Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Monday 01 April
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
In 2013, Graeme Simsion published his first novel, The Rosie Project, and the world fell in love with its big-hearted, socially inept protagonist, Don Tillman.
Though some readers and reviewers read Don as a character who was ‘on the spectrum’, Simsion himself has resisted labels in public discussions of his wildly successful series of romantic comedy novels. The Rosie Project and its sequel, The Rosie Effect, have sold millions of copies in 40 different countries.
Simsion's third and final book in the series, The Rosie Result, centres on Don's son, Hudson, and deals more directly with the issue of autism.
In conversation with Clem Bastow – who has written about her own recent autism diagnosis – Simsion and Yenn Purkis – an autistic and non-binary author, blogger, presenter and mentor – will discuss neurodiversity and writing. How has the public conversation changed? And what are the responsibilities of writers who choose to portray neurodiverse characters or address their own diagnoses in their work?
Paperback will be our bookseller for this event.
Featuring
Graeme Simsion
Graeme Simsion is a Melbourne-based novelist and screenwriter. The Rosie Project and The Rosie Effect have combined global sales approaching five million copies.
Graeme is also the author of the international bestsellers The Best of Adam Sharp and – co-written with his wife, Anne Buist – Two Steps Forward. His screenplay for The Rosie Project is in development with Sony Pictures, The Best of Adam Sharp is in development with Toni Collette’s Vocab Films, and the rights to Two Steps Forward have been optioned by Fox Searchlight and Ellen DeGeneres.
Graeme’s latest book is the third and final Rosie novel, The Rosie Result.
Clem Bastow
Clem Bastow's debut nonfiction book Late Bloomer was published in July 2021. Her writing appears regularly in The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Big Issue. She co-wrote ...
Yenn Purkis
Yenn (formerly Jeanette) Purkis is an autistic and non-binary author, blogger, presenter and mentor. Yenn is active in the autism world and the wider community. They have a strong presence on social media, posting a daily meme and weekly blog. Yenn has facilitated a support group for autistic women in Canberra since 2011, featured in the ABC documentary Alone in a Crowded Room and was named the 2016 ACT Volunteer of the Year. Yenn lives in their art-filled home known as Whimsy Manor with their feline friend, Mr Kitty.