International bestselling crime writer Chris Hammer in conversation

In just a few years former journalist Chris Hammer has become one of Australia’s most-loved crime writers. The author of Scrublands and The Seven is back next month with The Valley, a new thriller that starts as a routine homicide investigation for Detective Nell Buchanan but one which takes her to a small mountain community and an old disused gold mine.  

What happens when Nell discovers she is linked to the murder through family ties?  And how do the secrets of 30 years ago link with the investigation?  

Chris’s novel arrives in October and we are delighted to be part of his national tour.  We hope you’ll join us at the Toorak/South Yarra Library when bookseller, critic and moderator Tim Byrne discusses the art of writing crime novels with one of Australia’s most talented storytellers.  

Lunch with Jock Serong
To celebrate his new novel Cherrywood

Award-winning author and good friend of the Sorrento Writers Festival Jock Serong has a new novel arriving next month. We are thrilled to be hosting an event in Sorrento to welcome the book, and to delve further into the remarkable story of Cherrywood.  

In his new novel, the author of The Rules of Backyard Cricket, On the Java Ridge, Preservation and The Settlement has entered the world of magical realism. This is the story of an old and new world living side by side in a Fitzroy pub. The connector is a magnificent paddle steamer called The Cherrywood – the dream of an early 20th Century Scottish entrepreneur whose plan to ferry passengers across Port Phillip Bay caught the young city’s imagination. Decades later, it also captures the heart of Martha, a young disillusioned solicitor who works with a big Melbourne law firm. On her way to dinner and in need of a bottle of wine, Martha jumps out of her taxi and into another world. And so, the Cherrywood adventure begins.  

HarperCollins publisher Catherine Milne describes Cherrywood as “daring, original, haunting, magical – this novel is a triumph”.  

We look forward to hosting this special lunch in Jock’s honour and hope our Mornington Peninsula and Bellarine Peninsula (via ferry) friends will join us. 

Dinner with Don Watson and Emma Shortis
to discuss the US Presidential election

includes two-course dinner and a drink on arrival.

Additional drinks at bar prices.

The US Election Breakfast

Includes breakfast and refreshments.

The US presidential election is proving one of the tightest and most fascinating races in decades. Into this big international story steps Don Watson, eminent Australian historian and award-winning author. Don's brief: to write September's Quarterly Essay on the November 5 contest.

The essay arrives in bookstores in a couple of weeks and on October 31 and November 1 we will host Don Watson at two special Election Eve events at Sorrento.

The first -  Dinner at The Baths on Thursday October 31 - is booked out and has a long waiting list. Fortunately, Don has agreed to stay over and be our guest at a special breakfast gathering on Friday November 1 at The Continental, Sorrento. Everyone is welcome (with priority given to the previous night’s waiting listees) and we hope you’ll join us for this very special event.