MWF reveals first international guests

Sonic Youth co-founder and author of the memoir Girl in a Band (Faber) Kim Gordon, Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt, and Black Lives Matter activist and author DeRay Mckesson are the first three international guests named to appear at this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF), which runs from 30 August to 8 September.

MWF artistic director Marieke Hardy said each of the guests ‘is a trailblazer’. ‘Kim Gordon revolutionised alternative music and changed perceptions about women in music,’ said Hardy. ‘Deborah Lipstadt interrogates antisemitism on a global scale, while DeRay Mckesson puts his heart on the front lines in the war against racism. We open ourselves up fully to hear their stories and their passions; what they fear, what they hope for and what they love.’

Each of the three guests will also take part in the Antidote Festival at the Sydney Opera House, which runs from 31 August to 1 September.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, this year’s MWF will be held at State Library Victoria (SLV), after 10 years of being based at Federation Square. The festival precinct will include the Wheeler Centre, the Capitol Theatre and other nearby spaces.

The full MWF program will be announced on 10 July. For more information, see the MWF website.

Category: Festivals Local news