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Small Press Network Book of the Year Award 2022

Hear readings from works shortlisted for the 2022 Small Press Network Book of the Year Award, followed by the announcement of this year’s winner.
Live Event

Event and Ticketing Details

Dates & Times

Friday 25 November
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM

Location

The Wheeler Centre

176 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne Victoria 3000

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Accessibility

Wheelchair accessible

Accessible toilets available

You can learn more about the Wheeler Centre’s accessibility policies here. Please notify us of all access requirements when booking online so we can assist you with your visit. If you require further information, please contact reception on 03 9094 7800 or ticketing@wheelercentre.com.

About

The Small Press Network is dedicated to supporting independent publishers and broadening the diversity of work available in the Australian literary landscape. To celebrate the return of their Book of the Year Award, join the Small Press Network and the Wheeler Centre for an evening of readings from this year’s shortlisted works by Kavita Bedford, Anwen Crawford, Eleanor Jackson, Patrick Lenton, Bella Li, SJ Norman and Poppy Nwosu, followed by the announcement of the winning book. Hosted by Esther Anatolitis. Anwen Crawford and Poppy Nwosu will appear virtually at this event. Please note that SJ Norman will no longer be appearing at this event. Presented in partnership with the Small Press Network

The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing takes place every month at the Moat and is a cherished Melbourne institution. It’s the place to be if you want to hear great emerging writers read from new and adventurous work.  

Featuring

Esther Anatolitis

Esther Anatolitis is the Editor of Meanjin and one of Australia’s most influential advocates for arts and culture. She is Hon A/Prof at RMIT School of Art and a member of the National Gallery of Australia Governing Council. Across two decades Esther has led arts and media organisations across all artforms and platforms, and is a regularly published writer and commentator. Her book Place, Practice, Politics was published in 2022.
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Kavita Bedford

Kavita Bedford is an Australian-Indian writer with a background in journalism, anthropology and literature. Her writing has appeared in Guernica, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper and she was a recent Churchill Fellow exploring migrant narratives. Her first novel, Friends & Dark Shapes, was published in 2021 and was Shortlisted for The University of Queensland Fiction Book Award, Queensland Literary Awards, 2021 and NSW Premier's Literary Award for New Writing.
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Anwen Crawford

Anwen Crawford is the author of No Document (2021), shortlisted for the 2022 Stella Prize, and Live Through This (2015). Her essays and criticism have appeared in publications including The New Yorker, The White Review and Sydney Review of Books, and in 2021 she won the Pascall Prize for Arts Criticism. She is a long-time zine maker and collaborative visual artist. She lives in Sydney.
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Eleanor Jackson

Eleanor Jackson is a Filipino Australian poet, performer, arts producer and sometimes community radio broadcaster. She is the author of Gravidity and Parity, winner of Small Press Network’s Book of the Year (2022), ...

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Patrick Lenton

Patrick Lenton is a writer, journalist, and editor living in Melbourne. He is the author of the short story collection Sexy Tales of Paleontology, as well as the books Uncle Hercules and Other Lies, and A Man Made Entirely of Bats. His writing has been featured in The Best Australian Stories, The Best Australian Comedy Writing, Growing Up Queer In Australia and more. He is a freelance writer with regular bylines in The Guardian, The Age/SMH, Junkee and more. He is the deputy arts + culture editor at The Conversation.
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Bella Li

Bella Li is the author of Argosy (2017), Lost Lake (2018), and Theory of Colours (2021), published by Vagabond Press. Her books have won the Victorian and NSW premiers awards for poetry, and an ABDA award for book design.

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SJ Norman

SJ Norman is an artist, writer and curator. Their career has so far spanned 17 years and has embraced a diversity of disciplines, including solo and ensemble performance, installation, sculpture, text, video and sound. Their work has been commissioned by the Biennale of Sydney, Performance Space New York, Venice International Performance Art Week, and the National Gallery of Australia, to name a few.

They are the recipient of numerous awards for contemporary art, including a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship and an Australia Council Fellowship. Their writing has won or placed in numerous prizes, including the Kill Your Darlings Unpublished Manuscript Award, the Peter Blazey Award, the Judith Wright Prize and the ABR Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize. In 2019, they established Knowledge of Wounds, a global gathering of queer First Nations artists, which they co-curate with Joseph M Pierce. They are currently based between Sydney and New York.

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Poppy Nwosu

Poppy Nwosu has published multiple young adult fiction books and been shortlisted for many awards, including the Readings YA Book Prize, SPN Book of the Year Award and the Aurealis Awards. Her latest novel was a CBCA Notable and she was recently awarded the Max Fatchen Fellowship. Poppy also writes dark fantasy for older readers under the name PJ Nwosu.
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