2015 Historical Novel Society Australasia Conference
Wonderful Australian Elisabeth Storrs, author of The Wedding Shroud and The Golden Dice, would like to get word about the upcoming 2015 Historical Novel Society Australasia Conference to be held in March 2015.
2015 Historical Novel Society Australasia Conference
On the weekend of 20-22 March 2015, the Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) is holding its inaugural conference at the historic Balmain Town Hall, Sydney, exploring the theme of ‘The Historical Novel in Peace and War’. The conference will be a celebration of the historical fiction genre in a weekend of talks, panels, debates, book launches and readings.
Balmain Town Hall
The opening night reception will be held at the prestigious State Library of NSW on Friday 20 March where a lively round table debate will be conducted on the topic: ‘What can historical novelists and historians learn from each other?’ The two day informative and interactive weekend program on 21-22 March will showcase 40 speakers discussing craft, research, inspiration, publishing, social media and personal histories. Among these are internationally acclaimed historical novelists such as Kate Forsyth, Colin Falconer, Felicity Pulman, Toni Jordan, Juliet Marillier, Sulari Gentill, Sophie Masson and Jesse Blackadder.The Day One sessions conclude with a ‘First Pages’ competition where aspiring historical novelists will have their submissions read aloud to industry experts. The session will also provide other attendees with a chance to learn what attracts agents and publishers when seeking new historical fiction. And you won’t want to miss out on our ‘In Bed with History’ panel on Day Two where Kate Forsyth, Colin Falconer and Jesse Blackadder will read some of their saucier excerpts!There are three skills-based super sessions that are being run concurrently with the main conference program. Manuscript assessments will be conducted by industry expert, Irina Dunn. Dr Gillian Polack is offering two small group workshops focussed on how to weave research into compelling and authentic historical fiction. The third session will focus on how to use social media to build an author platform with author Elisabeth Storrs and review blogger, Margaret Bates. In addition to the super sessions, the HNSA is pleased to be partnering with Swinburne University of Technology to provide the opportunity to submit an academic paper to a special edition of The Australian Journal of Crime Fiction on the theme ‘Phryne Fisher and Other Fantasies: The Female Detective in History’.There will also be some exciting social events. The conference will be launched at the Friday opening night reception where attendees will also celebrate the launch of Felicity Pulman’s Unholy Alliance. At the conference dinner on Saturday, attendees will have opportunities to mingle with leading authors and join us for the launch of Sherryl Clark’s, Do You Dare – Jimmy’s War, and listen to our after-dinner speaker, Kate Forsyth. Why not book your ticket to sit next to one of our author hosts as a special treat?The HNSA is offering some great deals! The first 40 ticketholders to purchase a Standard Whole Conference Ticket will receive a free copy of either The Lace Balcony by Johanna Nicholls, The King’s Shadow by Barbara Gaskell Denvil, The Island House by Posie Graeme-Evans or My Holocaust Story: Hanna by Goldie Alexander. The first 50 fully paid ticketholders to the conference dinner will receive a free copy of Sherryl Clark’s, Do You Dare – Jimmy’s War. And all ticketholders to the opening night reception will receive a free e-book bundle of Felicity Pulman’s Janna Chronicles!So why not register for the HNSA Conference now! You can buy tickets here!More information about the conference program and speakers can be found at www.hnsa.org.au Help us spread the word about the conference. Here’s a tweet you could use.Register for #HNSA2015 Conference for some great #historicalfiction and #giveaways!http://ow.ly/IVL7x Follow us on Twitter @hnsaustralasia and Like us on FacebookJoin our mailing list to obtain advance notice of all our announcements.Join us on the HNSA Facebook Group where you can participate in all our discussions relating to historical fiction.