A book launch for The Long Way Home - by Jo Bailey with Ronnie Sabin will be held in these locations tomorrow Friday 12 March: Meet the authors at the front of Jayes Gallery and Cafe from 10am - 12 noon, 31 - 33 Gidley Street, Molong or Boomers' Bookshop, City Centre, Orange 2pm - 4pm. The book is promoted as the story of Fairbridge Farm School that needs to be told. "At last a balanced account of life at Fairbridge through the eyes of Ronnie Sabin, who for six years in the 1950s called Fairbridge Farm School at Molong home. Often hilarious, sometimes heart-wrenching, The Long Way Home adds a positive perspective to the Child Migrant Scheme debate. It pays tribute to Fairbridge and details Ronnie's delight as finally being reunited with his family in England after 55 years." It retails for $29.95

Minister for the Arts Peter Garrett has announced the winners of the 2009 Prime Minister's Literary Awards......fanfare, applause.......

The winner of the 2009 Fiction award is Nam Le for his book of short stories The Boat. The judging panel was impressed by the daring scope and excellence of its execution, the generous breadth of its emotional and social traverse and the excitement generated by every story.

In 2009, two books and three authors share the Non-Fiction award. The winners are Evelyn Juers for House of Exile: The Life and Times of Heinrich Mann and Nelly Kroeger-Mann; and Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds for Drawing the Global Colour Line. Both books explore important racial, moral and political issues of Australia's past. The Non-Fiction judging panel said "With great intellectual authority and international research Evelyn Juers, Marilyn Lake and Henry Reynolds tell their stories magnificently."

Find out more about the shortlist and winners at www.arts.gov.au/pmliteraryawards

Meet Don Tate, author of The War Within – regarded as one of the most extraordinary memoirs ever published in Australia. You will also see colour film of his infantry experiences in Vietnam during 1969 now valued at $100,000.

Don was permanently disabled when his platoon was ambushed by a Viet Cong company entrenched in bunkers in July 1969. He subsequently spent more than two years in military and repatriation hospitals. Don recounts his remarkable life story in The War Within.

He has appeared on: RPA, A Current Affair, Today, Susie and the 7.30 Report. Meet Don at: Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange on Wednesday 3 June 12 noon – 1.30pm, please RSVP by calling 6393 8132 or

Come to Cowra Visitor Information Centre Olympic Park, Mid Western Highway, Cowra on Wednesday 3 June 5.30pm – 7pm, please RSVP by calling 6342 4333.

The Write around the Murray Festival, based at Albury, will be held from Wednesday 5 August to Sunday 6 August 2009 and leading up to the festival there are some great opportunities for writers including the AlburyCity Short Story Competition and Masterclass with Debra Adelaide. For the Short Story Competition the theme is open and length for the Open category is up to 3000 words, Secondary (Years 7 – 12) up to 2000 words and Primary (up to and including Grade 6) up to 1000 words. There is a registration fee of $10 and cash prizes to be won. Entires close on Friday 26 June. And applications close on Friday 29 May for the Masterclass with author Debra Adelaide. The program is designed for experienced writers who already have a substantial work in progress, fiction or non-fiction, and keen to explore ways to develop or complete their work. Cost of the program is $400 which includes the Masterclass and two night's accommodation at Month in the Country, breakfast and lunch Saturday and Sunday and a ticket to the festival dinner at 7pm on Saturday evening. Places are limited to six. Applicants are required to send a draft portion of their work with the application. This should be a chapter or an extract (3,000 – 5,000 words) accompanied by a half-page synopsis of the entire work. They would also need to bring a chapter or extract on the first day to circulate amongst participants. Please email writing@orange.nsw.gov.au if you would like a short story registration form or Masterclass Application Form or contact Festival Coordinator Robyne Young directly via email: ryoung@alburycity.nsw.gov.au. The full program of events is scheduled to be released on Wednesday 17 June, 2009 so visit the website http://www.writearoundthemurray.org.au/ then for event details.

Pantera Press is seeking books by previously unpublished Australian authors that have strong mass appeal, whether fiction or non-fiction. Pantera Press aims to publish books that readers will rave about. Great stories that are riveting and well-written. They are looking for books by previously unpublished Australian authors that have strong mass appeal, whether fiction or non-fiction. They want to hear from you if you are the next John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, Michael Crichton or Jane Green or if you have written the next 'Spotless', 'Freakonomics' or 'Tipping Point'. If your work has bestseller-potential and is of professional quality, they are interested. Currently Pantera Press are not accepting picture books, illustrated books, photography, poetry, play scripts or self-help books. Do not submit work if it is being considered elsewhere. Visit http://www.panterapress.com/ for more details.

New work grants assist in the creation of new work by developing and established Australian writers and picture book illustrators. New work funding is available for living allowances (including childcare) and/or assistance with travel and research costs associated with the preparation and writing of nominated projects. Developing writers/illustrators can apply for $15,000, $25,000 or $40,000. Established writers/illustrators can apply for $30,000 or $50,000 per year for up to two years. Please note, from 2009, emerging writers and illustrators should apply to the emerging writers' and illustrators' initiative. This initiative will be managed by the Australian Society of Authors. For more information, please visit http://www.asauthors.org/ Applications will be accepted in the following genres only: • fiction • lterary non-fiction (defined by the literature board as autobiography, biography, essays, histories, literary criticism or analytical prose) • children's and young adult literature • poetry • writing for performance (theatre, radio) or new media (digital, interactive, cross-media). For more information go to the Australia Council website http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/grants/grants/new_work_-_literature. The closing date in 15 May.

Author Peter Trickett will give an illustrated talk on the research underpinning his controversial book Beyond Capricorn describing how the Portuguese fleet discovered and secretly mapped the entire east coast of Australia in 1522. This was some 250 years before Captain Cook. Drawing from primary and secondary historical sources, archaeological evidence and stories handed down through Aboriginal oral tradition, Peter Trickett tells a story of espionage, revenge and secret voyages made by the Portuguese to corner the fabulously rich spice trade in the east and find the islands of gold alluded to by Marco Polo. On Saturday 14 March join author Peter Trickett at La Vita Restaurant, Kendal Street, Cowra at 7.30pm. Learn more about the author, his research and why this topic is so controversial. For bookings contact Cowra Shire Council on 6340 2000. Cost is $5 (payable on the night) which includes a light supper. The event is part of Cowra's Festival of International Understanding running from 12 – 15 March. Guest nation this year is Portugal and Cowra Library also has a fantastic display of information and books on Portugal which are available for loan. Come in and check it out.

The next few meetings of the Bathurst Writers' Group will be as always, the 2nd Saturday of the month in the children's section of the Bathurst Library at 2pm. The upcoming dates are: Saturday 14th February, Saturday 14th March, Saturday 11th April. Feel free to bring some writing along that you would like feedback for or just something you want to share. For more information contact Jeff on 0427 603 822 or send an email to jefferyedoherty@gmail.com.

If you would like to add to your reading list (the thing to do at the start of the year – and after reading this, mine has just increased by nine) here are some suggestions from viewers of the ABC's Book Show with their list of favourite new books published in 2008. Fiction: Addition by Toni Jordan, Breath – Tim Winton, Enigma – Graeme Base, Everything I Knew – Peter Goldsworthy, People of the Book – Geraldine Brooks, Saltwater Moons – Julie Gittus, Sea of Many Returns – Arnold Zable, Tales from Outer Suburbia – Shaun Tan, The Boat by Nam Le, The Build Up by Phillip Gwynne, The Good Parents by Joan London, The Lieutenant by Kate Grenville, The Lifeboat by Zachary Jane, The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser, The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas, The Spare Room by Helen Garner and Wanting by Richard Flanagan. Non-fiction: Arabesques by Robert Dessaix, Arthur Boyd by Darleen Bungey, Feathered Dinosaurs: The Origin of Birds by John Long and Peter Schouten, In Turkey I am Beautiful by Brendan Shanahan, My Columbian Death by Matt Thompson, Ochre and Rust by Philip Jones, Other People's Country by Maureen Helend, That'd be Right by William McInnes, The Bitter Shore by Jacquie Everitt, The Rugmaker of Mazer-e-Sharif by Najaf and Robert Hillman, The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper, The Unlikely Voyage of Jack de Crow – AJ Mackinnon and Warrior Poets by Benjamin Gilmour. For poetry In Between the Dancing by EA Gleeson and The Golden Bird; and New and Selected Poems by Robert Adamson.

Announcing the first Litlink/NRWC Manuscript Award where entries are open to all writers resident in regional NSW, outside the Sydney metropolitan region. LitLink is a Statewide literary network, linking the nine writers' centres across NSW, supporting and promoting regional writers and developing audiences for Australian literature. Manuscripts may be fiction or narrative non fiction, and must be completed to a final draft stage. Sections of manuscripts or incomplete works will not be accepted. Unfortunately, picture books, poetry and performance pieces are not eligible for consideration. It is essential that works submitted have not been published in part or in full in any form. Deadline for entries, to be sent to the NRWC, is 5pm Monday 30 March, 2009. Each entry must be accompanied by the authorised entry form, available online at www.nrwc.org.au or from the Centre, Level 1, 69 Jonson St, Byron Bay. There is an entry fee of $35 per manuscript, to assist with administration and adjudicating. A shortlist of four will be announced by Friday 29 May. The shortlisted writers will appear at the Byron Bay Writers Festival 2009, where the winner will be announced in a dedicated session. The shortlisted manuscripts will each be read and considered by Annette Barlow of Allen and Unwin, and the ultimate winner will receive a prize, details of which to be confirmed shortly. Enquiries and further information from the Director, Jeni Caffin, at 02 6685 5115 and jeni@nrwc.org.au