PRESS RELEASE
Lisa Dempster’s first program as Director of Melbourne Writers Festival brings together more than 300 of the world’s leading writers and thinkers to celebrate the power of great literature to inspire, transform and delight inquisitive minds.
From 22 August to 1 September, Melbourne, one of five UNESCO Cities of Literature, will host 350 sessions of story telling, conversation and discussion, intellectual debate, educational programs, live performance, music and art events.
"Melbourne Writers Festival aims to reflect our cultural diversity and celebrate the creativity and knowledge of our community. Some of the biggest names in contemporary literature alongside great anthropologists, feminists, scientists and politicians, will descend on our City of Literature for 11 days of talking, thinking, creating and sharing. We have created more opportunities than ever to join the conversation at our festival. From our re-invigorated Festival Hub to our Twitter chats, art installations to family workshops, conferences to free events and beyond – there will be plenty of magical moments of discussion, reflection and celebration. I hope you find delight in the stories and the people you discover", Lisa Dempster, Festival DIrector.
Literary events pack an international punch with Mayor of London Boris Johnson delivering the Opening Night Keynote address, that explores his literary influences, the craft of writing both autobiographical and fiction, and his belief in the power of literature to transform, inspire and delight. The next day, join Australia’s sharpest political commentators Annabel Crabb, for An Audience with Boris Johnson.
A distinguished team of writers and editors from the most highly respected literary magazine, the London Review of Books (editor Mary-Kay Wilmers, publisher Nicholas Spice, and regular contributors Andrew O’Hagan, Jacqueline Rose, Colm Tóibín and Marina Warner), will participate in more than twenty events including the Closing Night address to be delivered by UK’s Marina Warner, a leading expert on the magic, metaphor and mystery of fairy tales.
The Festival also hosts the final chapter of the Edinburgh World Writers Conference – a global celebration of contemporary writing that has spanned the world from Edinburgh to Istanbul, Berlin, Beijing and beyond. MWF presents a distinguished contingent of Scottish writers including Man of Letters John Burnside, Janice Galloway, Kirsty Gunn, and crime writers Doug Johnstone and Liam McIlvanney.
International writers representing diverse literary styles from equally diverse origins include French sensation Laurent Binet, Israeli writer and politician Michael Bar-Zohar, Spanish-Argentinian Andrès Neuman, Americans Junot Díaz, Teju Cole, Tao Lin, Marjorie Liu and Ruth Ozeki and British writers Jay Griffiths and Sarah Dunant.
Australian literature and culture comes to the fore with new work from Australian writing masters Alexis Wright, Alex Miller, Shaun Tan, Michelle de Kretser, Nicholas Rothwell, Michael Fulilove, Father Bob Maguire, Sarah Turnbull and Anna Goldsworthy.
More than a literary program, Melbourne Writers Festival also delves into global issues with the popular Big Ideas sessions. Programmed around the federal election, Big Ideas explores issues of identity and politics that will inform Australia’s future. Anne Summers leads the charge with a keynote address on Feminism, Mysogyny, Power, Peter Singer defines effective altruism, Mark Latham looks to the future of the ALP and Bob Brown lets us in on life after politics. Jeremy Harding offers a global perspective on migration and border control while Shereen El Feki’s perspective on the Middle East comes straight from the bedroom. Rounding out the program Jay Griffiths (UK) challenges the status of a happy childhood and financial markets expert Satyajit Das asks when will we stop eating our children?
The art of storytelling takes to the stage with New York’s hottest and hippest literary ticket The Moth performing exclusively at the Festival. Internationally acclaimed masters of storytelling, The Moth host Ophira Eisenberg will be joined by Australia’s own Magda Szubanski in a beautifully staged, live theatrical production where the performers share extraordinary true stories under the theme of courage.
The Festival will interrogate digital culture, exploring how the growing online world is impacting on our creative, commercial and cultural lives. Chris Ruen, Pete Williams, Sarah Wendell and Teju Cole will talk about Twitter, Amazon, freeloading, and digital publishing among other things. 17-year-old New Yorker Tavi Gevinson explores the world of teenage girls from her position as one of the most influential young women in the digital realm.
The rapidly changing world of journalism is put under the microscope again with the University of Melbourne Centre for Advancing Journalism annual New News conference, which this year examines the impacts of social media and the digital world on news content and media organisations. The conference also looks at women in the media, indigenous voices, paywalls, crowdsourcing, press freedoms in China, new media entrepreneurs, and how the media has performed in its coverage of the federal election. Panelists include Gael Jennings, Mark Forbes, Eric Beecher, Pamela Williams, Catharine Viner, Michael Gawenda, and Gideon Haigh.
The National Reading Hour and The Book Factory return to the program for children and families, which also features writers Jane Godwin and Michael Pryor plus a huge array of illustrators and writers including Gabrielle Wang, Anna Walker, Bernard Caleo, Jacqueline Harvey, Aki Fukuoka and Kylie Dunstan for numerous storytelling sessions in the children’s hub at ArtPlay.
Following its successful tour of India, the Bookwallah roving writers’ festival brings India’s vibrant contemporary literary and publishing culture to Australian audiences. Chandrahas Choundhury and Annie Zaidi join Kirsty Murray and Benjamin Law on a literary road trip from Brisbane to Melbourne in search of stories, conversations and connections. The tour starts with an exhibition at the State Library of Victoria and five MWF sessions that provide new perspectives on modern India.
Benjamin Law also hosts a Queer Literary Salon that promises a celebration of queer voices in literature with an entertaining line-up of fabulous performances, same-sex interviews, provocative readings, and gender-bending antics.
The hugely popular Literary Walks will once again take festival-goers on guided tours through Melbourne’s streets and laneways to discover the City of Literature’s famous street art, historic architecture, hidden dragons and bohemian past. Plus for the first time – the festival will feature a Ride, with Bike Snob NYC.
MWF takes storytelling off the page and onto the stage with Wendy Harmer hosting the Letterman-esque Friday Night Live, featuring Festival guests Andrew O’Hagan, Shereen El Feki, Michelle Diconiski and Bike Snob NYC, plus comedian Sammy J and live music from The Blackeyed Susans. Liner Notes pays tribute to classic album LA Woman song by song featuring local and international Festival guests Ophira Eisenberg, Doug Johnstone, Andy Griffiths, Yana Alana led by a live band.
Songwriting is further put under the spotlight in two sessions at Bella Union featuring legendary Torres-Strait Island singer-songwriter Seaman Dan, and the absurd creator of Hottest 100 hit I’m So Post Modern, The Bedroom Philosopher, who will perform and share the stories behind their music. Art Centre Melbourne hosts a musical lecture from London Review of Books publisher Nicholas Spice who discusses our relationship with the music of Richard Wagner and why Tristan and Isolde keep him awake at night. Featuring conversations and performances, Radio National’s The Music Show broadcasts live from the Festival.
Free events include National Reading Hour; the City of Literature Forum; daily readings from Festival artists in The Morning Read; and Illustrator in Residence, three-hour sessions daily where leading illustrators work live in the Atrium. Illustrators in residence include Lucy Knisley, Oslo Davis and Marc Martin, Read with Raf, 774 ABC’s live book club and intrepid traveller and founder of Lonely Planet Tony Wheeler talking about the perils and pitfalls of travelling in the world’s dangerous places.
The Festival continues its encouragement of reading and writing through its Schools Program, which will attract more than 13,000 primary and secondary school students and teachers. Aspiring and established writers will benefit from Professional Development masterclasses and seminars that cover writing and editing in the digital realm as well as the art of writing crime, memoir, travel and literary criticism among other genres. Digital Drive morning sessions will feature online writers showing how writers connect and create in the online space.
Melbourne Writers Festival runs from August 22 to September 1, 2013