Get up close and personal with the 2006 winner of the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award at a free cocktail reception at UQ on Friday.
Roger McDonald will read from his prize-winning novel The Ballad of Desmond Kale at The University of Queensland on Friday, September 15.
The event is part of the University’s sponsorship of the 10th Brisbane Writers Festival – a packed program of 150 literary events held at 12 venues throughout Brisbane between Wednesday, September 13, and Sunday, September 17.
It is one of seven events in The University of Queensland Series.
Held in the University’s Fryer Library between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, the Miles Franklin Literary Award cocktail event will also feature appearances and readings by Miles Franklin winner Alex Miller (2003) as well as writers shortlisted for the award over recent years including Alan Gould, Gail Jones and Brenda Walker.
The event is supported by UQ’s Faculty of Arts and The University of Queensland Library, Copyright Agency Limited and the Nelson Meers Foundation.
Bookings are essential and for more information, contact Nea Daniels on 3346 4328.
Mr McDonald has written six novels and won one of Australia’s premier literary prizes from a highly competitive field of 54 novels.
The Ballad of Desmond Kale is set in the early 1800s in the fledgling British colony of New South Wales. Kale, an Irish political prisoner and brilliant breeder of sheep, escapes into the bush pursued by the wildly eccentric and vengeful parson and magistrate, Matthew Stanton.
UQ is a major supporter of the annual Brisbane Writers Festival with many UQ staff and students, past and present, taking part each year. Below are just some of the UQ staff members appearing at this year’s event.
• Dr Venero Armanno, Senior Lecturer with the School of English, Media Studies and Art History and award-winning author and scriptwriter. He has published reviews and feature articles, short stories, young adult fiction, and seven adult fiction books including Firehead and the 2002 winner of the Queensland Premiers Prize for Best Australian Novel, The Volcano. His new novel, Candle Life, was published in May this year to much critical acclaim. He will participate in three festival events including An Australian in Paris chaired by former Brisbane Lord Mayor Sallyanne Atkinson, AO.
• Professor Robert Dixon of the School of English, Media Studies and Art History and author of three books: The Course of Empire: Neo-Classical Culture in New South Wales 1788–1860; Writing the Colonial Adventure: Race, Gender and Nation in Anglo-Australian Popular Fiction, 1875–1914; and Prosthetic Gods: Travel, Representation and Colonial Governance. Professor Dixon will appear at the festival and UQ-sponsored event, Prochownik’s Dream, on Friday, September 15, in conversation with novelist and 2003 Miles Franklin recipient, Alex Miller.
• Professor Richard Fotheringham, Executive Dean for the Faculty of Arts and published author of Australian drama books including Sport in Australian Drama and In Search of Steele Rudd.
• Dr Stuart Glover, Senior Lecturer with the School of English, Media Studies and Art History. Dr Glover is the head of creative writing at UQ and founding director of the Brisbane Writers Festival. He will participate in two UQ-sponsored festival events – Dreams of Speaking – a conversation with novelist Gail Jones – and Paper Empires on the history of the book in Australia between 1964 and 2004.
• Professor Roland (“Roly”) Sussex, Professor of Applied Language Studies within the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies. He is also host of the popular weekly “Language Talkback” broadcast on ABC radio and internationally though Radio Australia. He will appear with Hugh Lunn at Bush Whacked – an investigation of how Americanisms are pervading the Australian language on Friday, September 15, from 2pm until 3pm. His most recent major publication is Roland Sussex and Paul Cubberley, The Slavic Languages.
Media: Shirley Glaister at UQ Communications on 3365 2049 or Caitlin Stager, Faculty of Arts, on 3365 9163.
