Four favourite writers come together to give the lowdown on having their works adapted into TV shows and movies and adapting the work of others. Hear from Eleanor Catton, whose novels The Rehearsal and The Luminaries have made their way to the screen; Holly Ringland, whose bestseller The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is being turned into a series starring Sigourney Weaver; and Tom Rob Smith, whose novel Child 44 became a movie with Tom Hardy and whose adaptations for the screen The Assassination of Gianni Versace have won him an Emmy and a Golden Globe. They chat with Benjamin Law.
A Sydney Writers’ Festival Live & Local Livestream event.
ABOUT ELEANOR CATTON
Eleanor Catton is the author of The Luminaries (Granta, 2013), winner of the Man Booker Prize and the Governor General’s Literary Award and an international bestseller. Her debut novel, The Rehearsal (Granta, 2009), won the Betty Trask Prize, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and the Dylan Thomas Prize, and longlisted for the Orange Prize. As a screenwriter, she adapted The Luminaries for television, and Jane Austen’s Emma for feature film. Born in 1985 in Canada and raised in New Zealand, she now lives in Cambridge, England. Her most recent book Birnam Wood is out now.
ABOUT HOLLY RINGLAND
Holly Ringland is a writer, storyteller, and television presenter. Her bestselling debut novel, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, has been published in 31 countries/territories and has been adapted as a seven-part TV series that will stream in 240+ countries on Amazon Prime in 2023, starring Sigourney Weaver. Holly is the co-host of ABC TV’s series, Back To Nature, which aired to critical acclaim in 2021. Holly’s second novel, The Seven Skins of Esther Wilding, is out now.
ABOUT TOM ROB SMITH
Tom Rob Smith is the author of the acclaimed Child 44 trilogy. Child 44 itself was a global publishing sensation, selling over two million copies. It was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Prize and won the CWA Steel Dagger Award and became a movie with Tom Hardy and Gary Oldman. Tom also writes for television and won a Writer’s Guild Award for best adapted series and an Emmy and Golden Globe for best limited series with American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, his adaptation of Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favours. His latest novel, Cold People, has just been published.
ABOUT BENJAMIN LAW
Benjamin Law is a journalist, columnist, TV screenwriter and author of The Family Law, Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East and Quarterly Essay 67: Moral Panic 101. The Family Law is an award-winning TV series for SBS that Benjamin created and co-wrote over three seasons. He co-host’s ABC Radio’s Stop Everything! with Beverley Wang, and is a weekly columnist for Good Weekend magazine.
Event and Ticket Details
This event is free but bookings are encouraged as capacity is limited







