Pregnant with the thrill of storytelling, full of surprises, calm, jarring, momentous or direct, the first lines of a writer’s work take us to exactly where they want us to be. In this special tribute to novelist and essayist Frank Moorhouse and poet Robert Adamson, fellow writers Annabel Crabb and Mark Mordue share short readings from their work.
Supported by UNSW Sydney.
Annabel Crabb (Australian)
Annabel Crabb is a writer and presenter for the ABC. She's also a keen amateur podcaster and co-hosts the inexplicably popular Chat 10, Looks 3 podcast with her colleague Leigh Sales, who lends credibility to the exercise. Annabel has worked extensively in newspapers, radio and TV as a political journalist and won a Walkley Award for Stop At Nothing: The Life and Adventures of Malcolm Turnbull. She published a bestselling book about gender and work, The Wife Drought in 2014, and has published two cookbooks with childhood friend Wendy Sharpe, the latest of which is Special Guest. Her most recent Quarterly Essay is Men at Work.
Mark Mordue (Australian)
Mark Mordue is the author of the internationally acclaimed biography Boy on Fire - The Young Nick Cave (HarperCollins Australia, 2021), the poetry collection Darlinghurst Funeral Rites (Transit Lounge, 2019) and the travel memoir Dastgah: Diary of a Headtrip (Allen & Unwin, 2001). He was winner of the 2010 Pascall Prize: Australian Critic of the Year and a 1992 Human Rights Media Award for his journalism with Rolling Stone. Mark’s debut novel There’s No Telling (HarperCollins Australia) will be published in late 2023.
