In conversation with Craig Silvey

ANU/CANBERRA TIMES MEET THE AUTHOR

Meet the Author is delighted that Craig Silvey is finally able to travel from Western Australia to be in conversation with Sally Pryor on Honeybee, Silvey's third novel, which won the 2020 Dymock's Book of the Year, from a shortlist which included the latest books by Trent Dalton and Julia Baird.

Honeybee, from the author of bestselling and class list favourite, Jasper Jones, is a tender, profoundly moving novel, brimming with vivid characters and luminous words. It's about two lives forever changed by a chance encounter -- one offering hope, the other redemption. It's about when to persevere, and when to be merciful, as the main character 14-year-old Sam Watson learns when to let go, and when to hold on.

At the heart of Honeybee, a heartbreaking, life-affirming novel, is Sam, a solitary, resilient young person battling to navigate the world as their true self; ensnared by loyalty to a troubled mother, scarred by the volatility of a domineering stepfather, and confounded by the kindness of new alliances.

"This is a story of desperate loneliness and fear, of neglect, family violence, betrayal, and self-disgust. But it is also one of love and solidarity, a celebration of the kindness of strangers who become family and friends". - Australian Book Review

Craig Silvey is an award-winning author and screenwriter from Fremantle, Western Australia. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Rhubarb, was published in 2004, while his second novel, Jasper Jones (2009), has sold 600,000 copies globally and been adapted into a critically acclaimed film and stage play. Jasper Jones won the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year for 2010 and was shortlisted for an International Dublin Literary Award and a Miles Franklin Literary Award.

Sally Pryor is Features Editor of the Canberra Times and sees her role "as a kind of conversation with the reader". Sally's interview with Craig on Honeybee was published in the Canberra Times in November 2020.

Dr Lucy Neave Associate Dean, Student Experience and Integrity at the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences will deliver the vote of thanks.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, registration for this event is essential and social distancing must be adhered to.

This event is in association with Harry Hartog Bookshop and books will be available for purchase on the evening in the Cultural Centre foyer. Pre-event book signings will be available from 5.30pm, and available again after the event until 7.30pm.