Award-winning novelist and UQ alumnus Amy Barker will return to Emmanuel College in September to help launch her novel Omega Park.
Ms Barker was awarded the Best Emerging Author – Manuscript Award for Omega Park at the Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards in 2008, which included a publishing contract with The University of Queensland Press (UQP) for the novel.
Arts Faculty Executive Dean Richard Fotheringham will preside over the Emmanuel College launch on Friday, September 4.
Omega Park is set in a fictional public housing estate on the Gold Coast and follows the lives of two young men as they struggle to overcome personal and societal obstacles including rioting, discrimination and isolation.
Ms Barker can identify with the novel’s characters, having once lived in public housing herself.
“I felt compelled to write it, drawing on experiences from my own past and also weighing in on the controversies surrounding the riots in suburbs like Macquarie Fields around the time I was writing,” she said.
Ms Barker originally enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts/Laws degree at UQ, quickly realising her passion wasn’t law moots but words.
As a member of the UQ Link program, which assists school leavers from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, Ms Barker was given a 12 month residence at a UQ college and Emmanuel College was more than pleased she became a member of its community.
All interested parties are welcome to attend the launch, with drinks and nibbles served from 5:30pm. Copies of Omega Park will be available for purchase.
When: Friday, September 4 2009
Where: Stevens Bonnin Room, Emmanuel College
Sir William MacGregor Drive, St Lucia
Time: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
To register contact Sharon Burridge on (07) 3871 9362 or s.burridge@emmanuel.uq.edu.au.
Media: Advancement manager Margy Chatburn (07 3871 9342, m.chatburn@emmanuel.uq.edu.au)
