Readers of Western Australia – this is your night! Join us as we announce the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award winner and celebrate new releases at the Great Big Book Launch.

This is your official invitation to help hosts Holden Sheppard and Helen Milroy launch seventeen new books and the careers of four new writers.

We’ll start the night with performances by the following talented local authors and artists:

Then Joy Kilian-Essert, Gerard McCann, Marie O’Rourke and Molly Schmidt will take to the stage with Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge to find out who has won the 2022 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award.

Register

Tickets are free but places are limited. Register to secure your place.

Books, woodfired pizza and refreshments will be available to purchase on the night.

About the finalists

The Slow Patience of the Sea & other stories by Joy Kilian-Essert
Joy Kilian-Essert lives on a rural bush retreat in Western Australia’s Great Southern region and has been writing obsessively since childhood. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing at Curtin University, her short fiction began to win or be placed in writing competitions, with a number being published in various journals and anthologies around Australia. She was also a participant in the inaugural Australia Council’s Emerging Writer’s program.

Tell Me the Story by Gerard McCann
Gerard McCann grew up in the suburbs of Perth in the 1950s and 60s. He studied architecture at UWA and practised in the profession for many years. During that time he has always written, studied English literature post-grad and belonged to small writing groups.

Kintsugi by Marie O’Rourke
Marie spent many years reading, analysing, and teaching the stories of others before working up the nerve to start shaping her own. Fascinated by the multiplicity and mutability of self, Marie’s writing focuses on the contradictions and quirks of memory and identity. Her essays have been published in respected national and international journals such as a/b, Axon, Essay Daily, Meanjin, Meniscus, New Writing, TEXT and Westerly. Marie holds a PhD from Curtin University, where she now teaches across the Creative Writing, English and Cultural Studies, and Professional Writing and Publishing departments.

Salt River Road by Molly Schmidt
Molly Schmidt is a writer and journalist, currently undertaking the Four Centres Emerging Writers Program. She is collaborating with Noongar Elders from her hometown, Albany, with the goal of producing a novel which actively pursues reconciliation between non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal peoples. She completed a thesis on the topic in 2021 and is now enjoying delving into her fiction writing. By day, Molly works as a radio producer and reporter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where her passion for storytelling is put to good use.

About T.A.G. Hungerford (1915–2011)

T.A.G. Hungerford was widely admired as a quintessential Western Australian writer and identity. He was a major contributor in helping us define our sense of self and place in a rapidly changing world. His first collection of short stories was published in 1976 by Fremantle Press. Stories from Suburban Road, A Knockabout with a Slouch Hat and Red Rover All Over have all been major publishing successes. In 1987, T.A.G. Hungerford was made a member of the Order of Australia. In 2002, he was the recipient of the Patrick White Award and in 2004 he was declared a Western Australian State Living Treasure. He was proud to have the unique WA award for debut writers, the T.A.G. Hungerford Award, named for him. He was always a great supporter of new and emerging writers.

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