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UID:1455@hachette.com.au
DTSTART:20260903T080000Z
DTEND:20260903T090000Z
LOCATION:Readings Carlton\, 309 Lygon St\, Carlton\, VIC\, 3053
SUMMARY:Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Antoun Issa in conversation
DESCRIPTION:We are beyond delighted to invite you to hear Micaela Sahhar in conversation with two incredible authors\, Michael Mohammed Ahmad and Antoun Issa.\n\nMichael Mohammed Ahmad is an award winning author\, the founding director of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and editor of the critically acclaimed anthology After Australia. His latest novel\, Bugger\, follows the story of ten year old Hamoodi who already knows that to speak out is dangerous. His mother and father have told him to trust no one - except family. Alooshi understands first-hand the hurt words can bring. When his younger cousin Hamoodi is bullied at school\, Alooshi sees a way to get something else he wants. Bugger reveals an uncompromising representation of abuse and explores the impact one day can have on a lifetime.\n\nAntoun Issa is a Lebanese-Australian journalist and co-founder of Deepcut News. His latest book\, Rebirth\, is set in Beirut in 1974 and follows the story of Laila Khalil\, who has just come of age for marriage. Laila knows that she must fulfil her family's expectations. But her heart is drawn to the handsome Nicolas\, a coiffeur at a local hair salon. The two young lovers begin a tender romance. Soon\, they make plans for marriage. But Laila's dreams are dashed when the Lebanese Civil War breaks out. in Rebirth\, Issa powerfully captures his mother's true experiences of love\, heartbreak and new hope during the violence of civil war.\n\nMicaela Sahhar is an Australian–Palestinian writer and educator living on unceded Wurundjeri Country. Her essays\, poetry and commentary have appeared in Cordite\, Meanjin\, Overland and Sydney Review of Books\, among others. Her first book\, Find Me at the Jaffa Gate: An encyclopaedia of a Palestinian family\, was the winner of the 2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for Nonfiction and the 2026 NSW Literary Award for New Writing\; it was shortlisted for the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction (NSW) and the Multicultural NSW Award\, and long-listed for the 2026 Stella Prize.
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