Cairo by Chris Womersley Q&A: 23 March, 2017

"The warmth of Womersley’s writing allows for such interplay between fiction and reality: real-world references do not feel contrived; rather, they’re satisfying and authentic, bringing the reader in closer to Tom’s close-knit cohort. Cairo is smart, thrilling and extremely well written – a fantastic read." – Alan Vaarwerk

Chris Womersley is the author of the novels Cairo, Bereft and The low road, as well as numerous short stories and occasional reviews and essays. Cairo was long-listed for the Dublin/IMPAC Award. Bereft won the Indie Award for Best Fiction, the ABIA Award for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and The Gold Dagger Award for International Crime Fiction. The low road won the Ned Kelly Award. His fourth novel, City of crows, will be published in September 2017. Chris lives in Melbourne.

Chris will join us for a Q&A on Thursday, 23 March between 8 and 9pm. Please leave any questions you have below. (And discuss his writing at your leisure!)

Want to buy Cairo? Receive 10% off when purchasing it from Readings at State Library Victoria. To receive the discount online, enter the promo code BOOKCLUB in the promo code box during online checkout. To receive the discount at our State Library bookshop, simply mention the Thursday night book club at the counter.

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👋🏼 Chris, Cairo has a strong sense of place, how did you go about your research to help you really evoke 1980s Melbourne?

Thanks, Sarah. The plain truth of that is that I was exactly Tom Button's age in 1986 (I'm almost an old man), so research was a matter of recalling certain things. I was also aware that the novel is one man's recollecion of events through slightly rose-coloured glasses, so accuracy is always patchy. As for the details fo the theft, a lot of the research was in reading media accounts of the weeks in which the painting was missing to ensure the timelines and so on were as accurate as possible and the theft was as plausible as possible. Plus I listened to a lot of nostalgic songs from my teenaged years. New Order, Nick Cave, Beasts of Bourbon...