Sam Guthrie, author of The Peak, sits down with Ginsights. Photo: Supplied.
When Susan Helyar, one half of the partnership that owns Big River Distilling Co., started up a series of author talks at the Fyshwick distillery, she had in mind an event that would give local authors the chance to showcase their work to Canberra readers.
Now, three years on from the original event, Susan has a twice-monthly occasion that attracts publishers and authors from around Australia, while still maintaining her original vision of providing a platform for local writers to connect with their readers.
The popularity of the events, which Susan has cheekily called Ginsights, is partly due to their format. Susan didn’t want to host the usual formal author talks where the writer stands on a stage, separated from the audience. She wanted something more casual and intimate, and something that puts the reader at the centre of the event.
“We thought we’d have it more like a salon where people would be able to have a drink and they could talk directly to the writer about their work,” Susan explains.
“We have a half-hour mingle, a half-hour Q&A with the writer and then an hour for people to keep chatting with the author.”
Natasha Lester has been a popular author with Ginsights over the years. Photo: Supplied.
This Q&A session sees the writer sitting among the audience, sharing insights into their process and work – an intimate setting governed by the distillery itself.
“Our venue is a warm, informal setting, so it really was the venue that created the opportunity for that,” Susan explains.
The informal nature of the talks not only allows the author to connect with their readers, but it also creates a setting where the reader is the hero.
“My sense is that readers are essential. It’s not just enough to write a book; you have to engage readers to get your ideas and creativity into the world and in ways that some of the other arts don’t.
“Reading is a very intimate act, a very personal act, so I wanted to give readers the opportunity to be at the centre of the conversation.”
The informal salon setting doesn’t stop at the reader-writer relationship; they take it one step further and weave in the Big River distillery experience, with their head mixologist, Lily Reed, creating one-off signature cocktails for the events.
This often means roping in other Canberra-based producers to the fun, like Jasper and Myrtle Chocolates, who are supplying the single-source cocoa beans from Bougainville in Papua New Guinea to be paired with the Big River Chocolate Liqueur, for the upcoming signature cocktail in honour of author Sasha Vey, who will be the featured author on 16 October.
As Ginsights has grown, Susan and the team have been able to bring on a range of partners from the literature world to bring new dimensions to the events.
“We have a more formal partnership with the Canberra Writers Festival this year. They are supporting author events throughout the whole year now and not just at the annual festival, so that’s been great.”
Susannah Begbie, author of The Deed, joined Ginsights. Photo: Supplied
Susan has also been able to collaborate with Marion, the writers’ membership organisation in the Canberra region, which has allowed her to bring some new faces to the line-up, like Siang Lu, who came to Canberra for a workshop with Marion and followed it up with a Ginsights event.
“He ended up winning the Miles Franklin award this year, so that was wonderful,” Susan says of writer Siang Lu.
An author talk wouldn’t be complete without signed copies of books, and Susan is working with Canberra’s original independent bookshop, Paperchain, as their book supplier, who personally attends each event to supply the fresh books ready for fresh signatures.
With the event going from strength to strength, Susan says that there have been a lot of highlights in the three years, but none more so than the connections she’s been able to foster between Canberrans and First Nations voices.
“People value the opportunity to understand more deeply what is going on with First Nations writers. Some real highlights in this space have been Paul Collis, Samia Goudie and Samantha Faulkner.”
Susan has also branched into poetry and has found an engaged audience in this space as well.
With more local and national names on the agenda for the rest of 2025 and into 2026, Susan is excited to have found a niche pairing of gin and literature that Canberrans have a deep appetite for.
To check out the upcoming author talks, head to the Big River Distilling Co.
