About Us
About the host & panel
Journalist and publisher Jennifer Byrne hosts First Tuesday Book Club on ABC TV. Byrne will be joined by a panel of book lovers and experts who will discuss titles from fiction, non-fiction, biography, thriller, romance and history genres. Byrne, publishing director at Reed Books in the mid-1990s also fronted the ABC's My Favourite Book special. She says the show will always "hunt out the best and liveliest of the new, the memorable of the old - and everyone's invited".
The four book loving panellists that will join Jennifer in November are:
Jason Steger started his journalistic career as a sports reporter, moved onto business with the Financial Times in London and now has a proper job as books editor with The Age and The Sunday Age.
Marieke Hardy has claims to literary royalty as the grand daughter of Frank Hardy but she’s expanded the franchise. Scriptwriter, radio host and former child actor, inveterate reader.
Thomas Keneally
Thomas Keneally is not only one of our most famous novelists, but he is also one of our greatest. He has collected most of the major literary awards including the Booker, the Miles Franklin, the Colin Roderick and the Royal Society of Literature Prize amongst others. The screenplay and film Schindler’s List based on his 1982 book Schindler’s Ark, also racked up a number of major awards. Keneally himself has had small roles in the films The Devil's Playground and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and The Final Winter.
Other accolades of Keneally’s include the Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award, being recognised as an Australian National Living Treasure and an Order of Australia (AO) for service to literature.
Raised in the bush and Sydney suburb of Homebush, Keneally trained for several years to be a Catholic priest but abandoned this vocation before being ordained. He worked as a high school teacher and as a university drama and writing lecturer and professor before deciding to devote himself to writing.
Keneally has travelled widely and spent some time living abroad. This, along with his interest in history, is evidenced in the variety of historical and geographical settings he uses in his books. Best known for the novels Schindler’s Ark and The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith, which was also adapted for film with a screenplay by Keneally, other works include The Place at Whitton, Bring Larks and Heroes, Three Cheers for Paraclete, The Survivor, Gossip from the Forest, The Tyrant’s Novel and An Angel in Australia. His latest novel, The Widow and Her Hero was released last year.
Keneally is a prolific author who has managed to enjoy the rare combination of commercial and critical success both in Australian and overseas. We are very excited that he will be joining us for the 2008 Summer Special.
Amanda Keller
Also joining us for the Summer Special is media personality and radio presenter Amanda Keller. Known for her quick wit, sense of humour and fun nature we’re sure to enjoy having Amanda on the show.
She reads to relax, alternating between trashy and worthy, has the nickname ‘Funbags’, dreams of George Clooney and has a love of all things kitsch, and, perhaps not unrelated, still harbours a crush on Barry Manilow.
She studied media and communications at Mitchell College – now Charles Sturt University, worked as a researcher, producer and presenter for television before becoming a presenter for Beyond 2000, the popular and award winning science program. During her six years on the program, Keller became a household name and reported from across the globe (also allowing her to feed her kitsch addiction – limited only by the size of her suitcase). She received the United Nations Media Peace Award (1989) and the Michael Daley Award for Science Journalism (1989) for her work.
Amanda’s career deviated in 1994 when fellow Mitchell College graduate and friend Andrew Denton had her appear regularly on his show Denton where she was able to combine her two loves – science and pop culture. Her helpful - ie. avoiding death and injury - and fun segments led to her book Amanda’s Handy Home Hints and was followed by a seven year collaboration with Denton as the leading breakfast radio presenters on Sydney’s Triple M network. Around the same time she hosted a show on contemporary culture for Foxtel called The Hub. Amanda was the host of ABC TV’s Mondo Thingo, appeared on Dancing with the Stars and has made regular appearances on Good News Week, Rove Live, The Glasshouse and Spicks and Specks.
Amanda currently is the joint host on Sydney radio breakfast show, Jonesy and Amanda.
