An award-winning novelist is preparing to make her debut at the region's biggest literary festival, to discuss whether violence against women should remain a central part of thriller stories.
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Crime author Sarah Bailey will appear at Clunes Booktown on May 4 and 5, to discuss violence in contemporary thrillers, and how to create a gripping world
The Melbourne-based writer has released two novels starring Detective Gemma Woodstock, with the third (and for now, final) book in the series expected to be released in August.
Her first book, The Dark Lake, received 2018 Ned Kelly award for Best First Crime.
"All the ideas I had for books just happened to be murder-based, so it meant crime was sort of the natural genre," Bailey said.
"I did read a lot of crime growing up and as a young adult.
"I guess the influx of really good, high-quality TV was on my mind, as I watching a lot of shows that were really crime-orientated."
She will appear on the 'Writing about Men and Violence in the Contemporary Thriller' panel next Saturday morning at 10am at the National Hotel. The panel, which includes writers Josh Pomare and Jock Serong, is presented by The Courier and the White Ribbon Foundation.
The question of how crime authors deal with violence against women, considering it is a central trait of the genre, is a complex one.
The Staunch Award - a UK literary prize worth more than $3600 Australian dollars - was a bone of contention on its inception last year. It's aim is to reward thriller novels "in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered".
Serong, who will on the violence panel alongside Bailey, won the inaugural prize last year for his novel On The Java Ridge.
Bailey said she felt quite "conflicted" about the death of women being a key trope in crime and thriller novels.
"It is all around us, and it is what is prolifically happening out there in society, so I don't quite see the point in pretending it's different in fiction," she said.
"But at the same time, I understand there's an exhaustion almost of this trope of women as victims, and men abusing and harming them ..."
I get exhausted watching the news as well, so I can see how people don't want to necessarily read about that in their leisure time.
- Author Sarah Bailey
When it comes to her writing, Bailey said she was driven by "what makes sense for the story" and her characters, but never felt the need to be gratuitous in describing violence against women.
"Fiction should be pretty free, I don't think there should be restrictions on it."
Tickets for the panel $10, more information clunesbooktown.com.au.
