Join award-winning West Australian author Holden Sheppard as he discusses his new novel King of Dirt with Elizabeth Lewis.

A gritty and heartfelt gay coming-of-age story from the author of the bestselling Invisible Boys - now a TV series on Stan.

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?

Books will be available for purchase on the night courtesy of Dymocks Ellenbrook.

Bookings are essential for this free event. Light refreshments will be available. You are encouraged to bring your own keep cup for tea/coffee or water.

Please let us know if you have any access requirements.

Please remember to cancel your booking via Humanitix or by contacting the library if you are unable to attend on the day. The place/s can then be released for someone else to enjoy.

About the author: Holden Sheppard is a West Australian author whose debut novel Invisible Boys won multiple awards, including the 2019 WA Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer. Invisible Boys has now been adapted as a ten-episode television series with Stan Australia which premiered in 2025. Holden’s second book The Brink won several accolades, including the 2024 Ena Noël Award.