Top picks from the Emerging Writers' Festival 2015
The Emerging Writers’ Festival have launched their 2015 program! We’re delighted to be the official bookseller for the festival, and we’ve scoured the program to put together our list of must-see events.
Opening Night Extravaganza (Tuesday 26 May, 7pm – 8.45pm)
Definitely mark this one as ‘must-attend’. The 2015 winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript will be announced (past winners include Miles Allinson, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Graeme Simsion), as well as the winners of the Monash Prize for Undergraduate Creative Writing. PLUS… Emily St. John Mandel, the author of Station Eleven, will also speak on the night!
Kill Your Darlings: Nerds Gone Wild (Monday 1 June, 9:30pm – late)
Join Melbourne literary journal Kill Your Darlings and five of their favourite writers as they confess their nerdy fascinations and secret obsessions.
The National Writers’ Conference (Saturday 30 May and Sunday 31 May, 9am – 5pm)
This two day conference is the centrepiece of the Emerging Writers’ Festival. Guests will hear from this year’s ambassadors – Oslo Davis, Kylie Ladd, William McInnes, Sulari Gentill and Anna Poletti.
Live Podcast Recording: Bring a Plate (Monday 1 June, 12:30pm – 2pm)
If you haven’t listened to the pop culture comedy podcast Bring a Plate, please do so immediately as you won’t be disappointed. At this live recording, Peter Taggart and Rebecca Shaw will chat with festival writers and review a to-be-announced literary work.
Writing TV for the Internet: The Katering Show (Wednesday 3 June, 7pm – 9pm)
Of a similar vein, come along to hear Kate McLennan and Kate McCartney. The two creators, writers and stars of The Katering Show will talk about how they’ve cooked their way into the Food Culture Revolution, carving their own distinctive space into the web series landscape.
Amazing Babes 2.0 (Thursday 4 June, 7.30pm – late)
One of the most talked-about events from last year’s program, this fantastic night (part of the festival’s Performance series) once again features some excellent women performing odes to other excellent women. Speakers include Lorelai Vashti, Carly Findlay, Veronica Sullivan, Sian Campbell and more.
#writingwhilefemale (Friday 5 June, 9am – 5pm)
Continuing in the theme of amazing babes, #writingwhilefemale is a whole day dedicated only to women. The day will feature panels, workshops and performance – everything from ‘Gendered Genres: Women on Women’s Writing’, a panel with Aviva Tuffield, Emily Bitto, Louise Swinn and Ellen van Neerven, and ‘Radical Acts’, a Melbourne-based performer and storyteller Tariro Mavondo.
Letters to the West (Thursday 28 May, 9pm – late)
Writers will share their letters penned to the theme of the West: What does the West mean to them? Simply a location or an ideology, even a character in their lives? This event is part of the festival’s ‘Words Out West: A Writing Adventure in Footscray’ series.
This year, we’re also excited to be providing a book concierge service…
For the duration of this year’s festival, we will be available to provide literary recommendations from emerging writers to help you discover your next great read.
Send your questions by post (Readings Book Concierge, PO Box 1238, Carlton VIC 3053), email ([email protected]) or Twitter (@Readingsbooks). We will be publishing our answers as part of a daily wrap-up. Your name and contact details will be kept strictly confidential, and your question will be printed anonymously. For best results, please provide as much as detail as possible about what you like to read and the kind of book you’re looking for! Questions will be answered at Readings discretion.
