HarperHighlights December

Welcome to Story Club: Candid True Tales by Australia’s Funniest Oversharers ZOE NOR TON LODGE & B E N J E NK I NS

Back Roads H E ATH E R EWAR T & K AR E N M I CH E L MOR E

In this first collection from Story Club, the legendary live show that has become a hit podcast, Club founders and popular The Checkout presenters Zoe Norton Lodge and Ben Jenkins have brought together more than 30 of the most-candid true tales by some of Australia’s funniest oversharers. The results are by turns hilarious, poignant, revealing and, sometimes, downright weird. Contributors include

A road trip around Australia, discovering towns and communities outside the mainstream — and the colourful inhabitants whose grit and humour will uplift and inspire you

Discover the resilient and inspiring people who live outside big Australian cities — and, indeed, off the beaten track altogether. Defined by their strength and humility, these are characters whose grit and good humour will uplift and inspire. Meet strong women like Joan Sinclair, Heather Jones from the Pilbara Heavy Haulage Girls and Diane Reeves, a transgender former dairy farmer, shearer and truck driver; visit historic places such as Pine Creek, built on the sweat of Chinese workers, and Marree, where cameleers forged new paths far from home in this remote part of the world.

David Marr, Annabel Crabb, Richard Glover, Rob Carlton, Lewis Hobba, Cathy Wilcox, Susie Youssef, Kate Mulvany (King Lear), Debra Oswald, Osher Günsberg and many more. Zoe Norton Lodge is co-creator of Story Club and, having told a new yarn there approximately once a month for a decade, has written approximately four million short stories. Zoe’s writing is widely published in Australian anthologies, including Best Australian Stories . Her first book of short stories, Almost Sincerely , was published in 2015 and she has written two books for children, Elizabella Meets Her Match and Elizabella and the Great Tuckshop Takeover . Ben Jenkins is a writer and presenter on ABC’s The Checkout . He is host and co-creator of the comedy nights-turned podcasts Story Club and ‘Dragon Friends’. He is also co-host of the hit podcast ‘Free to a Good Home’. He co- wrote the radio play ‘Space Wizard’ for ABC Radio National and writes about politics and media for Fairfax. Ben Jenkins Zoe Norton Lodge

‘They’re proud communities like my hometown, full of surprises, fight and spirit,’ says Heather Ewart, Back Roads presenter.

Non Fiction | December 2018

For anyone curious about what lies beyond, Back Roads will transport you from your city doorstep and show you a land of surprise and determination.

Before joining Back Roads in 2015 as a writer and researcher, Karen Michelmore was a researcher and producer for Four Corners .

Heather Ewart is a much loved, award-winning journalist and the popular host of Back Roads .

abc.net.au/tv/programs/back-roads

9780733339684 | e 9781460710845 | 16/11/18 TPB | 288pp | AU $32.99 NZ $36.99 Publicity contact: Matthew.Howard@harpercollins.com.au

9780733339554 | e 9781460710432 | 16/11/18 NSP | 288pp | AU $29.99 NZ $35.00 Publicity contact: Kajal.Narayan@harpercollins.com.au

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