Interview with Holden Sheppard - The Freedom to Read

When a young Holden Sheppard realised blokes weren’t meant to talk about feelings, he began to write stories instead. Twenty years later, the boy from Geraldton, Western Australia is a multi-award winning author – with a treasured black ute!

Holden’s debut novel Invisible Boys achieved both commercial and critical success, winning many accolades including the WA Premier’s Prize for an Emerging Writer. Invisible Boys is being adapted as a TV series with Stan Australia, currently in post-production.

Holden’s second book The Brink won the Ena Noel Award and the Young Adult category prize at the Indie Book Awards, and was shortlisted for several others.

Holden’s third book Two Kings – his first novel for adults – will be published in June 2025 by Pantera Press.

He is currently editing his fourth novel, a sequel to Invisible Boys.

Holden, who writes in a raw, honest way about gay and bisexual men, says both Invisible Boys and The Brink have been targeted multiple times due to their content.

In light of US attempts and a recent Australian move to curtail the availability of some categories of books in public libraries, Holden recently decided to speak up on the topic of freedom to read and censorship at The Freedom to Read: Public Libraries, Democracy and Censorship seminar in Perth, Western Australia.

Our Editor, Michael Barker, caught up with Holden Sheppard last week to make this podcast exploring the freedom we assume we have to access what we want to read in public libraries free from censorship. You’ll find the intriguing podcast below.

We also interviewed Holden nearly 6 years ago after he won the Hungerford. You’ll find that earlier podcast interview right here.

By Michael Barker, Editor, Fremantle Shipping News

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