Screenworks is a National Film and TV body based in Northern NSW Australia that has grown from a small local, to national to global influential body in 25 years. I popped along to their 2025 conference and 25th birthday party , sponsored by Netflix, to ask a few people the simple question- who are you, where have you come from, why are you here - the answers were illuminating and also gratifying - Screenworks is a body that is having a real influence on the Australian film industry.

Heavy Metal guitarist Dan Sindel releases his second album and talks about why it has taken so long, the difficulties all independent musicians face and his triumph over personal adversary. Several tracks from his latest album are featured.

Indira Naidoo writes of a year of discovering the small pleasures that help us heal from grief in 'The Space Between the Stars' While multi published author Bruce Pascoe writes of a year of delights on the wetlands and beaches of his home in 'Black Duck'.

Mark Holden tells us what it was like to become a 'rising star' in 'My Idol Years', how he accidentally insulted Elton John and about turning his back on fame to become a barrister. Stuart Coupe has hung out backstage with almost everyone from the 70s, until now. A highly respected rock journalist his book 'Roadies', is a tribute to the boys in the 'other band'.

Richard Roxburgh, international actor has also tried his hand at children's litreature as well. Here he reads from 'Artie and the Grime Wave', and does all the funny voices.

Tony Flowers and Nick Falk go one better in 'How to stop an alien invasion using Shakespeare'. This podcast good for kids and parents!

James Bradley , author of 'Clade' reads from his speculative fiction novel and discusses how he writes about global catastrophes froma human reltionships viewpoint. Melissa Lucashenko is an award winning Australian indigenous author who gives us an insight to the personal struggles of individuals as they attempt to make their way in a white dominated world.

Jess Kitching's book is fiction but based on her own experience and that of other women who have felt the fear of being stalked by a serial killer. Jess tries to get right into the mind of one such character in her book -'Lucky Number 11'; In her book 'A Question of Age' Jacinta Parsons is concerned that society is stacked against women when it comes to ageing - after all, if we are lucky, we get older, so why the pressure to look young? The authors read a short extract from their work and then an entertaineng interview follows.

Dinuka McKenzie - The Torrent

Dinuka McKenzie is an Australian Indigenous novelist who writes Crime novels.

"It's hard enough being a female detective without being pregnant, exhausted and with a competitive and ambitious, new partner in tow .Detective Sergeant Kate Miles is counting down the days until her maternity leave when not one but two new cases, a robbery-assault and a death in floodwaters, are dumped on her desk leading to unsettling discoveries in her Northern Rivers hometown."

Lisa Fuller - Ghost Bird

Lisa fuller is an Australian Indigenous novelist who has taken a Dreamtime story and woven it into a crime mystery.

"Horror stories and scary beasties are common to all cultures and Lisa Fuller weaves an Indigenous story of the Ghost Bird into a riveting story involving twin sisters, one of whom is 'snatched' - where did she go? The other twin, has to find her."

Two very different authors , but both wonderful storytellers with deep messages.

Suzanne Gervay – Heroes of the Secret Underground

Suzanne Gervay OAM is also a lifetime Social Justice Literature Award winner. Suzanne's family were Holocaust survivors who escaped to Australia after the war.

In this read we witness the start of the oppression of the Jewish people in one family when three children accidentally travel through time. This is a Young Adult book but suitable for adults also.

Sally Collin-James - One Illumined Thread

Three women, across two millennia, the thread linking them is their craftsmanship in a male world, and their desire to regain control over their lives . A story with great resonance for young women today.

As always on the Narratives Library National Edition, our authors will read for a about 5 minutes then discuss their work. Always illuminating!

DENNIS ALTMAN – Death in the Sauna

A crime story that leads us from a gay sauna, to the intrigues of of an international AIDS conference. This is celebrated gay activist Altman's 17th book and draws on his considerable experience of the gay underworld and the political rivalry.

LISA HANNET - Vikings Women: Life and Lore

We have all read and watched stories about the Vikings, but mainly about what the men in those societies did. What about the women? Turns out Viking women were a capable, fierce and fairly liberated lot who have been , up till now, not given their due in historical studies. All these stories are well researched case histories of real Viking women, dramatised and brought to life.