British royalty will meet Australian writing royalty at a new literary festival in Perth, with the Duchess of York confirming a visit to WA for the inaugural Festival of Fiction in October.
The West Australian exclusively revealed Sarah Ferguson will headline the October 19 event, which will also feature a starry collection of best-selling authors and local writers, and be held at Edith Cowan University’s Joondalup campus.
The duchess has more than 55 books to her name across a variety of genres, from adult romance to self-help, and will use the event to promote her latest work, a children’s picture book, The Gift of Kindness, published by Perth literary house, Serenity Press.
In January, the mother of Princess Beatrice and Eugenie spoke of her “shock” at being diagnosed with malignant melanoma, which was discovered following the removal of a cancerous mole during treatment for breast cancer.
She recently confirmed she has since been given the all-clear.
The prolific Royal author has previously topped The New York Times best-seller list, and Festival of Fiction founder Tess Woods said securing her appearance was a huge coup.
Woods said the Duchess of York would be joined at the festival by Melina Marchetta, whose debut novel, Looking for Ali Brandi, was adapted into a movie in 2000, as well as leading Indigenous author Tony Birch.
Top crime novelist Dervla McTiernan and Nicola Moriarty (younger sister to Big Little Lies author Liane) are also set to attend, in addition to a number of WA authors shortlisted in the Premier’s Literary Awards.
“I became a professional beggar, and just started asking publishers if they would send us their authors and … I spent a few months curating the list that I wanted,” Woods said.
A physiotherapist by day, Woods is an acclaimed writer herself, having published three books through HarperCollins and a fourth, The Venice Hotel, due in September after a bidding war saw her manuscript land at Penguin.
“That just happened at the London Book Fair,” Woods confirmed.
The Festival of Fiction will consist of back-to-back author panels based on genre, and offer five-minute “speed dating” sessions so members of the public can pitch their own book ideas to top publishers.
Tickets are available through Eventbrite.