The Ventura Press team officially launched their 2019 book list this week at The Royal Hotel in Paddington. The room was abuzz with energy from authors, booksellers, book-lovers, agents, writers and of course, the (small but mighty) Ventura Press team.

Ventura’s Director, Jane Curry, gave a small speech to highlight the year ahead, saying ‘this is the list I’ve always wanted to publish.’

2019 promises a mix of fiction and non-fiction titles, from Virginia' Duigan’s London rom-com-esque The Age of Discretion; to Blanche d’Alpuget’s historical series The Birth of the Plantagenets; all the way to Lee Kofman’s anthology of works featuring Australian writers’ tales of leaving, loss and new beginnings, Split, which is set to release in June; and bestselling author Katherine Johnson’s October release Paris Savages.

The year will also feature some first-time authors, such as Craig Ensor’s The Warming – a dystopian novel set in 2221 when the earth is on the brink of death from climate change; and Penelope Hanley’s Sydney-based fiction following the lives of three women in an artistic family, After She Left. Ventura will also publish Jane Sullivan’s bibliomemoir, Storytime; and Melanie Dimmitt’s uplifting non-fiction Special: antidotes to the obsessions that come with a child’s disability.

Following the February release Slice Girls by Joan Arakkal, which has gained much media attention, and two shortlisted prizes for A Superior Spectre (August 2018), Ventura has started the year with a bang and this celebration is just the beginning.

Thank you to all of those who came along to celebrate, and to those who were there in spirit from around the country. Ventura looks forward to all the good things set to come this year!

Photos: Sophie Hodge