7:30pm – 9:30pm

Story Club

Ashley Kalagian Blunt, Duncan Fellows, JP Pomare, Kaya Wilson, Rob Carlton. Host: Zoe Norton Lodge

$20 + booking fee

The hit storytelling night that has been oversharing for 13 years is back! Story Club takes brilliant Australians from all walks of life and makes them sit in a big comfy chair to tell a true, personal story around a theme. Think bed-time stories but with more oversharing and unmitigated mortification.

Over the years they’ve welcomed poets, novelists, screen writers, actors, activists, comics: from TV host Osher Günsberg to journalist Masha Gessen and much more in between.

And in this special Central Coast edition, Story Club will be charting a course for THE TEMPEST. Strap on your lifejackets and batten down the hatches for an evening of tales true and tempestuous with speakers Kaya Wilson, JP Pomare, Duncan Fellows, Rob Carlton and Ashley Kalagian Blunt (replacing Charlotte Ree). Hosted by the inimitable Zoe Norton Lodge.

Zoe Norton Lodge

Zoe Norton Lodge is a writer and television producer. She has appeared on screens in various ABC TV shows including their consumer affairs show The Checkout. As well as authoring a (very silly) memoir Almost Sincerely, she created the middle grade series Elizabella with her illustrator sister Georgia Norton Lodge. The pair are working on a graphic novel inspired by the recent discovery of a humble museum which is in part dedicated to their family history. Zoe is the executive producer of ABC TV’s dedicated arts show Art Works.

Charlotte Ree

Charlotte Ree is an obsessive food lover, avid home cook and recipe developer. When she isn’t in the kitchen, you can find Charlotte working with some of Australia’s biggest authors as part of her day job as Head of Marketing for a book publisher. Heartbake is her second book.

Please note, due to illness Charlotte Ree is no longer able to attend Story Club. The wonderful Ashley Kalagian Blunt will be stepping up in her stead!

Ashley Kalagian Blunt

Ashley Kalagian Blunt is the author of Dark Mode, a psychological thriller. Her earlier books are How to Be Australian, a memoir, and My Name Is Revenge, collected fiction and essays. Ashley co-hosts James and Ashley Stay at Home, a podcast about writing, creativity and health, and teaches creative writing.

Kaya Wilson

Kaya Wilson is a writer and tsunami scientist based in Canberra. He was the winner of the 2019 Writing NSW Varuna Fellowship, a runner-up in the 2019 Kill Your Darlings New Critic Award and was shortlisted for Penguin Australia’s 2019 Write It Fellowship. As Beautiful as Any Other is his first book and was listed by the Guardian as 1 of the 25 best Australian books of 2021.

J.P. Pomare

J.P. Pomare is an award-winning and bestselling author whose debut novel, Call Me Evie (2018), won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best First Novel. In the Clearing (2019) and The Last Guests (2021) were critically acclaimed bestsellers, with In the Clearing currently being adapted for the screen for Disney+. Tell Me Lies (2020) was a #1 Audible bestseller and was shortlisted for the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and his fifth book, The Wrong Woman, was a top-ten bestseller. Home Before Night is his sixth novel and was first published as an Audible Original.

Duncan Fellows

Duncan is an actor based on the Central Coast. He has worked across TV and theatre for the last 20 years. Recent credits include Deadloch (Amazon), We Interrupt This Broadcast (Seven), The Messenger (ABC), and The Letdown (Netflix).

Rob Carlton

Rob Carlton is an award winning actor, writer, director and producer.