35th Hungerford Award Celebration and Ceremony
Description
Readers and writers of Western Australia – this is your night! We are excited to help round off Totally Lit – Adventures in the Port City with a night of readings, an in-conversation and, of course, the declaration of our brand-new Hungerford winner.
Host Deb Fitzpatrick will be joined by NYT bestselling author Natasha Lester for an in-conversation about her stellar career since winning the award back in 2008.
2024 Hungerford alumni Fiona Wilkes and Howard McKenzie-Murray will read from their shortlisted novels I remember everything and This is where we say goodbye.
Then get set to cheer when we announce who has won the 35th Hungerford Award for an unpublished manuscript by a first-time author. The winner will receive $15,000 prize money and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press
Tickets are free but places are limited. Books will be available to purchase on the night and your ticket includes a drink on arrival and light refreshments.
This event is supported by the City of Fremantle and Totally Lit in partnership with Fremantle Press.
Lineup
Natasha Lester
Natasha Lester worked as a marketing executive for L’Oreal before turning her hand to writing. She won the Hungerford Award for her first novel What is Left Over, After. Since then, she’s become a New York Times-bestselling author of seven historical novels, including The French Photographer, The Paris Secret, The Riviera House, and The Three Lives of Alix St Pierre. Her books have been translated into many different languages and are published all around the world. When she’s not writing, she loves collecting vintage fashion and practising the art of fashion illustration. Natasha lives with her husband and three children in Perth, Western Australia.
Deb Fitzpatrick
Deb Fitzpatrick is the author more than a dozen books for readers of all ages, many of them set in the South West of WA, such as Tawny Trouble and Kelpie Chaos, the Spencer Gray books and her YA classic 90 Packets of Instant Noodles. Deb loves bushwalking with her kelpie and, when she can, she sneaks away to a shack in the karri forest to be among wildlife and write adventure-in-nature stories. Deb has a Master of Arts in creative writing from UWA and was shortlisted for the Hungerford for the book that became 90 Packets of Instant Noodles. She lived for several years in the cloud forest of Costa Rica, where she did a lot of hiking while toucans, three-toed sloths and spider monkeys crossed through the forest canopy above her.
Howard McKenzie Murray
Howard McKenzie-Murray is a writer born on Whadjuk land in the settler-state of WA. He writes fiction and for the theatre. After studying languages and philosophy at UWA and Murdoch University, he lived abroad and travelled widely. These days, he lives in Fremantle, travels when possible, reads, gardens and practises zen. His book This Is Where We Say Goodbye was shortlisted for the 2024 Hungerford Award.
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.
Tickets for good, not greed Humanitix dedicates 100% of profits from booking fees to charity
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