Once kept in the background, voiceless and colourless, the character of the older woman as a protagonist has increasingly emerged. Who is she and why has she emerged now. What does she have to say? Is there a need for fiction that reflects the new found status of older women where they can find new meaning.

Panellists:

Nikki Gemmell writes novels, memoirs, essays and columns. She is the bestselling author of some twenty books, including Shiver, The Bride Stripped Bare, After, The Ripping Tree and Dissolve. Her books have been translated into twenty-two languages. She was born in Wollongong, New South Wales. Nikki's latest book, Wing (2024), is an incendiary novel about what it means to be a woman today. Wing is described as an explosive, contemporary literary thriller from international bestselling – “Wing is Lord of the Flies meets Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Promising Young Woman”.

Kristina Olsson is an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction and journalism. Her 2009 novel The China Garden won the Barbara Jefferis Award and was shortlisted for the Kibble Prize. Her 2013 memoir, Boy, Lost, garnered multiple awards including the Queensland, New South Wales and West Australian Premiers awards for non-fiction and the Kibble Prize. Her most recent novel, Shell, launched the legendary Scribner Australia literary imprint and was shortlisted in several major literary awards. She is currently working on a memoir set in Sweden and northern Norway that tracks the life of another lost child.

Gillian Wills was Dean of Music at the Victorian College of Arts. She is a classical pianist and an honorary associate of the Royal Academy of Music for distinguished services to the music profession. Gillian's debut novel Big Music was featured as a notable book in last December's Weekend Review. Currently, she writes for Queensland's InDaily Queensland, Limelight and Australian Book Review. Her memoir Elvis and Me: how a world-weary musician and a broken racehorse rescued each other has been released in 2016 in Australia, NZ, Canada, America and The UK.

Discover more about the Eumundi Writers Festival here: https://eumundiwritersfestival.com.au/