In conversation

Seed | Bri Lee

An astonishing new novel from the acclaimed and bestselling author of Eggshell Skull and The Work.

Mitchell is a brilliant biologist, committed to the environment and the growing global antinatalist movement. For one month each year he lives with his colleague Frances in a utopia of radical equality and scientific dedication in Antarctica. They are concluding the Anarctos Project: a seed vault in an isolated, secret location. It is a biodiversity insurance policy against humanity’s devastating effects on the rapidly warming planet.

But when their helicopter doesn’t pick them up, and strange things begin to happen, their faith in science is suddenly not enough. Mitchell has been keeping big secrets – from Frances and from himself. The ice haunts him with memories of a devastating betrayal and questions of legacy and fairness crowd his mind.

If they don’t get back to McMurdo Station before the last flight home they face a long dark polar winter together. Alone. As the days get shorter, these two people of firm logic and reason begin finding fault lines in their perfect social experiment.

Thrilling, original and almost unbearably suspenseful, Seed offers an uneasy glimpse into isolation, love and our worst fears.

Bri Lee is the multi-award-winning bestselling author of acclaimed non-fiction books Eggshell Skull, Beauty and Who Gets to Be Smart. Her journalism, essays, and short stories have been published widely, and she is the creator and editor of News & Reviews. Bri’s bestselling first novel, The Work, was published in April 2024 and has been longlisted for the 2025 Indie Award for Debut Fiction.

Bri will be in conversation with Rachel Edwards. Rachel has worked as a publisher and editor and most recently she has been producing the ABC Hobart Breakfast program. She has also been a publisher at Transportation Press.

Join Bri and Rachel at Hobart Town Hall.