Australia's most wanted (crime writers) were here!
The New England Writers' Centre is proud to have hosted the very first of its kind, Rural Crime Writing Festival!
We secured a fabulous line-up of criminally awesome writers. Each writer presented during the day on their specific field, finishing off with a panel discussion moderated by Carmel Shute of Sisters in Crime.
We secured a fabulous line-up of criminally awesome writers. Each writer presented during the day on their specific field, finishing off with a panel discussion moderated by Carmel Shute of Sisters in Crime.
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Meet our presenters!
We are excited to introduce to you some of Australia's finest crime writers. The 2021 Festival was a great success that we hope to repeat in the future - so if you missed out this time, stay in touch and hopefully you can join us for another deep dive into all things Crime!
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EMMA VISKIC
Emma Viskic was the first winner of the Fiction category in the inaugural New England Thunderbolt Prize seven years ago, and has credited that win with having kickstarted her stellar career. Viskic won the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction in 2016 for her debut novel Resurrection Bay, first in the Caleb Zelic series, as well as several Davitt Awards. She also won a Davitt Award in 2018 for And Fire Came Down and in 2020 for Darkness for Light. The series has also been published in the UK and US and been optioned for television adaptation in the US. |
YUMNA KASSAB
Poet and fiction writer Yumna Kassab was born and raised in Western Sydney, except for two formative years when she lived in Lebanon with her family. She went on to study medical science at Macquarie University and neuroscience at Sydney University, and currently teaches in New England. In 2019 she won the New England Award in the Thunderbolt Prize, for her poem 25 May 1870. Her collection of short stories, The House of Youssef, was shortlisted for the Victorian Premier's Prize, NSW Premier's Prize, Queensland Literary Prize, and the Stella Prize. |
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MARYROSE CUSKELLY
Maryrose Cuskelly is the author of Wedderburn: A true tale of blood and dust (Allen & Unwin 2018), a true-crime narrative set in rural Victoria; as well as two other books of social history. Her essays and articles have been published in a range of magazines, journals, and newspapers. In 2016 Maryrose won the Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing (non-fiction) for her essay Well Before Dark about the abduction of Mackay schoolgirl Marilyn Wallman. Maryrose’s debut novel The Cane, which returns to some of the themes and issues explored in Well Before Dark, will be published by Allen & Unwin in February 2022. |
J.P. POMARE
J.P. (Joshua) Pomare is an award-winning writer who has had work published in journals including Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, Takahe and Mascara Literary Review. He has hosted the On Writing podcast since 2015 featuring bestselling authors from around the globe. His first psychological thriller, Call Me Evie, was a bestseller, published in the US and UK and in translation, and winning Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. His second thriller, In the Clearing, set in a regional town with dark secrets, was widely acclaimed, and his third thriller, Tell Me Lies, was published as an Audible Original in 2020 and also in print. Forthcoming (2021) is The Last Guests. |
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BENJAMIN STEVENSON
Benjamin Stevenson is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author. His first novel, Greenlight, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards, and published in the USA and UK. His new thriller, Either Side of Midnight, came out in September 2020. He has sold out shows from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has appeared on ABCTV, Channel 10, and The Comedy Channel. Off-stage, Benjamin has worked for publishing houses and literary agencies in Australia and the USA. He currently works with some of Australia’s best-loved authors at Curtis Brown Australia. |
DAN BOX
Dan Box is a journalist, writer and podcaster who’s worked for The Australian, The Sunday Times and the BBC. He is the author of three true crime books: Bowraville (2019); I Catch Killers (with Gary Jubelin, 2020) and Carry Me Home (2008). He has won awards in both the UK and Australia, including for investigative reporting, feature writing and his books. He is the writer and presenter of the Bowraville podcast series and The Queen & Zak Grieve documentary series, both of which have also won major awards. |
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CARMEL SHUTE
Carmel Shute helped found Sisters in Crime Australia in 1991 and has been a national convenor ever since. She was inspired by the new wave of feminist crime writers, including Sara Paretsky who founded Sisters in Crime in 1986 at Bouchercon, the premier US crime writing convention. In 2016 she was awarded a Ned Kelly Life Time Achievement Award. |
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