Our top picks for Melbourne Writers Festival 2018
Staff share their top picks from this year’s Melbourne Writers (MWF) Festival program.
We’ve compiled a list of 10 of the most exciting international guests here, and you can browse the full 2018 program here.
Lian Hingee recommends…
Because of the nature of my job, I spend a lot of my time in the digital world, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the way people and brands engage with this virtual space. You hear a lot about online harassment and trolling (which is obviously a huge problem, especially on Twitter), but the flip side is how it’s created a space for people to find their tribe, receive support and encouragement, and has been an important tool for enacting social change. Everything Happens For a Raisin with Jonny Sun and Mara Wilson looks like it’s going to go into further depth about how microblogging and social media can be used in a positive way, and I’m really looking forward to hearing their perspective on it.
My family history is Chinese, but I don’t know nearly as much about my cultural heritage as I’d like to, so I’m keen to attend Year of the Dog which explores the mythology behind the Chinese Zodiac. I think Kitty Flanagan is one of the funniest people on TV and her School for Relationship Break-ups sounds like enormously good fun.
Finally, it’s going to require a trek out of the city, but I’m a huge fan of Eddie Ayres, so I’m very keen to hear him discuss his time in Kabul, the importance of music, and the period around his transition at Doncaster Library.
Leanne Hall recommends…
I loved the SBS series Homecoming Queens, so I’m really keen to see writer Michelle Law and director Corrie Chen discuss their personal and working relationships in How I survived: Corrie Chen and Michelle Law. Law is working on the film adaptation of Alice Pung’s Laurinda, so I’m also hoping they’ll discuss literary adaptations.
Juno Dawson writes prolifically across a range of topics for young people, including mental health and gender, and really understands the teen voice and point of view, so Juno Dawson: Teenage Fan Club is a must for me. I’m just about to get stuck into Dawson’s latest YA novel, Clean, so it will be fresh in my mind for the festival.
One of the great things about a writers festival is hearing from people from across the world, so I am looking forward to Writers Across Borders, which features emerging authors from India, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia. Magic often results from bringing together a group of creative people discuss the connections and differences in their work, and I love encountering writers that are new to me.
Bronte Coates recommends…
My top picks of the festival Ta-Nehisi Coates: Writing Yourself Into History, which will see the Atlantic journalist and author talk on the cultural, social and political issues surrounding race in the US today.
I’m also keen to attend The Book That Made Me A Feminist in which the ever-brilliant Emily Nussbaum and others share life-changing tomes. This event is part of the Festival’s Sacred Texts series, which also includes The Book That Made Me An Activist and The Book That Made Me A Better Lover, and I suspect the audience will be leaving each of these events with a stack of titles to add to their TBR piles.
Melbourne institution The Lifted Brow have been promoting a lot of exciting new voices in recent years and at this year’s festival, they’re putting on a series of Brow Talks featuring emerging writers from across different genres: Michelle Law, Nayuka Gorrie, Nic Holas and Evelyn Ida Morris.
Finally, Recasting the Snake features two local authors whose books I love, Melissa Lucashenko and Ellen van Neerven, and is described as a ‘defence of all things reptilian’, which definitely hooks my interest. And Ashleigh Young’s essay collection Can You Tolerate This? was one of my favourite reads of last year and so I’m looking forward to hearing her in conversation with Cate Kennedy at Ashleigh Young: Written on the Body.
Ellen Cregan recommends…
There are a so many sessions I want to attend at this year’s eclectic festival, and it’s pretty hard to narrow down what I can realistically make it along to as to make myself up a timetable without clashes.
Each year I like to attend a few MWF sessions with author’s whose work I haven’t read. I think going in blind is sort of fun, and it’s always more enjoyable to buy a book after the author has spruiked it to you in person. This year I’d like to see Hanif Abdurraqib and Ta-Nehisi Coates. These are two authors whose books have been on my mental ‘to read’ list for ages, and it’s about time I got around to reading them.
There are heaps of events on this year’s MWF program ideal for animal lovers like myself. I’ve limited myself to just two sessions, though. The first is Eating Animals with Adam Liaw, Mo Wyse and Shannon Martinez. Martinez and Liaw are both cooks, and neither of them are vegan – however Martinez only cooks vegan food at her popular restaurant, Smith and Daughters. Wyse is the other half of the Smith and Daughters team, and is a long-time vegan. I’ve seen Wyse speak before in a similar event, and she is a at once a powerhouse and a delight to listen to. I think this will be a conversation not to be missed. I’m also fascinated by the Eulogy for Species Lost which features some excellent writers talking about extinct animals. I’m sure I’ll get emotional during this session.
A few of my favourite local musicians are appearing in conversation at this year’s MWF, which is exciting. The first is Romy Vager, inimitable frontwoman of RVG, one of my absolute favourite bands of the moment. Vager’s lyrics tend to have a literary bent to them, so I think she will be a very interesting person to see speaking about writing. I’m also very keen to see Jen Cloher in conversation with Miss Blanks. These are two artists who are so incredibly different, but both are vocal activists on a number of issues, so their pairing is quite an exciting one.
Last but not least, there are the events from authors whose books I love already. Michelle de Krester is a total legend, and her book The Life to Come was one of my favourite reads of 2017. I’m also keen to see Bri Lee in conversation with Zoya Patel. I read Lee’s Eggshell Skull earlier this year, and found it incredibly moving, and I’m keen to get started on Patel’s forthcoming memoir, No Country Woman, which has been sitting on my desk waiting to be read for too long now.
Nina Kenwood recommends…
The must-see of the festival is the extraordinary journalist and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is headlining an event at the Athenaeum Theatre called Writing Yourself Into History.
My favourite television writer and critic is the New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum, so I’m looking forward to her session, Culture, Criticism & TV Today. As a huge fan of both John Marsden and Alice Pung, I can’t wait to see them appear together on stage at So Much to Tell You. The same goes for Anna Krien and Benjamin Law, who are both extraordinarily talented writers and lovely people. I don’t want to miss the chance to see them discuss their long-standing friendship and how they support each other creatively at How I Survived. I love a good psychological thriller, so I’m looking forward to Female Thrillers, which sees three Australian women authors, Candice Fox, Susi Fox and Megan Goldin, discuss writing this genre. One of the most successful and inventive Australian YA writers working today is Amie Kaufman, and her session on The Cosmos looks fascinating.
As a bookseller, I love hearing people talk about the books that influenced them, so I am interested in the Sacred Texts sessions: The Book That Made Me A Feminist, The Book That Made Me An Activist, and The Book That Made Me A Better Lover. As a writer, I am fascinated by the creative process, so I am also very interested in the Therapy Couch sessions where writers are guided through their current work in progress. And I would love to challenge myself to attend The Literary Body – a celebration of famous feminist texts, where both performers and the audience will be nude.
Over at the festival’s Animal Church venue… I am intrigued by psychic Mitchell Coombes. I’m looking forward to meeting the famous Pikelet (I love staffys). As a horse lover and former horse-rider I am keen to go to the Essential Equine session. As someone whose family recently lost their family dog I think it might be nice to attend the Pet Remembrance Ceremony. And as a Bachelor/Bachelorette tragic, I am hoping to have a religious experience listening to Osher Günsberg.
