Twilight Talks - Authors and Dates

Dr Sue Turnbull - Friday July 2nd

Sue Turnbull is an Associate Professor in Media Studies at La Trobe University where she teaches about popular culture, television and media audiences. She has been a co-convenor of Sisters in Crime Australia since 1992 and has published extensively on crime fiction and its readers. She is currently writing a book on the television crime drama for Edinburgh University Press. Sue is also chief crime fiction reviewer for The Sydney Morning Herald and has been a judge for the Age and currently the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards.

As for books, Sue says she has four in the pipeline – including one on Australian Screen.


Arron Wood - Friday July 9th

Arron Wood has spent most of his life growing up in the country on a billabong. A keen sportsman, Arron's family has strongly influenced his appreciation for the environment and education. His dedication to the environment has won him a number of national and international environmental awards. He was winner of the 2006 United Nations Individual Award for Outstanding Service to the Environment and the 2001 Young Australian of the Year (National Environment Winner) and Prime Minister’s Environmentalist of the Year Award. Arron's commitment to the environment was covered on ABC's Australian Story in 2004 and he hosted Channel Seven documentary Our Water, Our future which aired in 2005.

His book ‘The Billabong Boy’ was published in June 2010.



Ray Smithies - Friday Juy 16th

Ray Smithies was born in Melbourne and when he was a child the family moved to Wangaratta in northeast Victoria, where they lived for the next twenty years before Ray moved back to the city. He now lives near the wine/grazing district of the Yarra Valley with his wife Pauline, two sons and a daughter. Ray writes in his spare time and particularly enjoys delving into the criminal side of life with its combination of mystery and adventure. He enjoys visiting the diverse country side of the Gippsland hills and coastal seascapes, an interest that is reflected in his work. Ray has also taken an active interest in sports medicine and is a qualified sports therapist. He has lectured to triathlon and various sporting groups on the subject of injury treatment and prevention. He devotes time to assist charitable groups and organisations in diagnoses and hands-on therapy. His book ‘Scorpio’s Lot’ was published in September 2009

Cheryl Glowrey - Friday July 23rd

Cheryl Glowrey is a well known Foster identity, besides being a published author she is also the Principal of South Gippsland Secondary College. Cheryl spent her childhood on dairy farms in South Gippsland and has a strong interest in the local environment. She has a Masters in Letters in Australian History and has written about the declining hill communities of South Gippsland. In late 2009 Cheryl republished ‘Snake Island & The Cattlemen of The Sea’ which was first published in 2000. This book is an extension of her interests and is the forerunner of further writing about life in Gippsland. We are waiting with interest for the next book on the history of Corner Inlet which is at the early stages of writing.

Genevieve Moore - Friday July 30th

Genevieve Moore now lives in Foster after a move from Melbourne in recent years. As well as recently publishing her first children’s picture book, Genevieve has been an improvisational performer, voice-over artist, radio announcer and human resources consultant. Genevieve now has a small business which will keep her in this area for some time to come. We’re hoping there will be another children’s book in the not too distant future.

Genevieve’s book ‘Catherine’s Story’ published January 2010 is based on her niece, who as an infant, suffered from a kind of epilepsy known as infantile spasms or West Syndrome This left the child with profound and multiple learning disabilities. She’s not able to understand much of what is said to her, is unable to speak or walk without support and unable to perform any of the activities of daily living. The story book shows how all the things that make Catherine different also make her special.