The program for the 2018 Emerging Writers’ Festival has been announced. The festival will run from 19-29 June in venues across Melbourne’s CBD and surrounding suburbs. You can view the full program here, and you can find information about what special passes are available here.

Here are eight of our top picks from the program.

Still Water

Ever-changing life-giver, uncontainable and irreplaceable. As necessary as air to sustain us, it follows no direction but its own bright grace. An intimate performance journey on the Blackbird boat along the Maribyrnong river exploring the future of our waterways. Performers include Kat Clarke, Hannah Donnelly, Laniyuk Garcon, Nayuka Gorrie and Hannah Morphy-Walsh.

Please note: There will be two sessions of this event. Please select which session you would like to attend when booking tickets and ensure you arrive at the meeting point at least 15 minutes before your session’s starting time.

When: 6.30pm and 7.45pm, Wednesday 20 June
Where: The meeting point for this event is the Footscray Community Arts Centre, 45 Moreland Street, Footscray
Bookings: $17-$19 for individual tickets. Please book here.

Big Breaks

What’s it like developing your debut manuscript into a novel via winning a major literary prize? Join Christian White and his publisher Martin Hughes as they discuss the editorial journey from winning the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript to publishing a finished novel.

When: 6pm, Thursday 21 June
Where: Readings St Kilda, 112 Acland St, St Kilda
Bookings: Free, but please book here.

5x5 Rules of Writing

Kicking off the conference, our five festival ambassadors – Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Isobelle Carmody, Stuart Grant, Melissa Lucashenko and Ellen van Neerven – share their five rules for writing. Whether you’re emerging, emerged or somewhere in between, these gems of advice are bound to get you inspired.

When: 10am, Saturday 23 June
Where: State Library Victoria, Conference Centre, 179 La Trobe St, Melbourne
Bookings: This session is a special event and can be purchased individually or as part of a day or weekend pass. Find more information here.

Queer Icons Party

Come witness the miracle of us. DRAG yourself, your friends and your lovers along to this extravagant ode to our queer histories and herstories and theirstories interweaved. Bonus points if you dress to impress.

When: 8pm, Saturday 23 June
Where: Alpha60 Chapter House, 195 Flinders Lane
Bookings: $20 for individual tickets. Please book here.

Sweatshop Showcase

Sweatshop is a literacy movement based in Western Sydney which is devoted to empowering groups and individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds through training and employment in creative and critical writing narratives. Hear the latest works in development from six members of the collective: Evelyn Araluen, Maryam Azam, Winnie Dunn, Shirley Le, Stephen Pham and Peter Polites.

When: 5pm, Sunday 24 June
Where: State Library Victoria, Conference Centre, 179 La Trobe St, Melbourne
Bookings: Free, but please book here.

Tell Me Like You Mean It

What does it mean to be an emerging poet? We reckon it’s something like having a a voice that’s full of attitude, wit and sincerity, a voice that’s continually re-imagining what it means to be contemporary. Four fresh new poets – Charlotte Guest, Raelee Lancaster, Lachy McKenzie and Ellen O’Brien – take to the stage and show you what they’re made of.

When: 7.30pm, Monday 25 June
Where: The Moat, 176 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
Bookings: Free, but please book here.

Critical Considerations

What responsibility do critics have to the authors they write about? In this session, join Jackie Tang (editor-in-chief, Books + Publishing) and Alan Vaarwerk (editor, Kill Your Darlings) alongside Readings’ Ellen Cregan as they interrogate ethics and accountability in the world of literary criticism.

When: 6pm, Tuesday 26 June
Where: Readings Hawthorn, 701 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn
Bookings: Free, but please book here.

The Speakeasy series

Defy decorum and delve into delicious ideas, discussions and debates. Join the festival for three intimate meals with some of the sharpest commentators on these timeless dinner-table taboos: sex, death and money.

When: 6.30pm on Tuesday 26 June, Wednesday 27 June and Thursday 28 June
Where: Brunswick Mechanics Institute, 270 Sydney Road, Brunswick
Bookings: $40 for individual events, which you can book here: Sex, Death and Money. You can also purchase a pass for the whole Speakeasy series for $100. Find out more here.