PA/04/19 18 January 2019
Celebrated Australian authors to visit India as part of Australia Fest
Some of Australia’s most celebrated authors will visit India as part of Australia Fest to inspire new audiences for Australian books and culture.
The authors will participate at various events across India including the Jaipur Literature Festival (24-28 January), Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival (18-20 January), Kolkata Literary Meet (22 - 27 January), and Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (2-10 February).
“Australia and India have a shared passion for great writing, and I am delighted that we are able to share the diversity of Australian stories with Indian audiences through some of our most prolific writers,” said Her Excellency Ms Harinder Sidhu, Australia’s High Commissioner to India.
The diverse line-up includes: author of international bestseller The Book Thief Markus Zusak; Lifetime Ambassador of the Indigenous Literacy Foundation Anita Heiss; co-authors of Waste of a Nation: Garbage and Growth in India Robin Jeffery and Assa Doron; a leading expert in the field of artificial intelligence Toby Walsh; a former diplomat and foreign correspondent with three books on India to his credit John Zubrzycki; and an academic engaged in exploring the many ways that humans interact with nature Darryl Jones.
The tour offers a great opportunity for the Australian authors to introduce their award-winning titles to the Indian audiences at various festivals, participate at public-speaking events and interact with Indian writers and scholars.
Complementing the authors’ tour, a delegation of leading Australian publishers and festival directors will take part in Jaipur Bookmark and Hyderabad Literary Festival as part of the Australia Council for the Arts’ Literature Exploratory Program.
About Australia Fest:
On 18 September 2018 Australia’s High Commissioner to India Her Excellency Ms Harinder Sidhu, launched Australia Fest, a six month long celebration of Australian culture and creativity. Australia Fest has been made possible with the generous support of our partners in three major categories: Platinum: State Governments of Victoria and New South Wales; Gold: Deakin University; Silver: ANZ Banking Group, Ashok & Mariam Jacob, CQ University Australia, FCM Travel Solutions, Mahindra, Northern Territory Government, Tata BlueScope Steel, Telstra, Tourism Australia and Woodside Energy. Australia Fest’s hotel partner is the Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), airline partner is Singapore Airlines, wine partner is Jacob’s Creek, and promotion partner is BookMyShow.
Follow us for updates – www.australiafest.com
Twitter: @AusHCIndia Instagram: @aushcindia Facebook: AustraliainIndia
Tour schedule
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About the Authors |
Schedule |
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Anita Heiss is proud member of the Wiradjuri nation of central New South Wales. Dr. Heiss is one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors publishing across genres such as non-fiction, historical fiction, commercial fiction and children’s novels. Her latest book as editor is Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia. |
Jaipur Literature Festival - 25 to 28 January 2019 Public-speaking event in Chennai - 30 and 31 January 2019 Kala Ghoda Arts Festival - 2 and 3 February 2019 |
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Markus Zusak is the author of five books, including the international bestseller, The Book Thief, which spent more than a decade on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into more than 40 languages – establishing Zusak as one of the most successful authors to come out of Australia. To date, Zusak has held the number one position on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in countries across South America, Europe and Asia. |
Public-speaking event in Chennai - 18 January 2019 Public-speaking event in Mumbai - 19 to 21 January 2019 Kolkata Literary Meet - 22 and 23 January 2019 Jaipur Literature Festival - 24 to 26 January 2019 |
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Robin Jeffrey is a visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore. His recent book, written with Assa Doron, is Waste of a Nation: Garbage and Growth in India. He is also the co-author with Doron of Cell Phone Nation and the author of India’s Newspaper Revolution. |
Jaipur Literature Festival - 24 to 28 January 2019
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Assa Doron is associate professor of anthropology and South Asia Studies at the Australian National University. He is co-author, with Robin Jeffrey, of Waste of a Nation: Garbage and Growth in India. Doron and Jeffrey also wrote of Cell Phone Nation. Doron is author of Life of the Ganga: Boatmen and the Ritual Economy of Banaras. |
Jaipur Literature Festival - 24 to 28 January 2019
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John Zubrzycki’s first experience of India was a dorm bed at the Salvation Army Guest House in Calcutta 40 years ago. Since then, he’s chalked up a degree in Indian history, travelled to every corner of the subcontinent, worked as a diplomat and foreign correspondent in New Delhi and written three eclectic books on India. His latest, Jadoowallahs, Juggler and Jinns, traces the evolution of Indian magic. |
Jaipur Literature Festival - 24 to 28 January 2019 Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival - 18 to 20 January 2019
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Toby Walsh was named a ‘rock star’ of Australia’s digital revolution. He is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence and fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. He regularly appears in the media talking about AI and robotics. His latest book, 2062: The World that AI Made, was published in August 2017. |
Jaipur Literature Festival - 24 to 28 January 2019
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Darryl Jones is an academic at Griffith University in Australia who has been engaged in exploring the many ways that humans interact with nature, both positively and negatively. Most recently, this has involved a global study of wild bird feeding with remarkable findings. |
Jaipur Literature Festival - 24 to 28 January 2019
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