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Inside the Writers Group

Yarra Plenty Regional Library

Event Date: 11 September 2019
Author / Presenters: Zana Fraillon, Penny Harrison, Kate Mildenhall & Penni Russon

This event is part of the 11th Annual Booklovers Festival

How exactly does a professional writer’s group work? Zana Fraillon, Penny Harrison, Kate Mildenhall and Penni Russon write across different themes, forms and audiences and yet are able to share their work with each other. Go inside their writer’s group to learn about giving and receiving feedback, and the importance of having a cohort of writers around you. Discover how stories can be constructed and shaped in a writing group setting.

In partnership with Nillumbik Shire Council

About the authors

Zana Fraillon is the author of several books including her 2016 novel The Bone Sparrow which won the ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children, the Readings Young Adult Book Prize and the Amnesty CILIP Honour. It was also shortlisted for the Prime Minister's Literary Awards, the Queensland Literary Awards, the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Gold Inky and the CILIP Carnegie Medal. She lives in Melbourne.

Previous Books: The Ones That Disappeared and Wisp

Penny Harrison is a children's author, book reviewer and lifestyle journalist. She has released three picture books in the past three years, with four more due out in the next two years through Little Hare and New Frontier. A professional writer for more than 20 years, Penny has contributed to a variety of magazines, newspapers and guides, writing about everything from raising toddlers to raising chickens. She also reviews books for Kids' Book Review. Penny lives on the edge of the Yarra Valley with her husband, two young children and a growing menagerie of plants and animals.

Previous books: The Art Garden and Emily Green's Garden

Penni Russon is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning writer and academic with an enduring interest in childhood and adolescence. Penni lives in the bushy outskirts of Melbourne with her partner, three kids and a schnauzer called Swoosie. Her latest book is The Endsister (2018).

Previous books: Undine, Breathe, Drift

Kate Mildenhall is a writer and teacher, who lives on the outskirts of Melbourne with her young family. She has taught in schools, at RMIT University and State Library Victoria, and volunteered with Teachers Across Borders in Cambodia. Her debut novel, Skylarking, was published in Australia by Black Inc. in 2016 and in the UK by Legend Press in 2017. Skylarking was longlisted for the Voss Literary Prize 2017 and the Indie Book Awards 2017. Kate co-hosts The First Time podcast, a podcast about the first time you publish a book.

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