FOOD. WINE. CRIME.

Rhys Gard is a writer, bookseller and content creator based in Mudgee, NSW.

He holds a BA in English and Film Studies from UNSW and has worked across hospitality, wine writing, marketing and bookselling.

Rhys directed the Mudgee Readers’ Festival from 2023 to 2025, helping to revive the event after the COVID hiatus and growing its author program, partnerships and community reach. He continues to support the festival as a volunteer.

Alongside his literary work, Rhys shares his take on Aussie pub classics, recreating nostalgic favourites at home inspired by his many years working in and running pub kitchens throughout regional Australia. His content blends storytelling with accessible, elevated comfort food, and he is currently developing this body of work into a cookbook centred on modern Australian pub grub.

He works as an independent bookseller at The Book Nest, where he manages book buying, runs a monthly novella book club, and enjoys connecting readers with books they didn’t yet know they were looking for.

Rhys is the author of Four Dogs Missing and is currently working on two further crime novels, as well as a narrative non-fiction project exploring Mudgee’s wine culture.

When not writing, cooking or bookselling, he enjoys travelling, seeking out the best indie bookshops and wine bars, and supporting literary communities wherever he goes.