It was great to be a part of the Fremantle Press Great Big Book Club Afternoon Tea, at the Fremantle Esplanade Hotel a couple of weeks ago. It was part of the Press’s 40th Anniversary Celebrations and ran in co-operation with Better Reading.
I’ve long been a fan of the Press as well as being published by them. Remember Me and In Love and War, are both published by them and also, last year, a collection called Purple Prose which I co-edited with my friend and colleague Rachel Robertson.
Better Reading is a great organisation which supports and encourages writers and readers, bringing them together on its website and Facebook and reviewing new titles. Cheryl Akle who runs Better Reading was in town for the event and also met with some WA authors and recorded short interviews with us for the Facebook Page. I chatted to her in the WA State Library and you can find that interview on their Facebook page. You’ll need to scroll back to 14 October to find it.
Lots of interviews with other writers are there too including Natasha Lester, Brooke Davis, Sara Foster, Ron Eliot and David Whish Wilson. And the Better Reading site itself is a great source of reading ideas, events, news and information.
Ron and David were also at the Afternoon Tea, talking with William Yeoman about their books and reading excerpts. I read a short piece from In Love and War and it was great to catch up with members of book clubs from around WA who had come to the event. I also enjoyed hearing excerpts from books that I haven’t yet read: Deb Fitzpatrick’s The Break is now on my reading list as is Brigid Lowry’s Still Life with Teapot. The excerpt Brigid read that afternoon was hilarious. I’m looking forward to the Fremantle Press 40th Anniversary Party next week and to the announcement of the Hungerford Award winner for 2016.
Liz Byrski 