Litbits, September 12, 2020: Canberra literary events include ones from Harry Hartog, Muse and ANU

September 28 From 6 to 7pm, Andrew Leigh and Nick Terrell will be in conversation on their new book, Reconnected. A Community Builder's Handbook, about why Australians need social connection and community and how to create it.

October 1: From 5.30 to 6.30pm, Emma Dawson, Janet McCalman and Andrew Leigh will be in conversation on What Happens Next, essays with a framework aimed at improving Australian lives and global sustainability.

October 7: From 6 to 7pm, Jane Harper will be in conversation with Anna Creer on Harper's new crime novel, The Survivors, set in a small Tasmanian coastal community.

Registrations at anu.edu.au/events.

Emeritus Professor Helen Ennis from ANU's Centre for Art History and Art Theory has received the University of Queensland Non-Fiction Book Award for her biography, Olive Cotton: A life in photography.

September 25: At 7pm, join author Aminata Conteh-Biger in conversation with literary journalist Nicole Abadee as she discusses her memoir, Rising Heart. State Library of NSW website: sl.nsw.gov.au/events/author-talk-rising-heart.

September 25: At 6.30pm join award-winning YA author Christie Nieman in conversation with fellow author Miriam Sved about her new fiction, Where We Begin. Readings: readings.com.au/event/christie-nieman-in-conversation.

Future readings: October 6, November 9 and December 7. Physical admission: $10 waged, $5 unwaged (20 people only, paid online in advance via Smith's Alternative Calendar). 7pm at Smiths Alternative Bookshop, 76 Alinga Street, Civic (Melbourne Building). Zoom readings will also start at 7pm and will finish by 9pm at the latest. Log-on information will be sent shortly beforehand. No open mic. Technical inquiries: SmithsPoetryThing@gmail.com.

September 13: Life, Online: Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, and Ginger Gorman (Troll Hunting), discuss trolling, cyber security and the dark depths of the web. Events are mostly 3-4pm and entry is $10 - or more for the book + entry option - unless otherwise indicated. Full details and bookings at musecanberra.com.au.

September 30: Invisible & Unseen: A Conversation with Kylie Maslen (Show Me Where It Hurts), Jacinta Parsons (Unseen) and Sam Twyford-Moore (The Rapids: Ways of Looking at Mania) will be live streamed at 6.30pm via Zoom. harryhartog.com.au/events.

The 2020 John Hinde Award for Excellence in Science-Fiction Writing is open for entries, offering $10,000 for the best produced script of the previous year, and professional support for the best unproduced script of 2020. It is open to all AWG members, including full, associate, and student members. Entry fees are waived this year. Entries close on August 28, 2020. awg.com.au/competitions/the-2020-john-hinde-award-for-excellence-in-science-fiction-writing.

Australian Book Review is calling for entries in the 17th Peter Porter Poetry Prize, one of Australia's most lucrative and respected awards for poetry. First prize is $6000 and four other shortlisted poets will receive $1000 each. Entry is open to all poets writing in English, until midnight on October 1, 2020. Entries must be an original single-authored poem of not more than 70 lines written in English. The five shortlisted poems will be published in the January-February 2021 issue and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in January. australianbookreview.com.au.