Join us at East Hotel to celebrate the launch of the updated edition of Chris Hammer's prize-winning book, an exploration of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Australia's major river system is collapsing. Parts of it are dying; parts of it are already dead. Australia's most significant river no longer reaches the sea. I look out into the dim autumn light and wonder once again how it has come to this . . . Join award-winning author Chris Hammer on a journey through Australia's largest river system, the Murray-Darling Basin. His travels during the crippling millennium drought take us through riverland communities, sharing the laughter, sadness and reflections of the people he meets along the way. The River looks past the daily news reports and their sterile statistics to reveal the true impact of our rivers' decline on the people who live along their shores, and on the country as a whole. It's a tale that leaves the reader with nostalgia for an Australia that may be fading away forever. First published in 2010, The River continues to be read as a history, as a prophecy - and as both.

Chris Hammer is a leading Australian author of non-fiction and fiction, including the bestselling crime fiction Martin Scarsden crime series: Scrublands, Silver and Trust, and the Ivan Lucic and Nell Buchanan series Treasure & Dirt, The Tilt, The Seven and The Valley.

Before turning to fiction, Chris was a journalist for over thirty years. He reported from more than 30 countries on six continents for SBS TV. In Canberra, his roles included chief political correspondent for The Bulletin, senior writer for The Age and online political editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.

The River, his first book, was released by MUP in 2010 to critical acclaim. It won the ACT Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Walkley Book Award and the Manning Clark House National Cultural Award. His second book, The Coast, was also published by MUP in 2012. Hammer has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Charles Sturt University and a master’s degree in international relations from the Australian National University. He lives in Canberra.