Liane Moriarty - unflinching exponent of suburban noir who has sold 120 million books - flew into the national capital on Friday night as the Canberra Writers Festival got into full swing this weekend, with locals braving some good book-reading weather to get out and meet their favourite authors.
It's the Sydney-based author's first visit to the Canberra Writers Festival which is back to its full-blown glory after being cut back in 2020 and cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
Moriarty is one of 170 writers who have gathered for the festival, which has its feature events this weekend.
In fact, Moriarty is only here because of the pandemic, which cruelled any chance of her usual book tours to the United States or the United Kingdom, as she prepared to promote her ninth book, Apples Never Fall, which was published when Sydney was in lockdown.
"I normally would have said 'no' to these festivals because I would have been all talked out," Moriarty said.
"I thought, especially at the beginning of the pandemic, 'Oh this is fine, I'm not an extroverted person, I can just write'. But it really clarified for me that part of the pleasure in writing for me is meeting readers. I miss that."
Canberra Writers Festival artistic director Jeanne Ryckmans was thrilled to see audiences back in front of authors.
"It's a challenge, it's somewhat daunting but it's exhilarating to have everyone together again after two years," she said.
"It showcases Canberra and that Canberrans are very passionate about their city. It's dynamic and it's vibrant and the festival confirms we are the home of the national conversations."
Diana Reid, still in her 20s, whose debut novel, Love and Virtue, in June won book of the year at the Australian Book Industry Awards, is also at the festival, speaking on Saturday about the process of writing. She was thrilled to be able to connect to her readers and other writers.
"Obviously writing is a very solitary occupation and reading is a solitary activity, so it's really special when you can feel a sense of community around it and writers' festivals offer that opportunity," Ms Reid said.
Wendy McCarthy is no stranger to Canberra, advising then prime minister Malcolm Fraser on women's affairs back in the late 1970s and, more recently, a former chancellor of the University of Canberra.
Ms McCarthy will be speaking about her memoir Don't Be Too Polite Girls on Saturday at the ANU with fellow commentators Jane Caro, Virginia Haussegger and Dr Jackie Huggins.
"It's lovely to be back because Canberra is the heartbeat of the nation," she said.
Three of the biggest names at the festival will be talking to their audiences via Zoom. Germaine Greer, now 83, was to appear in person at the festival on Saturday afternoon but suffered a fall and couldn't travel. US writer Lionel Shriver and Australian writer Helen Garner are also speaking at the festival via Zoom over the weekend.
American author Amanda Tyler, law professor and former clerk to the late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, arrived very modestly to the writers' festival, by bus from Sydney, ready to explore everything the event and Canberra has to offer. She was excited to be among other writers.
Ms Tyler will be in conversation today with Fran Kelly at the Kambi Cultural Centre, speaking about the book she co-authored with Justice Ginsburg just before her death in 2020.
"I've done very little in the last two years because of COVID," she said.
"It is a real thrill to be here. I've been looking forward to this for two years. I was meant to come in 2020 and I said, 'The minute you open your borders, I'm coming'."
Moriarty, meanwhile, who is known for capturing the minutiae of everyday life and giving readers characters they recognise, confirmed she had started her next novel, her 10th. But don't hold your breath for a Moriarty bestseller set in Canberra. She needs to writes what she sees.
"I might send a character off to Canberra," she said, good-naturedly.
"But I tend to write about exactly where I am at that exact time and even in that exact time period.
"I just have no trouble with the relationships and the characters and all that sort of thing. I am the daughter of a surveyor but I don't think I have a very good sense of place."
Her millions of readers may beg to differ.
- The Canberra Writers Festival program and tickets is at www.canberrawritersfestival.com.au/
