What we're planning to see at Emerging Writers' Festival 2017
This year’s program for the Emerging Writers’ Festival has been announced. Here, our staff share their top picks.
Leanne Hall recommends…
I’m very excited that there’s going to be a focus on writing young adult fiction with the Masterclass: YA event at the Wheeler Centre. There’ll be panels, workshops and conversations with a wide range of YA authors, editors, booksellers and academics – essential for anyone who has a passion for youth literature. Decolonial Narratives and the Diaspora (in the Festival’s The Early Words program stream) looks like it’s going to be fascinating, with writers and editors talking about the possibilities of writing as resistance. I’m also keen to make it to Stories from the Archipelago to hear from young and prolific Indonesian novelist Azri Zakkiyah.
And finally, how could anyone resist a panel of writers sharing their Bad Writing? As a former teenage bad writer myself, I can’t wait to hear other people’s earnest writing failures and experiments.
Bronte Coates recommends…
My stand-out pick on this year’s program is the EWF Formal which features some wonderfully talented and very funny writers (Elizabeth Flux! Michelle Law! Hera Lindsay Bird! And more!) reminiscing about their awkward teen years. I feel like it will be an extremely enjoyable, and relatable, evening. The Bad Writing event appeals to me for the exact same reason. I’ve also recently reread Melina Marchetta’s Looking for Alibrandi in recognition of the book’s 25th anniversary, and found it just as compelling as teenage me did, so I’m keen to attend the Festival’s Movie Night and rewatch the 2000 film adaptation – no doubt surrounded be a group of others Marchetta fans.
I’m pleased to see that this year’s Festival has included two events that cater to writers interested in creating literature for children and young adults: a full-day Masterclass on YA fiction, and Writing for Children workshop in the Festival’s Writers’ Night School program stream. I think they’ll prove popular! Other events that I’ve pencilled in my diary include Bogong Spoken Word which features performances by six First Nations writers including the ever-brilliant Hannah Donnelly, YouTube Party which was an event I attended last year and loved, and Songs and Stories of Home which sees musicians and writers share stories of homecomings (and leavings).
Finally, Opening Night looks set to be spectacular. Definitely a must-attend.
Chris Gordon recommends…
The truly tremendous part of reading through the Emerging Writers’ Festival program is that there are so many opportunities to learn a new proficiency in our wonderful world of reading and writing. As I circle probable events in my program, I am filled with a yearning to peruse more.
I’m thrilled, of course, that Readings are involved again, and especially that we will be highlighting the brilliant work of one of our staff members, Alice Chipkin, and her graphic memoir Eyes Too Dry (co-written with Jessica Tavassoli). The story of how this book was created is truly inspiring – learn about it at Eyes Too Dry.
I would also really like to attend the entire Writer’s Night School series. With each one kicking off at 6.30pm, this is very sensible timetabling. In particular, I’d be keen to attend Food Writing at the Builders Arms Hotel. Learning over a meal now seems so obvious to me that I’m a bit baffled as to why we, as a society, are not doing more of this in times of erudition. So many wasted opportunities…
Lian Hingee recommends…
After watching performances recently from Omar Musa, Kate Tempest and Hollie McNish I’ve discovered a hitherto undiscovered love for slam poetry, so I’m keen to attend The Dandy Slam.
And with the political climate today inching ever closer to some of the more terrifying dystopian visions from fiction I’m also fascinated to hear how some of the recent contributors to the genre have developed their vision for the future in Literary Dystopias.
Stella Charls recommends…
There is too much to be excited about in this year’s EWF program, I don’t really know how to limit myself to one paragraph! Quippings presents LOVE SHOW went straight into my diary – this performance by seven performers with “bodies and minds of unending variation” sounds like it will be one event that’s so full of joy and energy it’s bursting at the seams. The EWF Formal features one of my favourite poets, Hera Lindsay Bird, alongside an amazing line-up of fierce and funny writers performing odes to their high school selves. The Bogong Spoken Word will feature six First Nations writers, who will come together for a unique celebration of storytelling. Honor Eastly’s Starving Artist podcast is in my ears this month, so I’m thrilled that she’s running a workshop on podcasting, while the YouTube Party was my favourite event in last year’s program, and left me laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe properly for at least an hour afterwards – I can’t wait for this year’s iteration.
