Clem Bastow in conversation | Online Author Talk | April 2022

Join us online for an In Conversation event with Clem Bastow, author of the 2021 non-fiction book Late Bloomer. Clem will discuss her book with writer Claire Halliday.

• Place Late Bloomer on hold with your Myli membership

This author talk is brought to you through a partnership between Latrobe City Libraries, East Gippsland Shire Libraries and Myli Community Library.

About the book –

Growing up, Clem Bastow felt like she’d missed a key memo on human behaviour. For her, the unspoken rules of social engagement seemed confusing and often stressful. Friendships were hard, relationships harder, and the office was a fluorescent-lit nightmare of anxiety. It wasn’t until Clem was diagnosed as autistic, at age 36, that things clicked into focus. With wit and warmth, Clem reflects as an autistic adult on her formative experiences as an undiagnosed young person, from the primary school playground to working as an entertainment journalist in Hollywood.

About the author –

Clem Bastow‘s writing appears regularly in The Guardian, and she has written extensively for The Saturday Paper, The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Big Issue. She has contributed chapters to books including Investigating Stranger Things (Palgrave MacMillan, 2021), ReFocus: The Films Of Elaine May (Edinburgh University Press, 2019) and Copyfight (NewSouth Publishing, 2015). She co-wrote and co-presented the 2017 ABC podcast Behind The Belt, a documentary “deep dive” into professional wrestling, and in 2018 she co-produced the first wrestling death match to be held on Tasmanian soil, Night Massacre, for Dark Mofo. She holds a Master of Screenwriting from University Of Melbourne/VCA, and teaches screenwriting at University of Melbourne. Clem is currently undertaking a PhD in action cinema and screenwriting at RMIT University. Her debut nonfiction book, Late Bloomer (Hardie Grant Books) was published in July 2021.

About the host –

Claire Halliday is a freelance writer whose work has appeared regularly in Australian newspapers and magazines for over a decade. She lives in Melbourne with her partner and four children. Claire hosts regular In Conversation events for libraries, bookshops and organisations, and her insightful questions always make for an enjoyable evening.