Author Talk - Holden Sheppard

Thursday 28th August 2025


Join award-winning author Holden Sheppard for a special Author's Talk and Q&A at the Eaton Community Library, MC’d by fellow author Dr Aksel Dadswell.

Don’t miss this exclusive South West appearance as part of Holden’s National Tour!

Collins Booksellers will be on-site with a great selection of books available for purchase, don’t miss the chance to grab your copy and get it signed.

BOOK YOUR FREE TICKETS TODAY

Please note: this event is 18years + only. Staff reserve the right of entry. Exception will be made for those accompanied by parents/guardians (15-17yrs).

About King of Dirt

A gritty and heartfelt gay coming-of-age story from the author of the bestselling Invisible Boys.

Giacomo Brolo, aka Jack, is a mess. He works piecemeal construction gigs in remote WA, drinks himself to oblivion and is estranged from his family and friends.

But then Jack returns to his hometown of Geraldton for a family wedding. He hasn’t been back since he fled at the age of eighteen, and his past soon catches up with him.

Turns out Jack’s deeply conservative Italian family would prefer he remained in the closet. Then he finds out he may have conceived a son with his teenage girlfriend, and now Jack needs to convince her and her new husband that he’s fit to be a father figure. And whatever happened to Xavier, the former schoolmate who Jack was in love with and whose rejection spurred him to leave Geraldton in the first place?

Is Jack doomed to live a dead-end life – or can he open himself up to the possibility of love, found family and connection?

About Holden Sheppard

Holden's debut novel Invisible Boys achieved both commercial and critical success, winning many accolades including the WA Premier's Prize for an Emerging Writer. Invisible Boys has now been adapted for television as a ten-episode Stan Original Series, which premiered in February 2025 and became the #1 TV show nationally on Stan Australia upon release. Holden’s second book The Brink won several accolades, including the 2024 Ena Noël Award.

Holden lives in Perth's far north with his husband and his V8 Ute.

About Dr Aksel Dadswell

Aksel Dadswell is a writer and researcher of horror and weird fiction. He coordinates the Bachelor of Creative Writing at ECU, and his work explores supernatural and human monsters, with a focus on race and gender. He guest-edited the speculative fiction edition of the little journal (2024), and his work is published in Ourselves: 100 Micro Memoirs (2024), Toxic Nostalgia On Screen (2024), and Follow the Salt (2025).

Event Details

Time: 6.00pm

Location: Eaton WA

Venue: Eaton Community Library

Cost: Free

Category: General, Adults & Seniors, Library

Type: General

Audience: All Ages

Enquiries

Contact: Kate Maloney

Organisation: Eaton Community Library

Position: Library Programs Officer

Phone: 9724 0000

Email: library@dardanup.wa.gov.au

Event Date(s)

  • Thursday 28th August 2025

Back to All Events