Discover our exciting Author Talk Program with visiting authors inspiring your reading and writing:

Writing and Author Events in 2025:

2025 Annual Banjo Paterson Writing Awards Call For Entries 

Central West Libraries has announced the call for entries in the annual Banjo Paterson Writing Awards!!! Please note there will be NO ENTRY FEES in 2025. 

The awards, established in 1991, aim to honour Andrew Barton “Banjo’ Paterson, acknowledged as a great writer and favourite son of Orange, with a competition encouraging Australian content. However, entries do not have to be written in Banjo’s style of bush writing.

There are three categories with generous prizes to be won. The first Category is Short Story with a maximum word limit of 3,000 words. Category two is Contemporary Poetry not exceeding 200 lines. The winner of the Short Story and Contemporary Poetry sections take home an incredible prize of $2,000 each. Category 3 is for Children aged 16 years and under. Winners will be announced at the Orange Readers and Writers Festival to be held on Saturday 2 August at The Hotel Canobolas, Orange. Download an Entry Form here.

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Leanne Wood Launches Under the Cover of Closeness at Orange City Library on Thursday 8 May at 5.30pm

Celebrate the launch of local author Leanne Wood’s latest book Under the Cover of Closeness at Orange City Library on Thursday 8 May at 5.30pm. Please book your place online here or call Orange City Library on 6393 8132. 

Books will be for sale on the night for $22 cash only. Please note copies of Under the Cover of Closeness will also be available for sale at Collins Booksellers, Orange.

About the book:

Under the Cover of Closeness tells the story of identical twins Lorna and Cara, whose once unbreakable bond is fractured by secrets and betrayal. As the narrative weaves between past and present, readers are pulled into an exploration of love, loyalty, and forgiveness, asking: how far would you go to mend what’s been broken?

This deeply human tale navigates the intricate layers of family conflict and medical challenges, offering a heartfelt reflection on the struggles of forgiveness and the courage it takes to move forward. It’s a story that will resonate with anyone who has faced the complexities of family and the enduring search for healing.

About author Leanne Wood:

Leanne Wood is a poet, an avid reader and the author of six novels. With an extensive background in business, law and psychology, Leanne said goodbye to her corporate career and devoted her time to writing stories about life and on subjects’ people can relate, stories that evoke emotion and take readers on a journey. Her latest work is a contemporary fiction, Under the Cover of Closeness. Leanne lives and works out of her home in the Central Tablelands of Australia, she loves cooking, gardening and the great outdoors.

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Meet author Matt Murphy when he launches Gold at Orange City Library on Wednesday 14 May at 5.30pm

Ask Google who discovered gold in Australia? and you’ll promptly get ‘Edward Hammond Hargraves’. Hargraves has for decades (and decades) received the fame, fortune and adulation from all corners of the country, but did he earn it?

What about the two diggers he met on the Californian goldfields who told him where to look when he returned to Australia?

What about the guys who led him to where they’d heard gold had been found before?

What about the pioneers whose discoveries had been documented years earlier?

This is the story of an oversized layabout who received years of accolades and free lunches, despite lumbering from one embarrassment to the next, and of those who spent decades trying to expose him and seek their share of the glory.

About author Matt Murphy:

As a school student, Matt Murphy failed English and couldn’t see the point of history. He became a firie and has been serving in Sydney’s inner city for 33 years. He is now also a part-time historian and teacher, tolerating the attitudes of kids towards history that he used to share.

He has written three books: Weight of Evidence, about what was the longest civil court case in NewSouth Wales; Rum, about the formative influence of grog on the country; and Gold, recounting the story of Edward Hammond Hargraves and the discovery of gold in Australia.

Matt’s younger self would be aghast that he is now writing history books but be consoled by the absurdist voice old Matt has achieved. Matt also can’t believe he has to write his own bio.

Meet author Matt Murphy at Orange City Library on Wednesday 14 May from 5.30pm – 7pm supported by Collins Booksellers, Orange. Copies of Gold will be available for sales and signing on the night. Please book your spot online here or call Orange City Library on 6393 8132. 

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Sydney Writers Festival Local and Livestream to Orange: Thursday 22 May – Sunday 25 May 2025. Book your seat now!

One of Australia’s most loved forums for literature, ideas and storytelling, Sydney Writers’ Festival will live-stream its headline events from Sydney to Orange Regional Gallery Theatre, hosted by Orange City Library, on Thursday 22, Friday 23, Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May from 10am to 5pm. There are 16 sessions held across 4 days. All sessions are free, but bookings are required online via Eventbrite or call the Library on 6393 8132.  Bookings are now open here. 

Prepare to be invigorated and engaged by conversation, debates and discussions featuring some of the world’s finest writers and thinkers. Guests include Markus Zusak, Gina Chick, David Nicholls, Thomas Mayo, Clare Wright, Moriarty sisters – Jaclyn, Liane and Nicola, Helen Garner, Alan Hollinghurst, Colm Toibin, Nadine Ingram, Natalie Paull, Kate Reid, A.C. Grayling, Ben Macintyre, Ian Rankin, Peter Beinart, Nick Bryant, Emma Shortis, Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney (for ages 7 – 12 accompanied by an adult or guardian), Charlotte Wood, and Jack Beaumont.

Audiences can also participate in live Q&A sessions at each event, sending questions straight to the Sydney stage. Join us for Live & Local 2025, streamed live by Sydney Writers Festival and delivered locally to Orange. All tickets are free, booking are essential, but please be mindful that NO food or drinks – including coffee, can be taken into the Gallery due to the current artworks on show. We appreciate it – in advance – if everyone could please follow this advice.

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Meet Author Ana Scarf launching The Last of the Cavalrymen: Memoirs of Major General Robert Harley Wordsworth at Cowra Library Friday 6 June at 10am

“There I was [in the British Indian Army] commanding a regiment of cavalry as obsolete as the bow and arrow!”

With these words, Robert Harley Wordsworth recalled his reaction to news of the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939, twenty-five years after he had enlisted, as a nineteen-year-old, in the 1st Light Horse and embarked for the Middle East in the first convoy of ships to depart Australia in 1914.

Born in Cowra in the latter part of the nineteenth century, he was to go on to lead an extraordinary life – as a military man, firstly in the Australian Army, before transferring to the (British) Indian Army where he progressed through the ranks to the rank of Major-General in command of the 1st Armoured Division in the Middle East.

Later he would enter politics.

In all, he spent 25 years in India, fully immersed in the last days of the British Raj and all that entailed, living a gilded life against the backdrop of increasing political tension and social unrest.

At the end of the war, he retired to Tasmania, initially taking up farming before being persuaded to enter politics. He served as a senator representing the island state for ten years, which he described candidly as ‘the unhappiest of my professional life’, declaring that a soldier is trained to ‘act quickly and decisively’ whereas a politician ‘must be nice to everyone and must tolerate many foolish, ignorant and rude people’.

After suffering defeat in the election of 1958, he was offered the job of administrator of Norfolk Island, his final professional role before retirement.

Wordsworth’s daughter Ana, and granddaughter Charlotte, are to be congratulated for having painstakingly assembled Wordsworth’s story from audio tapes recorded over a four-year period, supplemented by detailed research to fill in the gaps.

The result is a refreshing, candid and highly readable account of a life well lived. It paints a picture of a loyal subject of his time, a man of service and courage and someone who grasped opportunities when they came his way.

Meet author Ana Scarf when she launches the book Last of the Cavalrymen: Memoirs of Major General Robert Harley Wordsworth at Cowra Library on Friday 6 June at 10am.

Here is the link to book your place 
or call Cowra Library on 6340 2180.

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Making Home: A Short History of Houses, Interiors and Gardens in NSW

Learn about the history of houses, interiors and gardens in NSW including materials relating to the Central West.

This expert-led illustrated presentation will draw on Museums of History NSW’s rich collections, including the Caroline Simpson Library Collection, State Archives Collection and museum collections. An engaging Q&A session will follow each presentation. There will also be an opportunity for you to view original collection material such as wallpaper, trade catalogues, tiles, architectural pattern books and historic garden sources.

Making Home: A Short History of Houses, Interiors and Gardens in NSW – Museums of History NSW
Orange City Library
Tuesday 17 June
5.30pm – 7pm

Book your spot here. 

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Save the Date for these fantastic upcoming author events in Orange:

Orange Readers and Writers Festival

Come along to this intimate Writers Festival with amazing guest authors on Saturday 2 August 2025 at the Hotel Canobolas during the Winter Fire Festival. Guest authors and tickets to be announced in June. 

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Thank you to our amazing authors who visited during 2025:

Erika Cramer – Becoming Magnetic

Bill Walsh – Big Bill Mackay

Heather Knight – Poets, Painters and Pioneers: Banjo Paterson’s Remarkable Family

Nicole Alexander – The Limestone Road

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Thank you to our incredible authors who visited during 2024:

Craig Semple – The Cop Who Fell to Earth

Alicia Thompson – Writing Workshop: Exercise Your Writing Muscles

Dr Anne Ring – Engaging with Ageing

DT West – A Step Towards Freedom

Graeme Simsion and Anne Buist: The Glass House

Scott Honeysett – Shattered Branches

Local author Brendan Lamerton – Bonded

Ruth and Don Pollack – “In conversation” Suggy’s Men, and Clouds and Sunshine

Andrew Skeoch – Deep Listening to Nature

Local author Seana Smith – going under

Eila Jameson-Avey – Wellworth

Local author Beckie Plant – Children’s book – Bob, Anxiety and Me

Benjamin Stevenson – Everyone this Christmas Has A Secret

Local historian Robert Bartlett – Early Inns, Hotels and Pubs of Orange (now on sale at Gladstone Hotel, Orange Visitor Information Centre, Orange Camera House)

Stella Day Out Orange – Poet and essayist Fiona Wright read from her book The World Was Whole which was shortlisted for the prestigious Stella Prize. Fiona is also the author of Small Acts of Disappearance and poetry collection Knuckled.  in conversation with Stella CEO Fiona Sweet.

Hugh Mackay – The Way We Are

Local author Leesa Ronald – Special Delivery (a fun rom-com set in Orange!)

Lyn Brown – True Confessions from the Hardback Cafe (includes anecdotes about former Angus & Roberston Bookshop, Orange)

Special 2024 author events 

Seniors Week Author Tour with Dr Anne Ring – Engaging With Ageing

Live-streaming Live & Local annual Sydney Writers Festival in May (3rd Year)

Orange Readers and Writers Festival on the first weekend in August with guest authors – ABC TV Compass presenter Indira Naidoo – Space Between the Stars (in conversation with freelance journalist Marianna Saran), Rhys Gard – Four Dogs Missing, Gabbie Stroud – the things that matter most, Ian W. Shaw – The Golden Gang: Bushranger Frank Gardiner and the biggest gold robbery in Australian History (Eugowra Gold Escort), and Rachael Mogan McIntosh – Mothering Heights. Friday Writing/Editing Workshop with local author Kim Kelly: Making Your Writing Shine.

 

Thank you to all our wonderful authors who visited during 2023:

Nat Amoore – The Right Way to Rock

Lisa Ireland – The One and Only Dolly Jamieson

Christine Stewart – Collits’ Inn: Uncovering the Past

Local author Seana Smith – The Australian Autism Handbook

Inga Simpson – Willowman

Rachael Mogan McIntosh – Pardon My French – Library UpLate event

Maggie Mackellar – graft

Dianne Yarwood – The Wakes

Cowra author Harold Treasure – King’s Spur – “in conversation” with Reading and Writing Coordinator Jasmine Vidler

Claudia Harrison – Dinner First

Kate Gadsby – Convicts, Capitalists and Corruption – Research and Maps Talk to celebrate Orange Family History Group’s 40th anniversary

Colin Bower and Richard Medd – Orchids of Central Western NSW

Local author Beckie Plant – children’s art book Amazing Like You

Sallyanne Pisk – Eating For You

Greg Mutton – 12th Realm – Sci-Fi series

Kamille Roach – former Banjo Paterson Writing Awards winner launched crime novel Pine Creek set in the Central West

Dirty Janes duo Athol Salter and Jane Crowley – launched Beeswax and Tall Tales

Judy Nunn – Black Sheep

Penelope Janu and Pamela Cook – A Country Vet Christmas

Amanda Hampson – The Tea Ladies and The Cryptic Clue

Local author Dr Gregory Smith – Better Than Happiness: The True Antidote to Discontent 

Hannah Diviney – I’ll Let Myself In

Hayley Rawsthorne shared her debut children’s book – These Little Feet – at Storytime

Local author Stuart Lloyd – Started Out Drinking Beer – The Mental As Anything Story – “in conversation” with drummer David ‘Bird’ Twohill

David Marr – Killing For Country: A Family Story – “in conversation” with Orange City Librarian Sean Brady

Local author Kim Kelly – Ladies Rest and Writing Room co-winner of the Finlay Lloyd 20/40 Novella Publishing Prize 

 

Special 2023 Author Events:

Touring Kids One Library One Book author Nat Amoore with The Right Way to Rock

Touring Adults One Library One Book community read – Dianne Yarwood with The Wakes

Live-streaming Live & Local annual Sydney Writers Festival in May (2nd Year)

Orange Readers and Writers Festival on the first weekend in August with guest authors – Grantlee Kieza – The Remarkable Mrs Reiby, and Knockout, Yvonne Weldon- Sixty-Seven Days, Adam Courtenay – Mr Todd’s Marvel, Michael Thompson – How to be Remembered and Kim Kelly – The Rat Catcher.  Sunday Podcast Workshop with Michael Thompson.