Award-winning author Anita Heiss will meet local readers this month to discuss her new novel, The Paradise Pact.
Anita will appear at Chermside Library on Thursday, 9 April, as part of Brisbane City Council’s Lord Mayor’s Writers in Residence Series. She will share insights into the book, described as a laugh-out-loud novel for women in their forties, fifties, and sixties.
Few commercial women’s fiction titles examine the romance and friendships of women in their 40s and 50s – a gap Anita said she noticed a few years ago.
“It suddenly dawned on me that I didn’t know of any stories that looked at women in their 50s, living their best lives, even though some can find menopause completely debilitating and our age can make us invisible in so many places,” she said.
About The Paradise Pact
The Paradise Pact follows Abbey, recovering from a bad break-up, as she heads to Hawai’i with her two tiddas for a fun, relaxing getaway. They vow to focus on mai tais, sunsets, and a half-marathon, but when Abbey meets Kaleo, romance complicates their drama-free holiday and tests their friendships.
“The Paradise Pact is very much about the strength of sisterhood and all that entails,” Anita said.
“I was influenced by my own experiences, especially with living my best life, travel, starting to run later in life, and how complex relationships can be for high-achieving Indigenous women when the narrative about us has often been a negative one.
“I hope readers see themselves on the pages in some way, and start to share their own stories of sisterhood, of trips with friends, of unrequited love, of heartache. I hope women talk about their own journeys of self-awareness and self-acceptance.”
Dr Anita Heiss, a proud member of the Wiradyuri Nation of central New South Wales, is an internationally published author of over 20 books, a Professor of Communications at the University of Queensland, and Publisher at Large of Bundyi, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
She said she had been to Chermside Library once before and was looking forward to meeting locals and speaking there for the first time this month.
“Many authors talk about writing being a lonely craft, but to me, a book is more than the writing process,” she said. “Talking about the story, the research, the hopes and dreams of the work is what is just as important to me, and so I love doing library talks and meeting readers, seeing what stories speak to them, challenge and inspire them.”
Entry is free, but bookings are essential. To book, find Brisbane City Council on Eventbrite at www.eventbrite.com.au/o/19935351418
Photo credit: Jesse Dittmar
Meet Anita Heiss
- Thursday, 9 April, 6pm-7pm
- Chermside Library
- 375 Hamilton Road, Chermside
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