Denotes website entries with audio interviews
Independently published, Australia, 2026
Cover image Mary Wettenhall (1809-1896)by Robert Wettenhall from the author’s collection
The Mary Poems is an affecting imagining of the life and thoughts of the poet’s ancestor, Mary Burgess Wettenhall née Bussell (1809 to 1896).
Penguin, Australia, 2026
Cover design Christabella Designs
Cover image Posnov/Getty Images
It seems that magical realism meets a seedy underbelly in the small Australian town of Possible Springs.
Allen & Unwin, Australia 2026
Cover design Christa Moffitt, Christabella Designs
Cover images Jaroslaw Blaminsky/Trevillion Images; Shutterstock
Commercial litigation lawyer Ruth Dawson is beset both professionally and personally in Bad Neighbours, a twisty tale of greed, property and betrayal.
Faye Skyring Gallery, Chifley. ACT
Open Days: 21 – 23 August 2026
Exhibition: 18 – 23 August 2026
As part of celebrations for its 60th year Canberra Spinners and Weavers will showcase its members’ work and tools.
Part of the 2026 Chamber Series
Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, ACT
4.30pm Sunday, 23 August 2026
Music by Boismortier, Schop, Handel, Mascitti, Delavigne.
Riveted Press, Australia 2026
Cover art Tamlyn Teow
The Prime Minister Problem is a book of considerable charm. Its main character Wren is a gentle lad, never feeling like he belongs, not ‘in’ with the popular kids and often teased or left out at school.
Huskisson, NSW
27 to 30 August 2026
An arts festival with doing at its heart based on the philosophy that creativity is a powerful vehicle for wellbeing and human connection
Q Gallery Art Hub
Ainslie Shops ACT
Until Thursday 6 August 2026
Artist and former journalist Neil Lade says the title of his solo exhibition of sketches and paintings reflects its mixture of the surreal, weird and comical, as well as the creation of the works over time – and his own life.
Allen & Unwin, Australia 2026
Cover design Christa Moffat, Christabella Designs
Cover illustrations Nastia/Adobe Stock
The Followers is a whip-smart fiction, delving into the dark hothouse that girlhood can be from pre-puberty, through teenhood and into young womanhood.
Strathnairn Arts
90 Stockdill Drive Holt ACT
Wednesday to Sunday10am to 4pm
Until 23 August 2026
The Marsden Art Group is a collective of Canberra-based artists who have been exhibiting together for over two decades in a wide range of mediums including painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, textiles and mixed media.
A journey by train to Darwin and surrounds
Strathnairn Arts
90 Stockdill Drive, Holt, ACT
Wednesday to Sunday 10am till 4pm
Until 26 July 2026
Val Johnson’s latest exhibition traces a journey through the Australian landscape, as she travelled from Melbourne aboard the Overland train and then north on the Ghan from Adelaide.
Directed by Bonnie Neate and Suzy Piani
Erindale Theatre, McBryde Crescent, Wanniassa ACT
7pm Friday 24 and Saturday 25 July 2026
The Edge is a full-length contemporary dance work that examines the price of ambition, corporate dehumanisation, greed and psychological warfare. It blends contemporary dance, cinematic storytelling, and digital animation
Palace Electric Cinemas
9 July – 2 August 2026
Films from the Nordic region – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
The Q, Queanbeyan NSW
6, 7 August 2026 at 7.30pm
8 August at 2pm & 7.30pm
Diamond is an exploration of ageing, resilience, and the complexity of womanhood. Blending contemporary dance, song, cabaret, and a touch of burlesque, this one-woman show invites audiences into a world of humour, glamour, and heartfelt transformation.
Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, Australia 2026
Cover design Hazel Lam
Cover images Adobe Stock; shutterstock.com; rawpixel.com
Kathryn Heyman has captured both the delicacy and the rawness of sharing the dying time of a loved one.
