About the Event
There is a twist in traditional Gothic storytelling in Australia, where our forbidding and unwelcoming landscape imposes its influence on the story’s characters and actions. Join us for a fascinating discussion on Australian gothic crime with Josh Kemp and Karleah Olson in conversation with Kathy Heys.
The Mandurah Readers’ and Writers’ Festival is an annual adult literature event presented by City of Mandurah Library Services. In 2025 it will be held from 16 – 18 January at the Seashells Resort Mandurah. The aim of the festival is to foster a love of reading and literature and encourage creativity in our community. This year the festival brings together an array of established and emerging storytellers from across Western Australia. The free to attend three-day festival includes author talks, and panel discussions.
The Authors
Josh Kemp
Josh Kemp is an author of Australian gothic fiction. His debut novel, Banjawarn, won the 2021 Dorothy Hewett Award, the 2022 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction and the Western Australian Premier’s Prize for Best Emerging Writer. He lives in the Southwest of Western Australia. but finds himself drawn, over and over again, to the red dirt of the state’s north.
Jasper Cliff - Josh Kemp
When Toby Bowman vanishes, his little brother Lachlan retraces a road trip to the last place Toby phoned from - a remote northern town called Jasper Cliff. There, Lachlan finds himself marooned at the dying town's pub. He soon learns that his brother is just one of many to have gone missing in recent years. Like Toby, his brother becomes obsessed with finding the Rift, a deep hole in a ravine somewhere in the hills. But what will Lachlan learn, and what will he see, if he stares into the Rift too?
Karleah Olson
Karleah Olson is a Perth-based writer and avid reader and loves to collect books – more than she could possibly read in a lifetime. Karleah has recently completed her PhD at Edith Cowan University, where she studied Australian Coastal Gothic Literature. Her debut novel, A Wreck of Seabirds, was shortlisted for the 2023 Fogarty Literary Award. It is a work of YA fiction inspired by the gothic genre and the West Australian coastal landscape.
A Wreck of Seabirds – Karleah Olson
Both grappling with grief and loss, Briony and Ren are brought together in their hometown, where Ren has returned to care for his dying father and Briony remains hopeful of finding her missing sister, Sarah. Meanwhile, Sarah and her best friend Aria are hopelessly trapped on a remote island off the coast, and nobody has a clue where they have gone. This tightly written, atmospheric novel captures the natural environment and explores the depths of human emotion.
The Moderator
Kathy Heys
Kathy Heys graduated from UWA with a degree in English Literature and a Graduate Diploma of Education and embarked on a career teaching in public schools. She is the Head of English at Coodanup College, a position she has held for eight years. Highlights of Kathy’s reading journey include meeting Markus Zusak and visiting Jane Austen’s house. Kathy is also currently studying Creative Writing at Curtin University
What to Expect:
11.00am: In Conversation
11.45: Q & A
12 noon: Book signing
Tea & Coffee provided.
Festival Bookseller is Dymocks Busselton
Places are limited. Bookings required. Book Now!
