Readers - Books and Conversation

A monthly series by Petersham Bowling club hosted by Michaela Kalowski.

Celebrating books and readers, this is a monthly series of in-depth and relaxed conversations with authors about their latest work, and their body of work, their writing process and the ideas that inspire them.

Michaela Kalowski is an interviewer, moderator and curator for writers and ideas festivals. Highlight interviews include Margaret Atwood, David Mitchell, Michelle de Kretser, Amos Oz, Stan Grant, Holly Ringland & Etgar Keret. She's the curator of ABC RN’s on-air writers festival, Big Weekend of Books, now in its 4th year. In 2022 she was curator of International Author events for Brisbane Writers Festival. Michaela has conducted radio interviews for ABC RN’s The Music Show, Big Ideas & The Bookshelf, ABC Classic and has presented programs across ABC radio.

August’s featured author: Stuart Coupe

For over four decades, Stuart Coupe has been at the heart of the Australian music scene, experiencing the giddy highs, crushing lows and everything in between that comes along with a life lived in the creative fast lane.

When he wasn’t writing a weekly music column in the Sun-Herald or contributing to the likes of RAM and dozens of other publications, he was manager of Hoodoo Gurus and Paul Kelly. When he wasn’t trekking to Paris to interview Springsteen or consuming way too much cocaine before interviewing Bob Dylan, he was writing books about the burgeoning New Wave music movement, a biography of Michael Gudinski or collaborating with Tex Perkins. When he wasn’t organizing tours and publicity for a string of overseas acts, including Gary Glitter, Harry Dean Stanton, The Cramps and The Clash, he was establishing ground-breaking indie record labels, or dialing into a generation as the music critic for Dolly (or infuriating them by labelling Duran Duran ‘Yawn Yawn’).

Sometimes, he was doing most of the above all at once. Always at full throttle. Always with an unwavering belief in the artist in the art, in the next album, the next set, the next project, the next big thing.

Out through Penguin on August 8th, Shake Some Action tells the story of Coupe’s remarkable life as a music obsessive, one that started in Launceston, Tasmania, but would take him around the world and back, and into the orbit of some of the greatest artists of our time. It’s a book about fandom and burning to find the perfect words to pass that love onto others – and the myriad adventures, misadventures and personal costs that come with staying true.

The story of how a gangly, music-obsessed kid from Tassie did everything and met everyone — Shake Some Action is a rip-snorting rock ‘n’ roll ride through a life of power and passion.

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Petersham Bowling Club is honoured to present these events for our community and would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of this land we meet on and pay our respects to the Elders both past, present and emerging.