May 26: Amanda McKenzie is launching her book From Grief to Healing: A holistic guide to rebuilding mind, body and spirit after loss (Llewellyn Worldwide) at Psychedeli, Marcus Clarke St, City, from 5.30-7.30pm. RSVP on 0448732002.

May 28: Nigel Featherstone will be in conversation with Anna Vidot at the launch of his latest novel, My Heart is a Little Wild Thing, at the new venue of Cultural Centre Kambri T2 (ANU Building 153), University Avenue. Acton. Registration essential: eventbrite.com.au.

May 31: At 6pm, Tom Keneally will be in conversation with Alex Sloan on Keneally's book, A Bloody Good Rant: My passions, memories and demons. Cinema, Kambri Cultural Centre, ANU. Registrations at anu.edu.au/events.

June 9: Harry Hartog Booksellers, in collaboration with aMBUSH Gallery Kambri, are proud to present Novel Grazing with Jock Zonfrillo as part of a new literary lunchtime series bringing together authors and passionate readers for timely and meaningful conversations over a relaxed lunch. Jock Zonfrillo will be in conversation with The Canberra Times Food & Wine editor Karen Hardy on Jock's new book Last Shot, a coming-of-age memoir of addiction, ambition and redemption in the high-stakes world of Michelin star kitchens. From noon-2pm, aMBUSH Galery, Kambri Cultural Centre. Tickets $85 includes a copy of the book, lunch and a drink. events.humanitix.com

June 9: Media Diversity Australia co-founder Antoinette Lattouf will be in conversation with Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre co-chair John-Paul Janke and news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden on How to Lose Friends and Influence White People, from 6pm to 7pm at Harry Hartog, ANU, 153/11 University Avenue, ANU. Registrations free (bookings essential): eventbrite.com.au.

Tuesdays: At 11am each Tuesday in Green Square will be stories, games and activities designed for babies and toddlers up to five years of age. More information: bookcow.com.au.

May 28: At 11am at Canberra Fire Station Museum, Canberra author Rhiân Williams will launch her latest picture book Emergency! Emergency! Vehicles to the Rescue. More information: bookcow.com.au.

May 26: Margot LaFontaine will launch her book, A High Country Romance, at 5pm. RSVP: info@paperchainbookstore.com.au or phone 6295 6723.

May 25: At 6pm, Aminata Conteh-Biger - author of Rising Heart, founder and chief executive of the Aminata Maternal Foundation and Special Representative for Australia UNHCR - will be in conversation with journalist Emma Macdonald. $10. musecanberra.com.au.

May 25: At 6.30pm, the Ozlit Book Club takes a dystopian turn with Rhett Davis's Hovering. musecanberra.com.au.

June 5: At 3pm, republican Dennis Altman will discuss his book God Save the Queen: The Strange Persistence of Monarchies, with Frank Bongiorno. $10. musecanberra.com.au.

Oscar Schwartz, a freelance writer with bylines in The New York Times, Harper's Magazine, The Monthly, among other Australian and international publications, is hosting Faber Writing Academy's next online course, Pitching for Publication. It's a three week online program, covering the essentials beginning with getting the idea, the process of developing the idea into a story, and then developing the story into the pitch. From May 25-June 8, 6.30-8.30pm. $295. More details at faberwritingacademy.com.au

The National Library of Australia is live screening sessions in its theatre from the Sydney Writers' Festival over the weekend of May 20 to 22. They're free but bookings are essential. See: nla.gov.au.

June 5: The second C.E.W. Bean Memorial Lecture is from 2pm-4pm at Tuggeranong Homestead, Johnson Drive, Calwell. Professor Peter Stanley will address the topic "What would Dr Bean have thought?" Reflections on In Your Hands, Australians. Entry $20 includes Devonshire tea. Bookings essential by June 3: email robhorsfield@bigpond.com or ring 6231 4535.

June 9: Media Diversity Australia co-founder Antoinette Lattouf will be in conversation with Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre co-chair John-Paul Janke and news.com.au political editor Samantha Maiden on How to Lose Friends and Influence White People, from 6pm to 7pm at Harry Hartog, ANU, 153/11 University Avenue, ANU. Registrations free (bookings essential): eventbrite.com.au.

May 29: A Brush with Poetry: Room only. No Zoom. Hear contemporary and traditional voices at the free open mic soirée. Café on Queen, 15 Queen Street, Binalong, 1.30pm for 2pm. Book your place in the room or request the link at robynsykespoet@gmail.com or call 0401 289 178. All welcome.

Still Alive: Notes from Australia's Immigration Detention System, by Safdar Ahmed (Twelve Panels Press) has won the Book of the Year in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Tony Birch won the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction for his novel Dark as Last Night (QUP). The Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-fiction went to Kate Holden for The Winter Road: A Story of Legacy, Land and a Killing at Croppa Creek (Black Inc. Books). The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry went to Dan Disney for his collection accelerations & inertias by Dan Disney (Vagabond Press).

May 25: More than one million children across Australia and New Zealand will join together reading the same book at the same time, as part of the Australian Library and Information Association's National Simultaneous Storytime 2022. This year's title Family Tree is written by award-winning Australian singer-songwriter and children's book author Josh Pyke, renowned for his unique and wonderful storytelling and lyricism and beautifully illustrated by picture book creator Ronojoy Ghosh, published by Scholastic Australia specifically for the event. Register for the free event at alia.org.au/nss

Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA), in partnership with Australia's ARA Group, has announced entries for the ARA Historical Novel Prize are now open. Entries close on June 15. The winners will be announced on October 20, 2022. See: hnsa.org.au.

The 2022 Australian Catholic University Prize for Poetry is now open for all Australian residents to submit their finest works on the theme of "Hope". Entries close on July 4, 2022. More information: acu.edu.au.

August 10-14: The Canberra Writers Festival will be back with a full program of more than 60 live events including the opening night dinner, panel sessions and more. The program will be announced on June 29. See: canberrawritersfestival.com

Youth nature-writing prize Poem Forest invites students and teachers across Australia to use their words to create tangible climate action, planting a tree for every poem submitted. It's open until September 23. See: redroompoetry.org/projects/poem-forest/

The Canberra chapter meets at King O'Malley's, 131 City Walk, Canberra, on the first Wednesday of every month from 7pm to 9.30pm: the next meeting is on June 1. See: toughguybookclub.com.