Book launch
Sophie Cunningham will be In Conversation with Karen Viggers on her latest book This Devastating Fever
When - 6pm to 7:30pm, Thursday 3 November
Where - 153-11 University Avenue
Australian National University, Canberra
Presented by Harry Hartog Booksellers.
About the Book
Sometimes you need to delve into the past, to make sense of the present.
Alice had not expected to spend most of the twenty-first century writing about Leonard Woolf. When she stood on Morell Bridge watching fireworks explode from the rooftops of Melbourne at the start of a new millennium, she had only two thoughts. One was: the fireworks are better in Sydney. The other was: is Y2K going to be a thing? Y2K was not a thing. But there were worse disasters to come: Environmental collapse. The return of fascism. Wars. A sexual reckoning. A plague. Uncertain of what to do she picks up an unfinished project and finds herself trapped with the ghosts of writers past.
What began as a novel about a member of the Bloomsbury Set, colonial administrator, publisher and husband of one the most famous English writers of the last hundred years becomes something else altogether.
Complex, heartfelt, darkly funny and deeply moving, this is Sophie Cunningham’s most important book to date – a dazzlingly original novel about what it’s like to live through a time that feels like the end of days, and how we can find comfort and answers in the past.
Ultimo Press, 2022
About Sophie Cunningham
Sophie Cunningham AM is the author of seven books, across multiple fiction and nonfiction, children and adults and include City of Trees – Essays on life, death and the need for a forest, and Melbourne. She is also editor of the collection Fire, Flood, Plague: Australian writers respond to 2020. Sophie’s former roles include as a book publisher and editor, chair of the Literature Board of the Australia Council, editor of the literary journal Meanjin, and co-founder of The Stella Prize celebrating women’s writing. She is now an adjunct professor at RMIT University’s non/fiction Lab. In 2019, Sophie was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her contributions to literature
About Karen Viggers
Born in Melbourne and raised in the Dandenong Ranges riding horses and writing stories, Karen went on to study veterinary science at Melbourne University before working in practice for several years. She completed a PhD in wildlife health, and since then she has worked on a wide range of Australian native animals, including kangaroos. Karen loves landscapes, wild places, people and animals. She is the author of three novels: The Stranding (2008) and the bestselling, The Lightkeeper's Wife (2011) and The Grass Castle. She lives in Canberra with her husband and two children.
About the Event
Registration is required for this event. Accessible parking spaces are available at the Kambri underground carpark via Kingsley street. This is an in-person, indoor event. To help keep everyone safe, please ensure that you are familiar with, and follow, the advice from ACT Health regarding COVID-19. If you do not feel well, please refrain from attending this event. By registering for this event, you are accepting our privacy policy.