You can’t miss the 2017 Historical Novel Society Australasia’s conference, which will be on in Melbourne on September 8-10! I have the honour of being 2017 Conference Patron and will also be a speaker there, joining a fantastic list including  Kerry Greenwood, Kate Forsyth, Robert Gott, Sulari Gentill, Juliet Marillier, Felicity Pulman, Arnold Zable, Hanifa Deen, Meg Keneally, Ngahuia te Awekotuku, Pamela Rushby, Kim Kelly, Gary Crew, Gabrielle Wang, Pamela Hart, Wendy Orr, and many more!

The theme of the Conference is Identity: Origins and Diaspora and the program is packed with thought-provoking and lively discussions, super sessions, manuscript assessments and an academic program. Social events include an opening reception and conference dinner. There’s also two fabulous contests: the HNSA Short Story Contest, sponsored by Eagle Books and HNSA, boasting a $500 prize; and the First Pages Pitch Contest.

Early bird registrations are now open, and the full program is available here.