Rural Crime & Wine

BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival is heading to the Hunter Valley in autumn for Rural Crime & Wine at Tulloch Wines, Pokolbin. To celebrate this enduring and popular crime sub-genre, join us from 2-4pm to hear from Tim Ayliffe and Matthew Spencer in a conversation led by Michael Burge, three rural noir authors who explore very dark deeds in country towns. Then enjoy wine tastings and grazing plates introduced by Tulloch Wines CEO Brad Russ, book sales and signings with the authors, and a chance to win a range of great prizes.

Date: Saturday 14 March

Time: Wine on the lawn from 1:30pm, talk from 2:00 - 4:00pm

Location: Tulloch Wines, 638 De Beyers Rd, Pokolbin (Hunter Valley, 2-hour drive from Sydney CBD)

Cost: $50

Tim Ayliffe

Tim’s thriller novels have been informed by his 25-year career as a journalist in Australia and around the world, and now he’s entered the world of Rural Noir with his new novel Dark Desert Road. He writes about espionage, extremism, politics and the global power games at play in the 21st Century. He has been the Managing Editor of Television and Video for ABC News and also Executive Producer of News Breakfast. He is the author of the ‘John Bailey’ series including The Greater Good, State of Fear, The Enemy Within, Killer Traitor Spy and The Wrong Man. Tim's thrillers are also in development for TV. When he's not writing or chasing news stories, Tim watches rugby and surfs. He lives in Sydney.

Matthew Spencer

Matthew spent two decades as a journalist at The Australian, where he ran the Foreign News desk and later served as Opinion Editor. His career took him across continents, writing for newspapers and magazines in Uganda and Kenya, and contributing to The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald. Those years sharpened his instinct for character, conflict, and the high stakes of real-world drama, qualities that now underpin his crime fiction.

His debut novel, Black River announced him as a powerful new voice in Australian crime writing. It won the inaugural 2023 Danger Award for Debut Crime Fiction, praised for its taut pacing and psychological depth. His second novel Broke Road is Rural Noir. Matthew lives in Sydney.

Michael Burge

Michael is a journalist, author, publisher and artist who lives at Deepwater on Ngarrabul Country in the New England region. His debut novel Tank Water and its sequel Dirt Trap are a Rural Noir storytelling cycle about homophobia and justice in the bush. Michael’s article ‘Backwards to Bourke: Bulldust About Gays in the Bush’ drew on his research about rural gay-hate crimes and was published internationally in The Journal of Australian Studies. Michael has written and edited for the Guardian, Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media. A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art, he is a board member of BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival.

Tulloch Wines & CEO Brad Russ

Over four generations and 130 years, Tulloch has been crafting wines and family-friendly experiences that reach beyond the bottle, creating better lives with wine, food, family and friends. Their stunning Hunter Valley Cellar Door features a diverse range of beautifully crafted indoor and outdoor, family-friendly spaces.

Having worked in the Wine Industry for 30 years, Brad has been a familiar face at Tulloch Wines since 2009. In 2024, Brad was recognised for his work within the wine industry and received the award for Outstanding Contribution of an Individual at the Hunter Valley Legend and Wine Industry Awards.