Join 2023 Penguin Literary Prize winner Michelle See-Tho in conversation with James McKenzie Watson to discuss her debut fiction, Jade and Emerald.

The story of a lonely teenage girl who forms an unlikely bond with a rich hedonistic socialite. The friendship strains her already-fraught relationship with her strict mother. A portrait of what it means to grow up caught between two cultures.

Jade and Emerald is a fierce and deeply felt novel about the joys and pains of growing up, of accepting who you are and where you come from.

$5.00 + booking fee

Books will be available for purchase and signing on the night.

Non-alcoholic refreshments and nibbles on arrival.

Bookings required.

Enquiries: 8495 5028 or libraryprograms@northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au

Michelle See-Tho is a freelance writer and copywriter. She has had articles and stories published in Kill Your Darlings, Meanjin, Overland and The Big Issue Fiction Edition. Jade and Emerald, her first novel, won the 2023 Penguin Literary Prize.

James McKenzie Watson writes fiction with a focus on health and rural Australia. His novel Denizen won the 2021 Penguin Literary Prize and was published by Penguin Random House in 2022. Denizen also received a 2021 Varuna Residential Fellowship and a 2021 KSP Residential Fellowship. James has written for The Guardian, Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings and the Newtown Review of Books. He has appeared at events including the Sydney Writers' Festival, Newcastle Writers Festival and BAD Crime Sydney. James co-host the podcast with fellow author Ashley Kalagian Blunt, James and Ashley Stay at Home, about writing, creativity and health.