Readers - Books and Conversation with David Dyer

Join us for Readers – Books and Conversation, a monthly series celebrating books and readers through in-depth yet relaxed discussions with authors about their work, writing process, and the ideas that inspire them. Hosted by renowned interviewer and curator Michaela Kalowski, this event offers a unique opportunity to engage with literature in a meaningful way.

This May, we welcome acclaimed author David Dyer. Best known for The Midnight Watch, his gripping novel about the ship that failed to respond to the Titanic’s distress signals, David now turns his focus from the sea to the stars. His latest novel, This Kingdom of Dust, reimagines the 1969 moon landing with a haunting premise: what if the astronauts had become stranded on the Moon? Told through the perspectives of Buzz Aldrin, his wife Joan, and a reluctant journalist, the novel explores the public spectacle, private despair, and human cost of exploration.

David’s fascinating career has taken him from working on merchant ships to practicing law in Sydney and London before embracing his lifelong love of literature as a teacher and writer. His passion for space—sparked in childhood and deepened by meeting Apollo astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Charlie Duke—infuses his latest work with wonder and urgency.

Join us at Petersham Bowling Club for a thought-provoking conversation that will leave you seeing the Moon in a whole new light.

Acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, on whose land we gather.