This special free event includes an author talk, complimentary refreshments, book sales and signings, and a screening of the multi award winning, 10-minute short drama film Pilbara Pearl, which Sarah wrote, and which inspired her to write the novel Nullarbor Pearl. (NB 6pm for a 6.30 start)

Can true love be found in an aquarium somewhere on the Nullarbor Plain? Impulsive, budding artist, Pearl, jumps on a bus headed for the driest place she knows, Australia’s Nullarbor Plain, to escape a terrifying undersea curse, only to find it waiting for her in a fish tank when she arrives. In her Aunty’s derelict roadhouse, she amuses and outrages the local misfits by seeing their hidden traumas in watery visions – which she paints. Eddie, a hot, young windmill repairer, shows interest, but soon must vie for this amazing artist’s attention with Italian cave diver, Massimo. Tempting as they may be, Pearl can’t go there, not while this family-seeing curse is ruining her life . . . unless it’s a gift? Just in case it is, Pearl risks her life to solve the mystery that has plagued all the women in her line, starting with her long-dead Great-Grandma Pearl.

An elliptical road movie of a book, blending magic realism and harsh Outback realities through the eyes of teenager-on-the-run Pearl, whose escapes into a fantastic undersea, ancestral realm bring clarity in a hostile world. Gritty dialogue and ethereal visions make Nullabor Pearl a must-read for young adults and adult readers alike. Tony Maniaty, author and Weekend Australian reviewer

Dr. Sarah Rossetti lives in Perth, WA and in Uki in Northern NSW. In 1988, she completed a Bachelor of Arts with a Creative Writing major, earning a Distinction in Communication & Cultural Studies at Curtin University. She has credits in a wide variety of genres and has won five national awards for screenwriting. Sarah writes commissioned TV dramas and feature documentaries, works as a script editor and assessor, and has lectured in screenwriting at three WA universities and at SAE in Byron Bay, NSW. In 2007, Sarah was appointed board member of the Australian Writers’ Guild, a position she held for three years. In 2009, she completed her PhD in Media Studies at Murdoch University, WA. Nullarbor Pearl is Sarah’s debut novel, which she believes could easily to be adapted into a feature film, by enhancing her early film script with the novel’s further development.