Chris Womersley

https://www.theage.com.au/culture/books/complications-abound-in-the-aftermath-of-a-suburban-crime-20230911-p5e3r2.html
A skilfully constructed Rorschach test of a novel, Ordinary Gods and Monsters relays either a tragic crime or a mystical constellation of linked events, depending on your viewpoint. What makes Womersley a special writer is his ability to seamlessly fuse these seemingly disparate threads, creating a self-contained world filled with equal parts dread and awe, ordinariness and otherworldliness.

"There are several references to the novel True Grit by the great American writer Charles Portis, but for some reason the character that came to me while reading this book was Huck Finn. This is an outstanding tale of the terrors of facing adulthood in the days when adolescence had a definite finish date." - Noice. Thanks Readings x

Ordinary Gods and Monsters It could have been any summer evening, but of course it wasn't. It was the end of some things, the beginning of so many others.

Wrote a little something on Australia's suburban uncanny for The Guardian Australia. Check it out if you're in the mood for some Hilary Mantel, Peter Carey, adolescence and the weird pull of the unheimlich ... x

The world’s great literature has captured the uncanny – but Australian suburbia is uniquely spooky | Chris Womersley You won’t find that feeling in faraway lands. It’s here between the city and the bush, not quite one thing or the other

Had a good chat with Radio National BookShow a few weeks ago about my new novel 'Ordinary Gods & Monsters'. Interview was broadcast yesterday. Can't really bear to listen to it myself but hopefully I make some sort of sense along the way ... Book is out today through Pan Macmillan Australia. Get into it x

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-book-show/chris-womersley-maxine-beneba-clarke-zeynab-gamieldien/102701798?utm_campaign=abc_listen&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_listen

New novel launching next Tuesday! Come along if you're in Melbourne... https://www.readings.com.au/events/book-launch-ordinary-gods-and-monsters

Good people of the internet. I'm having a launch for my 6th novel (writing that almost makes me feel like a real novelist) ORDINARY GODS & MONSTERS. This one's a suburban murder mystery with a dash of comic weirdness. And a few bikies. Oh, and a psychic pot dealer. I'll be in conversation with Mark Rubbo of Readings for this one. August 29 at 6:30PM. More details below or via the link. Come along if it's something you fancy. Cheerio! x https://www.readings.com.au/events/book-launch-ordinary-gods-and-monsters

Wait!!
Launch for
ORDINARY GODS & MONSTERS
will be on August 29th ...
Readings Carlton

Final checks for my new novel 'Ordinary Gods & Monsters'. A hit and run, teen romance, some bikies and a one-eyed conspiracy theorist in the suburbs. Out September through Pan Macmillan Australia

For anyone who might be interested, I'm having a chat with art critic Tim Byrne next week in Altona. Art and heists and all that kind of thing. Come on down x

Art Heists – The Diplomat: Chris Womersley and Tim Byrne, Altona, Thu 18th May 2023, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm AEST | Humanitix In 1986, Picasso’s The Weeping Woman was stolen from the NGV. Weeks later it was discovered in a train station locker. Chris Womersley (The Diplomat) is an expert on art heists. With arts critic Tim Byrne, Chris will unravel truths stranger than fiction in Melbourne’s underground art world. In p...

Fo a glimpse of old Brunswick Street and a pub which might have been the setting for a scene in THE DIPLOMAT... 😒

Punters Club Hotel Punters Club Hotel - Sign InstallationDesigned and made by Craig Peverelle the work was installed one bright Sunday morning in the Autumn of 1990Film directe...

Back by unpopular demand! Editing a new novel. ORDINARY GODS AND MONSTERS. Full of all the good stuff. Family life in the suburbs, speed-dealing bikies, one-eyed conspiracy theorists, teen romance. Save your pennies. Out in September. I think. 🙄

For anyone who might reading The Diplomat over summer... Here's a playlist to go along with it. Feel free to sing along... x

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7sX1APo35UXOWFNOLf54op?si=8c4ee60b21f84db2

THE DIPLOMAT. Buy a copy for your weird uncle for Christmas...

Oh hey. Here's a link to a fun interview I did with Sarah from The Book Show on ABC Radio National ABC Arts We took a stroll in Brunswick Street past some old haunts and chatted all things 90s and The Diplomat. The whole episode is great. I'm on at around the 40 minute mark... Tootle x
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/the-book-show/kamila-shamsie-noviolet-bulawayo-chris-womersley/14074022

Cameras, watches, drones and The Diplomat. Father's Day sorted. Get onto it! https://creammagazine.com/2022/08/12/fathers-day-gift-guide-2022/

In which I ramble on quite a bit about a (doubtless deeply unfashionable) series of novels that I love - and get to use the word 'mondegreen' too. 'A Dance to the Music of Time' for Kill Your Darlings x https://www.killyourdarlings.com.au/article/chris-womersley-on-how-a-dance-to-the-music-of-time-influenced-the-diplomat/?fbclid=IwAR3_CHKiM976ExUw71Yi-AVRBnd8GFqcTpOWvARNtGaoXUM_smqfQZFj9dk

Chris Womersley on the 12-novel epic that influenced 'The Diplomat' On being inspired by Anthony Powell’s 'A Dance to the Music of Time'

Life, Death etc.at Melbourne Writers Festival with the great Steve Toltz. I think my first ever event talking about books was with Steve - way back in 2008 or something. Should be fun. Book tix here if if sounds like your kinda thing. X https://mwf.com.au/program/life-love-death-etcetera-1ee1/

An urn full of memories. In case you missed it, here's some audio of the famous Kate and Cassie from ABC Radio National chatting about The Diplomat. I think they liked it.

An urn full of memories, an everlasting lightbulb and what to read next: Chris Womersley's The Diplomat and Anjali Joseph's Keeping in Touch - ABC Radio National Reading Chris Womersley's The Diplomat and Anjali Joseph's Keeping in Touch plus a guide to Sri Lankan fiction from Smriti Daniel and what's coming out later this year with independent bookseller Mark Rubbo. Kate Evans and Cassie McCullagh, bringing you new fiction

Oh hey. Weirdly, I'm doing a couple of things at this year's Melbourne Writers Festival. Chatting with the great Steve Toltz about life and death - and also an event about The Diplomat. Come along if that sounds like your jam. Tickets are on sale now. x https://mwf.com.au/?s=womersley

For anyone who might be interested, the beautiful Cairo apartment block in Fitzroy now has its very own website - and they're keen to hear from anyone who might have lived there or has images or historical documents of the block... https://cairoflats.com.au

'What is most remarkable about The Diplomat is the prose. It is beautiful, clear and precise and avoids all self-pity for Edward. Womersley walks a tightrope where he makes no excuses for Edward, but we sympathise deeply with him and hope he is able to pull off his harebrained scheme.' Thanks Readings! https://www.readings.com.au/products/35319168/the-diplomat

Total pleasure to pop into RRR last week - for the first time in AGES thanks to you know what - to chat with Breakfasters about The Diplomat. For those who missed it and might be innerested, here's a link to the interview x
https://www.rrr.org.au/shared/podcast-episode/5992/5620000

"The Diplomat, for all its sad subject matter, is a gripping page-turner of a novel. It is a book that is hard to put down once you have started it..." ArtsHub Pan Macmillan Australia

Book review: The Diplomat, Chris Womersley A powerful and gripping novel of agony and the despair of regret

Pleased to be part of this year's Open House Melbourne Weekend at the end of July. Come spend Sunday afternoon in the Ghost of Alfred Felton Bar at Hotel Esplanade as I discuss my latest novel, THE DIPLOMAT with lovely host Brian Nankervis. Come on down! x Melbournehttps://openhousemelbourne.org/event/hotel-ghosts-chris-womersley-at-the-espy/

Hotel Ghosts: Chris Womersley at the Espy | Open House Melbourne Immerse yourself in the bohemian underworld of Melbourne’s artistic and cultural past, and share a drink with some colourful ghosts with impeccable taste. As part of Open House Melbourne Weekend, spend Sunday afternoon in the Ghost of Alfred Felton Bar at Hotel Esplanade as author Chris Womersley ...