Rural and regional writers’ festival programs announced
Several rural and regional writers’ festivals have revealed programs for their 2024 events.
After a seven-year hiatus, the Whitsundays Writers Festival is returning to Airlie Beach in Queensland from 6 to 8 September, with an ‘immersive celebration for writers, readers, and thinkers alike’. Headlining the festival is Miles Franklin Literary Award winner Shankari Chandran. Festival president Karen Jacobsen said: ‘It’s not often we have the opportunity to meet renowned national and international writers. This will be a landmark event for the Whitsundays and a golden opportunity for regional Queensland to add a substantial literary gem to its arts calendar.’ The festival will feature the Whitsundays Literary Heart Awards, which includes prizes for the best unpublished manuscript, short story, poetry, and book design. Submissions for the awards open 14 February.
The Sorrento Writers Festival will return to the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria on 25–28 April. Among guest speakers appearing at the festival are Grace Tame, Christos Tsiolkas, Deborah Conway, Magda Szubanski, Peter Singer, Thomas Mayo, Anna Funder, David McAllister, Rosie Batty and Laura Tingle. Early bird tickets have already sold out. Directed by former bookseller Corrie Perkin, the inaugural 2023 program was ‘highly successful’, with sales of over 6000 tickets to 90 events, as well as over 1600 books.
The Victorian township of Clunes will host its annual Clunes Book Town Festival on 23–24 March, featuring author panels discussing, among other topics, the ethics of crime writing, the role of alcohol in Australian culture, writing books that matter for young audiences, and whether journalism is serving Australian democracy. Creative Clunes CEO Sue Beal has curated a program spanning history, romance, fantasy, poetry, self-publishing and journalism, among other subjects. Guest speakers announced for the festival include Helen Garner, Wayne Macauley, Carmel Bird, Alice Pung, Tony Birch, Nova Weetman, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Sam Drummond, Sarah Myles, Sofie Laguna, Michael Earp, Steph Vizard and Carrie Tiffany. Festival entry will also be free for the first time, enabling open access to the outdoor book bazaar of new, second-hand and rare volumes during the festival.
Category: Local news
