Michael Burge in conversation with Ryan Butta

Join Ryan Butta for the launch of two highly anticipated new novels by Michael Burge! Readers who can’t get enough authentic rural noir will delight in Dirt Trap, the sequel to the pioneering storytelling cycle Michael started with his acclaimed debut Tank Water. When a notorious gay-hate killer is found dead at the base of Kippen’s water towers, local journo James Brandt lands in a searing search for justice in a remote town intent on looking away from the truth.

The second shot in Michael's double-barrelled book tour is The Watchnight, a bold reimagining of the Methodist settlers who colonised Australia’s renowned Jenolan Caves during the Frontier Wars, confronting a web of faith and death in a brutal landscape.

Join two of Australia's keenest rural commentators for a night of untold stories, wild country, religious rapture, dangerous underworlds and callous killers.

BOOKINGS WILL OPEN AT 9AM ON TUESDAY 30 SEPTEMBER.

MEET MICHAEL

A rural-noir author who actually lives in the bush, journalist Michael Burge is passionate about keeping regional communities in the national conversation. His debut crime novel , Tank Water, and its sequel, Dirt Trap, are released by MidnightSun Publishing, and his historical crime thriller, The Watchnight, is published by Histria Books. He has edited and written for the Guardian, Fairfax Media, Australian Community Media and the Journal of Australian Studies.

MEET RYAN

After starting out life on the opal fields of western NSW, Ryan was raised among the vineyards and horse studs of the Hunter Valley. His first work of historical non-fiction, The Ballad of Abdul Wade, recounted the previously untold story of the Afghan men that came to Australia in the1800s to work in the mining and wool industries. The Ballad of Abdul Wade was shortlisted for the South Australian Literary Awards non-fiction book of the year for 2024, longlisted for the Indie Book Awards non-fiction book of the year for 2023, and longlisted for Queensland Writers Centre Adaptable program. Ryan's latest work, The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli, retells the remarkable life story of Harry Freame, a Japanese-Australian adventurer, soldier of fortune, Anzac, orchardist and spy.