Fresh Takes: Autumn ’25

Library Bar opens: from 5 pm
Event commences: 6 pm
Please note: this event is 18+

Fresh Takes is a seasonal showcase of some of the best new pieces of publishing, featuring writers reading from their new works and reflecting on the writers and creators who have shaped them.

Please note: The Library Bar will be open from 5 pm ahead of the event

Eileen Chong is an Australian poet who was born in Singapore of Hakka, Hokkien and Peranakan descent. She is the author of ten books published in Australia and the United States. Major prizes her work has been shortlisted for include the NSW Premier’s Literary Award, the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, and twice for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. Her debut book, Burning Rice, is the first poetry collection by an Asian Australian to be studied as part of the NSW HSC English syllabus. Her most recent collection with UQP, A Thousand Crimson Blooms, was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry. She lives and works on the unceded land of the Gadigal of the Eora Nation. Her latest collection is We Speak of Flowers and published by UQP.

Josie McSkimming is a social worker, psychotherapist, university lecturer and author. She is the youngest of three sisters, her eldest being the award-winning poet, Dorothy Porter. Josie has appeared on many podcasts, radio programs, and on ABC TV. She is committed to social change and social justice and has become an ardent amateur naturalist and environmentalist. Her book Gutsy Girls is published by UQP.

Debra Oswald is a playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She is a two-time winner of the NSW Premier's Literary Award and author of the novels Useful (2015), The Whole Bright Year (2018) and The Family Doctor (2021). She was creator/head writer of the first five seasons of the successful TV series Offspring. Her stage plays have been performed around the world and published by Currency Press. Gary's House, Sweet Road and The Peach Season were all shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Award. Debra has also written four plays for young audiences—Dags, Skate, Stories in the Dark and House on Fire. She has written three Aussie Bites books and six children's novels, including The Redback Leftovers. Her television credits include award-winning episodes of Police Rescue, Palace of Dreams, The Secret Life of Us, Sweet and Sour and Bananas in Pyjamas. Debra performed her one-woman show Is There Something Wrong With That Lady? at the Griffin Theatre in 2021 at the Ensemble in 2023. Her new novel is One Hundred Years of Betty.

Sita Sargeant is a tour guide, feminist, and history nerd promoting gender equality through tourism. Frustrated by the lack of recognition for the historical contributions of women and queer people, she founded She Shapes History, a tourism company offering entertaining and engaging historical walking tours in Canberra, Sydney, and Melbourne. She Shapes History: Guided Walks and Stories About Great Australian Women is her debut book.

Toby Schmitz is a writer, director and actor. He was most recently seen on television in Boy Swallows Universe and on stage in Gaslight. He has received nominations for his performances in The Seagull, Thyestes, Much Ado About Nothing, Measure for Measure, Ruben Guthrie and The Great. His television credits include The Twelve and Black Sails. He is also a celebrated playwright. His plays include Degenerate Art, I Want to Sleep With Tom Stoppard and Capture the Flag. He was awarded the Patrick White Award for his play Lucky. The Empress Murders is his first book.

David Stavanger is a poet, producer, parent, and former psychologist living on Wodi Wodi Dharawal land. Co-editor of Admissions: Voices Within Mental Health (2022) and author of Case Notes which won the 2021 Victorian Premier's Prize for Poetry. His new collection is The Drop Off (Upswell Publishing, 2025.)

Madeleine Watts is a writer of fiction, stories, and essays. Her debut novel, The Inland Sea, was shortlisted for the 2021 Miles Franklin Literary Award and the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing. Her writing has been published in Harper’s Magazine, The Believer, HEAT, The White Review, Literary Hub, The Paris Review Daily, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Irish Times, Bookforum, and Meanjin among others. She is the winner of the 2015 Griffith Review Novella Competition.

Host or Publisher State Library of New South Wales