

​About this event

Please aim to arrive by 5.30pm for a 6pm start. Refreshments will be served before the event and books will be available to purchase for signing.