Thursday, 12 August

Come hear Matthew Condon speak about his new book Brisbane, which has been termed a “literary love letter” to the city he grew up in.

From The Weekend Australian, “Tales of the City” (August 3)

Once he started writing, Condon found that a first-person perspective simply wasn’t working. “I started writing about myself, and it just died on the page,” he reveals. Without wanting the book to appear self-indulgent or worse, dull, the author soon realised that employing a fictional technique “unlocked everything”. Instead of writing through his eyes, he described a boy, largely based on himself, growing up in Brisbane.

“The minute I stood back from that boy, all the fine details, the smells, the senses, everything came in. When I stood back and looked at myself as a separate figure, all these memories and things that I hadn’t thought about since I was five years old rushed in. That’s the liberation of using a fictional technique on fact.”

Matt will speak more about what it was like to write this book, taking the reader on a unique and personal journey through contemporary Brisbane, unearthing its history—sometimes literally—and painting a portrait of the contemporary transformation of the city. Matt will be in conversation with Stuart Glover.

6pm for 6:30 pm, Thursday 12th August
Coaldrake’s The Barracks
61 Petrie Tce, Brisbane
Tickets $10 ($8 concession)
Numbers are limited so bookings are essential – phone 3367 8526

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FATHER OF MY CHILDREN

In advance of this award-winning film’s national release on 26th of August, Brisbane’s Better Bookshops has 40 double sneak passes to offer our customers. (Just follow the instructions below.)

WINNER Best Screenplay – Lumiere Awards 2010

WINNER Special Jury Prize Cannes International Film Festival, Un Certain Regard

OFFICIAL SELECTION Toronto International Film Festival 2009

FRENCH GALA London Film Festival 2009

OFFICIAL SELECTION Alliance Francaise French Film Festival 2010

Gregoire Canvel has everything a man could want: a wife he loves, three delightful children and his dream job. He is a film producer and discovering talented film makers and developing films that fit his conception of the cinema – free and true to life – is precisely his reason for living. His job is demanding and Gregoire devotes almost all of his time and energy to his work. Although he spends weekends with his family at their house in the country – gentle interludes away from the hustle-and-bustle of metropolitan life – even these precious moments are often interrupted by demanding directors and concerned investors. While Gregoire’s very presence commands admiration and his exceptional charisma leads many to believe he is invincible, the future of his prestigious production company, Moon Films, is in doubt. Too many productions, too many risks, too many debts. While storm clouds gather, Gregoire powers through at all costs. But he is soon forced to face the facts; the end of Moon Films and, in a word, failure. What follows this realisation are the consequences of one gamble too many, and a series of events that will change the lives of his family forever.

Director: Mia Hansen-Løve

Cast: Chiara Caselli, Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Alice de Lencquesaing, Alice Gautier, Manelle Driss, Eric Elmosnino, Sandrine Dumas

Send your name and address to adair@adairjones.com with “Father of My Children” in the subject line. Winners will be drawn on 11 August.

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Frame by Frame: Understanding the Appeal of the Graphic Novel

A talk by Joy Lawn for teachers, teacher librarians, illustrators and anyone interested in storytelling through visual means.

Joy Lawn is Coaldrake’s Children’s Literacy Consultant and the current Queensland judge for the CBCA Book of the Year Awards.  Over the last couple of years, she has been studying the growing interest in graphic novels in order to figure out how they might best be used in the classroom.

Wednesday 28th July, 6:30 for a prompt 7pm start
at Coaldrake’s The Barracks
61 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane
Tickets: $12 (includes glass of wine)
Bookings: 3367 8526

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Out in August: MATTHEW CONDON’S New Book BRISBANE

BBB are very excited about the forthcoming publication of Matthew Condon’s new book Brisbane. It’s being launched at Avid Reader on 5th August, and Matt is also appearing at Coaldrake’s a week later on the 12th. Get along and hear what Matt has to say about our city.

Matthew Condon in Conversation at Coaldrake’s

Matthew Condon is a distinguished Brisbane author who has now become one of our leading social commentators. In his new book Brisbane he rediscovers the city of his childhood. Having returned here after many years, Matt takes the reader on a unique and personal journey through contemporary Brisbane, unearthing its history—sometimes literally—and painting a portrait of the contemporary transformation of the city. Matt will be in conversation with Stuart Glover.

6pm for 6:30 pm, Thursday 12th August
Coaldrake’s The Barracks
61 Petrie Tce, Brisbane
Tickets $10 ($8 concession)
Numbers are limited so bookings are essential – phone 3367 8526

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Meet JESSICA WATSON

Coaldrake’s is hosting an evening with Jessica Watson at Brisbane Girls Grammar School on Tuesday 17th August at 6:30pm.

Jessica thrilled us all when she sailed back into Sydney Harbour on 15th May to be welcomed by a cheering crowd. After 210 days at sea, and still three days shy of her seventeenth birthday, she had just become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. At this event Jessica will be in conversation with Marie-Louise Theile, talking about her voyage and screening some of her photographs as well as a brief clip from her forthcoming documentary. She will also be signing copies of True Spirit which will be available for purchase. Tickets for this event are $20 for adults, $10 for school students and are available from Coaldrake’s. Refreshments are included and will be available from 6:15pm until 7pm. Jessica will be speaking at 7pm.

Tuesday, 17th August, 6:30pm for 7pm,
The Barbara Fielding Room
Creative Learning Centre
Brisbane Girls Grammar School, Gregory Tce, Spring Hill
Tickets: Adults $20, School students $10
All ticketing and event inquiries to Coaldrake’s: 3367 8526 or barracks@coaldrakes.com

Brisbane’s Better Bookshops is pleased to announce that we have 100 Buy One Get One Free passes for the film Creation, the story of Charles Darwin’s developing ideas about man, God, and nature.

What happens when a world-renowned scientist, crushed by the loss of his eldest daughter, conceives a book which will prove the non-existence of God? This is the story of Charles Darwin and his master-work “The Origin of Species”. It tells of a global revolution played out in the confines of a small English village; a passionate marriage torn apart by the most dangerous idea in history; and a theory saved from extinction by the logic of a child.  Cast: Paul Bettany (The Da Vinci Code), Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), Jeremy Northam (Gosford Park), Toby Jones(Infamous.) Directed by: Jon Amiel (Entrapment, The Man Who Knew Too Little)

What the critics are saying:

“Intelligent, touching and, just maybe, a film to grab gongs come awards season.”  David Edwards, Daily Mirror [UK]

“Thoughtful, moving, and Bettany is brilliant. To be reminded of the power of love to redeem and repair, catch Creation.”  4 stars, Empire Magazine UK

“Handsome, intelligent and moving”  SUNDAY TELEGRAPH (4 STARS)

‘A powerful yet sensitive portrait of Charles Darwin…beautiful’  Jonathan Ross / BBC FILM 2009

‘Compelling… brilliantly played out by Paul Bettany’  Mariella Frostrup / HARPER’S BAZAAR

Only at the Movies July 15.  Contact the BBB stores for more information about this promotion.

If anyone can be said to be the father of festivals in Australia, it is Anthony Steel. He changed the way we experienced the arts, and set new standards for us to aspire to, both as audiences and artists.

– Robyn Archer

Timed to coincide with the release of his memoir, Anthony Steel is being honoured tonight at QPAC for his contribution to the arts in Australia.  He will discuss his life, share anecdotes, and speak about the experience of writing this book, which is at once entertaining and informative.

Anthony Steel’s memoir Painful in Daily Doses is available at BBB bookstores.  It’s a must read for anyone involved in the arts community.

(photos: Conor Mackay)

Kylie Kwong arrives at the Irish Club.

The crowd was great.

The conversation between Kylie and John Birmingham was energising.

The book is a tribute to the food producers Kylie trusts most.

All in all, it was a great night.

30 June at the Irish Club, 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start

Kylie Kwong is well known as the proprietor of the celebrated Billy Kwong restaurant in Sydney, and is a passionate advocate of sustainable food and ethical eating – a chef that thinks globally and acts locally. Her restaurant’s menu uses only local, organic and biodynamic produce, and in 2007 became the first carbon-neutral restaurant in New South Wales. In 2009, Billy Kwong won the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide’s inaugural Sustainability Award. Kylie is the author of four other books, Recipes and Stories, Heart and Soul, Simple Chinese Cooking and My China, and presenter of three television series.

Her new book is It Tastes Better and she’s coming to Bisbane to speak about it in conversation with John Birmingham. It Tastes Better is an eye-opening tribute to the dedicated people—the growers, farmers, fishermen, artisans and food providers—behind the sustainable food that Kylie Kwong uses at home and in her restaurant. Passionate about their produce, Kylie firmly believes that the food and wine these people produce literally tastes better due to the purity of intention, and the energy, history and love behind what they do. With over 100 new recipes It Tastes Better shows the home cook how to create magical dishes – with fresh, flavour some food that has been produced in the most beneficial way for the planet and us.

Please join us for an exciting evening. Contact any of the BBB booksellers for tickets.

Richard Dawkins has written about evolution before, but none of his books have discussed the supporting evidence that evolution actually happened.  The Greatest Show on Earth comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the idea of evolution is now flourishing as never before, especially in America, where a recent survey conducted by Gallup revealed that 44% of the respondents believed that God created humans in their present form at some point within the last 10,000 years.

Eleven years after Tuesdays With Morrie became the most successful memoir ever published, Mitch Albom returns to non-fiction. Read the rest of this entry »