BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Sisters in Crime Australia - ECPv6.15.7//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Sisters in Crime Australia
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:Australia/Melbourne
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+1100
TZOFFSETTO:+1000
TZNAME:AEST
DTSTART:20250405T160000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+1000
TZOFFSETTO:+1100
TZNAME:AEDT
DTSTART:20251004T160000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+1100
TZOFFSETTO:+1000
TZNAME:AEST
DTSTART:20260404T160000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+1000
TZOFFSETTO:+1100
TZNAME:AEDT
DTSTART:20261003T160000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:+1100
TZOFFSETTO:+1000
TZNAME:AEST
DTSTART:20270403T160000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:+1000
TZOFFSETTO:+1100
TZNAME:AEDT
DTSTART:20271002T160000
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260424T200000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260424T220000
DTSTAMP:20260407T014833
CREATED:20260325T073546Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T034837Z
UID:18962-1777060800-1777068000@sistersincrime.org.au
SUMMARY:Journalist Sleuths
DESCRIPTION:Book here\n\n\n\n\nWho better than newshounds to uncover mysteries and track down murderers? Three Melbourne authors\, Christine Gregory\, Laraine Stephens\, and Madeleine Cleary\, talk about how and why journalists make such superlative investigators with former journalist and crime author Dr Liz Porter. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nDisgraced investigative journalist Lars Nilsson first put his skills to work in Christine Gregory’s debut novel\, The Community (2024)\, which was shortlisted for the Davitt Awards. In The Informant (Ultimo Press)\, Lars is determined to report on the murder of a standover man for the notorious bikie gang the Outlaws in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. His presence isn’t welcomed by the police. \n\n\n\nChristine was born in Queensland and now calls Melbourne home. She has taught English in Japan\, worked for an international aid organisation in Vietnam\, and travelled to more than thirty countries. When she isn’t writing\, she is head of the Innovation lab at the national violence prevention organisation\, Our Watch. More info here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn The White Feather Murders\, the fifth in Laraine Stephens’ series\, the Argus’s senior crime reporter\, Reggie da Costa\, feels compelled to investigate the deaths of three people named and shamed in the Poison Pen column in The Truth newspaper in 1927. Each clutched a white feather. What is the connection between the anonymous Poison Pen and the people he ridicules: the president of the Melbourne Woman’s Christian Temperance Union\, a nurse\, a politician\, a doctor\, and a priest? What is the significance of the white feather? Can Reggie unmask the Poison Pen and bring a murderer to justice? \n\n\n\nAfter thirty-five years as a teacher-librarian\, Laraine threw off her pink twinset\, tartan skirt\, string of pearls\, sensible shoes\, and 400 denier tights to find out what life was like on the other side of the bookshelves. Donning a tracksuit and moccasins\, she was primed to write crime fiction!  Laraine has a seven-book contract with Level Best Books (USA) for the Reggie da Costa Mysteries. More info here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nMadeleine Cleary’s debut novel\, The Butterfly Women (2025\, Affirm Press)\, exposes Melbourne’s underbelly in the prosperous 1860s. Behind its shiny new facade\, the real Melbourne could be found in the notorious red-light district of Little Lon\, full of brothels where rich and poor alike can revel all night. The most glamorous among them is Papillon. For poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan\, a job at Papillon could be her ticket to success\, but in a time when women’s lives are cheap\, it also brings great danger. Meanwhile\, for respectable women like journalist Harriett Gardiner\, Papillon is strictly off-limits\, but when a murderer begins stalking the streets of Little Lon\, she becomes determined to visit it and find the truth. As both women are drawn into the hunt for the killer\, a long-hidden side of old Melbourne is revealed. \n\n\n\nThe Butterfly Women\, inspired by Madeleine’s discovery of a personal connection to the thieves and prostitutes of colonial Melbourne\, was shortlisted for 2025 Dymocks Book of the Year and the 2026 Indie Book Awards. Her writing has been shortlisted for The Australian Fiction Prize and featured in The Australian Weekend Magazine. Madeleine is the co-host of The Book Deal Podcast\, a popular podcast where she interviews writers about their pathway to publication. Before she became a published author\, Madeleine was a bookseller and served as an Australian diplomat in China. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nHost Liz Porter is a former award-winning legal affairs journalist now known for her books about ‘the real CSI’ —the way forensic science is used to solve crime.  Her recently completed PhD on the work of Victoria Police forensic lab scientists won La Trobe University’s Nancy Millis medal. Her forensic-themed books are: Crime Scene Asia: when forensic evidence becomes the silent witness; Written on the Skin: An Australian forensic casebook (joint winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly award for the best true crime book)\, and Cold Case Files\, winner of Australian Sisters in Crime’s 2012 Davitt award for best true crime book. She is the author of one novel\, Unnatural Order. \n\n\n\nMen or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome. \n\n\n\nSun Bookshop stall: Sisters in Crime members receive a 10% discount
URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au/event/journalist-sleuths/
LOCATION:The Rising Sun Hotel\, cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road\, South Melbourne\, Victoria\, 3205\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Official Sisters in Crime Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sistersincrime.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Journalist-Sleuths-Website-Page-Graphic-1600-x-900-px.png
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260522T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260522T193000
DTSTAMP:20260407T014833
CREATED:20260406T055108Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260406T055111Z
UID:19030-1779472800-1779478200@sistersincrime.org.au
SUMMARY:20th Law Week event. A is for Arsenic\, D Is for Death Cap.
DESCRIPTION:Book here\n\n\n\n\nExploring the many dimensions of poison as the ‘women’s weapon’ will be Chloe Hooper\, co-author of The Mushroom Tapes; Linda Glowacki\, toxicologist from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine & Angela Savage on Agatha Christie and poisons; and host Vikki Petraitis. \n\n\n\nPoison was historically considered the archetypal ‘woman’s weapon’ as it required no special strength\, only access and opportunity\, things generally afforded women in their domestic role. Or is this an old\, made-up sawhorse? \n\n\n\nThe 2025 trial of Erin Patterson for the murder of three people by death cap mushrooms attracted global attention and reignited the old debate about women and poisons. Chloe Hooper\, Helen Garner\, and Sarah Krasnostein\, three of Australia’s most celebrated nonfiction writers\, covered the trial. Their book\, The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a Triple Murder Trial (Text Publishing) is a true-crime book like no other—a unique study of Erin Patterson and our collective obsession with her strange and terrible crime. It was Readings’ top-selling book last year.   \n\n\n\nAgatha Christie used poison as a murder weapon in over 30 of her mystery novels\, leveraging her expert knowledge as a World War I hospital dispenser to craft accurate\, often undetectable methods. Her most common poisons—cyanide\, arsenic\, strychnine\, and nicotine—were chosen for their specific physiological effects\, with her meticulous accuracy even prompting real-life medical and clinical cases.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nChloe Hooper is a multi-award-winning author of two novels and two other works of non-fiction\, The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire (Hamish Hamilton 2018) and The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island (2008) which won the Victorian\, New South Wales\, West Australian and Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards\, as well as the John Button Prize for Political Writing\, the 2009 Davitt (True Crime) and a Ned Kelly Award for crime writing. Her two novels are A Child’s Book of True Crime\, the joint winner of the 2003 Davitt (Adult Fiction)\, and The Engagement. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLinda Glowacki has been the Manager of the toxicology laboratory at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) since 2016. She has extensive experience in the analysis of drugs in biological samples\, having worked for seven years investigating drugs in the racing industry prior to changing her focus to drug and poison analysis in people. \n\n\n\nAt the VIFM\, Linda and the toxicology team are responsible for the analysis of drugs and poisons in reportable deaths for the Coroners Court of Victoria\, as well as case work for Victoria police\, including the presence of drugs in drugs and driving cases\, drug facilitated crimes and more recently samples collected from patients that present at emergency departments with suspected illicit drug intoxications for the Emerging drugs network of Australia – Victoria. \n\n\n\nLinda has always been fascinated by fictional and non-fictional crime stories\, medical documentaries\, and has an inquisitive mind. She loves the challenge of puzzles and solving problems\, which has probably shaped her career path. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nAngela Savage is an award-winning writer and CEO of Public Libraries Victoria. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing\, giving her the Bond-villain-like name of Doctor Savage.  \n\n\n\nShe won the 2011 Scarlet Stiletto Award and is the author of Mother of Pearl\, a work of literary fiction\, and three crime novels. Angela recently co-edited Spinning Around: The Kylie Playlist\, an anthology inspired by Kylie Minogue songs. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVikki Petraitis is the author of 20 books\, including The Frankston Murders\, and the creator of globally popular podcasts with Casefile Presents that have been downloaded over 10 million times. Her novel The Unbelieved won the inaugural 2022 Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize and the 2023 Readers’ Choice Davitt Award. and will premiere as an ABC TV series starring Anna Torv this year. In 2025\, she released its sequel The Stolen\, while completing her PhD. The third book in the series is out this year. Her latest true crime book is The Vanishing of Vivienne Cameron. \n\n\n\nMen or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAdditional information: Carmel Shute\, Programming Coordinator\, 0412 569 356; admin@sistersincrime.org.au
URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au/event/20th-law-week-event-a-is-for-arsenic-d-is-for-death-cap/
LOCATION:Sir Zelman Cowen Centre\, Victoria University\, Queen Street Campus\, Heritage Courtyard Lecture Theatre\, 295 Queen Street\, Melbourne\, Vic\, 3000\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Official Sisters in Crime Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sistersincrime.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/7_Law-Week-2026-Website-Page-Graphic-1600-x-900-px.png
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR