Last Days In Melbourne

My 3 weeks in Australia are drawing to a close but there are still a few events to finish. One of the highlights of the trip has been getting to know the wonderful Australian writer Morris Gleitzman, author of ‘Once’ and ‘Then’ (amongst others), two books which, like The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, explore the subject matter of the Holocaust through a child’s eye. Morris and I gave a joint interview yesterday at the festival which was broadcast live on the ABC. I think it was quite an interesting discussion. You can listen to the entire interview as a podcast on the ABC Bookshow website here.

With Morris Gleitzman

Festival Events

Sound-checking before a talk

It’s been a busy few days in Melbourne as the first half of my festival programme has got underway. On Saturday, I spent the day out at RMIT giving a masterclass in how to write historical novels and followed this on Sunday morning with a public interview about my most recent novel, THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE. I introduced a screening of our film on Sunday night and am in the middle of a series of morning public interviews about my work at the fantastic BMW Edge Theatre (below) in the heart of Federation Square, where the festival takes place. I haven’t actually got to hear as many other authors’ talks as I would like but hopefully I can make up for this over the next few days. The festival continues until Sunday so if you’re nearby, come check it out.

The Tiny Figure On Stage Is Me!

Melbourne

The second part of my Australia journey has begun today as I have arrived in Melbourne for the Writers Festival, which begins tomorrow. I was here 2 years ago for the Reading Matters festival in the city and had a fantastic time, not just because of the festival itself but because it was was here that I was lucky enough to meet another writer who has gone on to become a great friend and a sort of great-great-grandfather figure to me, Philip Ardagh, or Sir P, as those of us in Sir P’s world know him. Surely the highlight of the Australia ‘07 tour was the trip that Philip and I took out to the ‘Neighbours’ set in Melbourne, escorted by the incredibly generous Jackie Woodburne, who plays Susan in the show. A very enjoyable day and a wonderful dinner followed. Great memories. If I was back in Dublin I could post my photo of Philip proposing to the oft-married ‘Susan’ at Lassiter’s Lake, but sadly I’m not.

This time around, there’s no Sir P unfortunately, but I do have a very nice view over Melbourne from my hotel window. If you look to the right in this picture, you can see the Rod Laver Arena, where the Australian Open tennis tournament is held every January.

For full details on everything that’s going on in the festival, click on their website; if you’d like to come hear me talk there is a variety of possible times, all listed here.

Literary Lunch

Literary Lunch

The last few days in Sydney have been filled with media activities, none more enjoyable than yesterday’s literary lunch at the Four Seasons, hosted by the Sydney Morning Herald and Dymocks Booksellers. This is a great tradition in Sydney literary circles that has been going on for 20 years and a big thank you to all those who organised it and came out to hear me talk about THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE and my other novels. Tomorrow, it’s on to Melbourne for the Writers Festival.

Random House

How about this for a nice thing to see when I walked into Random House HQ in Sydney today?!

Still Sydney

My days of holidaying in Sydney are drawing to a close today – work begins tomorrow – but it’s been a great week here. I’ve been in the city once before, for the Sydney Writers Festival in 2007, but didn’t have too much free time to see things. This time around I made sure to take a few days to wander around, mostly by foot.

I made my way out to the suburbs of North Sydney on Wednesday and got completely lost, arriving back in my hotel sure that my legs were going to drop off I was so exhausted. Much more successful days were to follow, however, with a long walk along the coastline out towards Rose Bay and another to the fantastic Taronga Zoo.

All this sightseeing can make a man thirsty – bloke’s not a camel, as they say here (or at least they do on the Aussie soaps) – so it was fun to go out on Friday night with my friend Markus Zusak, author of the magnificent THE BOOK THIEF, to the Sydney Opera House for an evening of looking across the harbour with a beer in my hand, watching the sun go down and talking books, Australian and otherwise.

with Markus Zusak on Sydney Harbour

Tomorrow the work begins so if you happen to be listening to radio shows or watching TV shows in Sydney over the next couple of days you’ll probably hear/see me there.

Sydney

I’ve arrived in Sydney for a 3 week visit to Australia. Before travelling to Melbourne later next week to take part in a range of events at this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival, I’m taking part in a literary lunch, sponsored by Dymocks and the Sydney Morning Herald, at the Four Seasons next Tuesday. And I’m having a few days holiday too, which seems only fair.

Coincidentally, one of the first things I saw yesterday while going for a walk around Circular Quay, was a statue of William Bligh, the former governor of New South Wales, and of course the hero of my 2008 novel MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY. 

Bligh of the Bounty

Festivals

Tickets for 2 more Autumn festivals that I’m taking part in have just gone on sale.

The brand spanking new Mountains To The Sea festival takes place in Dun Laoire, Dublin, between 10th and 13th September and has a stellar line-up of authors, including Paul Auster, Sebastian Faulks and William Boyd. I’ll be reading on Saturday September 12th at 1:30 pm in the Pavilion Theatre with the wonderful English novelist Patrick Gale, an event I’m really looking forward to.

Two weeks later, the Aspects Irish Literature Festival takes place between 23rd and 27th September in Bangor, Northern Ireland, and I’ll be reading with poet Harry Clifton on Thursday 24th September at 9:00 pm.

Tickets can be booked for Dublin here or for Bangor here.