Fresh Takes: Winter ’24

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.

James Bradley is a writer and critic. His books include the recently published Deep Water, the novels Wrack, The Deep Field, The Resurrectionist, Clade and Ghost Species, a book of poetry, Paper Nautilus, and The Penguin Book of the Ocean. His essays and articles have appeared in The Monthly, The Guardian, Sydney Review of Books, Griffith Review, Meanjin, the Weekend Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald. In 2012 he won the Pascall Prize for Australia’s Critic of the Year, and he has been shortlisted twice for the Bragg Prize for Science Writing and nominated for a Walkley Award. He lives in Sydney.

Ashlee Donohue is a proud Aboriginal woman from the Dunghutti nation, born and raised in Kempsey, NSW. She is an author, educator and media commentator advocating domestic and family violence awareness. A highly sought-after facilitator, speaker, consultant and powerful advocate, Ashlee has presented at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women forums in New York City, and has written for publications such as Mamamia, IndigenousX and The Guardian. She has been the lead writer and co-creator for numerous anti-violence campaigns and anti-racism education materials. Ashlee is currently the CEO of Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Women’s Centre, sits on the City of Sydney’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel and is on the Domestic Violence NSW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Steering Committee. Her memoir, Because I Love Him, has just been published.

Winnie Dunn is a writer, editor and the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Sydney University and was a finalist for the university’s Breakthrough Alumni Award. Winnie’s articles, essays, poems and short stories have appeared in Meanjin, Griffith Review, The Guardian and Sydney Review of Books. Her critically acclaimed curated works include: Sweatshop Women, Another Australia and Straight Up Islander – Australia's first collection of mainstream Pasifika-Australian stories. Winnie’s writing has been assisted by the Copyright Agency and the Australia Council for the Arts. Dirt Poor Islanders is her debut work of fiction.

Khin Myint lives in Perth. His writing has appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald and The West Australian, among other publications. He was selected as one of ten participants in the Wheeler Centre’s Next Chapter scheme in 2021. His memoir, Fragile Creatures, has just been published.

Jessie Tu is a book critic at The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and a journalist for Women’s Agenda. Her debut novel, A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, won the 2021 ABIA for Literary Fiction Book of the Year. The Honeyeater is her second novel.

Ellen van Neerven is an award-winning writer of Mununjali Yugambeh and Dutch heritage. They have authored two poetry collections, Throat and Comfort Food, one work of fiction, Heat and Light, and a non-fiction collection called Personal Score, which received the 2024 Victorian Premier’s Prize for Non-Fiction. Premiering at Carriageworks in July 2024, swim is Ellen’s debut play.

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

Host or Publisher State Library of New South Wales