The CBCA shortlist is announced!

Congratulations to all authors who have made it to the shortlist — check it out here.

We are especially delighted to congratulate the following authors, editors and illustrators who are good pals of ours:

Melissa Keil – ‘The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl’
Tristan Bancks – ‘Two Wolves’
Freya Blackwood – ‘The Cleo Stories: The Necklace and the Present’, ‘Go to Sleep Jessie!’ AND ‘My Two Blankets’
Trace Balla – ‘Rivertime’
Michael Camilleri – ‘One Minute’s Silence’
Glenda Millard – ‘The Duck and the Darklings’
Jackie French – ‘Fire’
Demet Divaroren & Amra Pajalic – ‘Coming of Age: Growing up Muslim in Australia’

It’s always an impossible task to pick a book cover to feature. We had to go with a cover by Freya Blackwood since she managed to illustrate three of the books on this year’s shortlist! Wow, go Freya!

We look forward to hearing which books win the top prizes in August!

We are delighted to share an excellent article about the launch of Prue Mason’s latest book Zafir which appeared in The Age on the 23rd of March and can be read HERE

Prue Mason‘s book Zafir is the last in the six-book Through My Eyes series and tells the story of a 13-year-old Zafir. The year is 2011 and the setting is the Syrian city of Homs. Zafir and his family are caught up in the early days of  the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad that we now know resulted in mass killings.

The Through My Eyes series is aimed at students aged 11-14 and each book is set in a different area of conflict – the titles are all written by Australian authors and the full set of titles include Shahana, Emilio, Amina, Malini, Naveed and of course, Zafir.

The series editor is Lyn White, and Lyn along with the authors are available to speak about their books and the Through My Eyes series.

Last night Andrew McDonald and Chris Miles delighted a packed room of teachers at Readings, Hawthorn. They discussed how they both use humour to talk about difficult and awkward themes. Andrew’s novel Son of Death is a funny and smart way of talking about death, and Chris’s book Spurt: A balls and All Story offers a hilarious take on going through puberty. Andrew and Chris interviewed each other about their books and how they have both used humour to get these challenging issues out in the open.

After intermission, Fiona Wood and Gabrielle Williams took up the discussion for secondary teachers and spoke together about teenage resilience. Speaking from personal experiences, Fiona and Gabrielle highlighted how teenagers need to have resilience to deal with having spots, through to parents and problematic relationships.

Teachers appreciated hearing from these interesting authors and left after buying vast quantities of books!

Next Tuesday, 24th of March, we are excited to announce that our lovely friends at Readings bookshop are holding a teachers’ night at their Hawthorn shop. This is a great chance to hear Booked Out authors Fiona Wood, Gabrielle Williams, Andrew McDonald and Chris Miles.

It’s a great opportunity to see these speakers talk about their new books;  we think they’re fantastic, and all four live in Melbourne, and love to visit schools for talks, workshops and residencies. Think of it as a degustation menu for who you might book to inspire your students this year!

Not only is this evening free, but Readings will also offer you a 20% discount on books purchased on the night, and there will be Readings children’s and YA specialists there to chat with you about the Readings Children’s Book Prize shortlist, and recent and upcoming reads.

The evening is split into two sessions: primary and secondary, and you’re welcome to come for one session or both. As mentioned, it is free, but please RSVP through the Readings event page: primary and secondary.

Click HERE to view the event PDF for further information.

Attention all Emerging Writers! The Monash University Undergraduate Prize for Creative Writing is now open for entries!

They are looking for creative writing in all forms, from short stories to narrative non-fiction, narrative verse and beyond. The only condition –  you’ve got to be an undergraduate or honours student in Australia or New Zealand.

Along with the $5000 prize money up for grabs, every writer who gets shortlisted will receive VIP tickets to the Emerging Writers’ Festival Opening Night Gala – a great chance to meet and greet other emerging writers and industry professionals.

For further information, visit the Emerging Writers’ Festival website.

Entries close at 5pm, 17 April 2015.

We are totally thrilled to share some exciting news from Maree Coote – The Hello! from Australia Exhibition at the Bologna Book Fair has selected an illustration from her book Alphabet City Zoo to feature on the front cover of their catalogue!

Alphabet City Zoo is filled with fun illustrations of iconic Australian animals using the letters of their names.

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair  begins on Monday March 30th and runs through to Thursday April 2nd in the beautiful city of Bologna, Italy.

Eltham Book Shop and Eltham High School are welcoming one and all to the launch of Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean on Sunday the 22nd of February.

This new collection of sci-fi, fantasy writing and six graphic stories showcases twenty stellar  writers and artists from India and Australia: including Isobelle Carmody, Penni Russon, Justine Larbalestier, Margo Lanagan, Lily Mae Martin, Manjula Padmanabhan, Kate Constable, Priya Kurian, Mandy Ord, Kirsty Murray and Nicki Greenberg.

The launch will be happening from 4 – 6pm at Eltham High School, Withers Way, Eltham.

Bookings are essential and tickets ($20) include a signed copy of the book or a $15 gift voucher.

To book in for this fantastic opportunity to meet the authors call 9439 8700 or email elthambookshop@bigpond.com

We here at Booked Out are devoted fans of the community radio stations in our little ol’ Melbourne town. The Booked Out HQ spends most of our days listening to the variety of musical programs on PBS 106.7 FM, and then turning the dial over RRR 102.7 FM for our arts & culture news.

We now have more reason to start our days with RRR, as our good old buddy Declan Fay will be one of the three hosts of RRR’s Breakfasters. Starting February 9th, Declan will host the popular morning radio show along with Alicia Sometimes and Steve Wilde.

Tune your radio or head to the station’s website to listen online.

Declan is one our very popular inspirational speakers for secondary students, having visited over six hundred schools in his time with Booked Out. He also takes small groups for comedy writing workshops.

Hello! As of today we are back in the office and in full booked-out swing!

This year we are looking forward to welcoming more new faces to our agency and continuing to offer engaging and inspiring speakers for your school, workplace, event or festival. In the next few weeks we will also have an exciting announcement to make – stay tuned!

As per usual Book Week is already looking busy for many speakers, so if you have been thinking about someone in particular, make sure you don’t miss out! We also have some exciting speakers on tour this year – take a look at our Tours page.

If you have any questions, or are looking for inspiration and recommendations, don’t hesitate to give us a call in the office on 03 9824 0177 or shoot us an email to start a conversation about the perfect speaker for your next event.

Best wishes for a happy start to 2015,

The team at Booked Out.