Readings.com.au: Events

Andy Griffiths

2009-05-20T00:00:00Z

Saturday 04 July 2009 at 10:00am

Westgarth Theatre, High Street, Northcote

Much loved children’s writer Andy Griffiths is back with his new book – Just Macbeth. Crazy times ahead …

Book online now.

Gretel Killeen

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Tuesday 07 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Hawthorn: 701 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122

From, Visible Panty Line to her new book, The Night My Bum Dropped, Gretel Killeen takes a long, hard and hilarious look at herself in the wake of big life changes. The girl who ten years ago wrote flippantly of chasing parking officers while wearing a porridge face mask and growing up expecting to become Superwoman is facing her generation’s next obstacle course – the looming shadow of the Female Midlife Crisis.

With great humour and honesty, TV presenter, comedian, and bestselling author Gretel Killeen writes about the dumbfounding aspects of coping with midlife.

Free, but please book on 9819 1917 or by email.

Steve Wilde & Michelle Mackintosh book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Tuesday 07 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Steve Wide and Michelle Mackintosh are a creative duo working out of Carlton. Steve and Michelle’s new book for children, It’s a Jungle in Here is fun and lively, with delightful pictures.

Steve Wide is a writer, DJ and promoter and. runs a popular music show on Triple R FM. His knowledge of culture and his witty and humorous writing style have made him a favourite with adults as well as children. Michelle has ten years experience in design publishing. Both Rock Starfish (2002) and Two Peas in a Pad (2003) have been nominated for Best Children's Fiction Book of the year at the Australian Publisher's Design.

Free, no need to book.

Dr Morris Jones

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Wednesday 08 July 2009 at 5:30pm

Dyason House, 124 Jolimont Road, East Melbourne

The Australian Institute of International Affairs is proud to present Dr Morris Jones speaking about his new book, The New Moon Race. A new race to the moon has emerged in Asia. China, India and Japan have all sent spacecraft there. Why are Asia’s tiger economies so obsessed with the moon? The new space race involves national prestige, strategic issues, and the quest for new sources of energy. In the meantime, the United States is lurching forward with its own plans for a return to the Moon. We are pleased to present a rare talk on these under-reported yet highly significant events.

Dr Jones is an Australian writer and space analyst. The AIIA forum for discussion and research on subjects of topical and continuing interest through meetings, conferences and seminars addressed by distinguished specialists and public figures.

Please book on 9654 7271.

Sean Dooley

2009-06-23T00:00:00Z

Wednesday 08 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Following on his success with The Big Twitch, Sean is back with his new story – Cooking with Baz: Getting to know my Dad. Join us for a night of tales and domestic joy.

Free, but please book on 9347 6633 or email.

Justin Clemens book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Thursday 09 July 2009 at 6:00pm

Centre for Contemporary Photography, Fitzroy

In Villain, Justin Clemens invokes the spirit of infamous French poet, vagabond and thief François Villon, through his bold translation of Villon’s ballads, but also in his own new work, ranging from the violent and obscene to the lyrical and sublime —sometimes within a single verse. Villain unleashes a war of forms; perfect sonnets clash with mock haiku, heroic couplets and free verse, all directed towards capturing the contemporary world. Justin Clemens revives traditional poetic forms to produce a shocking and beautiful vision of modern day life. He teaches at the University of Melbourne.

Free, no need to book.

Andrew McDonald book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Thursday 09 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Tony Wilson will launch The Greatest Blogger in the World by new children's writer extraordinaire Andrew McDonald. This lively book makes the ordinary extraordinary, as seen through the eyes of one’s of life’s observers.

This is Andrew’s first book. He currently works at Readings.

Free, no need to book.

David Sornig book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Friday 10 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Berlin, New Years Eve. A young architect abandons the apocalyptic heat of a Melbourne summer for the streets his grandfather once walked. Barely off the train, a blind woman invites him to play a game. The Spiel, David’s debut novel, has begun.

David Sornig has taught at Deakin and Victoria Universities and was the 2008/09 Charles Pick Fellow at the University of East Anglia. He now lectures in creative writing at Flinders University.

Michael Meehan will launch the novel. Michael has taught in universities in many countries in Europe and Asia, and is a professor and former Head of the School of Communication and Creative Arts at Deakin University.

Free, no need to book.

Brian Castro's The Bath Fugues book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Monday 13 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Marion Campbell will launch The Bath Fugues, a meditation on melancholy and art. In the form of three interwoven novellas, centred respectively on an aging art forger; a Portuguese poet, opium addict and art collector; and a doctor, who has built an art gallery in tropical Queensland, these characters are tied by more than their art. Each character deals with questions of deception and discovery, counterfeiting and rewriting, transmission and identity and each stretching the bonds of trust and friendship. Brian has written many novels and was been long listed for the Miles Franklin.

Free, no need to book.

Peter Sutton in conversation with Marcia Langton

2009-06-17T00:00:00Z

Tuesday 14 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Well-known anthropologist Peter Sutton's new book is The Politics of Suffering. This is an important book about the decline in Indigenous health and conditions in the last 30 years. Given that we are coming up to the 2 -year 'anniversary' of the NT Intervention, this event is very timely.

Free, but please book on 9347 6633 or by email.

Terri Psiakis discussing Tying The Knot Without Doing Your Block

2009-06-23T00:00:00Z

Wednesday 15 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Part-memoir, part-guide, Tying The Knot Without Doing Your Block documents the experiences of comedian Terri Psiakis during the planning of her wedding.

Most wedding guides are formal and stuffy, tell you to do a whole bunch of things you don’t really have to, and contain little or no information for soon-to-be-married blokes. Not this one! Terri’s not a girly-girl and her chronic aversion to frou-frou means this entertaining reference gives everything pink and fluffy the big finger in favour of straightforward, practical advice. It’s funny. It’s useful. It’s the wedding equivalent of Kaz Cooke’s pregnancy bible, Up The Duff.

Free, but bookings essential. To book email media@randomhouse.com.au.

Nick Earls in conversation with Nathanial Dean

2009-06-03T00:00:00Z

Thursday 16 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Hawthorn: 701 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122

Well-loved author Nick Earls is back to talk about his new book with Nathanial Dean who is appearing in the premiere theatre production of The True Story of Butterfish in October.

With his chart-topping band, Butterfish, Curtis Holland lived the clichéd rock dream. But no dream lasts forever. When Annaliese Winter walks down Curtis Holland's front path, he's ill-prepared for a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl who's a confounding mixture of adult and child. He's back in Brisbane trying to build a life and he is not used to having a neighbour at all.

Nathaniel Dean won an AFI Award for his role in Walking on Water and was nominated for an AFI Award for his role in Somersault. His most recent TV credits include All Saints and Underbelly. In October he will play the roles of Derek and Patrick in the premiere production of The True Story of Butterfish.

Free, but please book on 9819 1917 or by email or on Facebook.

Patrick Allington in conversation with Michael Williams

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Thursday 16 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

What if you saved a man’s life? What if that man went on to play a leading role in the bloodiest revolution of modern times? In Figurehead Patrick Allington takes readers deep into the world of power politics and agents of influence. He enters the worlds of Nhem Kiry and Ted Whittlemore, and with humour, intelligence and an unfailing moral sense, brings them to life. This is a novel about guilt and memory, and the awful distance that separates dreams from reality. It is about those people who, as George Orwell put it, are ‘always somewhere else when the trigger is pulled’.

Free, but please book on 9347 6633 or by email.

The Stillsons CD launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Friday 17 July 2009 at 6:00pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

The Stillsons comes fresh from a national tour and a gig at the Northcote Social Club. Enduring breakdowns, near-bankruptcy, insomnia and paranoia, they have emerged as one of the hottest young acts touring Melbourne’s live music scene.

From the band’s first recording, Birds, recorded in a run-down back-packers in St Kilda, The Stillsons have risen from humble beginnings to releasing one of the most fresh, intense releases this year. The Stillsons’ energetic and often intense live performances have become hard to ignore since they began touring Melbourne’s live music scene three years ago. The strong lead male/female dynamic (Justin Bernasconi and Cat Canteri) is strengthened by the impeccable touch of lap-steel guitarist Ross Richards and the band’s newest member, bassist Jesse Mac.

Free, no need to book.

Duro Cubrilo, Martin Harvey and Karl Stamer discussing Kings Way: The Beginnings of Australian Graffiti: Melbourne 1983–93

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Tuesday 21 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

Together our panel has created a comprehensive account of the first decade of the graffiti writing subculture in Melbourne, Kings Way: The Beginnings of Australian Graffiti: Melbourne 1983–93. Beginning in 1993, Kings Way tells the story of the development of a hard core underground scene of local writers and their commitment to getting up.

Free, but please book on 9347 6633 or by email.

Maryanne Dever, Sally Newman & Ann Vickery book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Wednesday 22 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Hawthorn: 701 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122

The Intimate Archive is a co-authored book that recounts journeys through the private literary papers of three quite distinct Australian literary figures: Marjorie Barnard, Aileen Palmer and Lesbia Harford. Dever, Newman, and Vickery tease out some of the issues involved archival research when it comes to the more intimate aspects of women writers' lives: love, romance, sexuality. These three stories deal in different ways with questions of how to read what we call 'the intimate archive.’

Professor Deirdre Coleman, Robert Wallace Chair of English, University of Melbourne will be launching the book.

Free, no need to book

Jeff Sparrow discussing Killing

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Wednesday 22 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

How hard is it to kill an animal – or even a human? These questions lead Sparrow through history and across Australia and the USA, talking to veterans and slaughtermen, executioners and writers about one of the last remaining taboos. Compassionate, engaged and political, Killing takes us up close to the ways society kills today, meditating on what violence means, not just for perpetrators but for all of us.

Jeff Sparrow is an author and the editor of the Australian literary journal Overland. He and writes regularly for Crikey.

Free, but please book on 9347 6633 or by email.

Henry Jackson & Patrick McGorry book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Thursday 23 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

The Recognition and Management of Early Psychosis: A Preventative Approach looks at how psychotic illness is managed and treated with best results when it is recognised at the earliest stages of a person developing the disorder, or when that person is identified as being at high risk of doing so. Describing a stage-specific model highlighting the risk, the clinical and biological factors present during the development of the illness, and the best treatments available for each of these stages, this new edition will guide practitioners and researchers in the adoption of carefully planned management strategies fully integrating treatment with prevention.

Issues such as resistance to drugs and vocational recovery are covered, along with related topics such as service organisation and community education. This will be essential reading for all those involved in the care of people with early psychotic illness, or those responsible for the organisation of services.

Free, no need to book.

Adrian Parr book launch

2009-06-12T00:00:00Z

Friday 24 July 2009 at 6:30pm

Readings Carlton: 309 Lygon St, Carlton, Victoria, 3053

In Hijacking Sustainability, Adrian Parr attacks Hollywood environmentalism, sustainability in politics, and the greening of junk space. The convergence of popular culture and the sustainability movement has given corporations an opportunity to ‘ecobrand’ their products. But that branding-often makes no more than superficial gestures to sustainability. This should be a night to make us all squirm.

Free, no need to book.

Catherine Deveny in conversation with Mirka Mora

2009-06-23T00:00:00Z

Sunday 26 July 2009 at 4:00pm

North Fitzroy Star, Cnr Newry St & St Georges Rd South, North Fitzroy, Victoria

Together Catherine and Mirka will chat about Sex and Creativity.

Mirka Mora is one of Melbourne's best known and loved artists. Mirka's fifty years of creative energy have resulted in a prolific output of work across a range of media - drawing, painting, embroidery, soft sculpture, mosaics and doll-making. Her colourful, sensuous iconography has emerged from the breadth of her interests and reading, her love of classical mythology, her desire to reclaim and make sense of childhood and familial relations, and her recognition of the power of sexual desire. Not to be missed.

Please book on 9553 6810 or email artman@netspace.net.au.

$25 Full, $20 (Concession)