Now in its second year, this Women’s History Month event celebrates local writers and readers of historical fiction with panel discussions, book sales and signings. Refreshments included.

Women’s History Month – 2018

Live in Eltham, Victoria (Australia), or nearby? Love history and historical fiction? Why not come along on March 3rd to the Eltham Library and meet a great group of authors.

This will be the last year for our current group (Kathryn Gauci, Kelly Gardiner, Kate Mildenhall, Glenice Whitting, Barbara Gaskell Denvil, Elizabeth Jane Corbett, Rachel Nightingale, Caroline Miley, moi and Chris Raja).  Most of our authors have won more than just one writing award. So – don’t miss out on seeing and hearing them.

Book online here. 

Or by phoning the library: (03) 9439 9266

Our authors;

Elizabeth Jane Corbett

When Elizabeth Jane isn’t writing, she works as a librarian, teaches Welsh at the Celtic Club in Melbourne, writes reviews and articles for the Historical Novels Society and blogs at elizabethjanecorbett.com. In 2009, her short-story, Beyond the Blackout Curtain, won the Bristol Short Story Prize. Another short story, Silent Night, was short listed for the Allan Marshall early draft of her first novel, The Tides Between, was short listed for a manuscript development award. It will be published in by Odyssey Books in October 2107. Elizabeth has an active social media presence, is an experienced public speaker and is in her element discussing books and ideas.

Barbara Gaskell Denvil

Barbara Gaskell Denvil is the author of five published historical novels – Satin Cinnabar, a crime adventure tale actually commencing on the Bosworth battlefield, Sumerford’s Autumn, an adventure mystery with strong romantic overtones, set in the early years of the Tudor reign, Blessop’s Wife, (published in Australia as The King’s Shadow), a crime/romance set in England during 1482-3 in those turbulent years around the death of King Edward IV, The Flame Eater, a romantic crime novel also set in 1482/3, and a time-slip novel Fair Weather, a highly adventurous mystery set during the reign of King John.

Barbara is also an author of fantasy – both fantasy and historical fiction take us into new worlds and Barbara’s books do exactly this – being multi-layered, and rich in both characterisation and atmosphere.

Wendy J. Dunn

Wendy J. Dunn is an author, playwright and poet who has been obsessed by Anne Boleyn and Tudor History since she was ten-years-old. She is the author of three Tudor novels: Dear Heart, How Like You This?, the winner of the 2003 Glyph Fiction Award and 2004 runner up in the Eric Hoffer Award for Commercial Fiction, The Light in the Labyrinth, her first young adult novel, and Falling Pomegranate Seeds: The Duty of Daughters. This novel has been translated into Spanish and made into an audiobook:


Wendy is a writing tutor and lecturer at Swinburne University of Technology.

Kelly Gardiner

Kelly Gardiner writes historical fiction for readers of all ages. Her latest novel is 1917: Australia’s Great War. Kelly’s previous books include the young adult novels Act of Faith and The Sultan’s Eyes, both of which were shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and Goddess, a novel for adults based on the life of the seventeenth century French swordswoman, cross-dresser and opera singer, Mademoiselle de Maupin.

She teaches writing at La Trobe University, and digital literacy at the State Library of Victoria. Kelly is also the co-host of Unladylike, a podcast about women and writing.

Kathryn Gauci

Kathryn Gauci was born in Leicestershire, England, and studied textile design at Art College. After graduating, she spent a year in Vienna, Austria before moving to Greece where she worked as a carpet designer in Athens for six years. There followed another brief period in New Zealand before eventually settling in Melbourne. Before turning to writing full-time, Kathryn ran her own textile design studio for over fifteen years, which she enjoyed tremendously as it allowed her the luxury of travelling worldwide, often taking her off the beaten track and exploring other cultures.

The Embroiderer is her first novel. Set against the mosques and minarets of Asia Minor and the ruins of ancient Athens, it is a gripping saga of love and loss, hope and despair based on historic events spanning the period from The Greek War of Independence in 1821 to the Nazi occupation of Athens in 1941. It has recently been picked up by a Greek publisher and is available in Greek. Currently, it is being considered for publication in Turkish and Romanian. Her second novel, Conspiracy of Lies, a drama set in France during WWII was published during the first half of 2017.
Rachel Le Rossignol

Rachel Le Rossignol has been writing since the age of 8 (early works are safely hidden away). She holds a Masters degree and PhD in Creative Writing. Her short stories have been selected several times for exhibition as part of the Cancer Council Arts awards and winning the Mercury Short Story competition (junior section) at the age of 16 only fuelled her desire to share her stories with the world. One of her plays, No Sequel, won the People’s Choice Award and First Prize at the Eltham Little Theatre’s 10 Minute Play competition in 2014 whilst another, Crime Fiction, was performed at Short and Sweet Manila and Sydney in 2016/17. Her second passion after writing is the theatre, and she has been performing in shows and working backstage for a rather long time. She co-wrote and performed in the 2012-2015 version of the hugely popular Murder on the Puffing Billy Express, a 1920s murder mystery set on the iconic Dandenong Ranges train. The inspiration for the Tarya trilogy, which begins with Harlequin’s Riddle (to be released in 2017), began when she read a quote by Broadway actor Alan Cumming about that in-between moment just before you step on stage and enter a different world, a moment when anything is possible…
Kate Mildenhall

Kate Mildenhall is the author of Skylarking, published by Black Inc. in 2016. She is a writer and teacher. She has taught in schools, at RMIT University and State Library Victoria, and has volunteered with Teachers Across Borders, delivering professional development to Khmer teachers in Cambodia. Skylarking is her debut novel, and is based on the true story of Kate and Harriet, best friends growing up on a remote Australian Cape in the 1880s, and the tragic event that befalls them. Skylarking was named in Readings bookstore’s Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017.

Kate lives in Hurstbridge, Victoria, and is currently working on a new novel.

Glenice Whitting

Glenice Whitting is an Australian author and playwright and has published two novels. She was a hairdresser for many years before she became a mature age student and was awarded entry into the Golden Key International Honour Society for academic excellence.  Her Australian/German novel, Pickle to Pie, was short -listed for the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. It co-won the Ilura Press International Fiction Quest and was launched during The Age Melbourne Writers’ Festival.

Three years as an on-line editor and columnist at suite101.com resulted in an ebook Inspiring Women. Glenice’s play Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow was produced during the Fertile Ground New Play Festival. Her published works include biographies, reviews, numerous short stories and two novels. Her latest American/Australian novel, Something Missing, is published by MadeGlobal Publishing. She completed the journey from VCE to PhD when she gained her Doctorate of Philosophy (Writing) from Swinburne University in 2013. She began tutoring a Memoir Writing Group in 2015. Glenice’s blog Writers and Their Journey can be found at her website, www.glenicewhitting.com

Chris Raja

Christopher Raja (born 27 September 1974 in Kolkata) is an Indian-born Australian author of short stories, essays, a play and a novel. He co-authored the play The First Garden with Natasha Raja, which was performed in botanical gardens around Australia and published by Currency Press in 2012.[1][2][3] His debut novel, The Burning Elephant was published by Giramondo Publishing in 2015. It was written under a New Work grant awarded by the Literature Board of the Australia Council.[4][5][6][7][8][9] He has been twice shortlisted for the Northern Territory Writers Centre’s Chief Minister’s Book of the Year award.[10] Raja migrated from Kolkata to Melbourne in 1986. He has lived and worked in Alice Springs since 2004.

 

Program:

Women’s History Month at Eltham Library – March 3rd, 2018.

 

Starts at 10 am and finishes at 4.30.

10 to 11.30

 

First panel: Barbara Gaskell Denvil, Kathryn Gauci, Caroline Miley and Glenice Whitting – chair Rachel Nightingale.

 

Turning History into compelling fiction.

 

10-minute break

 

11.40 – 12.40 – Q and A about writing and publishing with writers of history.

 

Elizabeth Jane Colbett and Rachel Nightingale

 

12.40 -1pm – break for lunch.

 

1 – 2.30 – YA panel: What we learn from reading history? – Kelly Gardiner, Kate Mildenhall and Wendy J. Dunn – chaired by Alex Hamilton

 

10-minute break

 

2.40 – 3.40 – Kate Mildehall in conversation with Christopher Raja:

Celebrating Women Writers of History:
The joy of reading books written by women.

 

3.40 to library’s closing- Refreshments, book sales and signings.