Join Hugh Watson, author of The Silo, in conversation with Phillip Williams (ex ABC Foreign Correspondent).

Halstead Press is proud to announce the release of Australian author Hugh Watson’s second novel The Silo, a compelling thriller set in the brutal world of country politics. In The Silo, Hugh draws on his country roots and political background to immerse readers in a story about corruption, blackmail, murder and shadowy international investment.

Intuitive Sydney detective Susan Swift must solve a troubling series of murders. Barry Kingscliff, an ambitious pollie rapidly ascending the rungs of power, appears to be at the centre of it all. A horrific murder in a grain silo, a spate of unexplained deaths and the mysterious acquisition of rural properties turns the fictitious rural town of Gwydir upside down. Can Detective Swift unravel the criminal conspiracy before it’s too late?

While written as a work of fiction, The Silo’s themes of corruption, foreign interference and environmental crisis may feel uncomfortably familiar to Australian readers in 2021.

Hugh Watson

When he was in second class at Bega Primary School, Hugh’s teacher Mrs Ubrihien gave him back his composition and said: ‘You write very well Hugh. Keep it up.’ In his varied career as teacher, academic, political advisor, public servant, consultant, Olympics executive, song writer and author he has. As a former Private Secretary to a Cabinet Minister and senior executive with the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games in Sydney, Hugh has had to opportunity to observe politics and politicians closely. This is reflected in his novels. He was also Partner-in-Charge of Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) in Canberra and more recently he has been a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and a director of his own consulting company.

Phillip Williams

Chief Foreign Correspondent Philip Williams retired from the ABC after 45 years as a journalist and 40 years with the ABC. An outstanding foreign correspondent, he grew up in the Canberra region and began work at the local ABC station in 1975. Some of the many stories he has covered include: The dismissal of Gough Whitlam in 1975. September 11 in the US and the ensuing Iraq War. The Arab Spring. The Beslan school siege. London’s Grenfell Tower fire – where he filmed a whole 7.30 story on his mobile phone. Brexit. The rise of Donald Trump. Terrorist attacks all over the world – Norway, Russia, France, Spain and the UK. Natural disasters all over the world – the Pacific, Asia, North America and Europe.

Presented by Headland Writers Festival, Candelo Books, Tathra Hotel and South East Arts