The Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival program is packed with impressive guests
Wednesday, 26 April 2023
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Dr Aksel Dadswell from ECU will be one of the may featured speakers at the Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival.
The Margaret River Readers & Writers Festival, the largest regional literary event in WA, is back bigger than ever in 2023 from 12-14 May.
The three-day storytelling spectacular features top Australian authors, journalists, innovators, and big thinkers.
The exciting list of headliners appearing live on-stage include Bryan Brown, Richard Fidler, Danielle Laidley, Hugh Mackay, and Simon Holmes à Court.
Celebrating storytelling across multiple art forms, the festival program features author talks, panel sessions, workshops, and networking events.
While the festival takes place predominantly in Margaret River, there will also be a one-day event in Busselton that will feature Jane Caro and author J.P. Pomare will launch is new book ‘Home before Night’.
Festival Director Sian Baker said the event would feature an exciting mix of literary talent live on stage.
“The program is incredibly diverse, offering readers and writers a range of exciting events in our beautiful regional setting.”
“Expect some hard-hitting climate content, discussions about mental health, gender fluidity and diversity and First Nations authors and stories.” Baker said.
Dr Aksel Dadswell, who is a lecturer in Creative and Professional Writing at ECU, is one of the guests at the festival. He is a writer of horror and weird fiction, and his short fiction has been published in horror anthologies such as 'Test Patterns: Creature Features' (Planet X Publications, 2018) and 'Hymns of Abomination: Secret Songs of Leeds' (Silent Motorist Media, 2021).
He'll be hosting a session on 'The Living Word - Poetry of Change' where poets Andrew James Macleod, Miranda Aitken and Jo Porter will explore the power of their work and get to the very heart of issues like nature, identity, and place.
Dr Dadswell will host the writers Networking Sundowner which will allow aspiring writers to put their burning questions to a star-studded panel including award-winning authors Josh Kemp, who got his PhD at ECU, and Brendan Ritchie, who is also an ECU lecturer.
Another anticipated highlight of the festival will be the launch of Ritchie's novel 'Eta Draconis', which was the winner of the 2022 Dorothy Hewett Award.
In the award winning novel life on earth undergoes a complex change as meteorites begin to rain down from the dying star Eta Draconis; the world does not collapse, but old certainties disappear. As two sisters journey to the city from their small coastal town in south west Western Australia ahead of the coming semester, they are forced to confront their problems and recalibrate their hopes for the future.
Join Brendan Ritchie on the Sunday morning of the festival for a poetic and compelling discussion about his work.
ECU writing graduate Holden Sheppard is appearing on several panels across the festival, including one focusing on his latest young adult novel 'The Brink'. Sheppard scooped up a swag of awards for his debut novel 'Invisible Boys' which is now being adapted for television. Sheppard will also be on a panel that discusses the question, are we a prudish nation?
The festival is presented in partnership with ECU's School of Arts and Humanities. ECU students can get discounted day passes for the Saturday and Sunday session in Margaret River using the discount code: RWFst