Special online event with acclaimed US writer Jonathan Franzen

Newcastle Writers Festival is excited to announce that on October 5 we will be co-hosting Jonathan Franzen’s first Australian event celebrating the release of his highly anticipated new novel Crossroads.

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The online conversation will be held from 7.30pm and will be led by ABC Radio’s Sarah Kanowski. Franzen will discuss family, America, and where the modern novel must go from here.

Crossroads is the first in an ambitious new trilogy, A Key to All Mythologies, and is a family saga spanning three generations.

The novel serves as a foundation for a sweeping investigation of human mythologies, as the Hildebrandt family navigates the political, intellectual, and social crosscurrents of the past 50 years.

Jonathan Franzen is the author of six novels, including The Corrections and Freedom. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the German Akademie der Kunste, and the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He is recognised as one of the best American writers of our age and has won many awards.

He lives in New York City and Santa Cruz, California. This special event is presented in partnership with The Wheeler Centre in Melbourne and Byron Writers Festival and funds raised from Hunter ticket sales will support Newcastle Writers Festival.

Viewing the event

This conversation will be broadcast at 7.30pm, 5 October 2021, and will be available on-demand until 7.30pm, 12 October 2021. Viewing instructions for the event will be sent directly to ticket buyers. Tickets are $15/$10 concession plus a one-off transaction fee of $4 per order.

Support local business and pre-order a book To support the festival’s long-time bookseller and a local Newcastle business, you can pre-order your copy of Crossroads from MacLean’s Booksellers for $32.99. Postage is $9.95 or free if spending more than $60.

For more information, to buy tickets or order a copy of the book visit newcastlewritersfestival.org.au