James Frey
It’s not often you get the chance to see, hear and even ask questions of award-winning international authors. The 2008 Brisbane Writers Festival is one of those occasions, with its program of many well-known and successful authors from around the globe. Take this opportunity. Our selection for those who are ‘must-see’ include:
Chris Abani
This man has written even when it meant his imprisonment and torture. As a Nigerian author of plays and poetry, the power of his words meant that the government of the time placed him in solitary confinement and death row. In 1991 he escaped to London, then immigrated to the USA and now teaches at university. He has won the PEN Hemingway Book Prize and published numerous prose and poetry collections. See Chris Abani in Song for Night in conversation with Stuart Glover, in Poetry in the Red Chamber, or at his Masterclass.
Gwynne Dyer
Canadian journalist, commentator, columnist and lecturer on international affairs, Gwynne’s twice-weekly columns are published in 175 newspapers in 45 countries. Climate Wars is his latest book and Dyer looks at what it will take from governments, politicians, NGOs, and citizens in the coming decades to keep us from reaching the tipping point of planetary catastrophe. Gwynne will appear in three BWF sessions: Is America Over?, Climate Wars and Going Green: Business, Ethics and Sustainability.
Dr Norman Doidge
Author of The Brain that Changes Itself. A new scientific discovery called neuroplasticity is overthrowing the notion that the adult human brain is fixed and unchanging. It is, instead, able to change its structure and function, even into old age. Psychiatrist and researcher Norman Doidge, M.D., travelled the United States to meet the scientists championing neuroplasticity, and the people whose lives they’ve transformed — people whose mental limitations or brain damage were seen as unalterable, and whose conditions were dismissed as hopeless. Listen to Dr Doidge at The Next Frontier and Cafe Scientific.
James Frey
From Cleveland, Ohio James Frey’s first memoir A Million Little Pieces became a New York Times #1 bestseller. In late 2005 investigators discovered that elements were untrue. As more accusations against the book continued to surface, Oprah Winfrey invited Frey onto her show, to find out whether he had lied to her and her viewers or had simply embellished minor details. The controversy spread around the world. Bright Shiny Morning is Frey’s latest book and novel. Discover more yourself at A Biography by Any Other Name, Bright Shiny Morning and From Brisbane to LA.
Lawrence Hill
A Canadian, Hill novels and non-fiction have been published to critical acclaim. His third novel was published in 2007 as The Book of Negroes in Canada and as Someone Knows My Name in the USA. It received various literary prizes and was named as one of the top books of 2007 by the Globe and Mail and Amazon.com. His most recent non-fiction book is The Deserter’s Tale: the Story of an Ordinary Soldier Who Walked Away from Iraq. Hill is participating in four BWF events: Embedded In Iraq, The Big Read, The Question of Racial Equality and Who's Telling This Story, Anyway?.
Yann Martel
Martel is best known as the author of the Life of Pi. This, his third book, won the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. It was also short listed for the Governor General Awards and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. A beautiful illustrated edition was published in 2007. Listen to Yann Martel discuss Life of Pi, in conversation with Richard Fotheringham in Moments of Stillness, at The Big Read or in his Masterclass.
Sun Shuyun
Sun Shuyun grew up in China and has always been fascinated by Tibet and Buddhism. Recently, she spent a year in a remote town in Tibet in recorded what life is like for the people there. She explores what life is like for a shaman and his family, monks, a village doctor, a Party worker, hotel manager and a rickshaw driver. Sun Shuyun’s previous books include The Long March and Ten Thousand Miles Without a Cloud. Sun Shuyun was a highlight of the 2006 Brisbane Writer’s Festival when she was on a panel with the not-yet Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, speaking Mandarin of course. See her this year in A Year in Tibet or China.
Simon Winchester
Winchester is a British author and journalist who lives in the United States. He had a 20 year career as foreign correspondent before becoming a successful author. His previous books include Surgeon of Crowthorne, Krakatoa and The Map that Changed the World. In October his latest book Bomb, Book and Compass hits the shelves. Catch Winchester with Sun Shuyun in China, in conversation with Philip Bacon in The Man Who Loved China and with Richard Holmes in Writing Lives.
Ronald Wright
Ronald Wright is a novelist, historian, and essayist; he has won prizes in all three genres and is published in 10 languages. His previous book was A Short History of Progress. It describes how four historical civilisations – Easter Island, Sumer, the Maya and Rome – self-destructed due to a lack of foresight and the wrong choices. What is America? is Wright’s new book, about the past and future of the world’s most powerful nation. It is brimming with insight into history and human behaviour. Wright will talk about his latest book in What is America?, Is America Over? and The US in an Election Year.
Richard Holmes
Released in September 2008, Richard Holmes’ new book is The Age of Wonder. It examines the life and work of the scientists of the Romantic age who laid the foundations of modern science. Learn more when he appears with Simon Winchester in Writing Lives, and at The Golden Age and The Past has a Great Future.
