Warrnambool
Warrnambool – Saturday June 28 2025
185 Timor Street, Warrnambool Victoria 3280
Warrnambool Storytelling Festival and Collins Booksellers Warrnambool are delighted to present STELLA DAY OUT, a one-day literary extravaganza. This free event will feature five critically-acclaimed Stella Prize listed authors, in conversation with local moderators, speaking on fiction and non-fiction writing processes and themes such as chronic pain, motherhood, climate, and identity. Books will be available for purchase and authors will be signing.
To book your free tickets: https://tickets.lighthousetheatre.com.au/Events/Stella-Day-Out
Session 1: Thuy On and Eloise Grills in conversation with Mary Coverdale
11am – 12pm
2023 Longlisted author Thuy On and 2023 Shortlisted author Eloise Grills join Mary Coverdale to explore their use of poetry to navigate self-expression, identity, sexuality, and emotion – particularly from a feminist lens.
Session 2: Katherine Brabon in conversation with Dr Jodie Fleming
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Join Katherine Brabon as she discusses her relationship with chronic pain and how her writing journey with Body Friend helped or hindered that.
Session 3: Alice Robinson and Kate Mildenhall in conversation with Viveka Simpson
3pm – 4pm
Alice Robinson and Kate Mildenhall speak about motherhood and our dystopian future.
Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025).
Eloise Grills is a writer and comics artist living on unceded Wadawurrung land. Her first illustrated memoir, big beautiful female theory (Affirm Press 2022), was shortlisted for the Stella Prize and highly commended in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award. She is currently working on her first novel.
Mary Coverdale has had a lifetime passion for education. This has seen her involved in a range of roles, both inside and outside schools, seeking to build and provide systems and opportunities for teachers and students. Mary has been a school principal, a regional leader, and a member of various Boards including South West Health Care and Brophy Family and Youth Services.
Mary is currently working with an Aboriginal organisation which focuses on supporting women and families to recover from domestic violence incidents, and also works as a mentor to aspirant leaders in Victoria and Queensland.
Katherine Brabon is an author based in Naarm/Melbourne. Her latest novel, Body Friend, was shortlisted for the Stella Prize.
Kate Mildenhall is an author, writing teacher and podcaster. Her debut novel SKYLARKING was longlisted for Debut Fiction in The Indie Book Awards 2017 and the 2017 Voss Literary Award. Her second novel, THE MOTHER FAULT was longlisted for the 2021 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the 2021 Aurealis Science Fiction Novel of the Year. Her latest novel is THE HUMMINGBIRD EFFECT (2023), shortlisted for the ABIA Literary Fiction Book of the Year and longlisted for the Stella Prize and the Indie Book Awards Fiction, 2024.
For the past six years Kate has co-hosted The First Time podcast. She is currently undertaking a PhD in creative process at RMIT University and working on her fourth novel. In October she will release her first picture book TO STIR WITH LOVE, illustrated by Jess Racklyeft. Kate lives on Wurundjeri lands in Hurstbridge with her partner and two children.
Alice Robinson is the author of three novels with Affirm Press – most recently If You Go (2024). Her debut novel, Anchor Point (2015), was longlisted for the Stella Prize and the Indie Book Awards. The Glad Shout (2019) was shortlisted for an Aurealis Award and The Colin Roderick Literary Award and won the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction. Alice has a PhD in Creative Writing from Victoria University, for which she was awarded Vice Chancellor’s Peak Award for Research. She works at Federation University and RMIT.
Dr Jodie Fleming is an author, and a Clinical and Health Psychologist with over two decades of experience supporting individuals living with chronic illness and health challenges. Her professional expertise is deeply informed by her personal experiences of surviving breast cancer and living with an autoimmune condition. Jodie’s unique perspective—both clinical and lived—makes her a passionate advocate for conversations around the intersection of body, identity, and wellbeing.
Viveka Simpson grew up in country Victoria where formative experiences in nature gave her a passion for studying the environment. She completed a Master of Environmental Management and Development at Australian National University in 2008, after which she worked as a researcher, policy writer and conservationist. Completing a Master of Teaching (Secondary) at Melbourne University, she became a science teacher, policy change advocate and curriculum expert. Today she supports a range of pre-service teachers and university students to become passionate science educators and practitioners.
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