Kerryn Mayne, author of “Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder  returns to Mentone Public Library on 7 September.   Hear all about her new book, “Joy Moody Is Out Of Time.” Book now! WHEN:  Saturday, September 7, 11 am. WHERE:  Mentone Public Library. ENTRY : $5. BOOK NOW:   https://www.trybooking.com/CUOWQ O R  by Bank Transfer to BSB 013 352, Acct no 009777676, Reference ‘Kerryn Mayne.’ OR  by Cash or Credit on the day.  36 Florence Street, Mentone, Victoria, 3194. mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com See Ethan’s PDF flyer below.   Best wishes, Nathaniel Davies.

Kate Forster. Read all over the world. Coming to Mentone. Kate Forster is the most successful Australian author that you've (probably) never heard of! Forster has written more than 30 books, all with thousands of positive ratings on Goodreads, Amazon and other sites. Her distinctive covers and delightful titles such as "Fly Me to Moongate Manor" and "Starting Over At Acorn Cottage" can be easily spotted in bookstores, libraries and airports all over the world.  Her novels are described by readers as "cosy romance", the perfect thing to snuggle in and enjoy when you really want to escape to somewhere wonderful.  Hugely successful author Kate Forster will outline all, including taking you through the steps of writing a book with her unique "Write Your Novel" planner. Spend a delightful Saturday morning finding out what makes a story tick.   WHEN: Saturday June 1, 11 am. WHERE: Mentone Public Library. BOOK NOW, TRY:     https://www.trybooking.co...

  Video footage of Alice Pung’s amazing adventures in literary land See hilights of the amazing Alice Pung in the video below during her author presentation spot at the Mentone Public Library. Introduction by Library President Graeme Johnstone. 

Not to be missed!   Dreams do come true   From hard times growing up in 1950s Ceylon,  Beverley Pinder OAM achieved her dreams and much, much more when  she arrived in Australia as a shy 13-year-old: Photographer’s model, beauty queen, head of one of Melbourne’s most successful public relations firms, charity fundraiser, voice for the homeless, and City of Melbourne councillor.   Beverley outlines her amazing life at a special Mentone Public Library author presentation of her book ‘Pride without Prejudice.’   WHEN: Saturday April 6, 11 am WHERE: Mentone Public Library   BOOK NOW:   https://www.trybooking.com/CQEAU   Or by  Bank Transfer to BSB 013 352, Acct no 009777676, Reference ‘Beverley’.   Or by Cash or Credit on the day. Entry $5.   mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com 36 Florence Street, Mentone, Victoria, 3194.

Not to be missed!   Alice’s amazing adventures in literary land   Born in Melbourne, Alice Pung was exquisitely named by grateful parents who only a month earlier had fled the Cambodian killing fields and landed in what her father saw as a “Wonderland”. From that prescient start, Alice has gone on to a remarkable writing career, recording and commenting on the Asian experience in Australia with award-winning works in both fact and fiction, the latest being “One Hundred Days”, described as her “greatest work yet.” A gifted and engaging speaker, she makes a special guest Mentone Public Library “Author For All Seasons” presentation.  Saturday March 2, at 11 am. Please note the change of venue to The Mentone Activity Hub corner Venice Street and Mentone Parade. Bookings:   https://www.trybooking.com/COVUX Or by  Bank Transfer to BSB 013 352, Acct no 009777676, Reference ‘Alice’. Or by Cash or Credit on the day. Entry $5. Email the library for more details at  m...

Alice Pung at Mentone Public Library Mentone Public Library’s 2024 author presentation series kicks off with a very special guest on March 2.  Internationally recognised author Alice Pung will outline her remarkable career, not only as an award-winning author but as a mentor to students in Australia and around the world. This includes as a guest lecturer at prestigious American institutions Brown University and Vassar College, as well as the University of Milan and Peking University. Alice is the author of best-selling works including the novels ‘One Hundred Days’ and ‘Her Father’s Daughter’, as well as a children’s series, and as editor of the anthologies ‘Growing Up Asian In Australia’ and ‘My First Lesson.’ “Alice has had her books published in the US, the UK, Germany and Indonesia,” library president Graeme Johnstone said. “We are thrilled to have a writer of her success and calibre to start our new season of author presentations.” For bookings and details, go to  https://...

Mentone Public Library would like to welcome you to 2024 Saturday library staff person Ethan has taken on the challenge of creating the flyers for the Mentone Public Library. We would like to show you the first one, a welcome flyer to remind you when we are open for borrowing and writing and to remind you to come in and borrow some great reads! Thanks Ethan!

Open Mic at Mentone Public Library  11am on 25 November 2023 See our catchy Facebook flyer/video below, or on Facebook for some creative inspiration. Entry only $5   Bookings via email mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com

 How do they do it? Writers write. Artists draw. But cartoonists? They are the rarest of breeds, skilfully combining both. The topic. The line. The nuance. The gag.   In a break from our “author” tradition, Mentone Public Library proudly presents  Award-winning local cartoonist and caricaturist ALAN ROSE Outlining his career in one of the most challenging of the publishing arts: setting up the scenario and delivering the punchline. WHEN: Saturday, November 11. TIME: 11 am. WHERE: Mentone Public Library, Rear, 36 Florence Street, Mentone, 3194. BOOKINGS,   entry $5.00, via: Try Booking -   https://www.trybooking.com/CMTHG Or   Bank Transfer to BSB 013 352, Acct no 009777676, Reference ‘Rose’. Or Cash or Credit on the day. Let us know you are coming:  mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com   ALAN ROSE: The Herald, Australasian Post, Sunday Observer, Juke Magazine, Recorder Newspapers UK; working alongside luminaries including Geoff Hook, WEG, Vane Lin...

Katie McMahon in An Author for All Seasons.  Interviewed by Graeme Johnstone Graeme Johnstone and Katie McMahon entertained us in a light-hearted conversation, covering Katie’s life journey as a writer from young days growing up in Frankston to her decision in India to go back to high school and train to become a doctor, touching on her current work in training doctors in communication, and her two psychological thriller novels. Graeme and Katie shared some of their favourite lines from the books, all the while showing the light-hearted sense of humour that makers for an enjoyable read. It was an inspirational event.   We sold more tickets than we had seats at the library this time, so we held it at the Mentone Activity Hub. It’s a great venue with a view of the park and only a short walk from our library.   Keep an eye out for another An Author for All Seasons event and our Annual General Meeting, both hopefully in November. Our next Open Mic event will be on 22 nd ...

Lover, Husband, Father, Monster and the art of coercive control What a pleasure it was to have Elsie and Graeme present with us on the difficult topic of coercive control on Saturday, 15 July, using their trilogy of books as a springboard for conversations. Graeme and Elsie Johnstone wrote three inter-connecting novels on this topic under the banner of ‘Lover, Husband, Father, Monster’, entitled ‘Her Story’, ‘His Story’ and ‘The Aftermath’. The works are best read in the order of 1 The woman’s perspective 2 The man’s perspective and 3 The views of those who it affected.  When they were working on these books, Elsie and Graeme decided to write every time it rained and being Ireland, they wrote a ‘bloody lot’. Their task was to find out ‘What drives two men on either side of the planet to commit such awful acts, both in Australia and Ireland, and how have their marriages come to this?’   The novel is set in Dublin, and it focuses on the marriage of Jennifer, a legal gr...

Judy's Open Mic reflection, 24 June 2023 Last Saturday (24 June 2023) we had a great ‘Open Mic’ session. Stimulating writings by several members revealed their literary talents either through ‘in depth’ revelations of lives or humorous accounts of every day observations.  Pip, Jan and Elsie opened up about their inner thoughts giving us a deeper understanding of even our own lives. Bruce was in poetic and artistic form, and Graeme took a light-hearted look at Russian politics. Word choice and poetic pattern were exemplary in both cases. Terri, Tony and Judy attempted another radio play script, unrehearsed, which sadly needed better secretarial management (my bad!). Mind you Terri did a superb ‘boy voice’ for her character struggling up Balcombe Rd with a horse and dray in 1899 going to the races at Mentone Race Course; and Tony was equally in charge of his masculine character. Ron also had stories about a Jack Russell named Jill,   (There is a Jack and Jill Russell joke t...

Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder and Kerryn Mayne coming again for Writer meets reader Kerryn Mayne.  What a breath of fresh air! Some people are born to speak in public and Kerryn is one of those lucky ones. We could have listened to her all day and not been bored. A full house at our Mentone Public Library was entertained and enthralled as we listened to Kerryn traverse many subjects – life as seen by a police officer, the busy and sometimes hectic life of a mother of four children under five, two of them nine-month-old twins, living with a young family in Aspendale Gardens, the goodness in almost everybody, even hardened criminals (there but for the grace of God, etc).  And those were just the side topics! What Kerryn was there for was to speak to us about the journey she took through pregnancy and COVID to produce a magnificently entertaining novel, ‘Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder’, a sort of crime fiction / psychological study / philosophical / human st...

Writer meets the Reader in May. Some say Don’t scratch the ancestors history too deep, you might find out things you didn’t want to know.  But Janine Marshall Wood did scratch very hard and attacked the history of her ancestors with zest.  She unearthed a fascinating story of a family who fought for their rights and prospered, but not without some deprivation and suffering. Janine Marshall Wood joined our book club last week to talk us through the development and  construction of the story her Welsh forebears who came to this country in a convict ship. It is really two story about one family.  The freedom fighter, (a man called Rebecca) who led the Rebecca protests against the unfair tolls the English imposed upon them.  The men and women of Wales was incensed and destroyed the toll gates, resulting in many of them being deported to the penal settlement of Van Diemen’s Land. There begins the Australian story.    But it was...

While we are away, here is a taster of our May “An Author for All Seasons” for which b ookings are now open. Blurb Chilling, charming! Suspenseful, uplifting!  ‘’LENNY MARKS GETS AWAY WITH MURDER’, is the delightfully-titled debut novel by Kingston author KERRYN MAYNE. You can hear all about it – as well as Kerryn’s writing career amidst working as a police officer, being the mother of four children and trying to improve her tennis game – at a special ‘Author For All Seasons’ presentation. AT Mentone Public Library ON Saturday, May 13 AT 11am. Published by Penguin Books, ‘Lenny’ has made a stunning entrance to the Australian literary scene, with humour, heart and loveable characters. And Kerryn matches it with her presentation! Bookings: Email  mentonepubliclibrary@gmail.com Entry $5, via Bank Transfer to BSB 013 352, Acct no 009777676, Reference ‘Lenny’; or by Cash or Credit on the day. See publisher, Penguin's website for further information at  https://www.penguin.com....

George Ivanoff shows what the writing game is all about George Ivanoff describes himself as a “jobbing author”, that is, an author who makes his living from his writing. He refuses to self-publish, as he considers that too hit and miss. His writing is his income and he has a family to feed, clothe and educate. Much time is spent pitching to publishers and copyright and licencing holders, dreaming up an idea, writing a treatment, submitting it and keeping fingers crossed that it flies. It is still a good part of his productive time. Many are rejected, some get through.  It takes hard graft. It takes patience. It takes tenacity. It takes talent and it takes an eye for a good story. In the early days, all his work was obtained this way but now, as a well-respected author with over 130 books under his belt, he has an excellent working relationship with Penguin and other publishing houses. They now come to him. He has also built up a successful series of networks with licencing firms an...

Gabby Greig – Urban Poet  at Mentone Public Library for  An Author for all Seasons Series 13  on 11 February, 2023   Gabby Greig’s poems have a real lyrical aspect to them. I can see some talented musician taking her words and making them into beautiful songs. And that, in a way, is what Gabby does when she presents! Her delivery is magical, intonation superb and voice melodic. She is the full package. Writer and presenter. On Saturday the Mentone Public Library was treated to her readings from her recently published Poetry anthology “Re-Framing”. She has illustrated her poems with her gentle photography. And as an added treat we were privy to some poetry that will be published shortly. We all loved it! She explores life and living in the 21 st  century from the mature and empathetic eyes of an older lady. Her topics range from the global concern of climate change, to very personal reflections of life and our place in the world.  Gabby’s attention to rhyme ...

  Open Mic, February, 2023   What our first Open Mic for the year lacked in numbers, it made up for in the quality of presentation and the hour stretched into a very entertaining and thought-provoking session, which produced lively conversation and excellent feedback. We enjoyed poems, short stories, oral rantings and, for the first time, we had a singer song writer in our midst and were treated to a live musical performance. Mark McGurgan, a travelling minstrel, is in town to catch up with his mother, Lesley, and to do a gig at the forthcoming Mordialloc Festival next weekend. Mark delved into the back of his camper and produced a piano size keyboard and his trusty guitar. He writes and sings his own songs and travels Australia sharing the joy.  We were lucky enough to have him present at Mentone Public Library last weekend.  He and his twin brother will be at the forthcoming Mordialloc Festival this coming weekend, an acrobat from southern Tasmania, and will unite ...

  The Writer Meets The Reader what it is and when  Meet the writer, 22  March 2023 afternoon. ‘Remote Rescue’ by George Ivanoff For our first Book Club this year, local author George Ivanoff, will take us on a journey where we dig deep into the mind of those teenage boys in our lives to discover what motivates them and what they are reading.  George has made a very successful career out of catering for that demographic who often resist reading, simply because they are not interested in the subject matter offered to them. He tells stories about ordinary kids facing extraordinary circumstances and that breaks down barriers. George Ivanoff has written more than 100 books for kids and teens, including fiction and non-fiction, although he admits that Science fiction and fantasy are his two of his favorite genres.   He has won prestigious awards for his You Choose series, an interactive work consisting of 13 books. He has also done a series of science fiction novels e...