Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival - Let's take a moment, 12-14 May 2023

Eta Draconis Book Launch at Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival

Eta Draconis, Events 29.03.2023

Sunday 14 May 2023
9:30am – 10:30am
Readers & Writers Room, Margaret River HEART – Nala Bardip Mia

Winner of the 2022 Dorothy Hewett Award

Life on earth undergoes a complex change as meteorites begin to rain down from the dying star Eta Draconis; the world does not collapse, but old certainties disappear. As two sisters journey to the city from their small coastal town in southwest Western Australia ahead of the coming semester, they are forced to confront their problems and recalibrate their hopes for the future. Join Brendan Ritchie for a poetic and compelling discussion of his award-winning novel.
Hosted by Barry Divola

Proudly supported by UWAP

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Edith Cowan University Writers Networking Sundowner at Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival Busselton Special Edition

Eta Draconis, Events 29.03.2023

Saturday 13 May 2023
4.00pm-5.30pm
Shelter Brewing, Busselton

Got loads of burning questions about writing? Wondering about the best way to get your book published? We’ve got the answers from our expert team at this literary-star studded sundowner. Join publisher Kate Pickard (UWAP), literary agent and publicist Brendan Fredericks, 2022 Dorothy Hewitt winner Brendan Ritchie, 2022 Ned Kelly and 2021 Dorothy Hewett award winner Josh Kemp and journalists Sarah McNeill (The Post) and Nicky Lefebvre (The Mail) for this relaxed and highly informative writers networking event.
Hosted by Aksel Dadswell

Proudly presented by Edith Cowan University School of Arts & Humanities
Includes free tea & coffee. Drinks available to purchase.

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Eta Draconis is reviewed by Books + Publishing

Eta Draconis, Press 21.03.2023

Eta Draconis has been reviewed by Danielle Bagnato at Books + Publishing.

Eta Draconis is a poetic coming-of-age story for readers who enjoy realistic dystopian fiction.

Danielle Bagnato

You can read the full review on the Books + Publishing website.

Brendan Ritchie wins the 2022 Dorothy Hewett Award

Awards, Eta Draconis 01.10.2022

“UWA Publishing, with thanks to the Copyright Agency, is excited to be announcing the winner of the 2022 Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript: Brendan Ritchie for his manuscript Eta Draconis.”

Brendan is thrilled and incredibly humbled by this win. Eta Draconis will be released in 2023.

Books + Publishing: Dorothy Hewett Award 2022 shortlist announced

Eta Draconis, Press 05.08.2022

Books + Publishing, “Australia’s number-one source of news about the book industry” has reported on the news of the Dorothy Hewett Award shortlist announcement. UWA Publishing, in partnership with The Copyright Agency, presents this annual award for an unpublished manuscript. Brendan Ritchie’s novel Eta Draconis is on the shortlist, and the winner will be announced soon.

You can read the article on the Books + Publishing website.

Shortlisted for The Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript 2022

Awards, Eta Draconis 31.07.2022
Copyright Agency Cultural Fund The Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript, UWA Publishing.

Brendan Ritchie’s unpublished manuscript, Eta Draconis, has been shortlisted for The Dorothy Hewett Award for an Unpublished Manuscript. The esteemed judging panel for the Award run by UWA Publishing (UWAP), in partnership with The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund, included Tony Hughes-d’Aeth, Leni Shilton, Astrid Edwards and Eleanor Hurt.

Life on earth undergoes a complex change as meteorites begin to rain down from the dying star Eta Draconis. The world does not collapse, but old certainties disappear and a new mood falls over human societies. A road narrative set in Western Australia’s southwest, Eta Draconis follows two sisters as they survive in these complicated times. A poetic and compelling novel for the COVID moment.

UWA Publishing

The winner will receive $10,000 prize money, as well as manuscript development and a publishing contract with UWAP. Previous recipients include the inaugural winner, Extinctions by Josephine Wilson, which went on to win the 2017 Miles Franklin Literary Award.

For more information, including the full list of shortlisted manuscripts, visit UWA Publishing’s website.

Fremantle Press interview Brendan Ritchie

Novels, Press 21.08.2020

Fremantle Press interviewed Brendan about his chapter in the book Beyond the Dark: Dystopian Texts in the Secondary English Classroom (edited by Patricia Dowsett, Ellen Rees and Alex Wharton, and published by the Australian Association for the Teaching of English). 

Classic dystopian novels like 1984 and Tomorrow When the War Began still appear to be popular choices in the classroom. In many respects, we’re living in a dystopian world right now. People are sick, isolating, wearing masks in supermarkets. And not long before this, half of the country was on fire. It’s all pretty terrifying. Young people could probably do with more tools to make sense of the world around them. Dystopian fiction has always offered a safe place to explore our fears about the present and future.

Brendan Ritchie

Read the full interview over on the Fremantle Press website.

Beyond the Dark

General, Novels 17.07.2020

Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) have released their new publication, Beyond the Dark.

Dystopian texts represent worlds that are both strange and strangely familiar. Appearing at a time of climate crisis and pandemic, this publication is intended as a guide for English teachers as they develop learning sequences for their students that ask them to investigate worlds both imaginary and real.

AATE

This book features a chapter by Brendan titled “Imaginative writing – building dystopian worlds”. You can find out more, as well as purchase a copy, on the AATE website.

Celebrate Reading National Conference

Beyond Carousel, Carousel, Events 04.06.2018

The Literature Centre’s seventh annual Celebrate Reading National Conference, titled Insights into Quality Australian Literature for Young Adults will be held from Friday 26 October to Saturday 27 October 2018.

Brendan Ritchie will join authors Cath Crowley, Will Kostakis, Jay Kristoff, Jaclyn Moriarty, James Roy, Jared Thomas, Fiona Wood, and Claire Zorn over the inspiring two-day event.

Held at The Literature Centre based in the iconic Fremantle Prison, the conference includes panel discussions, solo talks, book signings, and more.

To find out more, and to register, head to The Literature Centre’s website or their Eventbrite page.

Register now

Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival

Beyond Carousel, Carousel, Events 27.04.2018

Brendan Ritchie will be appearing as part of the Margaret River Young Readers & Writers Festival at the end of next month.

The Young Readers & Writers program tours schools in the region promoting “the joy of reading from the earliest possible age.” Participating writers include Deborah Abela, Sasha Wasley, as well as artists Chris Nixon and Andrew Frazer.

To find out more, visit the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival website.