Writer finds the funny side

POPULAR author, screenwriter and journalist Benjamin Law is among the speakers to take the stage at Noosa Library Service’s upcoming Queensland Week events.
Law is the author of two books, the black comedy memoir The Family Law, which has been adapted into a TV comedy for SBS, and the travelogue Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East.
At the event he will share tales about growing up as a minority on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, coming to terms with his identity and finding comedy in tragedy.
Noosa Library Service collections and services co-ordinator Tracey King said she was thrilled to welcome Benjamin Law to Behind Queensland’s Words: a Queensland Week Celebration.
“A successful author, screenwriter and journalist with a significant following, his written work has appeared in more than 50 publications,” she said.
“Behind Queensland’s Words: a Queensland Week Celebration promotes Queensland’s rich literary culture with stories from Queensland authors or which feature Queensland settings.”
Mr Law will share the stage with children’s writer Gregg Dreise and fellow author Annabelle Brayley.
Local author and illustrator of Silly Birds, Kookoo Kookaburra and Mad Magpie Gregg Dreise has a further four books awaiting publishing.
Silly Birds was on the 2015 Premier’s Reading Challenge year one to three booklist and it won the 2015 Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year award.
Annabelle Brayley tells the stories of people who live and work in the bush.
Her work has earned her a reputation for accuracy, honesty and sensitivity for the way she tells her subjects’ stories without prejudice or sensationalism.
Trained as a registered nurse, Brayley moved to an isolated sheep farm in south-west Queensland after marrying her husband. It was there that she turned to writing. Storytelling has been Brayley’s full-time passion since retiring.
“This is a great opportunity to hear these high-profile authors talk about the writing process. It’s also an opportunity to meet a range of talented local wordsmiths,” Ms King said.
The three authors will speak at a writer’s festival and book fair on Saturday 11 June from 1pm at Noosaville Library – the culmination of a week-long program of activities that includes Queensland-themed displays, storytelling sessions and heritage and travel-talk events.
All events are free of charge but some require bookings.
Behind Queensland’s Words: A Queensland Week Celebration is part of the Queensland Government’s Queensland Week celebrations from 4-12 June.
For more information visit the Noosa Library Service website or phone (07) 5329 6555.