Join us online at Thursday Book Club to meet my special guest, author Lucy Campbell, who will be talking to us about her debut novel, Lowbridge, a story of friendship, crime and girls who go missing.. . For Zoom details to attend this free event, simply sign up to Thursday Book Club here.

Suzanne Leal introduces her tense and intriguing thriller where the destructive force of allegation provides real moral complexity.

Narrator Ellen was raised by severe parents in an authoritative church with her narrow world upended when she meets Gordon, a fellow teacher who brings love and laughter into her life. When Gordon is accused of a shocking crime, Ellen takes on a world of swirling suspicion in her fight to protect him.

Book sales and signings.

BOOKINGS REQUIRED

Suzanne Leal has written books for adults and children and her latest is a domestic noir novel, The Watchful Wife. Lee Kofman's latest book is The Writer Laid Bare which is about her creative life. Tickets include wine and cheese and $5 redeemable off a purchase of one of Suzanne’s or Lee’s books.

Meet acclaimed author Suzanne Leal in conversation with journalist Michael Burge at Glen Innes's indie bookshop The Makers Shed on Saturday November 18, 12-1pm.

Suzanne is touring the country with her latest novel The Watchful Wife and this High Country Books author talk is her only event in the New England region. A lawyer experienced in child protection, criminal law and refugee law, Suzanne is a senior member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal and former member of the Refugee Review Tribunal. 

Ticket includes: light lunch, tea and coffee, moderated author talk (around 30mins), audience Q&A session (10mins), author book signing. Copies of The Watchful Wife are available for purchase at The Makers Shed, 123 Grey Street, Glen Innes, Wed-Sat, 10-4.

Please join us in welcoming popular Australian author Suzanne Leal to our Port Macquarie Library for a chat with Leanne on Tuesday 14th November at 2.30pm.

Suzanne Leal is the author of novels Running With Ivan, The Teacher’s Secret, Border Street and The Deceptions, for which she won the Nib People’s Choice Prize and was shortlisted for the Davitt Awards and the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award. A legal member of the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, board director of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival and interviewer and facilitator at literary and corporate events, Suzanne is the online host of Thursday Book Club. www.suzanneleal.com

FRESH BLOOD: SMALL TOWN CRIME

DARCY TINDALE, RHYS GARD AND NIKKI MOTTRAM

Facilitator: SUZANNE LEAL

Not the country or the outback, not the city or the suburbs but a small town. Why are small towns – some real, some imaginary – growth areas as settings of crime fiction? The three debut writers on this panel set their work in small towns. Rhys Gard chose Mudgee and its surroundings, Nikki Mottram sets her book in Crows Nest near Towoomba and Darcy Tindale chooses Muswellbrook. They talk about how and why.

THE OUTER LIMITS WHERE WRITERS WON’T GO

MICHAEL ROBOTHAM, TIM AYLIFFE AND SUZANNE LEAL

FACILITATOR: Sue Turnbull

‘Don’t kill the dog’ may be the unwritten but oft broken rule of crime fiction, but are there other limits that writers face? Are there topics to be avoided? When is too much violence in a genre that deals with the problem of violence more than enough? What personal boundaries do writers set for themselves? Sue Turnbull travels to the outer limits with three crime writers in order to discover just how far they will go in the pursuit of their craft.

Opening Address & Mixed Genre Panel

Convener: Suzanne Leal

Suzanne Leal is the author of novels The Watchful Wife, The Teacher’s Secret and The Deceptions, winner of the Nib People’s Choice Prize and shortlisted for the Davitt Awards and the Mark and Evette Moran Nib Literary Award. Suzanne’s debut novel for junior YA readers, Running with Ivan, has been shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s History Awards. The online host of Thursday Book Club, Suzanne is an experienced facilitator and host at community, corporate and literary events.

Panellists: Ryan Gustafsson, EJ Clarence and Meg O'Shea

Ryan Gustafsson (they/he) is a Korean adoptee writer and researcher living in Naarm / Melbourne. Their essays have appeared in Against Disappearance: Essays on Memory (2022), Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia (2022), Sydney Review of Books, and Liminal Review of Books, among others. They are also co-founder of the Korean Adoptee Adoption Research Network and ibyangIN international network, and one half of the Adopted Feels podcast.

EJ is an emerging writer exploring the long narrative arc of Forced Adoption through contemporary fiction, narrative nonfiction and poetry. Recent works have appeared in Overland, Adoptee Voices, The Guardian and ABC ethics. EJ was recently interviewed on The Garrett podcast with Astrid Edwards.

Meg O'Shea is a comic maker, educator and research assistant based in Sydney, Australia (Gadigal and Wangal Country). She makes largely autobiographical and non-fiction work that has been published both locally and overseas, exhibited comic, animation and film work internationally, and taught comic making to university students, high school-aged students from migrant and refugee backgrounds with STARTTS, and art programs to elementary-aged students in Korea. As part of the Folio research project, she also assists in mapping, archiving and promoting contemporary Australian comics and the diverse artists and communities that created them.

Join us online at Thursday Book Club to meet my special guest, award-winning writer, Sophie Masson, who will be giving us a sneak preview of her new novel, The Paris Cooking School. For Zoom details to attend this free event, simply sign up to Thursday Book Club here.

Suzanne Leal interviews multi award winning Thomas Keneally on the inspiration behind his 2022 ARA Historical Prize winning Corporal Hitler’s Pistol, a novel that weaves together the traumas of WW1, the Irish Civil War, and 1930s small town prejudices. His new book, Fanatic Heart also explores Irish rebellion in a retelling of the life and exploits of patriot John Mitchel. Please note: the winner of the Adult category of the ARA Historical Novel Prize will also be featured in this session, announcement to be made on 19 October 2023.

All plenary sessions, interviews and panels are included in your weekend conference ticket to the 2023 HNSA Conference. There’s no need to reserve a seat in individual sessions.

Set in WW2, Running with Ivan is Suzanne Leal’s first venture into writing timeslip for younger readers . Ali Stegert’s Her Majesty’s League of Remarkable Young Ladies melds history and fun while encouraging CYA audiences to enjoy science and technology. Susanne Gervay will discuss how these authors approached capturing young imaginations, and why they chose to write for this readership. Please note: the winner of the CYA category of the ARA Historical Novel Prize will also be featured in this session, announcement to be made on 19 October 2023.

All plenary sessions, interviews and panels are included in your weekend conference ticket to the 2023 HNSA Conference. There’s no need to reserve a seat in individual sessions.

The ancient art of storytelling comes to life on the stage when six storytellers from different walks of life share a true and deeply personal story.

Explore grief and laughter with Ros Ben-Moshe, Joanne Fedler and Rabbi Ralph Genende, moderated by Suzanne Leal.

Suzanne Leal will be in conversation with Barbie Robinson at The Book Cow at 6pm on Thursday 10 August 2023. You can RSVP for this free event here.

Join me in celebrating the launch of my new novel, The Watchful Wife, at 5.30pm on 2 July 2023 at Pitt Street Uniting Church. Many thanks to the wonderful Tom Keneally AO for agreeing to launch The Watchful Wife and to our bookseller, Abbey’s Bookshop.