Chris Hammer with Tara Cheyne after he received the 2024 ACT Book of the Year award for Seven. His latest book, Legacy, has been chosen for the new Canberra Metro Light Rail Local Reads book club. Photo: ACT Government.
Best-selling author Chris Hammer’s books are read around the world, but it’s a newly launched local project that has put a smile on the Canberra writer’s face.
It’s called Light Rail Local Reads, a Canberra Metro Operations (CMET) commuter book club where people who travel on Canberra’s light rail are invited to read selected books by Canberra writers while they’re travelling and then engage online via social media about what they’ve read.
“When they approached me to be part of this, I was very happy to support anything that encourages reading,” Chris Hammer said.
“I feel very fortunate as there are a lot of good writers and good books out there who don’t get the attention they deserve, so that’s why something like this is such a good idea.”
The acclaimed crime writer, who grew up in Canberra and spent more than 30 years working in the Parliamentary Press Gallery as well as covering events overseas, said he was happy to support Light Rail Local Reads.
His only disappointment was that he won’t be in Canberra later this year when authors and readers are scheduled to meet to discuss the books. He will be travelling around the country to promote his new book, Full Circle, which features the return of investigative journalist Martin Scarsden.
Six books by local authors have been selected in consultation with ACT Libraries, which created a shortlist based on the books’ popularity and availability. People can join the libraries for free to become part of the club.
It started this week with the first two books: Jack Heath’s Kill Your Boss and Robert Macklin’s The Man Who Planted Canberra. Books by other Canberra authors will follow them: Chris Hammer (Legacy), Karen Viggers (Sidelines), Sulari Gentill (Five Found Dead) and Andra Putnis (Stories My Grandmothers Didn’t Tell Me).
The first two books could not be more different. Designed to appeal to a wide range of readers, Kill Your Boss is a sharp, funny murder mystery set in a library, while The Man Who Planted Canberra tells the story of the man who transformed Canberra from a dusty paddock into the city of trees we know today.
It will culminate on 24 October this year when authors will read passages from their books to club members on a specially dedicated Canberra light rail vehicle.
These books by six Canberra authors have been selected for Canberra Metro’s Light Rail Local Reads book club, which starts this week. Photo: CMET.
To be part of Light Rail Local Reads, commuters are invited to read one of the selected books at their own pace, follow Canberra Metro social media channels for author comments and share their thoughts with other readers throughout the journey.
A CMET spokesperson said Light Rail Local Reads was all about starting conversations with passengers while travelling on the light rail system.
She said it had been keen to operate an onboard event like this for some time, following the success of similar projects on rail networks and subways overseas.
For more information, visit CMET Light Rail Local Reads, or see commuter service staff at Canberra’s light rail stations.
