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Canberra Writers Festival reports ‘big and buzzing’ crowds

Tuesday, 5 September 2023   Books+Publishing
@booksandpublishing

Canberra Writers Festival (CWF) artistic director Beejay Silcox reported ‘big and buzzing’ crowds for this year’s festival, which was held from 16–20 August 2023.

The program was ‘everything we hoped it could be: warm-hearted, inclusive and celebratory,’ said Silcox of her first festival as artistic director. ‘The most consistent and resonant feedback we’ve received post-festival was that CWF23 felt like a self-portrait of Canberra/Kamberri—that we reflected the city back to itself. For a team of proud Canberrans, that’s the highest of praise. After years of pandemic upheaval and isolation, the watchword of CWF23 was joy—we dreamed of a festival that felt alive with possibility.’

‘We introduced a suite of participatory events this year—masterclasses and literary lunches—which were a roaring success,’ said Silcox. ‘Our city-wide bookclub met during the festival for an unforgettable spoiler-rich and audience-led conversation with Edwina Preston (which will soon be broadcast on ABC Radio National), and our celebration of the forgotten feminist trailblazers of the 1970s ended with a standing ovation. As always, our political sessions were standing room only. But the highlight of the program was collective. We’re proud of the story CWF23 tells about the diversity of Australian storytelling,’ said Silcox.

Sold out events at the festival included Whither the Liberal Party, with Niki Savva, Dave Sharma and Amy Remeikis; Time After Time, with Jakelin Troy and Matthew Colloff; Long-table Lunch, with Edwina Preston; Insiders Live; and Flawed Hero, with Chris Masters and Laura Tingle.

The top 10 bestselling books at the festival bookshop were:

  1. Various titles by Joe Brumm
  2. The Patriarchs (Angela Saini, Fourth Estate)
  3. The Queen Is Dead (Stan Grant, Fourth Estate)
  4. Head and Heart (Kirstin Ferguson, Viking)
  5. Flawed Hero (Chris Masters, A&U)
  6. Restless Dolly Maunder (Kate Grenville, Text)
  7. Women and Whitlam: Revisiting the revolution (Michelle Arrow, NewSouth)
  8. Russia’s War Against Ukraine (Mark Edele, MUP)
  9. Bhutan to Blacktown: Losing everything and finding Australia (Om Dhungel, NewSouth)
  10. Free (Lea Ypi, Penguin) and The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan (Ahmad Shuja Jamal & William Maley, Hurst).

 

Category: Local news