Author Talk: Swallow - Alexandria Burnham

Join author Ally Burnham in conversation with Rupert Degas discussing her new book Swallow - the true story of William Swallow – Australian convict and the last man put on trial for piracy in an English court.

It’s 1829 and Swallow has been sent to Van Diemen’s Land – for the second time. He is sentenced to die in the hell-hole known as Sarah Island. But he has other ideas. On the journey from Hobart to his final Pr*son, he rallies his fellow convicts and leads them to mutiny. Bruised by the betrayal of John, a fellow convict, friend, and lover, William plans to sail back home to England. Back to his wife Susannah and their young children.

Swallow is one of Australia's most romantic and untold stories. At its heart, this historical fiction novel explores our most primal urge, to be free from what seeks to cage us - whether that be chains, separation from home and family, or society’s morals that tell us who we can and cannot love.

A rollicking adventure on the scale of Patrick O’Brien, Bernard Cornwell, and C. S. Forester. But it is also a novel about the nature of love itself, and how to break not only society’s shackles, but also the prisons we make for ourselves. Bringing all these threads together is award-winning screenwriter Alexandria (Ally) Burnham - masterful, commanding, youthful, energetic and contemporary. Readers won't be able to put this book down.

About the Author

Alexandria Burnham is an AWGIE award-winning screenwriter, novelist and writer of comics. A NIDA graduate (2016, Masters, Writing for Performance), she is best known for her feature film Unsound (Apple, 2020), which was nominated for best original feature at the 2020 AWGIE (Australian Writers Guild) awards. A romantic-drama, the film won best Australian feature at the 2020 Melbourne Queer Film Festival and best fiction feature film at the 2020 ATOM Awards.

Ally is also the lead writer for Metropius (2021), a multi-media story world told across animation, comic books and board games, produced by 18 Degrees. Her screenplay won Most Outstanding Animation at the 2022 AWGIE Awards. Her comic book series, Forgotten Rose, is set in the same universe. When there is time, she also teaches at NIDA Open, course designing and training school-aged and adult students in screenwriting for film and television. She is also featured regularly on the writing podcast Prose and Cons.

Rupert Degas

Raised and educated in London and New York, Rupert began his career dubbing films. BBC Radio followed, where Rupert honed his craft, appearing in some 50 radio productions. A natural mimic, Rupert was soon in demand as a voice actor in video-games and animation, spending eight years on Bob the Builder and working regularly for the likes of Turner, Disney, LucasArts, EA Games and Sony.
Rupert has won critical acclaim in the UK, Australia, and the US for his prolific audiobook work, having narrated over 250 titles, and as an actor he has appeared frequently on stage and screen, most notably in the West End productions of 'Stones in his Pockets' and 'The 39 Steps', for which he and his fellow cast members won the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Comedy.
In 2012 Rupert moved to Sydney, where he continues to work behind the microphone

Copies of the books will be available for purchase and be signed by the author.

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