

Author Talk with Julia Prendergast
Frankston City Libraries
Julie Prendergast writes about everyday life. There was a time when real life was to be sneered at, undeserving of an artist’s attention. Fortunately, life keeps insisting on our regard and Prendergast gives it that. She will be in the top echelon of Australian writers. – Bruce Pascoe
Julie Prendergast’s debut novel, The Earth Does Not Get Fat, is a powerful story of family trauma set in the shadows of Blairgowrie, a beach village near Melbourne.
Teenager Chelsea has her hands full caring for her grandfather, who has dementia and her mother, Annie, who is sinking further into depression. Her father is long gone, and barely known ghosts make for strange company. Chelsea’s questions – about her mother, their family history, and the place from which they’ve come – demand to be answered after a strange parcel arrives in the mail.
Julia’s short stories have been acknowledged in many forums: the Lightship Anthology International Short Story Competition (UK), Ink Tears International Short Story Competition (UK) Glimmer Train International Short Story Competition (US), Séan Ó Faoláin International Short Story Competition (IE), TEXT (AU) Review of Australian Fiction, Australian Book Review Elizabeth Jolley Prize, Josephine Ulrick Prize (AU).
Julia has a PhD in Writing and Literature, and is a lecturer in Writing and Literature at Swinburne University in Melbourne. Julia lives in Melbourne with her circus of a family: Matthew, their six children, two dogs and two cats.
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Bookings open on Tuesday 3 April.
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