Event #83

Messy & Magnificent

Sat 10 Oct 2026

Frances Whiting + Debra Oswald + Anita Heiss + Monica McInerney

Powerhouse Theatre

Regular Program

#Performances

Sat 10 Oct 2026 - 6:15pm

Powerhouse Theatre

Book Now

#About the event

Duration: 60 minutes

Messy & Magnificent

Frances Whiting (The Nocturnals), Debra Oswald (One Hundred Years of Betty), Anita Heiss (The Paradise Pact), Monica McInerney (When Sullivan Met Lola).
Chair: Jane Sullivan
6:15–7:15pm, Saturday 10 October, Powerhouse Theatre

An unlikely alliance between a 12-year-old boy and an 86-year-old eccentric. A girls’ trip that risks being derailed by a handsome stranger. A woman whose life and loves play out across a century of huge change. A group of friends who reunite under mysterious circumstances. These extraordinary stories of connection and curiosity evince the risks and rewards of the bonds we forge with one another.

#Artists

Frances Whiting

Frances Whiting is one of Australia's best known and respected writers. As national senior feature writer for News Magazines, she has won many journalism awards, including the Clarions Outstanding Contribution to Journalism prize in 2023. Frances has a national column in News Limited weekend magazines, and a weekly column which — at 28 years — is Australia's longest running Sunday column. She has written two best sellers, Walking on Trampolines and The Best Kind of Beautiful, as well as two collections of her much loved columns, Oh To Be a Marching Girl, and That's a Home Run Tiger.

Debra Oswald

Debra Oswald is a two-time winner of the NSW Premier's Literary Award, creator of the TV series Offspring and author of novels Useful, The Whole Bright Year, The Family Doctor and One Hundred Years of Betty. She has written TV scripts, nine children's books and many stage plays.

Anita Heiss

Anita Heiss (Wiradyuri Nation) is an internationally published author of over 20 books. Her best-selling novel Tiddas was adapted for the stage and premiered at the Brisbane Festival in 2022. She is Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland and her latest novel is The Paradise Pact.

Monica McInerney

Monica McInerney is the internationally best-selling, award-winning author of 14 novels and one children’s book. She grew up in a family of nine in South Australia’s Clare Valley. For 35 years, Monica has moved between Australia and Ireland with her Irish husband. They currently live in Dublin.