We are delighted to say that our VCE twilight seminar with Maxine Beneba Clarke at the State Library of Victoria was a roaring success.

Maxine’s detailed and thoughtful presentation on Foreign Soil elevated students’ understanding of the text, and attendees were full of fantastic and well-considered questions.

Some fantastic feedback we have received:

“Thank you very much for offering the Maxine Beneba Clarke lecture, both myself and the students found it to be excellent. The students loved that she took the time at the end for a meet and greet and a book signing. The content was excellent, and geared towards her teenage audience – so accessible and useful for their SAC’s. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring the girls again next year, should it run again.”

Thank you to the 16 different schools who came along – it was wonderful to meet such passionate students and teachers.

Watch this space for our next twilight seminar coming up this Thursday evening for Cate Kennedy, who will be speaking on Like a House on Fire to a sold out audience.

We are delighted to be featured in Books+Publishing who interviewed our company director Lauris (pictured right, with Andy Griffiths) for an article on speakers agencies, published this week. You can read the full article over at Books+Publishing, but here is a snippet of Lauris’ comments:

‘Unlike many other agencies, we operate nationally. We provide writers and illustrators to schools throughout Australia as well as several international schools,’ she says.

The agency also works with ‘more high-profile authors’, says Pandolfini. Booked Out’s list boasts Andy Griffiths, Jackie French, Morris Gleitzman, John Marsden and Sally Rippin, among others, and clients browsing the agency’s website can search for speakers with specialties as diverse as spoken word, animation, mindfulness and the school curriculum.

Read the full article here.

We are proud again today to see so many students today protesting climate change. “It’s a collective endeavour, it’s a collective accountability and it may not be too late.” – Christine Lagarde.

Happy International Women’s Day everyone! We’re taking this moment to reflect on women’s achievements and successes. Last night we celebrated with Maxine Beneba Clarke at the Molly Hadfield Social Justice Oration, where she spoke on feminism, equality and intersectionality with Lorraine Ngwenya ⭐😁✊💖🌻

A hearty congratulations to our represented authors included in the 2019 #inkyawards longlist announced yesterday! Well done Erin Gough, Lili Wilkinson, Ellie Marney and Amanda Betts – four fantastic titles, who are very well deserved.

One person who knows the grave dangers that bushfires can bring is author Ella Holcombe who lost her family in the 2009 Kinglake blaze.

This experience led Ella to create the sensitive and uplifting title, The House on the Mountain, ill. by David Cox and published by Allen and Unwin. This title gently introduces primary-aged children to the concept of serious bushfires and mass evacuation in a non-confrontational and moving manner.

As always, Booked Out thanks the hard-working firefighters who battle these blazes so we can stay safe.

If you listened closely on Monday night, you might have heard a cheer echoing in Prahran! We are thrilled to see our authors so strongly represented in the @cbca_vic Book of the Year notable longlist.

Fantastic talks from Fiona Wood, Jo Stanley and Alex Rance reminded us of how childhood reading sets important lifelong habits.

Fiona Wood summed up the night perfectly with her comment on the 2019 Book Week theme of ‘Reading is my Secret Power’. “Reading fosters empathy, and empathy will help us save the world.” – we couldn’t say it better ourselves.

Well done all. 🌟😊👌💛

On Monday evening, the Booked Out team headed off to Readings Carlton to celebrate the launch of Mark Brandi’s newest novel, The Rip.

The book was launched with grace and humour by the inimitable Hannie Rayson, who also asked Mark to share how he came to write a novel about those who live on the periphery of our society.

After the success of Wimmera, we are expecting great things from Mark Brandi’s second novel. Read a little more about the book on Hachette’s website here.

Congratulations Mark, on a stellar launch!

Check it out! Adrian Beck and Sally Rippin‘s new KidLit series has officially launched. And what a better way to start than an interview with Kristin Gill and Kim Kane, author of #GingerGreen – our favourite feisty fox series. If you’re on the go, you can listen to the podcast version here: https://t.co/7LCUlXpYMz 🦊🌟📚

The Kid Lit Club is an ongoing video podcast, where you can join bestselling kids’ authors Sally Rippin and Adrian Beck as they discuss children’s books from all angles, featuring author interviews as well as behind-the-scenes exclusives. Whether you’re a teacher, parent, author or a book industry professional, this is the podcast for you!

The anticipated Stella Prize longlist was announced last night. This award recognises and celebrates Australian women writers’ contribution to literature, both in non-fiction and fiction categories.

Booked Out was absolutely thrilled to see not one, but two familiar faces in the Longlist: Bri Lee, nominated for her timely memoir Eggshell Skull, and Maria Tumarkin with Axiomatic, a genre-defying and engrossing read.

Congratulations to Bri, Maria, and all those on the longlist!

Read about all the nominees on the Stella website.