A craft-focused book club for members of Hunter Writers' Centre
Facilitated by Karen Whitelaw
About the Book Club
A craft-focused book club for writers who want to understand how and why award-winning contemporary novels work. Open to members of Hunter Writers’ Centre.
Event Details
Every third Monday, every three months
6:30 pm — 8:30 pm
Joy Cummings Centre; 63 Scott Street, Newcastle NSW 2300
Cost: Free, but registrations essential
This event is for members of Hunter Writer’s Centre — Become a Member
Coming Up: Monday 20 July
'Theory and Practice' by Michelle de Kretser
Winner of Stella Prize – 2025
It’s 1986, and ‘beautiful, radical ideas’ are in the air. A young woman arrives in Melbourne to research the novels of Virginia Woolf. In bohemian St Kilda she meets artists, activists, students—and Kit. He claims to be in a ‘deconstructed’ relationship, and they become lovers. Meanwhile, her work on the Woolfmother falls into disarray.
Theory & Practice is a mesmerising account of desire and jealousy, truth and shame. It makes and unmakes fiction as we read, expanding our notion of what a novel can contain.
Michelle de Kretser, one of Australia’s most celebrated writers, bends fiction, essay and memoir into exhilarating new shapes to uncover what happens when life smashes through the boundaries of art.
October's Book – 'Salvage' by Jennifer Mills
Monday 19 October
‘Salvage is an incredible novel of great imagination and prescience that asks how we might live in the wake of ecological collapse, and – more importantly – what we might live for. Jennifer Mills is… an author who never loses sight of what it means to be human, even when writing a speculative future so familiar it seems inevitable. I loved it.’ – Hannah Kent
Accessibility
Joy Cummings Centre has one disability parking at the front of the building on Pacific St and a wheelchair ramp access on Pacific St. There is one accessible bathroom.
Please let us know of any accessibility requirements you have when you book for the workshop. If you would like to discuss your requirement, please contact Katherine on 0435 858 145.
Getting There
Light Rail: The Newcastle Light Rail runs between Newcastle Interchange and Newcastle Beach, stopping at key locations including Civic and Queens Wharf.
Bus Services: Several bus routes service the Newcastle area. For specific routes and timetables, refer to Newcastle Transport’s official website. Newcastle Transport
By Car: There is limited parking on the street. Find nearby city carparks here.