With the Brisbane Writers Festival kicking off this week, the cultural centre is in full gear preparing for it. My offices are on level 2 of the State Library, so it's been kind of cool watching the event gear up and the enormous tent take over the Maiwar Green. As I did for Queensland Poetry Festival last month, I figured I'd give you guys a bit of a guide in my picks for the festival. Just a heads up, this is a heinously biased post, so I'd really recommend checking out the full, stellar program over on the BWF website.
WEDNESDAY 4 SEPTEMBER
Story+
Brisbane's digital futures scene is kind of kicking butt right now. Between great movers and shakers like BWF director, Kate Eltham (previously the writer of the, rather spectacular, digital publishing blog, Electric Alphabet), if:book Australia, which takes a human form in Simon Groth, and the innovative new QUT initiative The Cube, it's hard to deny a certain heavy weight in Queensland's capital city when it comes to opening dialogue about the future of publishing.
Story+ is ultimately a showcase of this, inviting you to participate in a conversation about what lies ahead, but also how you, as a writer, can utilise technology and design to enhance your story world. Which, come on, it's a pretty
20 Pages in 20 Minutes
Want Rob Spillman (editor of US journal Tin House, Sophie Hamley (The Cameron Creswell Agency) or Hannah Brown Gordon (literary agent) to read 20 pages of work and give you targeted feedback in 20 minutes? 'Nuff said.
THURSDAY 5 SEPTEMBER
Queensland Literary Awards Showcase
The awards are in a bit of a renaissance at the moment, having been axed by the premier, Campbell Newman, and brought back to life through community enthusiasm. This session is free and will showcase some of the very talented authors shortlisted. It should be a good one to check out.
The Lyric and the Line
If you've got the dosh to fork out, The Lyric and the Line should be pretty excellent. Taught by The Church's Steve Kilby, this masterclass will take you through the process of songwriting with a particular focus on crafting lyrics.
Wartime/Peace
There's a really interesting strand of the festival focusing on wartime and the effect it has on troops, government and community. This session in particular takes a look at women in wartime (a topic that fascinates me!)
Opening Address: The Space Between
The BWF opening address is historically, uh, eventful, but this year everyone should be talking about it for the right reasons. Matthew Reilly is an iconic fixture of Australian writing, having written many a thriller bordering hard science fiction and buried in both realism and the fantastical. With spec fic aficionado, Kate Eltham directing the festival as of this year, it seems like a pretty great fit to begin her reign.
FRIDAY 6 SEPTEMBER
Greatest American Hero
I'm a bit of a comic book nut, so one of the things that has me most excited for the festival is the three Marvel writer/artists BWF has brought out. This in-conversation event with Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick should be pretty awesome.
Steve Kilby
Steve Kilby of The Church performs! I mean, 'nuff said.
Good Thinking: Anne Summers
With the treatment of Julia Gillard over the last few years, it's hard to argue that misogyny is fairly rife in Australian politics right now. In this 45 minute event, Anne Summers will talk about sexism in the wider Australian culture and government systems. Definitely one to check out.
Festival Club: Juvenilia
The Festival Club is on every night of the festival, but this is really one not to be missed, with the rather awesome talents of Benjamin Law, Clementine Ford, Scott Westerfield, Kimberley Freeman, Stuart Macbride and Justine Larbalestier reading the stories they wrote as teens.
SATURDAY 7 SEPTEMBER
Pat Grant
I'm a huge Pat Grant fan, so this is a bit of a no-brainer for me. That aside, it's a great chance to hear about Australian indie comics publishing from one of our bests.
Inspire: Women
The inspire series is an interesting one, covering very different content throughout the festival. This one looks particularly good, featuring a women's ambassador, journalist and comic book artist talking about the issues that interest them as it relates to women.
Outsiders
Randa Abdel-Fattah, Melissa Keil, Sue McPherson and Pat Grant talk aliens, outcasts and foreigners.
The Stella Prize Spelling Bee
Spelling bee's are a bit of a cult thing in Australian festivals and generally make for a really fun hour. This one should be good too, with the good people of The Stella Prize out to run the show.
Spoken: Whispers
All weekend, the festival is running reading events in the Red Box - which should be pretty great! I'm actually MC'ing this one, so, hey, a bit of shameless self-promotion. That said, we're set to have an awesome line up, so check it out if you're between sessions.
Magpies & Culture Vultures
Writing about arts and culture is something I love, so for me this is a much see session!
The Great Debate
With a hugely topical topic like Australia Needs Leaders, Not Politicians, this is sure to be a much-talked about event during the festival.
SUNDAY 8 SEPTEMBER
The F Word
Dale Spender, Kate DeGoldi, Dawn Barker and Monica Dux talk about generational feminism and where it still has to go.
Well-Drawn: Keynote by Matt Fraction
What it says on the tin, but Matt Fraction is pretty awesome so I have high hopes for the speech!
Lit Mags
This year, BWF has Rob Spillman out from Tin House in the States, and this session will see him, Sam Cooney and Tom Doig talk about the current industry of literary journals.
Spoken: Stilts
Another one for the Spoken series, this one is being organised by the Stilts Collective.
Glitter and Dust
Benjamin Law's set to close the festival with a last round of readings which is, y'know, pretty great.
So that's about it! There's heaps more on at the festival, depending on what you're into. If you're into romance and YA I'd especially recommend taking a closer look. There really is something for everyone this year, so fingers crossed Kate Eltham's reign over the festival will see a real expansion and diversity in the coming years.
You can find the rest of the program over at bwf.org.au.
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