Tim Winton Songs from the Firefront

Tim Winton is one of Australia's most decorated living writers — a four-time Miles Franklin winner ( Shallows, Cloudstreet, Dirt Music, Breath ) and twice Booker-shortlisted. Raised in Western Australia, he's spent his career writing the state's coastline into literature, the ocean a near-constant presence in his work. Tim Winton will be in conversation with Michaela Kalowski to discuss his latest book, Songs From the Firefront , a memoir in essays about the sacred fragility of existence. Deeply personal, brimming with anger and humour and love – for family, for the beautiful, brutal Australian landscape – Tim Winton’s writing invites you into the world of one of our greatest living writers and asks the question, how do we keep going in a burning world? From memories of his own childhood to what he sees in his grandchildren’s future, Songs from the Firefront is a profound book about the world we live in and what we can hope to pass on. It’s a call for solidarity and a testament to the deep joys and sorrows of family life. There will be activity in the foyer after the event for book purchase and signing. Tim Winton is widely considered one of the greatest living Australian writers. Since his first novel, An Open Swimmer , won the Australian/Vogel Award in 1981, he has won the Miles Franklin Award four times (for Shallows , Cloudstreet , Dirt Music and Breath ) and twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize (for The Riders and Dirt Music ). In 2023 he was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia for "distinguished service to literature as an author and novelist, to conservation, and to environmental advocacy. He lives in Western Australia.