In a time of shifting family structures, evolving understandings of gender and sexuality, technological advances in fertility treatments, and competing schools of feminist thought, three authors consider contemporary definitions of motherhood, and reflect on age-old questions about nature, nurture and familial love.
Kylie Ladd’s timely novel, The Mix-Up, focuses on a mistake made at an IVF clinic, asking ‘what would you do if you found out you'd been raising another couple's child - and they've been raising yours?’ In All Her Lives, New Zealand author Ingrid Horrocks follows women across generations as they resist, nurture and transform, their lives shaped by love and politics, motherhood and memory, constraint and defiance. And in Natasha Rai’s An Onslaught of Light, we are introduced to the contrasting experiences of an Indian-Australian mother and daughter across decades, exploring migration, familial bonds, queer identity and mental health.
Kylie Ladd is the author of seven novels, with her most recent novel, The Mix-Up, published in early 2025. She has also co-edited and co-authored two non-fiction books, and her fifth novel, The Way Back, is currently in development for film.
Ingrid Horrocks’ books span multiple genres and include Where We Swim, All Her Lives: Nine Stories, Women Wanderers and the Writing of Mobility, and two collections of poetry. Ingrid completed a PhD at Princeton. In 2024, she was the Kaituhi Tarāwhare Creative New Zealand Writer in Residence and in 2025, is the Varuna International Exchange New Zealand fellow.
Natasha Rai is a writer and somatic counsellor. She is also the co-host of the Book Deal podcast, exploring writers' publication journeys. Natasha’s debut novel, An Onslaught of Light, published by Pantera Press, was longlisted for the 2017 Richell Prize, 2018 KYD Unpublished Manuscript award, and highly commended for the 2022 Ultimo Press/Westwords Prize. Her short fiction appears in Mascara Literary Review, Overland, Verity La and StylusLit.
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This event is part of the Main Program and included as part of Platinum, Gold, Silver and Saturday Bronze Passes.
Subject to availability, a limited number of single tickets may become available 9 September.
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This venue is wheelchair accessible. Please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.