Layla is an inventor. After winning a scholarship to an exclusive school she is now preparing for the Grand Designs Tourismo which will take her to Germany and working her hardest to win a place on the Special International Invention Tour. But Layla’s plans for conquering the world with her inventions hit a hurdle when her family must travel to Sudan to be at her grandmother’s bedside. This trip challenges Layla to discover who she is beyond the world of her inventors workshop...

Layla is an inventor. After winning a scholarship to an exclusive school she is now preparing for the Grand Designs Tourismo which will take her to Germany and working her hardest to win a place on the Special International Invention Tour. But Layla’s plans for conquering the world with her inventions hit a hurdle when her family must travel to Sudan to be at her grandmother’s bedside. This trip challenges Layla to discover who she is beyond the world of her inventors workshop...

Today I have a novel of Sydney that has become a favourite already of my reading this year. Friends & Dark Shapes is a gorgeous meditation on movement. The novel had me reflecting on the ways I move through life, through relationships and yes through this city. As I record this just outside of Sydney in the Blue Mountains, I find Friends & Dark Shapes takes me back to the streets and the people that I have loved. When I spoke with Kavita for Final Draft she compared our conversation to a virtual walk through Sydney. I think that’s a good metaphor for the experience of reading Friends & Dark Shapes This is a soulful novel that I would highly recommend

Michael Williams has joined the Sydney Writers Festival as its artistic director for 2021 following Michaela McGuire leaving to take the helm at Melbourne Writers Festival. It’s like the two passed each other somewhere around Albury as Michael was the director of Melbourne’s Wheeler Centre for more than a decade. He’s also been a presenter on Radio National and RRR down in Melbourne. And Michael has joined the festival in the wake of the cancellation of last year's festival due to Covid. We’re all excited to see a return to the stages and talks and Michael has put together a program worth anticipating Join me as Michael Williams takes us through the 2021 Sydney Writers Festival...

Harper Brown has arrived in Paris to live her dream. She’s leaving her romantic baggage behind and starting a job at an online magazine as its new art & culture writer. This is Paris and a small borrowed apartment and rude co-workers are just part of the charm. Except Harper’s nourishing dreams of becoming a hard-hitting reporter and the arrogant git currently doing that job is ignoring her warnings that a serial killer may be stalking women on the streets of Paris.

The Animals in That Country takes us north. Jean is a guide in a wildlife preserve. Irascibly anti-social, Jean drinks too much, smokes too much and picks fights online. Except for Thursdays when she cleans herself up and looks after her granddaughter. Jeans son Lee may have done a runner, but he did leave behind Kimberly and Jean is fiercely protective of Kim, even if Kim’s mum Ange has little time for Jean. Jean and Kimberly love to plan for the day when they will have their own wildlife preserve. They carefully scrapbook their ideas, even as the news warns them of an illness spreading in the south. Zooflu has hit the southern states hard, bringing flu-like symptoms, pink eyes and the ability to talk to animals! Soon the park must close their gates and quarantine themselves against the pandemic, because who knows what the rescued animals will have to say about their captivity?

Four friends move into a share-house in Redfern. Over the course of four seasons the friends navigate communal living and try to get a handle on whether this is in fact their lives or just another stepping stone towards a place everyone else seems to have reached. From toilet rolls and the dishwashing roster, to navigating space in a city that is always shifting and seemingly forever out of reach; Friends & Dark Shapes explores love, longing and loss in Sydney.

Mirror Mirror explores our propensity as storytellers. Every day our world is filled with stories; stories we consume and especially those we tell. These stories help us shape our world, but how do we influence those stories and how in turn do those stories reflect our culture? Mirror Mirror explores our propensity as storytellers. Every day our world is filled with stories; stories we consume and especially those we tell. These stories help us shape our world, but how do we influence those stories and how in turn do those stories reflect our culture?

Johnny Novak’s a family man; beautiful wife, young son, his mum & dad live two blocks away, his brother Ivan lives two blocks in the other direction. Johnny even works in the family business, although as the second son he’s always let his older brother do the heavy lifting. Then one evening around dusk Ivan is gunned down in his driveway. A killing that threatens to erupt Sydney into all out warfare!

Margot is a successful psychologist; thriving practice, beautiful family and an academic interest in antisocial personality disorder. On an otherwise uneventful night Margot is woken by the sound of broken glass. The family escapes through their open front door to see flames blooming from Margot’s office window. Someone has firebombed their house!

Erma Bridges is tired. She just got off a red eye to answer as yet unknown charges of misconduct from her university. A university where Erma is writing a book on the History of Reader Deployed Young Adult Fiction (Choose Your Own Adventure books ‘natch’). A university where young women are disappearing at an alarming rate. A university where one young woman, Erma’s missing research assistant, is about to reappear and brutally attack Erma for seemingly no discernible reason.