Join us for a book club with some of Australia’s most celebrated authors!
Hosted by Benjamin Law, this lively conversation brings together authors Sofie Laguna, Mark Brandi, and Jodi McAllister to discuss the books they’ve loved. From recent favourites to the titles they wish they’d written themselves, the panel will share the stories that have stayed with them long after the final page.
Find out the writers they always return to, whether they avoid their own genres, and their insights into the delicate balance between reading and writing.
Sofie Laguna is an award-winning author of fiction for adults and children. Her adult novels include One Foot Wrong, The Eye of the Sheep, The Choke, and Infinite Splendours. The Eye of the Sheep won the 2015 Miles Franklin Award, while her later novels received major national literary prizes and have been widely shortlisted and longlisted.
Sofie’s work for young readers is equally celebrated, with her books published internationally and recognised by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. Her acclaimed children’s titles include Too Loud Lily, Bird and Sugar Boy and the Our Australian Girl series.
Award-winning author Mark Brandi was born in Italy and raised in a small country town in Victoria. His debut novel, Wimmera, won the Debut Dagger Award from the Crime Writers’ Association and the Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction. His second novel, The Rip, was longlisted for Best Fiction at the Indie Book Awards and the Crime Writers' Association Best Fiction Award.
His third novel, The Others, was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Best Fiction Award. His fourth novel, Southern Aurora, was highly commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards. His most recent novel, Eden, was published to critical acclaim in 2025.
Jodi is an author of romantic fiction for adults and young adults, and a Senior Lecturer in Writing and Literature at Deakin University. She is the author of the Valentine trilogy—Valentine, Ironheart and Misrule—a YA paranormal romance series.
Her YA novel Libby Lawrence Is Good At Pretending explores love, theatre kids and big feelings. She also writes adult romantic comedies set behind the scenes of reality dating shows, including Here For The Right Reasons.
Her academic research explores representations of love and romance in popular culture.
Our host Benjamin Law is an Australian writer, broadcaster, playwright and and award‑winning screenwriter whose work spans literature, theatre, television, and journalism. He is the author of The Family Law, Gaysia, and editor of Growing Up Queer in Australia.
He is co‑creator, co‑writer and co‑executive producer of Netflix’s Wellmania, creator of the SBS/Hulu series The Family Law, and playwright of Melbourne Theatre Company’s Torch the Place and Dying: A Memoir.
Benjamin has hosted and appeared across ABC, SBS and Ten, co‑hosted ABC Radio’s Stop Everything, and written for more than fifty publications. He holds a PhD from QUT and lives and works on Gadigal Country.
Glen Eira Storytelling Festival acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands upon which we work and live. We acknowledge the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' spirit, imagination and rich history of storytelling and humour that is an inspiration to all Australians.
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