October 18: Smith's That Poetry Zoom: Recent Work Readings by Anne Casey and Heather Taylor-Johnson (with open mic). Bookings: SmithsPoetryThing@gmail.com.

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre annual lecture, Records and recollections: the pneumonic influenza pandemic in Australia, 1918-1919, will be given online by Dr Anthea Hyslop on Tuesday October 26 at 6pm. Dr Hyslop will draw on both public records and private memories to show how personal experiences illuminate and enrich our understanding of the impact that the 'flu' pandemic had in Australia. Bookings: archives.anu.edu.au/events.

October 16: At 7pm, Canberrans John Foulcher and Geoff Page will join forces for an online poetry reading on the theme of "Conviction and Doubt". Hosted by Holy Cross Anglican and St Margaret's Uniting Churches Hackett as part of the 2021 Sustaining Our Future Festival. Free and open to all. eventbrite.com.au.

One of the writers on the shortlist for the UNSW Press Bragg Prize for Science Writing 2021 is from Canberra. Nicole Hasham, who wrote Hail hydrogen: Powering the debate on future fuel, is the environment and energy editor at The Conversation. The winner will be announced on October 30 on ABC Radio National's The Science Show.

The Creative Thought and Reflection Literary Competition (CTRL+A) is run by the Orana Parents and Friends. Authors Jackie French and Harry Laing will be the judges. This year the theme is aligned with the Children's Book Council of Australia Book Week theme: Old Worlds, New Worlds and Other Worlds. The intention is to include as many children's stories, poems and one-page graphic novels as possible in the annual Orana Anthology of Creative Thought. Competition submissions will be open until November 1, 2021. All children of school age in Canberra and the surrounding regions are eligible to submit entries. All submissions must be accompanied by an entry fee. The book will be available for pre-purchase with delivery in early 2022. Find out more at ctrla.oranaschool.com.

Historical Novel Society Australasia is offering the chance for small groups of eight to be taught in one-day bootcamps over the weekend of October 16 and 17. The tutors are Kelly Gardiner and Pamela Hart (writing), Sophie Masson (publishing) and Nadine Davidoff (editing). There will be 1:1 manuscript assessments by editors Irina Dunn and Elena Gomez. Gillian Polack is offering her research and writing masterclass to groups of three. See hnsa.org.au.

October 27: National Library of Australia Friends are invited to a Meet the Author event with award-winning author Alex Miller at 4pm ($10 Friends Members only). He will talk about his new book, Max, shortlisted for the 2021 National Biography Prize. The event will be held live via Zoom. To join this event, please register with your Friends membership number. An email will be sent before the event with the Zoom URL, as well as reminder emails a week, a day and an hour before the webinar with the URL to join. nla.gov.au.

For consideration for Litbits, email litbits@canberratimes.com.au by 5pm Monday.

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