Forget YouTube. If you have a few spare moments at your desk and want to watch some intelligent videos, here’s a list of essential viewing over at SlowTV.

Re-live Sophie Cunningham’s popular Melbourne Writers Festival address, Why We Still Need Feminism.

If you enjoy that clip, you might also like to check out Leslie Cannold and Kate Holden talking about Porn Wars.

While you’re over there, take a look at Alice Pung talking about her new book Her Father’s Daughter.

And for dessert, watch Tony Wilson and Anna Krien talking about scandals and the role of women in football.

Enjoy!

New speakers to Booked Out in September include:

Lauren Burns

Sue DeGennaro

H J Harper

Ian Trevaskis

Najaf Mazari and Robert Hillman (authors of The Honey Thief and The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif) will join Arnold Zable (author of Violin Lessons and Café Scheherazade), Maria Tumarkin (Historian and author of Otherland and Traumascapes) and Ali Alizadeh (poet and author of Ashes in the Air and Iran: My Grandfather) for a discussion on literature, ethnicity and identity.

The evening will also be a fundraiser for the Mazar Development Fund, which raises money for educational and health programs in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan.

Date: Thursday 6th October, 6:30-9:00pm Venue: Malvern Town Hall – Cnr Glenferrie Rd and High St, Malvern

Click here for further information or contact Wild Dingo Press: p. (03) 9523 0922 | e. books@wilddingopress.com.au

Booked Out is proud to support one of the most exciting Young Adult Literature festivals in the country at the moment: A Thousand Words. We believe there is nothing else like it in Victoria at the moment!

With the schools program launching today, and events running over this weekend we urge to check out the program online here.

The Festival Director is our very own Bec Kavanagh and the lineup features a number of Booked Out’s most popular authors.

We had a recent discussion in the office about whether or not people actually read horror. The answer for most of us was a resounding “Yes!”.

For myself, I grew up on Christopher Pike and the Point horror series. Even now, even though I’m pathetically frightened of just about everything (spiders, heights, small spaces, large spaces, chainsaw wielding madmen) I love the thrill that comes with a good scare (provided I’m in my house with my dog in the middle of the day with all the lights on).

But any reader will know that only good horror will suffice. Booked Outer HJ Harper loves all things spooky, and the outlet of her obsession is Spine Chills, a blog whose sole purpose is to frighten the customers. Readers will mournfully stand as the eulogy (blurb) is read and then HJ offers her own insightful reviews in the form of an epitaph. Each book is judged on the story, the characters, the world and the level of horror and then awarded a death certificate with either a gold, silver or bronze skull if it has proved its worth. This brilliant system of reviewing, along with the already arresting visuals of the blog make for great reading, and is well worth looking at for anyone who (like me) loves a good fright.

• Bec Kavanagh, Booked Out.

In a year that seems to have been filled with awards congratulations should go out to all Australian authors, who are clearly putting on a jolly good show.

Most recently we’d like to send a special congratulations to Booked Outers Michael Gerard Bauer and Anna Krien for their wins in the 2011 Queensland Premiers Literary Awards.

Michael won the Mary Ryan Children’s Book Award for Just a Dog with judges saying that “Children will understand and appreciate patience and hope more deeply after reading this fine book and discover that ‘a story doesn’t stop being true just because you stop telling it’”.

Anna as always offers food for thought, winning the Harry Williams Award for a literary or media work advancing public debate. After seeing Anna live at the Melbourne Writer’s Festival recently I have no doubt that she is going to be at the forefront of public debate for some time still with her edgy responses to contemporary public issues.

So congratulations to all winners and especially to Anna and Michael (seen here in a cheeky photo we pinched from the Courier Mail).

• Bec Kavanagh, Booked Out

August 2011 New Titles

JUNIOR FICTION

• Felice Arena – Whippersnapper

A stand-alone novel for younger readers from Mr Specky Magee. Think Freaky Friday on a basketball court.

• Michael Wagner – Ted Goes Wild

The first in a new series from the man behind The Undys. Full of adventure and heart and capped off with gorgeous illustrations from Tom Jellett.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

• Penni Russon – Only Ever Always

For fans of dystopian fantasy, Penni’s latest offering is “fascinating and absolutely memorable”.

• Chrissie Perry (Keighery) – Whisper

Going by Keighery for her YA fiction, you would otherwise know her as one of the Go Girl authors. This is her second novel, following from her teen debut Outside In. Whisper gives a unique perspective as the reader is invited into the inner thoughts of a deaf teenager.

2011 Forthcoming Titles

There’s a couple of big titles looming in the latter half of the year that we’re pretty excited about here in the office. Watch out for these hotly anticipated forthcoming titles.

• Steven Amsterdam – What the Family Needed

Reviewed in next month’s Bookseller+Publisher with a star rating of 4.5 out of 5. Similar structure to Things We Didn’t See Coming – somewhat sequential, linked short stories which help the reader piece together the bigger picture. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait until November for its release!

• Alice Pung – Her Father’s Daughter

Alice’s first memoir focussed on the matriarchs of her family. In this next piece of the puzzle we are told her father’s story, one that takes place largely in Cambodia and documents the atrocities of Pol Pot’s killing fields. For more of a teaser, take a look at this review from last week’sAge.

Have you ever met a spunky, hanky-panky cranky stinky dinky lanky honky-tonky winky Wonky Donkey? The book/CD/ipad app has been a runaway success in Australia – in fact it is the third best-selling picture book of all time. New Zealand based Craig Smith will be touring Australia in October/November later this year and is available in Victoria and Queensland for performances which include the hit song about the poor three-legged animal and more.

At the same time, Australia’s premier young adult and children’s spoken word presenter, Ghostboy will be hitting the road and stopping off in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Well known in his native Queensland for bringing poetry and words alive, he will be available for performances, workshops or even full day productions.

More information:

Download flyer

Download flyer

The Childrens Book Council of Australia today announced the winners of the 2011 Book of the Year Awards.

Big congrats to Nicki Greenberg for her shared victory in the Picture Book category, and to Doug Macleod, Cath Crowley and Michael Gerard Bauer for winning Honour Book status.

Doug’s The Life of a Teenage Body Snatcher has been a hit with older readers, as has Cath’s Graffiti Moon which last month bagged the coveted Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. It was Michael’s book for younger readers, Just a Dog which earned him recognition this year – he took out the Book of the Year (Older Readers) for The Running Manin 2005.

In Melbourne, when August rolls around each year, it feels like the literary equivalent of Christmas. One of the most exciting things to unwrap is the program for the Melbourne Writers Festival. Things kick off next Thursday with the festival keynote featuring (omg) Jonathon Franzen!! Now while we can’t quite promise you he’ll come talk at your school or library, we can certainly point out a few sessions on the bill that feature BookedOuters.

Deb Abela, Mystery Writing Workshop

Steven Amsterdam, Max Barry & Meg Mundell, Things They See Coming

David Astle, Anna Krien, Nick Earls & Dr Leslie Cannold, Stories Unbound

Steph Bowe, Emerging Writers

Sophie Cunningam, Michael Hyde, Mary Delahunty & Rosalie Ham,Melbourne Stories

Hanifa Deen & Arnold Zable, Stories with a Conscience

Sean Dooley (with The Franzen!), Birds of a Feather

Kate Holden, A Book’s Journey

Tim Pegler & Alice Pung, Why I Write

Maria Tumarkin, Life Stories in the Age of Terror

And so much more, particularly in the Schools’ Program.

If you’re in cold and windy Melbourne, we hope to see you around Fed Square warming up with a hot chocolate between sessions.

(This photo from mwf’s flickr)