Get Booky: C&G’s Guide to the Melbourne Writer’s Festival
Every year, Melbourne hosts the Melbourne Writers’ Festival: celebrating the best and most uniquely talented writers from across Australia and the world. From children’s writers to crime novelists, there’s a story to tell at every turn. Now in its 30th year, the festival is set to be bigger than ever, with exhibitions, workshops and industry talks. Running from 20th-30th August 2015 at locations across Melbourne, C&G has collated the highlights that you can’t miss.
Celebrating the festival’s 30th anniversary, the big showcase this year is the 30 under 30 series. Featuring Victoria’s youngest and brightest budding writers, 30 under 30 brings together the influential writers of tomorrow. Demonstrating an insightful viewpoint on ‘how women are represented in the film industry’, and a workshop on ‘how to be funny’ hosted by two successful comedy writers exploring the depth of writing for humour, the young writers’ talent is certainly of an impressive calibre.
The Reading Now session of the festival is probably the most exciting book club you’ll ever attend. Discuss the books you love (and the ones you can’t wait to read) with the very authors that wrote them. Liane Moriarty and Graeme Simsion share their journey to stardom and their success on hitting the coveted best sellers list, and blockbuster of 2014, Gone Girl, steals the show with an exploration into the impact it had on the psychological thriller genre, from authors Honey Brown and Anne Turner.
For the younger bookworm, the children and teens weekend is an interactive highlight that draws out the creativity in everyone. 20th-22nd August hosts the majority of the best bits for youngsters, including a book swap and a chat about the phenomenon of fan fiction with Justine Larbalestier, where budding writers are encouraged to bring along their own work to share.
Elizabeth Honey hosts a hands-on workshop exploring watercolour, while Natalie Tran and Minna Gilligan talk to their technological instinct by exploring ways to express your art and stories through blogging, Tumblr and Instagram, and author of I’m a Dirty Dinosaur, Ann James, gets messy with paints as she explains how she illustrated the famous book.
If you’re a writer yourself, be it novels, blogs or politics, the Industry Insights session has expert advice from insiders and tips on how to be successful. If you’re looking into self-publishing, Filipino cookbook writer Adrian Briones, hosts an intimate group workshop on his journey and how you can do it yourself.
If online writing is more your game, book in for Blogging for Beginners with Karen Andrews, and Bringing Your Brand to Life with Lucy Feagins, describing how she built Australia’s most influential design blog, The Design Files.
Finally, learn to boost your online presence with a chat from Etsy Australia’s digital sales experts. So whether you’re a book lover or a writer yourself, MWF 2015 is not to be missed. Visit www.mwf.com.au to book all events.