Upcoming Events
Judith Brett, interviewed by Sally Warhaft
Fearless Beatrice Faust celebrates, explains and questions her struggle to change both herself and her world. Drawing on public records and private writings, award-winning biographer Judith Brett creates a compelling and psychologically nuanced portrait of a gifted, argumentative woman who refused to be a victim. She is joined by Sally Warhaft in this discussion.
Join us for the launch of Gail Jones' new literary fiction novel, The Name of the Sister.
Gail Jones is one of Australia’s most celebrated writers. She is the author of two short-story collections and eleven novels, and her work has been translated into several languages and has received numerous literary awards. Originally from Western Australia, she now lives in Sydney.
Gail Jones’s new novel, set in Sydney and the Mars-red landscapes surrounding the remote mining town of Broken Hill, explores how stories about identity and history multiply in the absence of reliable facts. And then the stories redouble once the Unknown Woman is identified and given a name. In an urgent finale that neither of the major characters could have anticipated, contradictory clues will proliferate about the true name of the sister.
Bookings are essential.
Don't miss this meet and greet with internationally best-selling Melbourne author James Islington!
James is the author of The Licanius Trilogy which has sold more than two million copies around the world, and most recently, the first book in the Hierarchy series, The Will of the Many.
On 10 June, a fabulous new edition of The Will of the Many will be released, featuring spectacular new cover art and never-before-seen bonus materials including a full-colour map by the author.
Join us for this opportunity to meet James, grab your copy of the new The Will of the Many edition, get your books signed, and pre-order your copy of the second book - The Strength of the Few (Due 11 November 2025).
Bookings are essential - show us your tickets on the day and go in the draw to WIN an Advanced Reading Copy of BK2 THE STRENGTH OF THE FEW*!
*Winner will be advised Monday 16th June, and contact details provided to Text Publishing. Advanced copy will be sent to the winner by Text Publishing mid-September, 2025.
Please join us to celebrate the Sugarcane Kids series by Charlie Archbold.
Charlie will be signing copies of her books: The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat and The Sugarcane Kids and the Empty Cage.
Keep an eye out for her upcoming release, The Sugarcane Kids and the Mystery of Angel Bay!
Charlie Archbold is an educator and an award-winning writer. Her first novel, Mallee Boys, was a CBCA older readers honour book. Her first book in the Sugarcane Kids middle-grade series, The Sugarcane Kids and the Red-bottomed Boat, was shortlisted for the Text Prize and went on to win the Readings Children’s Prize and the Davitt Children’s Novel Award and was a CBCA notable book.
Join our Text authors at Williamstown Literary Festival 2025!
The Willy Lit Fest program includes sessions with Judith Brett, Zane Lovitt, Clare Wright, Rose Capp and Melanie Cheng.
The Williamstown Literary Festival (est 2003) brings together readers, writers and book creatives of all sorts for an annual celebration of story-telling, author talks, panel discussions and writing workshops at a historic seaside setting.
Fearless Beatrice Faust, with Judith Brett and Iola Mathews
Judith Brett (Fearless Beatrice Faust) and Iola Mathews (Race Mathews) discuss the origins of the Women’s Electoral Lobby and the powerhouse Beatrice Faust.
Judith Brett is a political historian and biographer and emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. Among her books are Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People: Australian Liberals and the Moral Middle Class, The Enigmatic Mr Deakin, which won the 2018 National Biography Award, and From Secret Ballot to Democracy Sausage,which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award.
Bookings are essential.
Nuts and Bolts of Crime Fiction: Workshop
Learn the hook, the clue and the twist with Zane Lovitt (The Body Next Door), as he boils the concept of suspense to its essence.
His debut novel, The Midnight Promise, won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and led to Zane being named one of the Best Young Novelists of 2013 by the Sydney Morning Herald. He lives in Melbourne.
Bookings are essential.
From Yirrkala Bark Petitions to Treaty
Clare Wright (Naku Dharuk) and Inala Cooper (Marrul) discuss the impact of First Nations activism.
Professor Clare Wright OAM is an award-winning historian, author, broadcaster, podcaster and public commentator who has worked in politics, academia and the media.
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.
Bookings are essential.
Melanie Cheng is a writer and general practitioner. She was born in Adelaide, grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Melbourne. Her award-winning debut collection of short stories, Australia Day, was followed by her highly acclaimed first novel Room for a Stranger in 2019.
Melanie will be talking about her new novel, The Burrow, a story about ordinary people navigating extraordinary suffering and finding healing through a bond with a pet rabbit.
Free, but bookings are essential.
Fallible Memory
Rose Capp (Demystifying Dementia) and Sean Wilson (You Must Remember This) discuss dementia.
Rose Capp has worked as an academic and film critic, has lectured and published in cinema studies, and is a longstanding executive member of the Film Critics Circle of Australia. As a registered nurse and dementia-care educator in the residential aged-care sector, she developed a special interest in and commitment to best practice dementia care. Rose works as a policy advisor at Dementia Australia and teaches in ageing and dementia studies at Flinders University.
Bookings are essential.
