Brunswick Bound Books

Michael Earp is a bookseller and the editor of Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYAStories .  He has passionately worked with Children’s and YA books for more than 16 years.  He has a degree in Early Childhood Education and a Masters in Children’s Literature.  His writing has appeared in The Victorian Writer  and Aurealis .  He also established the #AusQueerYA tumblr to coincide with the #LoveOzYA campaign, of which he was previously the Committee Chair. Michael will be reading at First Chapters on Friday 5 April from his short story "Meet and Greet" which is published in Underdog: #LoveOzYA Short Stories . 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a piece from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the piece you have chosen? ‘Meet and Greet’ is a queer meet-cute for book nerds set at Melbourne Writers Festival. It’s pretty adorable and very wholesome. 2. How would you describe the kind of books that you write? So far: Short (s...

Matt Davies is an author of YA fiction.  He has been a full-time writer for 10 years and has ghostwritten seven non-fiction titles and written scripts for TV commercials and documentaries.  Matt sat on the board of Australia ’s Emerging Writers’ Festival for 5 years, including 2 years as Chair. Matt will be reading at First Chapters on Friday 5 April from his debut novel This Thing Of Darkness .   1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a piece from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the piece you have chosen? I’ve chosen a section midway through the novel when Riley wakes up at her old house after a harrowing night.    It’s a pivotal moment for my character and gives the reader a sense of the tone of the book. 2. How would you describe the kind of books that you write? I write contemporary young adult novels set in Melbourne . They lean on the literary side and I try to pack an emotional punch. 3. ...

Jes Layton is a geek with a hat, who writes about, draws, and discusses queer-nerdy things.  Born on Gulidjan land, now living on Wurundjeri, Jes is the Administration Officer for the UNESCO Melbourne City of Literature Office and the Administration and Marketing Coordinator for Express Media.  Jes was an Oustanding LGBTQIA+ Short Stories Award recipient in 2018. Jes will be reading at First Chapters on Friday 5 April from her short story Chemical Expressions which will be featured in Underdog #LOVEOzYA Short Stories . 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a piece from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the piece you have chosen? A short piece with quite a bit of science stuffed inside. Specifically, something where emotion and science mix. 2. How would you describe the kind of books that you write? I mostly write speculative fiction in contemporary settings with a sprinkling of complicated platonic and family relationships—my main in...

Marlee Jane Ward is a writer, reader and weirdo living in Melbourne.  She likes dreaming of the future, cats, and making an utter spectacle of herself.  You can find her short stories in the  Hear Me Roar Anthology ,  Interdictions  and  Mad Scientist Journal . Her novella  Welcome to Orphancorp  won the 2015 Seizure Viva La Novella Prize and the 2016 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Young Adult Fiction. The final instalment in the Orphancorp trilogy,    Prisoncorp , will be published in 2019. Marlee Jane will be reading at First Chapters on Friday 1 February .  We asked her some questions to get to know her better. 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a chapter from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the chapter you have chosen? I haven’t chosen which one yet! Last time I waited until the last minute to choose, I ended up reading a sex scene to a packed bar while rather ...

Kate O'Donnell is a writer, editor and bookseller specialising in children's and young adult literature.  She has a BA in History and French from the University of Melbourne and studied Professional Writing and Editing at RMIT. Kate will be reading from her YA novel Untidy Towns at First Chapters on Friday 5 October. 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a chapter from your published work. Tell us what we can expect from the chapter you have chosen? An eighteenth birthday party on a farm, implied inebriation and perhaps one count of accidental electrocution. 2. How would you describe the kind of books that you write? Quiet Australian young adult fiction about girls who have something to say (even if they’re not sure what it is just yet) and written with an excess of strange detail, as well as comedy so subtle you might miss it. 3. What was the first book that you read (or had read to you) that left an impression on you? We had a litt...

Eleni Hale was previously a reporter at the Herald Sun , a communications strategist for the union movement and has written for many print and online news publications.  Her short story Fig was published as part of the ABC's In Their Branches  project and she has received three Varuna awards.  Eleni will be reading from her YA novel Stone Girl at First Chapters on Friday 6 October. We asked Eleni some bookish questions to get to know her better and this is what she had to say. 1. Brunswick Bound has asked you to read a chapter from your published work.  Tell us what we can expect from the chapter you have chosen? Chapter one. The narrator in Stone Girl , Sophie Soukaris, is 12-years-old. She is at the police station and in shock. Her mum is dead and Sophie thinks it’s her fault. Since there is no one else to care for her, a social worker comes to take her to a group home where kids without a family live. This is the beginning of a very new life for...

You may have overheard me telling people recently that I think Philip Pullman is the Hilary Mantel of children's fiction. Too bold?  Or strange? It's true that Philip Pullman certainly doesn't need any comparisons, he is as beloved a children's author as Hilary Mantel is celebrated for her literary fiction. But let me tell you why I say this.  You see, it occurred to me whilst reading La Belle Sauvage  (the first book in Pullman's new companion series to His Dark Materials series) that their books are akin in many ways.  The broad scope, terrific characterisations and their ability to take the narrative to a dark place, but never lose the humour (droll as it may be) are all compellingly similar. His Dark Materials  started with Northern Lights , in which we meet Lyra and her gyptian friend, Roger, in the city of Oxford.  It is a world parallel to our own, in which human beings are attached to animal daemons by a dark matter known as Dust .  Th...