Pecha Kucha is a presenting format designed to stop people from going on, and on, and on. But with these stories you’ll wish there was more to listen to. In partnership with Here studios we regularly hold Pecha Kucha nights at Yarra Libraries, so we thought it was time to share the recordings from our very first. In it, author Nic Low shares a satirical short story, Gracie and Katrina Lollicato bring past artifacts into the present day, David Nichols speaks up for suburbia, Jason Tamiru protests ignorance, oppression and forgetting, Liz Conor describes the John Howard Ladies Auxiliary Fan Club and Arnold Zable talks family history and worlds inside worlds.

Yarra Libraries Recommends:

Pecha Kucha Melbourne

The Foundling Archive

Arms Race – Nic Low

The Bogan Delusion – David Nichols

Trendyville: the battle for Australia's inner cities – David Nichols

Bridging two worlds : Jews, Italians and Carlton – Arnold Zable

Violin lessons – Arnold Zable

Scraps of heaven – Arnold Zable

Jewels and Ashes – Arnold Zable

The fighter – Arnold Zable

On the scorching February day in 2009 that became known as Black Saturday, a man lit two fires in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, then sat on the roof of his house to watch the inferno. In the Valley, where the rates of crime were the highest in the state, more than thirty people were known to police as firebugs. But the detectives soon found themselves on the trail of a man they didn’t know.

Chloe Hooper’s The Arsonist investigates this arsonist, his crime, and asks what the case illuminates about our own society. In conversation at Fitzroy Reading Room with award-winning author Tony Birch, Chloe details her approach to this difficult story and the reasons it needed to be told.

Yarra Libraries Recommends:

The Arsonist (book) – Chloe Hooper

The Arsonist (e-book) – Chloe Hooper

The Tall Man – Chloe Hooper

Hiroshima - John Hersey

A Child’s True History of Crime – Chloe Hooper

The Engagement – Chloe Hooper

The Engagement (audiobook) – Chloe Hooper

Father’s Day – Tony Birch

Shadowboxing – Tony Birch

Shadowboxing (ebook) – Tony Birch

Shadowboxing (CD) – Tony Birch

Blood – Tony Birch

Blood (ebook) – Tony Birch

Ghost River (e-book) – Tony Birch

Ghost River – Tony Birch

Common People (e-book) – Tony Birch

Common People – Tony Birch

The Promise – Tony Birch

Starting school can be daunting for kids and adults alike – and as with most problems, you know we have a book-based solution in mind. In today’s Kids’ Shelf recording, Yarra Libraries Children’s Librarian Bridget Gray recommends her top five back-to-school reads, and explains how picture books can help you approach subjects your child might find difficult in daily life.

Bridget’s Top Five

Starting School – Jane Godwin

I Am Absolutely Too Small For School – Lauren Child

First Day – Andrew Daddo

School’s First Day of School – Andrew Rex

Today We Have No Plans – Jane Godwin & Anna Walker