Sutherland Shire Libraries News

To help us celebrate Youth Week this year Markus Zusak is coming back to Sutherland Library. This time it is high school students that will be able to attend and enjoy listening to an award winning local author. Keep the evening of Monday 31st March free and book in for a great night with Markus.

Markus grew up in the Sutherland Shire. He occasionally works as a high school English Teacher, and plays in a football team that never wins. His work is widely acclaimed and is published in the USA, UK and throughout Europe. His books include the award-winning trilogy The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe and When Dogs Cry as well as The Messenger and his most recent novel, The Book Thief.

High school students can book their spot on 9710 0178 or drop into your local Sutherland Shire Library.

Just to highlight how lucky we were to have local author Markus Zusak speak at Sutherland Library recently his novel, The Book Thief, has just won another award - the 2007 South African Boeke Prize.

This book had a fascinating genesis in the stories of his parents, which Markus kindly shared with an eager audience. If you weren't there on the night you can still hear what Markus had to say. We recorded the talk and it is now available on the web or you can borrow a copy on DVD.

If you were there we'd love to hear what you thought of the talk. You may even like to suggest someone for a future author talk. Leave a comment and share your views.

If you've watched part 1 and part 2 of the Markus Zusak talk at Sutherland Library you'll want to have a look at the third and final part. In this video Markus tells a story about the impact the book has had on people who have read it and reads a short passage from The Book Thief.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Part 3: a Reading by the Author from Sutherland Shire Libraries on Vimeo.

What did you think of the Markus Zusak talk? We hope to have more author talks in the near future. Is there someone you would like to hear talk at the Library? Leave a comment and share your thoughts with us so that we know how we can best serve you.

In part 1 of this video series Markus Zusak talked about his writing process. Here, in the 2nd video of the series he answers questions from the audience about The Book Thief and his writing in general.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Part 2: Questions from the Audience from Sutherland Shire Libraries on Vimeo.

The final video in the series will be coming soon...

Did you miss out on the recent talk by Markus Zusak? Would like to relive the experience? Well, we're giving you a 2nd chance. We recorded and the talk so you can watch it online.

It was standing room only when over 100 people turned up at Sutherland Library to listen to local author Markus Zusak give a fascinating talk about his most recent novel, The Book Thief. In this first video Markus tells a story about his childhood and then explains how that story illustrates the thought process he goes through when writing.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - Part 1: The Writing Process from Sutherland Shire Libraries on Vimeo.

We will be posting the rest of the talk over the next couple of weeks, so keep your eye on this page (or subscribe to the feed!).

Keep the evening of Tuesday 4th September free for what should be a very interesting talk by local author Markus Zusak, as he discusses his multiple award winning novels The Messenger and The Book Thief.

Markus grew up in the Sutherland Shire. He occasionally works as a high school English Teacher, and plays in a football team that never wins. His work is widely acclaimed and is published in the USA , UK and throughout Europe. His children's books include the award-winning trilogy The Underdog, Fighting Ruben Wolfe and When Dogs Cry.

The Messenger, published in 2002, is the story of the hapless Ed Kennedy, a man who is chosen to care. He makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission? His latest book, The Book Thief, is set in Nazi Germany during World War II. On the surface it is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich, but teh message is about the ability of books to feed the soul. Ultimately, Markus' writing explores the humanity, which should make for an interesting evening.

The talk will be held at Sutherland Library and starts at 7pm. There is no charge and bookings are not required - just show up! Take a look at our Events Calendar for all the details.

See you there!