Books at the Bowlo
Presented in collaboration with Club Lambton.
Calling All Booklovers!
What to expect:
- 6 pm – 7 pm: Host your regular book club or simply catch up with friends over a meal while chatting about your latest read.
- 7 pm – 8.30 pm: A conversation and Q&A with local authors. We talk about their books, inspirations and literary journey. Hosted by Nina Cullen and Katherine McLean.
Event Details
Cost
Entry is free! Lucky door prizes with every meal purchase.
Bookings
Book ahead to secure your table! Call Club Lambton on 02 4957 3272 or book online here.
Walk-ins also welcome.
Preorder The Book
Copies of the monthly featured book can be ordered via Betty Loves Books! This book will be available for collection at the event, as well as prior to the event.
Coming Up — Tuesday 8 July
John 'Stinker' Clarke - 'Milly' and 'Marsh Rd'
Marsh Road, another history book, which tells the story of the residents of the tiny hamlet of Bobs Farm and the road, which since the early 1900s, has been the community’s main artery. Released together with “Marsh Road” was John’s sixth book for young readers “Milly the Magnificent Flying Mullet”. Milly tells the story of one of nature’s most spectacular events – the annual “mullet run”.
John Clarke
John Clarke arrived in Port Stephens with wife Ella in
1975 as the recently appointed teacher at Nelson Bay High School. In retirement
John discovered interests and abilities that were previously unknown. Writing
books was one such interest.
A lifetime recreational fisher, originally from Tweed
Heads, it was not surprising when John’s first book “Somethin’ Fishy” was
published. An ongoing interest in local history and a fascination with islands
and the sea resulted in “Broughton Islanders”. “Old Salt”, John’s third book
tells of the early days of commercial fishing in Port Stephens while his next
book “Oysterman” tells of the rise and fall and rise again of the oyster
industry in the port which was written about in the 1940s as the “Biggest Oyster
Farm in the World”.
Another fishing book “FISH – Port Stephens” replaced
“Somethin’ Fishy” which had sold out.
John’s interest in children’s books resulted in “The
Adventures of Stinker and Stinkpot” followed by the incredibly successful
“Clarabelle”, then “Kerosine Tin Jim” and more recently “Just Dreaming”, which
recognises our local Worimi folk.
John’s eleventh book “The Outer Light” was a return to
his interest in local history, lighthouses and light keepers. His next book,
“Stinkpot – 50 Fishing Secrets”, contains all the tips and techniques to catch
fish in Port Stephens.
When he is not fishing or writing books, John
contributes a weekly article to the Port Stephens NOTA and can be heard on ABC
Radio with two segments each Saturday morning.
Co-Hosts
Nina Cullen
Nina Cullen is a Newcastle writer and reader. Her prize-winning writing has appeared in Australia and overseas in publications including Australian Book Review, The Big Issue Fiction Edition, Meniscus, Island, Sleepers Almanac, Taste – Fresh New Writing, Imagining Ourselves, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Guardian. She is also part of the Newcastle Writer’s Festival Story Hunter program, taking creative writing into primary schools in the Newcastle/Hunter region. You can read her monthly Bedside Bookstack reviews at ninacullen.com and say hi on both Instagram and X at @ninakcullen.
Katherine McLean
Katherine is the Director of Hunter Writer’s Centre. Katherine has over 20 year’s experience in leadership positions in arts and non-profit organisations, working across artistic disciplines such as theatre, puppetry, community cultural development, and digital storytelling. She has a great love for story and often spells it with a capital ‘S’ to give it the importance it deserves.