John Birmingham & Shelley Parker-Chan: Through Space & Time

Thu 11 May 2023

John Birmingham + Shelley Parker-Chan + Jo Anderton

Auditorium 1, slq

Main Festival

BWF022

#Performances

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

Two strikingly inventive novels reimagine the genre epic as sweeping tales of empire and humanity. Taking us to the farthest reaches of space, and medieval China under Mongol rule, John Birmingham and Shelley Parker-Chan discuss the possibilities of epic writing, and how a dash of escapism can help us see reality from a new perspective.

#Artists

John Birmingham

John Birmingham's first book was He Died With A Felafel In His Hand. His latest series is the sci-fi epic The Cruel Stars.

Shelley Parker-Chan

Shelley Parker-Chan is an Asian Australian former international development adviser who worked on human rights, gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights in Southeast Asia. Their historical fantasy novels set in imperial China were Sunday Times and USA Today bestsellers and have been translated into 15 languages. Parker-Chan is a previous winner of the Astounding Award for Best Debut, and the British Fantasy Awards for Best Fantasy Novel and Best Newcomer. They live in Melbourne, Australia.

Jo Anderton

Joanne Anderton is an award-winning writer of science fiction, fantasy and horror... but also kids books and creative nonfiction. Her most recent shot story collections are Inanimates: Tales of Everyday Fear and The Art of Broken Things. She's currently doing a PhD at UQ, where she's attempting to use speculative fiction to write memoir, and having far too much fun in the process.