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MOTHER AND SON Tony Birch, Peter Polites and Ernest Price in conversation

  • Baroque Room, The Carrington Hotel 15-47 Katoomba Street Katoomba, NSW, 2780 Australia (map)

The mother-and-son relationship is maligned by phrases like ‘mummy’s boy’, but it’s explored with depth, love and humour in the latest novels by these three very different men: Tony Birch’s Women and Children, Peter Polites’ God Forgets About The Poor, and Ernest Price’s The Pyramid of Needs.  

Traversing class, culture, sexuality and history, this considered conversation will give insight into how these authors explore masculinity and maternal bonds in their work, and how their craft has been influenced by their own families. 

Tony Birch holds the Boisbouvier Chair in Australian Literature at Melbourne University. He is the author of four novels, five short fiction collections, and two poetry books. His most recent book is the novel Women and Children

Peter Polites is the author of two queer noirs, Down the Hume and The Pillars, the latter of which won the 2020 NSW Premier's Multicultural Literary Award. He also won the 2020 Woollahra Digital Literature Prize for Fiction.  

Ernest Price is a transgender man working as a secondary English teacher in Naarm/Melbourne. His debut novel The Pyramid of Needs was published by Affirm Press in 2024. 

Please note that this venue is licensed and entry is for over 18’s only.

This venue is wheelchair accessible, but please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.

Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival will have Auslan interpreters available for the Festival and will schedule them into sessions on request. Please complete the Auslan request question at checkout. 


Festival Ticket Information

To take full advantage of all the events on offer, we recommend purchasing a weekend or day pass. Subject to availability, a strictly limited number of single tickets may become available, see below. 

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3 November

WILD IMAGININGS Siang Lu and Kate Mildenhall in conversation

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PIP WILLIAMS in conversation with Kate Evans