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 has written and presented history documentaries for ABC TV and is Associate Producer of the feature film One Mind One Heart, written/directed by Larissa Behrendt, which won the NSW Digital History Award. She also hosts the ABC Radio National history podcast, Shooting the Past, co-hosts the La Trobe University podcast Archive Fever (with Yves Rees) and is Executive Producer of Hey History! the first Australian history podcast designed for use in the classroom. In 2020, Clare was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours list for ‘services to literature and to historical research’. Clare is Chair of the National Museum of Australia Council and past Board Director of the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas.

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.

Join us as Declan Fry launches Aurealis Award winning author John Morrissey's latest novel, Bird Deity.

David is a scout. For ten years he has plundered the ruins of an alien civilisation about which he knows nothing. Now he’s ready to go home, a wealthy man. Except that everything seems to be slipping out of his control. His mentor Tom has vanished. Eliza and her baby are alone. As David begins to question the choices he has made, he is visited by a researcher, who wants him to guide her on one last expedition to the rainswept wasteland of the plateau… Bird Deity is a novel like no other. At once disconcerting and eerily familiar, it’s a cosmic horror story about power, theft, love, loss, and destiny. Free, but bookings are essential.

We are delighted to host the launch of Ingrid Laguna's new book, My Brother Otto.

Quinn's not happy about all the fuss her mum and Alex are making about the new baby. She doesn't want a baby brother. But when Otto is born three months early things change more than anyone could have expected. Quinn meets her little brother in the hospital neonatal intensive care unit surrounded by tubes and beeping machines. And she becomes the best big sister any baby brother could have.

My Brother Otto is a story about family, love and sadness that delves into an experience of heartbreaking loss with sensitivity, warmth and the comfort that memories can hold.

Free, but bookings are essential.

A new monthly book club hosted by Benjamin Law. We fight about books we love/hate/love to hate—in front of a live audience. 💥👊📘👊 💥 

February's books: 'Flesh' by David Szalay and ‘The Mushroom Tapes’ by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper & Sarah Krasnostein

Special guests – Yumi Stynes & Nakkiah Lui! 

We are delighted to have Holly Brunnbauer launching Bridie Blake's debut, The Boyfriend Clause.

Sabrina's new Melbourne cafe, her lifelong dream, is struggling-despite her exceptional baked goods and fabulous coffee. Her love life isn't faring much better-she just keeps dating the wrong kind of guy. But the boyfriend clause in her loan agreement requires her to be in a committed relationship or pay back the loan in its entirety. That would mean losing the cafe.

The Boyfriend Clause is everything you could ask for in a contemporary romance—a totally relatable heroine, a steamy love interest, an offbeat family holiday, delicious pastries and just enough spice to set your heart on fire.

Free, but bookings are essential.

Join us for storytelling, banter, and romance with two of Australia's most exciting new voices in contemporary romance fiction. 

Join Bridie Blake, author of The Boyfriend Clause, and Olivia Tolich, author of Side Character Energy, as they share their path to publication and advice for aspiring writers. As the popularity of romance continues to grow, Tolich and Blake reflect on the value of the genre and its evolving cultural influence.

Olivia and Bridie will be in conversation with fellow romance writer, Holly Brunnbauer, author of What Did I Miss.

Join us for storytelling, banter, and romance with two of Australia’s most exciting new voices in contemporary romance fiction. Olivia Tolich, author of Side Character Energy, and Bridie Blake, author of The Boyfriend Clause, share their path to publication and advice for aspiring writers. As the popularity of romance continues to grow, Tolich and Blake reflect on the value of the genre and its evolving cultural influence. Book sales and book signings will be available after the event.

Join Olivia Tolich and Bridie Blake; two hot, new voices on the contemporary romance scene, for a conversation about their writing journey and inspiration, as well as a wider discussion on the growth of the romance genre. 

Budding romance writers will also hear advice on getting published. 

 Enjoy an hour with these engaging authors, who explore romantic, platonic (and sometimes toxic) love stories in their debut novels.  

You are welcome to submit a question ahead of time.

'Side Character Energy' by Olivia Tolich and 'The Boyfriend Clause' by Bridie Blake will be available for purchase and signing on the night.

Love is in the air and on the page! Debut rom-com authors Bridie and Olivia will visit Traralgon Library on Saturday 28 March to discuss their soon-to-be-published novels.

• The Boyfriend Clause by Bridie Blake is everything you could ask for in a romance: relatable heroine, steamy love interest, offbeat family holiday, delicious pastries and just enough spice to set your heart on fire.

• Side Character Energy by Olivia Tolich is a sharp, wise, hilarious novel about love—romantic, platonic and toxic.

Come and hear Bridie and Olivia interrogate each other about their books, being debut romance authors, their writing practice, and more. Enjoy a cuppa and some light refreshments.