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The Next Big Thing: Search and Rescue

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Live EventPay What You Wish / FreeStorytelling

Join us for the final edition of The Next Big Thing for 2024, as five emerging voices explore themes of search, loss and discovery. 

Don’t miss the last edition of Next Big Thing for 2024. This beloved Melbourne tradition brings together five literary stars of tomorrow as they share their works exploring the search for answers, identity and solace.  

Actor, comedian and writer Michelle Brasier’s new memoir My Brother’s Ashes are in a Sandwich Bag blends humour with heartbreak as she navigates grief through comedy.  

Caitlin Farrugia’s debut collection of short prose Search Histories is a journey through humanity’s curiosities, absurdities and vulnerabilities, by way of the everyday Google search.  

Tigest Girma introduces her Young Adult romantasy novel Immortal Dark, a dark academia story of vampire lore influenced by East African history and cultures.   

Aisling Smith’s latest work of short fiction in Kill Your Darling’s sixth annual collection of short fiction New Australian Fiction 2024 recounts the exploration of a woman reclaiming her voice.  

Ethan Cutajar's Voiceworks piece, ‘As the Crow Flies’, is a tribute to one dizzying year of self-reflection and the inability to heed red flags during times of personal unrest and turmoil.

 

The Next Big Thing series is generously supported by George and Rosa Morstyn. 

The Next Big Thing

Want to meet tomorrow’s literary stars today? Let us introduce you. The Next Big Thing takes place every month at the Moat and is a cherished Melbourne institution. It’s the place to be if you want to hear great emerging writers read from new and adventurous work. Enjoy a delicious drink and a bite to eat, while sampling writing from tomorrow’s best and brightest literary stars. 

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Event and Ticketing Details

Dates & Times

Monday 25 November
6.30 - 7.30pm

Tickets

$19.00
Full 
$15.00
Concession 
$15.00
Under 30 
$0.00
Pay What You Wish 

Location

The Moat

176 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne Victoria 3000

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Accessibility

Accessible toilets available

Registered Assistance Animals welcome

Wheelchair accessible

For information regarding accessibility at The Moat, click here. 

Please notify us of all access requirements when booking online so we can assist you with your visit. If you require further information, please contact ticketing@wheelercentre.com.

Additional Notes

The speakers will be signing books after the event.

The bookseller for this event is Readings.

Featuring

Michelle Brasier

Michelle Brasier is an actor, singer, comedian and screenwriter best known for her work with sketch group, Aunty Donna. She has appeared on Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell (ABC), Aunty Donna’s Big Old House Of Fun ...

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Ethan Cutajar

Ethan Cutajar is an emerging writer and alt-pop producer from the northern suburbs of Melbourne/Narrm. He writes on ugly personalities, ill-advised choices, and animal justice. You can find Ethan's short fiction in Voiceworks ...

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Caitlin Farrugia

Caitlin Farrugia is a dark comedy writer fascinated by human behaviour and everyday suffering, as well as intergenerational everything, and absurdism. Her work is always about people and their ordinary experiences that ...

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Tigest Girma

Tigest Girma is an Ethiopian writer based in Melbourne, Australia. After graduating with a Bachelor of Education, she splits her time between writing and teaching. Passionate about exploring East African characters ...

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Aisling Smith

Aisling Smith won the 2020 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. Her debut novel, After the Rain, was published by Hachette Australia in 2023 and was longlisted for this year's Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. Her short ...

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Diem Nguyen

Diem is the Wheeler Centre’s Program Coordinator. She has worked at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, Writers Victoria, and the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) ...

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