Picture this. You board the train at the end of the line with a 40-minute journey ahead on your daily commute to work. You’ve forgotten your headphones and your pods are conveniently out of battery, and while this would normally frustrate you and hinder your morning spirit, today, you’re not bothered in the slightest.
Because sitting on an empty seat as you climb aboard the train is a brand new novel that’s yours now that you’ve happened upon it. You open the cover to find it’s signed by the author, and proceed to get delightfully lost in the story for the remainder of your trip.
Well, this week the likelihood of this very scenario happening to you is at an all-time high, with the Books on the Rail initiative returning in collaboration with a collection of awesome female-identifying Australian authors.
In the week leading up to International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8, the Books on the Rail team, as well as the authors of the books themselves, will be dropping signed stories around the trains, trams, light rails, ferries and buses making their routes around Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Books from female-identifying authors that include the likes of Clare Bowditch, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Gabbie Stroud, Vivian Pham, Dr Anita Heiss, Jamila Rizvi, Carly Findlay, Kitty Flanagan and Holly Wainwright will be hiding in plain sight for you to discover, take away and read, and then return to the rail as the literary initiative intends.
Best to keep your eyes peeled if you’re hoping to nab a copy for yourself, but you can keep an eye out on the Books on the Rail Instagram page for clues.
International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women globally. In addition, the day marks a call to action to accelerate gender parity and equality in all facets of life.