Big Day of Books Perth
Description
Readers! The Big Day of Books Perth is back! This is your chance to be part of the studio audience as WA’s favourite radio presenters chat to the hottest new Australian writers alongside beloved favourites – all of whom are set to introduce their new books.
The studio is going to be crackling with big themes, engaging presenters and entertaining new reads.
Hosted by ABC Radio, in partnership with Fremantle Press, UWA Publishing, Magabala Books, Copyright Agency Limited, Hachette, Centre for Stories and Beaufort St Books, this is your chance to grab a seat to enjoy a live literary show, meet the authors, and snap up some fabulous reads. Hurry! Seats are limited.
Ticket purchases over $60 are discounted by 20%.
This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.
Please note: ABC Studios Perth requires security screening at the entry. Attendees may be subject to bag checks and/or searches on arrival, and this may also occur each time you exist and re-enter the building. Please allow a little extra time when returning to your seat.
Agenda
- 10:00 am - 10:45 am
Two Hearts, Two Cultures: Many ways of knowing and sharing
Inventive and heartfelt – three writers share the experience of inhabiting in multiple worlds. Big Sky: When Emu Left the Earth is a meeting of science and holistic knowledge as Bruce Pascoe and astrophysicist Professor Ray Norris share two ways of knowing the sky. Trials of Hope weaves Ethiopian heritage and language with poetry and prose to tell the story of Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes’ journey from shepherd boy to university human rights director, and Olivia de Zilva’s Plastic Budgie contains stories that expand and contracts around questions of self and family, and how our memories form us. Hosted by Jo Trilling. Supported by Centre for Stories
- 11:15 am - 12:00 pm
Indestructible Love
Three powerful writers invite readers into stories about deep and abiding love. In Rebirth: A Love Story from the Depths of War by Antoun Issa, Laila’s dreams of marrying Nicolas, a coiffeur at the local hair salon in Beirut, are derailed when the Lebanese Civil War breaks out. The Hair of the Pigeon by Mohammed Massoud Morsi takes us from the Syrian Civil War to suburbs of Copenhagen where Ghassan finds comfort and reunion with those he thought lost. In I Remember Everything by Fiona Wilkes, Billie finds her chosen family, only to lose them to an epidemic and find them again in her stories. Hosted by Geraldine Mellet.
- 12:30 pm - 1:15 pm
Wuthering Words: Reimagining the classics
A panel in which three audacious new novels challenge our notions of historical fiction. Inspired by Lorna Doone, The Names of a Hare by Bernice Barry ponders what life would be like for neurodiverse woman at the height of the witch trials in Cornwall. Cast Away by Francesca de Tores reimagines the extraordinary true story of Alexander Selkirk, inspiration for the novel Robinson Crusoe and The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan takes us to rural France where the Beast of Gévaudan is poised to plunge the continent into war. Hosted by Carrie Cox
- 1:45 pm - 2:15 pm
From Invisible to YEAH!
Award-winning writer Holden Sheppard has come a long way since leaving Geraldton – and so have his characters in Invisible Boys. Join him as shares his new book Yeah the Boys – a bold, propulsive new novel about male friendship, masculinity, modern gay life and the first gay male AFL player – in this feature interview with RN The Book Show’s Claire Nichols.
- 2:45 pm - 3:30 pm
Sleepless in Satire: Comedic books for the chronically unrested
From life in the Big Apple to life on the wards, and from housing crises to emotional outlets, these novels are the antidote to life’s challenges. In Kill Your Boomers by Fiona Wright, Keira is languishing in a mouldy sharehouse while nannying a pair of wealthy monsters. In Nadine Browne’s Gone Guru Noni Barlow has imposter syndrome at her new writing school while the spiritual man she was subletting from has gone and disappeared. Meanwhile, in A Little Unwell by Kerry Jewell, Amy is helping people and saving lives in between sobbing her heart out in the ED bathrooms. They will be joined in conversation by Geraldine Mellet whose book Things I Cannot Say introduces us to the feisty Tracey Read who must find herself and her purpose again after a serious accident has left her paralysed and voiceless. They discuss finding ways to find lightness in the dark times and comfort in the truly uncomfortable. Hosted by Sinead Mangan. Supported by Hachette Australia.
- 3:45 pm - 4:30 pm
How Do You Take Your Crime? Hardboiled or with a side of marshmallow?
No matter the genre, the crime writer has to get their plot dead right every time. Whether it is a 1951 police procedural that opens with a pile of clothes on a Queenscliff beach (Steven Carroll’s The Afterlife of Harry Playford) or an escape room game show with a murder on set (The Escape Game by Tamara Moss) or a crime novel about the high stakes that come with easy money, old friends and murder (The Gambler by J.P. Pomare), the crime writer is responsible for taking the reader on a heart-stopping ride every single time. Hosted by Ali Colvin.
Lineup
Bernice Barry
Bernice Barry is a writer and historian with a background in education. Her previous books (The Mind That Shines, 2016, A Lady’s Pen, 2023, Sarah Evans, 2024,) include historical fiction and non-fiction, reflecting her passion for discovering and telling women’s stories where truth has been dimmed or obscured by time. Originally from Cornwall in the UK, Bernice has lived for twenty-five years on Wadandi country near Wooditjup/Margaret River, researching local history, nurturing a native garden in the bush and spending as much time as possible at the place where land meets ocean. She is a regular presenter and speaker on a wide range of topics from wildflowers and botany, writing and publishing, to history and heritage.
Cameron Sullivan
Cameron Sullivan was born in Perth, Western Australia. He grew up with the dark fantasy and horror icons of the 80s and went on to study classics and creative writing at the University of Western Australia. After several years working and studying in Italy and the UK, he returned to Australia and settled in Melbourne, which is the best place for Australians who actually enjoy the winter. He works as a copywriter and will easily lose a weekend to a good book, a new recipe or games of any kind, from tabletop DnD to pub trivia.
Fiona Wilkes
Fiona Wilkes is a writer, researcher and educator, specialising in English and Literary Studies. Her work has been published locally, nationally and internationally, and has garnered attention from several literary awards. Born in the United Kingdom, Fiona now lives and works in Perth, Western Australia, on unceded Whadjuk Noongar land. Her debut novel, I Remember Everything, was shortlisted for the 2024 Hungerford Award.
Francesca de Tores
Francesca de Tores is a novelist and poet (also published as Francesca Haig). She is the author of six novels, published in more than twenty languages. Her first historical novel, Saltblood, was awarded the 2024 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize and was a Sunday Times top-20 bestseller. In addition to a collection of poems, her poetry is widely published in journals and anthologies. Her latest novel is Cast Away, which tells the story of Alexander Selkirk, the real-life inspiration for Robinson Crusoe. Francesca grew up in lutruwita/Tasmania and, after fifteen years in England, is now living in naarm/Melbourne.
Kerry Jewell
Dr Kerry Jewell is a writer and nuclear medicine physician. Kerry is an accomplished public speaker and regularly presents at local and international conferences, along with fulfilling session chair and emcee duties. Outside of medicine, her short fiction has appeared in local and international literary journals and anthologies, including Island, The Saturday Paper, May Magazine (NZ) and the Bath Short Story Award Anthology (UK). In 2020 she was shortlisted for the Richell Prize for emerging writers for this novel, then titled Meddies.
Mohammed Massoud Morsi
Mohammed Massoud Morsi is an Egyptian-Danish-Australian photographer, journalist and writer. His work has been published in all three of his traditional languages. Morsi has a talent for reaching to the heart of existence in a complex world and looks to important questions, finding that which is quintessentially human within much broader struggles. His work is enriched by his photographer’s eye for detail and a passion for speaking out for those suppressed.
Olivia de Zilva
Olivia De Zilva is a writer based in Kaurna Yerta / Adelaide. She is the author of two novels, Plastic Budgie and Eggshell. Her debut poetry collection, Sick Note, will be published in September 2026.
Nadine Browne
Nadine Browne is a prose writer, poet and essayist. Her work has been featured in Overland, The Massachusetts Review and ABC Australia. She is the author of the short story collection The Whip Hand, with Michaela Nicolescu. Her debut novel is Gone Guru. She received an MFA in fiction at New York University, where she was a Starworks Fellow.
Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes
Yirga is a writer, researcher and poet from Lalibela, Ethiopia. He currently lives in Perth, Western Australia, where he is the Director of the Centre for Human Rights Education at Curtin University. His academic and creative work revolves around African traditions, Ethiopian philosophy, epistemic justice, issues of looted manuscript repatriation, and the politics of language and belonging. His Amharic poetry was compiled and published in a solo collection titled የተራሮች ጩኸት (Yeteraroch Chuhet, The Cry of Mountains), and has been performed widely on stage and radio in Ethiopia. His English creative work has appeared in Westerly, Stories of Perth and Ways of Being Here. He was the winner of the 2024 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award.
Fiona Wright
Fiona Wright is a writer, editor, poet and critic from Sydney. Her book of essays Small Acts of Disappearance: Essays on Hunger won the 2016 Nita B. Kibble Award and the Queensland Literary Award for non-fiction, and was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and the NSW Premier’s Douglas Stewart Prize. Her first poetry collection, Knuckled, won the 2012 Dame Mary Gilmore Award, while Domestic Interior was shortlisted for the 2018 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry. Kill Your Boomers is her first novel.
Bruce Pascoe
Bruce Pascoe is an Aboriginal farmer and writer of literary fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essays and children’s literature, based on Yuin Country. His publications have won numerous awards including the NSW Premier’s Award for Literature, the Booksellers Association Prize and the CBCA Eve Pownall award. He is the author of the groundbreaking, bestselling book Dark Emu.
Antoun Issa
Antoun Issa is a Lebanese-Australian journalist and co-founder of Deepcut News. After completing his Master of International Relations at the Australian National University, he moved to Lebanon in 2011 where he worked as news editor for Al-Monitor during the heights of the Arab Spring. Issa relocated to Washington DC in 2015 where he spent two years at the Middle East Institute, a US thinktank, before joining The Atlantic as an editorial strategist. He returned to Australia in 2020 and worked for the Guardian Australia until his departure in 2024.
Holden Sheppard
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. His new 2025 release King of Dirt is his third novel, and his first book for adults. Holden’s 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.
Steven Carroll
Steven Carroll is the multi-award winning author of sixteen novels, including A World of Other People (2013), which was the joint winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award, and The Time We Have Taken (2007), which was the winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for the Southeast Asia and Pacific Region and the Miles Franklin Award in 2008. The Art of the Engine Driver was shortlisted for France's Prix Femina literary award for Best Foreign Novel in 2005. Forever Young (2015) was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award and the Prime Minister's Literary Award in 2016. A New England Affair (2017) was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Literary Award in 2018 and The Year of the Beast (2019) was longlisted for the 2020 Voss Literary Prize. Goodnight, Vivienne, Goodnight was longlisted for the 2022 ARA Historical Novel Prize and for the 2023 Voss Literary Prize. His previous novel, Death of a Foreign Gentleman (2024), was the first in a series of postwar literary crime novels featuring Detective Sergeant Stephen Minter.
Tamara Moss
Tamara Moss grew up in Perth, Western Australia. She has a BA majoring in Asian Studies and taught primary school for ten years. Inspired by her students’ love of adventure, Tamara wrote a middle-grade series starting with Lintang and the Pirate Queen. The Escape Game, her YA murder mystery co-authored with Marissa Meyer, is a #1 New York Times bestseller. Her next YA murder mystery is Five Voices, out in Australia this September. Tamara also writes adult crime and thrillers under the name Tamara M. Bailey.
J.P. Pomare
J.P. Pomare is an award-winning author whose debut novel, Call Me Evie (2018), won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. In the Clearing (2019) was made into a Disney+ Original Series, The Clearing, while Tell Me Lies (2020) was a #1 Audible bestseller and was shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction. The Last Guests (2021) was critically acclaimed and made into a Stan Original TV series, Watching You. His fifth book, The Wrong Woman (2022), was a top-ten bestseller and was highly acclaimed, as was Home Before Night (2023). 17 Years Later (2024) was shortlisted for both the 2025 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel, and is currently being adapted for the screen. The Gambler is his eighth novel. J.P. Pomare was born in New Zealand and lives in Melbourne with his wife and daughter.
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