Writing Sydney

Join us at The Rose Read Bookshop for a panel discussion, moderated by Ruby (Literary Luddite), between three authors about how their books were inspired by, and are reflective of, Sydney.

There will be drinks and light refreshments on offer as well as the opportunity to purchase the books and have them signed by the authors!

MEET THE AUTHORS (and their books!):

Zeynab Gamieldien is the author of Learned Behaviours (Ultimo Press, 2025):

As a prospective barrister, Zaid Saban is on the cusp of achieving everything he has dreamed of. His social and professional world is far removed from his schoolyard days in the suburbs of western Sydney, even more far removed from the traumatic events of his final year of school in which his best friend, Hass, was arrested for murder.
Zaid thinks he has put all this behind him. But when Hass’s sister, Amira, finds him and asks him to read her brother’s diary, Zaid is pulled back to the very world he had left behind.

Hannah Goldstein is the author of Dream Girls (Allen & Unwin, 2026):

A love-drunk Shakespeare enthusiast and a disillusioned Instagram baker try to kill each other at a wedding. They're supposed to be best friends so how did they end up here? Part 10 Things I Hate About You, part My Brilliant Friend, part Lena Dunham's Girls, Dream Girls explores female friendships and asks whether they're the greatest comedies, tragedies and, above all, love stories of our lives.

Jessy Wu is the author of Good Intentions (Pan Macmillan Australia, 2026):

THE BIGGEST STORY WAS ALWAYS THE ONE BETWEEN THEM
In the cramped basement office of their university newspaper, Jake and Nadia break a huge story that exposes a decade of institutional corruption. In the quieter hours, they also fall in love.
Then Nadia leaves.
A decade later, she returns from New York, once a fast-rising finance hotshot, now exiled after a deal gone wrong. Back in Sydney, Jake has forged a reputation as a crusading reporter whose by-line regularly brings down the rich and powerful.
Battlelines are drawn when they're each pulled into the orbit of a biotech visionary whose startup becomes Nadia's big break and the target of Jake's latest investigation. As old wounds flare, both must decide how far they'll go to come out on top.