New Look One Book One Wagga: Embrace the Magic of Reading

Welcome to the 2024 edition of One Book One Wagga, where we celebrate the power of storytelling and the joy of communal reading!

Mark your calendars for July 12th and join us at the CSU Riverina Playhouse at 7.30pm for an event tailored just for you.

Get ready for a journey through the pages of this year’s genre-bending novel as we continue to bring you the best in Australian contemporary literature.

We're excited to unveil this year's featured novel, "The Hummingbird Effect" by the talented Kate Mildenhall. Dive into this epic, kaleidoscopic story of four women connected across time and place by an invisible thread and their determination to shape their own stories.

The Hummingbird Effect is ‘Spellbinding, genre-defying, and powerful in its vision of the future … a devastating novel that exposes the ways the future is seeded in the past.’

Australian Book Review

Join us at the Riverina Playhouse on July 12th for an evening of stimulating discussion with Kate Mildenhall herself. Gain valuable insights into the creative process, discover the inspiration behind "The Hummingbird Effect" and participate in thought-provoking conversations that delve deep into the heart of the novel.

After the event canapes will be served in the foyer.  Where you can chat with fellow book enthusiasts and meet Kate Mildenhall in person when you get your copy of "The Hummingbird Effect" signed.

This is a new chapter for One Book One Wagga, and we invite you to be a part of it. Let's embark on this literary adventure together, as we celebrate storytelling and the transformative power of the written word.

About Kate

Kate Mildenhall is a writer and teacher. Her debut novel, Skylarking, was named in Readings Top Ten Fiction Books of 2016 and her bestselling The Mother Fault was longlisted for the 2021 ABIA General Fiction Book of the Year and shortlisted for the 2020 Aurealis Awards. Kate teaches creative writing and co-hosts The First-Time podcast – which features conversations with Australian writers – and is currently undertaking a PhD in creative practice at RMIT University. Kate lives in Hurstbridge on Wurundjeri lands, with her partner and two children. Kate’s third novel is The Hummingbird Effect.

Synopsis

One of the lucky few with a job during the Depression, Peggy’s just starting out in life. She’s a bagging girl at the Angliss meatworks in Footscray, a place buzzing with life as well as death, where the gun slaughterman Jack has caught her eye – and she his.

How is her life connected to Hilda’s, almost a hundred years later, locked inside during a plague, or La’s, further on again, a singer working shifts in a warehouse as her eggs are frozen and her voice is used by AI bots? Let alone Maz, far removed in time, diving for remnants of a past that must be destroyed? Is it by the river that runs through their stories, eternal yet constantly changing – or by the mysterious Hummingbird Project, and the great question of whether the march of progress can ever be reversed?

Reviews

'Kate Mildenhall is such an exciting writer to read … This generous, playful novel speaks to themes of climate change, survival and holding space for each other, as well as the enduring power of female friendship.' The Guardian

‘Spellbinding, genre-defying, and powerful in its vision of the future … The Hummingbird Effect is a devastating novel that exposes the ways the future is seeded in the past.’ Australian Book Review

The Hummingbird Effect Award Nominations

Longlisted for the Stella Prize 2024
Longlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2024
Sydney Morning Herald Best Reads of the Year for 2023