An evening with Sarah Selecky

We're thrilled to host highly respected Canadian author and teacher of fiction writing, Sarah Selecky, in her only Sydney appearance. Find out why Margaret Atwood and Karen Joy Fowler sing her praises! 

Sarah will discuss her novel Radiant Shimmering Light, the craft of fiction writing, and the writer's journey with Michaela Bolzan. 

This is a FREE event. Drinks and nibbles provided.  

Copies of Radiant Shimmering Light will be available to buy on the night. 

About Radiant Shimmering Light

A sharply funny and heartfelt novel about female friendship—and about  how, in our online lives, the line between personal empowerment and  consumerism is increasingly blurred.

Lilian Quick has looked up  to her cousin Florence her whole life. Florence is everything Lilian is  not: brave, adventurous, American. They’ve been out of touch for twenty  years—but Lilian, forty, single and struggling as a pet portraitist in  Toronto, has been watching Florence, who has become internet-famous as  Eleven Novak, the face of a feminine-lifestyle empowerment brand.

When  Eleven comes to town on a sales tour, she welcomes her long-lost cousin  with open arms. Lilian quickly enrols in the Ascendency, Eleven’s  expensive signature course in spiritual awakening and marketing, and  heads to The Temple in Manhattan. Eleven is going to help Lilian build  her brand and be her best self: confident, affluent, self-actualised.

In  just three months, Lilian’s life changes drastically and becomes  everything she’s dreamed of. But is it everything she wants? And can she  really trust Eleven? .

Praise

‘In Radiant Shimmering Light, @SarahSeleckyWS nails the Perfect-Yourself 35-43 gen in all of its hopeful internet-brand-conscious pyramid-scheming empowering goddessiness. Social satire + cultural insight whipped into a yummy froth! You’ll laugh + shed a tiny precious tear, my petals!’ - @MargaretAtwood. 

‘Our online world provides endless humorous possibility and here is a book that’s witty, timely, and smart with regard to social media. But then, quite wonderfully, Selecky’s story turns more complicated than it first appeared. Bursting with energy and color, every page delights and provokes. This book is a dazzler.’ - Karen Joy Fowler

‘Sarah Selecky could easily be the next Alice Munro.’ - Chatelaine  

About the Author

Sarah Selecky is the author of Radiant Shimmering Light and This Cake Is for the Party. This Cake Is for the Party was a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book. Radiant Shimmering Light has been optioned for a TV series adaptation. 

In 2011, Sarah created the Sarah Selecky Writing School, which has since grown into a creative community of over 10,000 writers from around the world. She lives in Ontario. Find out more about Sarah here.

About the Moderator

Michaela Bolzan is the founder and Artistic Director of the Southern Highlands Writers’ Festival (now in it’s ninth year) and was the Artistic Director of the 2019 Canberra Writers’ Festival. She is a BA (Hons) graduate from the University of Newcastle and the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) Playwrights’ Studio.