It’s pulling some big names from around the country, but the 2nd annual Canberra Writers Festival is also presenting a selection of talent from Canberra’s own writing community. The Festival begins next week, running from Friday 25th August to Sunday 27th August 2017 in venues around town. Read on for ten locals to look for – some you may know, and some you may be yet to meet. Get out there and give them a hometown crowd!
WRITER: Sarah Rice
Poetic Portraits
Join poet and scholar Sarah Rice for a special masterclass on poetry as portraiture. ‘Poetic Portraits’ will examine notions of identity, the self and other, truth and illusion, memory and memorial. Examine a range of poetry and art examples and explore their philosophic underpinnings. Workshop participants will be introduced to different ways of writing poetic portraits and guided through exercises to conceive and draft original pieces.
Sunday 20 August 2017 10:00am – 3:00pm National Portrait Gallery
$75 / $65 Circle of Friends/Concession
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WRITER: Merlinda Bobis
Accidents of Composition book launch, talk and performance
Travel across the world, history and an inner universe, and the little accidents along the way – perhaps of insight, beauty, even kindness. Join Merlinda Bobis in celebration of her new poetry book to be launched by Her Excellency Philippine Ambassador Minda Calaguian-Cruz. Hosted by published poet Lizz Murphy.
Saturday 26 August, 11am National Library of Australia
Tickets: free
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WRITER: Hugh Mackay
In conversation with Jane Caro
The advertising industry is ripe for satire – and who better to lay bare the machinations of this lucrative tinsel factory than social researcher, writer and commentator Hugh Mackay? Hugh’s seventh novel Selling the Dream follows the mixed fortunes of Lincoln The Hunter – universally admired, charming and the jewel in the crown of agency KK&C.
Saturday 26th August 2017, 2:15pm University House, Australian National University.
Tickets: Adult $24.00; Concession $21.95; Junior $11.75
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WRITER: Frances Issac
ISABEL I’ll walk with you again book launch
Frances Isaac’s latest novel ISABEL I’ll walk with you again will be launched by Hon Gordon Ramsay MLA, the Minister for Arts and Community Events. Set in Queensland Australia between the years 1895 to 1910, ISABEL is a compelling tale of forbidden love, jealousy and bonds that shaped a woman’s life, much through emotion and the triumph of the human spirit.
Friday 25 August, 1pm National Library of Australia
Tickets: free
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WRITER: Jack Heath
500 Minutes of Danger book launch
Saturday 26 August 2017, 11am. Kings Hall, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
Tickets: free
Jack Heath: Live!
The Fail Safe is the sequel to the best-selling and multi-award-nominated thriller for kids aged 10 and over, The Cut Out.
The Fail Safe features spies, the threat of nuclear war and renegade ex-operatives in a heady tale starring Fero Dremovich, who has one goal—to escape from Kamau—and is running out of time to pick a side.
Saturday 26th August 2017, 2:30pm. National Library of Australia.
Tickets: free, bookings required.
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Canberra’s Big Book Club
Sunday 27 August 2017, 1pm. Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House. Tickets: Free, bookings required.
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WRITER: Kaaron Warren
Workshop: Inspiration from Found Objects
Friday 25 August 2017, 9:30am. Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
Tickets: Adult $89.25; Concession $79.05; Duo (admits two) $168.25
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Samantha Shannon + Garth Nix in conversation with Kaaron Warren
Join young adult fantasy authors Garth Nix, Samantha Shannon and Kaaron Warren as they discuss their rich and limitless universe.
Saturday 26th August 2017, 12:30pm. National Library of Australia. Tickets: Adult $24; Concession $21.95; Junior $11.75
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Canberra’s Big Book Club
Sunday 27 August 2017, 1pm. Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
Tickets: Free, but bookings required for capacity.
More info
WRITER: Virginia Hausegger
Women at Work
Hear leading lights in Australian women’s advocacy talk about what can be done to level this grossly uneven seesaw and why Australia would benefit from helping women achieve their rightful place at work.
Friday 25 August 2017, 3:15pm. Library Theatre, National Library of Australia.
Tickets: Adult $24; Concession $21.95; Junior $11.75
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WRITER: Jessica Friedmann
In conversation with Jennifer Cummins
Jessica Friedmann’s impressive and powerful debut Things That Helped describes her journey through postpartum depression after the birth of her son. Drawing on critical theory, popular culture, and personal experience, her wide-ranging essays touch on class, race, gender, and sexuality, as well as motherhood, creativity, and mental illness.
Sunday 27 August 2017, 10am. Liangis Theatre, National Portrait Gallery.
Tickets: Adult $24; Concession $21.95; Junior $11.75
More info
WRITER: Sulari Gentill
Crime: From Dark Places
What inspires the stories of crime and dark deeds that keep us up late and night turning the pages and hungering for more? Two of Australia’s most compelling crime thriller writers, Anne Buist and Sulari Gentill, take us on a tour of their imaginations.
Friday 25 August 2017, 11:30am. Conference Room, Level 4, National Library of Australia.
Tickets: Adult $24; Concession $21.95; Junior $11.75
More info
Workshop: The Criminal Storyworld
Getting away with murder: a workshop which explores the crime writer’s tool kit. Sulari Gentill discusses the place of tropes, protagonists, villains, pace and twists in the crime novel.
Friday 25 August 2017, 1:30pm. Private Dining Room 1, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
Tickets: Adult $89.25; Concession $79.05; Duo (admits two) $168.25
More info
WRITER: Frank Bongiorno
The Past Isn’t Past
The past is a foreign country and writers of all kinds have been our guides and interpreters. Ranging from fact to fiction, primary sources to satire, award-winning historian Frank Bongiorno, International fiction bestseller Tracy Chevalier and tongue-in-cheek yarn-spinner David Hunt will tell us how they approach the past—as inspiration, lost story or just a good laugh.
Saturday 26 August 2017, 10.45am. Visions Theatre, National Museum of Australia.
Tickets: Adult $24; Concession $21.95; Junior $11.75
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True Blue & Shades of Grey
While Australia is proudly proclaiming its status as a globalised economy and a social melting pot, our “traditional” ideas about national identity as an extension of sporting achievement, military heroism and our labour and cultural history are frequently called into question.
Sunday 27 August 2017, 11.30am. Members Dining Room 2, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
Tickets: Adult $24; Concession $21.95; Junior $11.75
More info
See the full program of local, national and international writers at: http://www.canberrawritersfestival.com.au/
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