Writers of the North – A Literary Fiesta @ Clarkson Library
November 9 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Join us as we host a panel of celebrated authors for an inspiring discussion full of fascinating insights into the writing world.
Writers of the North returns for another year, featuring the talented line up of authors Sara Foster, Josephine Taylor, David Allan-Petale, Holden Sheppard and Rachael Johns.
Join the library team as we host our brilliant panel in an afternoon of literary explorations and writing journeys to delight readers and writers alike. We invite you to pose a question for our authors to answer in their discussions. There’s a section for your query in your order form.
About our writers:
Sara Foster
Sara is the author of acclaimed dystopian thriller The Hush and six bestselling psychological suspense novels: You Don’t Know Me, The Hidden Hours, All That is Lost Between Us, Shallow Breath, Beneath the Shadows and Come Back to Me. Two of her novels have been optioned for television, and You Don’t Know Me was adapted into a chart-topping drama podcast series by Listnr. Sara has a PhD in creative writing (studying representations of mothers and daughters in fiction) and lives in the northern suburbs with her husband, two children, three cats and a bearded dragon called Sunny. Her new psychological suspense, When She Was Gone, is set in WA and begins when a nanny and two small children vanish from a remote Western Australian beach. It will be in bookstores in April 2025.
Find out more about Sara at www.sarafoster.com.au
David Allan-Petale
David is a writer living between bush and sea north of Perth. He worked for many years as a journalist in WA with the ABC and internationally with BBC World. Written while travelling the globe over five years, ‘Locust Summer’ was shortlisted for The Australian Vogel’s Literacy Award (2017) and was developed through a fellowship at Varuna, the Writers’ House.
Find out more about David at www.davidallanpetale.com
Holden Sheppard
Holden is a West Australian author whose debut novel Invisible Boys won multiple awards, including the 2019 WA Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer. A television series adaptation of Invisible Boys is now in post-production with Stan Australia, slated for release next year. Holden’s second novel The Brink won several accolades, including the 2024 Ena Noel Award, and his third book Two Kings – his first novel for adults – will be published in June 2025. Holden served as Deputy Chair of Writing WA for four years, and his writing has been widely published in books, journals and the media. A country boy from Geraldton, Holden now lives in Perth’s far north with his husband and his V8 ute.
Find out more about Holden at www.holdensheppard.com
Josephine Taylor
Josephine Taylor is a writer and editor and an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Edith Cowan University. Her debut novel, Eye of a Rook, was published in 2021 and subsequently shortlisted in the WA Premier’s Book Awards. Josephine is regularly requested as a teacher, mentor, judge and festival moderator in literary fiction and creative non-fiction. Her creative and critical writing has been anthologised and published widely, most recently in Australian Feminist Studies. She is currently at work on her second novel.
Find out more about Josephine at www.josephinetaylor.com
Rachael Johns
Rachael is Australia’s leading writer of contemporary relationship stories around women’s issues, a genre she has coined ‘life-lit’. Rachael has finaled in a number of competitions, including the Australian Romance Readers Awards. Jilted (her first rural romance) won Favourite Australian Contemporary Romance in 2012, and The Patterson Girls won the 2016 Romance Writers of Australia RUBY Award and also the 2015 Australian Book Industry Award for General Fiction. She continually places in Booktopia’s Top 50 Aussie Authors poll.
Rachael lives in the Swan Valley with her hyperactive husband, three mostly-gorgeous heroes-in-training, two ravenous cats, a cantankerous bird and a very badly-behaved dog.
Find out more about Rachael at Rachael Johns | Australian women’s fiction romance author
FREE – bookings essential. Light refreshments provided.
Please cancel your ticket in the lead up to the event if your plans change or call the friendly library team on 9407 1600 for assistance. Thank you!
Target audience: all adults welcome
The Dymocks team will have copies of their books for sale and signing.
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