Every year, the Emerging Writers’ Festival unearths and nurtures upcoming literary talent from across the continent with accessible and exciting festival events.
With performances and panels where you can discover your next favourite writers, workshops to hone your own writing craft, and brand-new 2025 event formats – step into the festival where the future of Australian literature gathers and communes.
From 11-18 September, across Melbourne and online with over 200 writers featured at more than 70 unique events, it can be tough to know where to start with EWF! Here is our breakdown of the different event streams happening across the 2025 Emerging Writers’ Festival, so that you can curate your festival experience.
Alcoves
Like your favourite writing nook in your local library, or the altar that is your writing desk, events in EWF's Alcoves stream gift you with crucial, cosy nourishment – from stirring panel conversations, intimate roundtables, and relaxing drop-in sessions. Expect replenishing food for thought, and pensive time for creativity amongst fellow writers.
Explore Alcove events here.
Estuaries
An estuary is a body of water, where river melds into ocean. At EWF, it’s the place where the literary meets other creative forms. This event stream presents special offerings where your writing can be inspired and enlivened by music, photography, visual art, and more.
View Estuaries here.
Ethers
Ethers is EWF's new stream of digital events, for writers online and interstate. Satellites, online-streaming, writers on the World Wide Web. Everything in the ether-world, allowing you to check out talks, workshops, exhibitions, and more. With ethers, you're at EWF in spirit, and via wireless transmission.
Discover online Ether evens here.
EWF X
EWF X events are co-produced by selected collectives and curators who express interest in offering events specific to their communities and comrades, to present evenings of stellar performances and fresh perspectives.
View EWF X events here.
EWF Festival Hub
The rumours are true! In 2025, EWF officially unveils its Festival Hub, located in The Wheeler Centre. Open every day, the Hub is your single port of call to grab a cup of tea, work on your writing, read, socialise, and attend our daily morning drop-in writing sessions. If you’re in the city and need a place to hang out between EWF events, make yourself at home at the EWF Festival Hub.
Explore events at the Festival Hub here.
National Writers’ Conference
Returning in-person over a whole weekend at EWF25, the 2025 National Writers’ Conference is the place for emerging writers to advance their skills, hear from literary industry experts, and network with publishing professionals. As the centrepiece event of the Emerging Writers’ Festival, running 13-14 September, the National Writers’ Conference informs and inspires writers of all genres and styles, and features publishing professionals, fellow emerging writers and literary virtuosos. Weekend Passes for full Conference access or tickets to individual sessions are available.
View the National Writers' Conference events here.
Open Air
To go inwards, writers must firstly venture outward. EWF's Open Air stream of events invites you outward, to spaces away from your screen, artificial lights, and windowless writing spaces. Commune under clouds, and springtime sun to hear words travel outside the confines of four walls. Reconnect with the invigorating sensation of writing in a notepad, or notes app, with bare hand against the wind.
Discover Open Air events here.
Performances
These is EWF's curated offering of live, in-person events in intimate settings. With limited in-person attendance numbers, the focus is on the artists and their creativity. Gather under stars, inside memories and between worlds for a series of limited capacity, boutique performance events.
Explore the Performance program here.
Writers’ Salon
EWF’s Writers’ Salon stream of events is the place and space for literary discussion and creative connection. Part workshop, part roundtable – this is an exclusive, intimate space where writers gather in community and where craft is nurtured.
View Writers' Salons here.
EWF25 is running online and across Melbourne, 11-18 September. Tickets are now available on their website.
