Chloe Hooper: The Arsonist

Small-town secrets, police politics and catastrophic loss – all loomed large in Chloe Hooper’s groundbreaking 2008 narrative non-fiction book, The Tall Man, about tragedy on Palm Island in Queensland. Her new book treads similar thematic ground – but in the drastically different landscape of Gippsland, Victoria, at the time of the February 2009 Black Saturday fires.
With The Arsonist, Hooper takes readers inside the hunt for the man whose actions caused devastation throughout the Latrobe Valley during the deadliest bushfire disaster in Australia’s history. It’s a gripping and insightful investigation from one of Australia’s brightest talents.
What motivates a person to start a fire? How does fear of bushfire play out in our national psyche? At the Wheeler Centre in October, Hooper will discuss disaster and deadly mischief with host Anna Krien.
Paperback will be our bookseller at this event.
Featuring
Featuring

Chloe Hooper’s The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island (2008) won the Victorian, New South Wales, West Australian and Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, as well as the John Button Prize for Political Writing, and a Ned Kelly Award for crime writing. Her latest book is The Arsonist: A Mi... Read more

Anna Krien is the author of the award-winning Night Games and Into the Woods, as well as two Quarterly Essays, Us and Them and The Long Goodbye, and a novel Act of Grace. Anna’s writing has been published in The Monthly, The Age, Best Australian Essays, Best Australian Stories and The Big Issue. I... Read more
Watch, Listen, Read

Listen
Craig Foster: The Republic Question
1 Jun 2023

Read
What's on in June: Resident Organisation Round Up
1 Jun 2023

Read
Reality bites back
30 May 2023

Read
A coming-of-age reading guide
29 May 2023

Listen
Finding the Heart of the Nation: Thomas Mayo in conversation with Catherine Liddle
27 May 2023

Read
Hot Desk Extract : Quantum Entanglement
26 May 2023