A Northern Books Readers’ Retreat
Babbington Park, Trentham – home of Annie Smithers and Susan Thompson
A day of food prepared by Annie Smithers, prosecco, books, authors, and getting to know the creatives behind the books…
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If you’re a booklover, writer or reader, this is a day for you.
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Let’s just call it your book ‘spa’ day where you will leave feeling nurtured, relaxed, inspired and feeling more than a little bit excited about your reading stack.
An event for just 40 booklovers.
Here’s how it looks:
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On arrival you’ll have time for a cuppa and a browse of our pop-up bookshop which will be well-stocked with new releases, guest authors’ books, guest creatives' books, and the books you recommended to us ahead of the day*.
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To begin the day, you’ll meet Cate Blake (Publishing Director at Simon & Schuster Australia) and Josh Durham (award-winning cover designer and owner of Design By Committee) who will discuss the idea of ‘creating the reader experience’. We’ll discover how a book goes from being a manuscript submission to the beautiful item we find on the shelf.
This session will include an ‘ask me anything’ segment…
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At Morning Tea you can browse the bookshop and chat to your new and existing friends.
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*Prior to the event, we’ll ask you to send us the titles of two books you have at the top of your TBR pile and in this segment following morning tea we will share those recommendations and discuss why they’re at the top of the pile. Absolutely fine if you prefer to sit back and listen - we’ll give you a list of those books at the end of the day.
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Following that, Kristin from Northern Books will do a speedy
‘What’s hot right now and what should we keep an eye out for in early 2026’
After a farmhouse lunch we will welcome two guest authors – Maxine Beneba Clarke and Kate Solly – for a panel session to discuss their most recent books, their writing process, the books they’ve loved and writers who have influenced them along the way.
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This will be followed by a book signing and a final farewell.
About our guests
Cate Blake
Cate has enjoyed senior publishing roles at Penguin Books and Penguin Random House Australia, Pan Macmillan and is now Publishing Director at Simon and Schuster/Affirm Press.
She has published some of the biggest names in Australian publishing and will bring a wealth of knowledge to our day.
Josh Durham
Josh is a multi-award winning designer, who worked in magazine design before setting up his company Design by Committee under the mentorship of Australian book design luminary W.H. Chong. Josh draws upon a broad skill base to offer both illustrative and concept driven solutions to literary fiction, commercial fiction, YA, children's, non fiction and illustrated book commissions for all of Australia's leading publishers.
Maxine Beneba Clarke
Maxine Beneba Clarke is one of Australia’s most celebrated poets. She is the author of over fourteen books including the bestselling memoir, The Hate Race, the ABIA and Indie award-winning short fiction collection, Foreign Soil and the Vic Premier’s Award-winning poetry collection, Carrying the World.
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She is currently the inaugural Peter Steele Poet in Residence at the University of Melbourne and her new book is Beautiful Changelings.
Kate Solly
Kate Solly is a writer, mother of six and really quite good at getting the bubbles out of plastic book wrap. While most of her time is spent finding lost shoes and investigating what's making the car smell bad, Kate frequently escapes to write entertaining things. She has penned many articles, columns and reviews for various publications and is the author of Tuesday Evenings With the Copeton Craft Resistance and The Paradise Heights Craft Store Stitch-Up.
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When she is not writing, she enjoys starting crochet projects and never finishing them.
Date:
Wednesday November 26 2025
Time:
10 00am to 4 00pm
Venue:
The Chapel @ Babbington Park, 84 S Lyonville Rd, Lyonville VIC 3461
Cost:
$285
(includes tea and coffee on arrival, catering by Annie Smithers - morning tea, farmhouse lunch with a glass of wine, a $50 book voucher to spend in the bookshop, a goodie bag and fabulous conversation)