Wednesday May 31
5:30pm – 6:30pm

Book Launch: Christopher Kaye & Will Small

Featured titles: Fish Hanging From a Fence Drying in the Sun and Poems for When the World is Ending

Join us at the Art House Wyong for the launch of two new books of poetry by talented local poets. Christopher Kaye shares his poems that were written during lockdown; they are soaked in the ocean, sand and grit. And Will Small shares his evocative collection of poetry that explores what it means to be human in a complex, turbulent and beautiful world.

This free poetry launch will be followed by the 2023 Festival Program Opening Address. 

Thursday June 1
5:30pm – 7:15pm

Book Launch: L.L. Hunter, Philippa Kaye and Hazel Paton

Featured titles: House of Fire and Blood, Girl Detectives Just Wanna Have Fun and The Missing Years

Fabulous Fiction at the library.  Please join us to hear about these new novels and the road to publication.

Philippa Kaye (aka Pip) is a mother, educator and writer. Girl Detectives Just Wanna Have Fun is Pip’s first novel. It’s 1984, hairstyles are big, skirts are short and Birdie Mealing is just a girl who wants to have fun … until her uncle goes missing that is. Turned amateur sleuth, Birdie is determined to find him.

L.L. Hunter is the bestselling author of over 50 published works.  House of Fire and Blood is epic fantasy romance that is sure to hook you from page one.  Two babies, born with the blood of witches. One of darkness. One of light….

Hazel Paton taught English, Modern History and Languages at High School in her former life, but now turns her hand to storytelling. The Missing Years:  Two brothers – a priest and a detective. Two environments – the bleak famine of Paris and the relative abundance of rural France. Two enemies – the occupying Germans and their own past.

Saturday June 3
5:00pm – 6:30pm

Book Launch: Faber Anthology 

Join us for the launch of the 2022 Faber Writing Anthology, to be introduced by novelist and tutor Gretchen Shirm and featuring readings by Sydney’s Writing A Novel students. The Faber Writing Academy offers an annual program of exciting writing courses, presented by Allen & Unwin and Faber & Faber.

Sunday June 4

12:30pm – 1:30pm

Book Launch: Bridget Acreman and Patricia Flannery

Featured titles: The Wizard Shark and Adventures of the She-Oak Critters

We have two lovely local picture book authors who will be holding their book launches at the 2023 Family Fun Day.  Join us for a day of ENTIRELY FREE entertainment for the kids and make sure you pop into the Star Room at 12:30pm to be a part of the launch of these new picture books.  Meet the authors and hear a wonderful story.

Bridget Acreman‘s Wizard Shark introduces us to Ben and his mate Hami who are off to see the Wizard Shark, the most fun and exciting shark in the ocean! He is great at magic and always doing tricks. What will he show the young sharks today?

Patricia Flannery is excited to be presenting Casa and Rina, new Australian characters, in her book Adventures of the She-Oak Critters. They engage children to join them in their adventures  as they explore the Australian landscape.

Sunday June 4

9:45am – 10:15am

Book Launch: Peter Comerford

Featured title: The Maliau Caves Adventure

Peter Comerford will be launching his new tween fiction title at the 2023 Family Fun Day.  Join us for a day of ENTIRELY FREE entertainment for the kids and make sure you pop into the Star Room at 9:45am to be a part of the launch of this new fiction for your independent readers.  Meet the author and let him tell you about living and working in Papua New Guinea where this story is set.

Monday June 5

5:30pm – 6:30pm

Book Launch: Robyn Collins & Renee Simpson

Featured titles: Return to Soul & I Want To Go Home

Join us for the launch of two books that encompass coping with grief and finding empowerment.

Robyn Collins never expected to experience the sudden death of her newborn baby and the depth of grief and depression that followed. In Return to Soul Robyn shares her personal story, the journey of communication and guidance from the spirit of her daughter and the insights from this essential discovery.

Renee Marie Simpson‘s I Want to Go Home aims to help readers find empowerment and reclaim your voice after sexual assault through the inspiring journey shared. A must-read for survivors and allies alike.

Thursday June 8
6:30 – 7:30pm

Book Launch: Zoe Farrell & Sally Jane Smith

Featured titles: Daph & Ern’s Adventures & Unpacking for Greece

Join us for a night of travel, exploration and a love of life.

Intrepid explorer, Zoe Farrell, brings us a travel blog with a twist. Add a dash of quantum physics and spirituality, and “Voila!”… An experiment in how individual happiness can have collective consequences.

Sally Jane Smith has lived on five continents and visited 33 countries but it is in exploring Greece’s heritage landscapes with her mum’s 1978 travel diary in her pocket that Sally faces her fears and falls in love with life again, one olive at a time. Join Sally in travelling to a land of fortresses, fables, ferries and feta.

Saturday June 10
10:30am – 11:30am

Book Launch: Judith Krieger & Anne Perrottet

Featured titles: Your Native Language is Your Superpower & Thriving and Surviving Raising Thirteen

Join us for the launch of two special books packed with advice and heart.

Judith Krieger helps women to rediscover and reinvent themselves in a new country. From culture shock, homesickness and languages to work environments, mixed-nationality relationships and more, this is a powerful, uplifting guide to living in a new country with confidence, style and joy.

Anne Perrottet is a wife and mother with more than 40 years of experience raising and educating her thirteen children and is currently completing a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology as well as running her own private counselling practice. With hilarious anecdotes and clever suggestions, this book shows how it’s possible to manifest an abiding love for every child while fostering their spirit and fighting their corner.

Anne Perrottet

Anne Perrottet is a wife and mother with more than 40 years of experience raising and educating her thirteen children. She has degrees in Education, Psychology, Community Welfare and Counselling, and is currently completing a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology and runs her own private counselling practice.

Bridget Acreman

Bridget Acreman is an illustrator and motion designer based in Woy Woy NSW. She is very passionate about children’s illustration and animation and loves creating bright and fun illustrations to accompany quirky stories. She is also the creative mind behind Stray Leaves, a stationery brand that incorporates her colourful illustrations onto paper products and gifts. Bridget mainly uses Adobe Photoshop, and she particularly enjoys using tactile texture brushes to bring a fun and organic feel to her work.

Hazel Paton

In a former life, Hazel taught English, Modern History and Languages at High School and tutored languages. She loves genealogy, dogs, reading and her grandchildren. From her wealth of life experience and penchant for storytelling, she has produced four novels and is working on a fifth.

Christopher Kaye

Christopher Kaye completed a Media Arts Degree at CSU, is a library technician and completed a Graduate Certificate in Audio Visual Archiving. He has had poems published in FourW New Writing and has a chapbook, ‘The trail, dust and jazz’ with Ginnanderra Press. As a visual artist he has held a solo exhibition at the Gosford Regional Gallery.

LL Hunter

L.L. Hunter is the bestselling author of over 50 published works. She has studied and worked in a range of professions, but has always known her true calling was to be an author. When not working on her next novel, she can be found at home in Australia, reading somewhere comfortable with her fur babies, drinking wine, or watching true crime documentaries.

Judith Krieger

Judith Krieger helps women to rediscover and reinvent themselves in a new country. She guides them to become the deliberate creators of their own unique identity, so that they can navigate all the challenges and delights of contrasting cultures, and blossom in their adopted country with style!

Patricia Flannery

Patricia Flannery has many arrows to her bow but the love of the land comes before all. Creating these new characters, the She-oak Critters from cones fallen from trees gave her inspiration to create and write her wonderful childrens’ stories.

Peter Comerford

Peter Comerford was born in Sydney. He trained at the Australian School of Pacific Administration, specifically to teach in Papua New Guinea. He was a High School teacher in New Ireland and the Oro Province. He was Principal of Panguna International Primary School in Bougainville. Peter returned to Sydney in 1990.

Philippa Kaye

Philippa (aka Pip) is a mother, educator and writer. She lives on the Central Coast with her lovely husband and three – often lovely – children. Her first published works, Jack’s Bike, featured in the Orbit April 2022 edition of The School Magazine and ‘And We Run’ in The WestWords Bad Sydney Crime Anthology. Girl Detectives Just Wanna Have Fun is Pip’s first novel.

Renee Marie Simpson

Renee Marie Simpson found solace in writing her memoir, which helped her heal and give birth to a baby girl. Now, she helps others through her easy-to-follow creative process, drawing from her degree in social science and work as a school counsellor and support group facilitator. Passionate about inspiring healing, Renee helps people reclaim their power.

Robyn Collins

Robyn Collins BAppSocSc.(Counselling) , BMsc.(Ministry) is a Transpersonal Psychotherapist, inspired Soul Psychologist (Soul Centred Therapy) and retreat facilitator specialising in grief, bereavement, trauma, existential crisis & spiritual emergence. Robyn is the creator of “Sacred Soul Meditations” and is a contributing online teacher at global meditation platforms such as Insight Timer.

Sally Jane Smith

Sally Jane Smith has lived on five continents and visited 33 countries, but it was Greece that turned her into a writer. Sally’s story of her great-great-grandmother’s extraordinary life appears in the anthology Itchy Feet. Her exploration of travel and grief appears in the Newcastle Short Story Award Anthology 2022.

Will Small

Will Small is a poet, storyteller and the founder of Lead by Story. A 2X national finalist at the Australian Poetry Slam, Will has been performing poetry for 16 years and is known for pieces that powerfully weave together personal, philosophical and social reflections. 

Zoe Farrell

Zoe Farrell is an intrepid explorer with a passion for co-creating with The Universe. On the search for purpose, Zoe hit the road in a vintage campervan and accidentally found her true self. Now a spokesperson for the Universe, Zoe’s mission is to raise the collective consciousness through laughter!