Frances Whiting in conversation with Trent Dalton on The Nocturnals
Frances Whiting + Trent Dalton
Powerhouse Theatre
#About the event
Duration: 60 minutes
‘A new Frances Whiting novel is always a cause for celebration! Frances writes page-turning stories filled with warmth, wit, wisdom and charm. One of my favourite Australian writers.'
–Liane Moriarty, New York Times Bestselling author of Here One Moment
'When I finished The Nocturnals, I immediately wanted to ring every friend I adore. Glowing with tenderness. It's a witty, soulful story about the families that shape us, the families we choose, and the version of ourselves that surface in the private hours after midnight.'
–Sally Hepworth, New York Times bestselling author of Mad Mabel
'From the first page, I knew I was in the hands of a master. I found myself kicking my little feet in bed with anticipation of every next page. I'm bereft that the book is over, and nostalgic for friends that I wish were mine.'
–Astrid Jorgensen, Founding Director Pub Choir. Best selling author of Average at Best
'The Nocturnals is, frankly, irresistible. Think The Breakfast Club meets The Great Gatsby — clever, funny, and impossible to put down. I'm calling it as one of the best reads of 2026.'
–Rebecca Sparrow, Birds of a Feather Book Club
7:30pm, Thursday 2nd April 2026
Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse
119 Lamington St, New Farm
From bestselling author Frances Whiting comes a new novel, The Nocturnals, a delight from its disco ball cover to its luminous pages within.
Find out why everyone from The Australian's literary editor Caroline Overington to literary legend Trent Dalton are putting this one on top of their 2026 book pile — and join Frances and Trent as they send this extraordinary book into orbit at the Brisbane Powerhouse on 2 April.
#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.
Trent Dalton
Trent Dalton is a two-time Walkley Award–winning journalist and the international bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe, All Our Shimmering Skies, Love Stories, Lola in the Mirror and Gravity Let Me Go. Lola in the Mirror was the winner of the 2024 ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year, the 2023 QBD Book of the Year, and was shortlisted for the Dymocks 2023 Book of the Year, the 2024 Indie Book Awards, the 2024 Book People Fiction Book of the Year and the 2024 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award. It has sold over 320,000 copies across all formats since publication in October 2023. The Boy Swallows Universe television series, which aired in January 2024, was Netflix’s most successful Australian-made show to date. It ranked in the top 10 in 52 countries and reached the number one spot in Australia, number four in the UK and number six in the US.
