For everyone who reads 25 August — 3 September Book now mwf.com.au #mwf17 Contents Highlights 6 Friday 25 August 15 Saturday 26 August 16 Big Ideas 20 Sunday 27 August 22 Monday 28 – Thursday 31 August 29 Friday 1 September 30 Saturday 2 September 34 Industry Insights 37 Local Libraries 38 Sunday 3 September 40 Children & Teens 44 Festival Guest Index 46 Essential Information 48 NAVIGATING THE EVENTS SYMBOLS KEY Use the key below to identify Festival streams Event time 6pm and look out for the free events. Title STEPHEN DUPONT: Literature DON’T LOOK AWAY Description Against a backdrop of arresting The Agenda photographs and film footage, multi-award-winning war Live & Social photographer Stephen Dupont takes viewers on a powerful Children & Teens journey to the frontlines of Afghanistan, Rwanda, Vietnam Free events and more. The haunting visual presentation is followed by a conversation with Dupont and accompanied by a photographic exhibition. Venue Deakin Edge, Fed Square Full Price $22/$19 | Code 1705 Symbols Concession Price Session Code 2 mwf.com.au Book your tickets now at mwf.com.au For all the ways to book, see page 48. 3 readings.com.au Australian Independent Book Retailer of the Year 2016 & 2017 Welcome and future, MWF will interrogate literature and change, there is the biggest issues of the day. something for everyone who reads. We’re thrilled to present visionary This year will mark my final year international voices Amani Al- as director of Melbourne Writers Khatahtbeh, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Festival. It has been an honour Robert Fisk, Janet Mock, Joyce – and so much fun – to bring the Carol Oates, Shashi Tharoor, Festival to life over the past five Angie Thomas and Micah White, years. I have fond memories of so as well as preeminent Australian many insightful and provocative In 2017 Melbourne Writers thinkers Yassmin Abdel-Magied, conversations and performances Festival will celebrate Julian Burnside, Stan Grant, that I believe could not happen revolutionary ideas. Tony Jones, Shireen Morris and in any place other than at MWF Kim Scott, who will deliver the – so to the writers and readers of When systems fall into crisis and Festival’s opening address. Melbourne in particular, I thank you. we are entrenched in the politics Join the writers, activists and I look forward to welcoming of despair, literature becomes a thinkers leading the resistance to you to the Festival in August! platform for revolution. Informed explore ideas for a more hopeful by social and political movements Lisa Dempster future. With more than 300 events and revolutions past, present Festival Director / CEO exploring activism, identity, politics, We respectfully acknowledge that Melbourne Writers Festival takes place on the traditional lands of the Kulin Nation, in particular the Wurundjeri Writers have long been partners Immerse yourself in a world of and Boonwurrung and prophets of revolution. words at the 2017 Melbourne people. We pay Melbourne Writers Festival Writers Festival. During what respects to Elders continues this tradition by providing is undeniably a highlight of past and present, a forum for discussion and debate Melbourne’s cultural calendar, and to the Elders and a platform for diverse voices. MWF is a place for readers of all I encourage you to dive into this kinds to explore stories that are of all communities program, be inspired by new important to Melbourne. As a and cultures perspectives, and encounter an UNESCO City of Literature, the City across Australia. exciting array of writers from our of Melbourne is proud to support City of Literature and beyond. Australia’s premier writing festival. Viva la Melbourne Writers Festival! Robert Doyle AC The Hon Martin Foley MP Lord Mayor Minister for Creative Industries 5 Highlights 6 mwf.com.au EventsHighlights Kim Scott OPENING NIGHT GALA Fri 25 Aug, 6.30pm until late Deakin Edge, Fed Square $50 | Code 1001 Throughout his award-winning literary career, Kim Scott has reconstructed narratives of Aboriginal experience while interrogating the archives of history. In his powerful opening address, Scott explores how writing yourself into history can challenge Australian identity and transform our connection to language and land. The Mission Songs Project present a dynamic musical performance of Indigenous song, casting light on the history and resilience of our Indigenous communities. Then join us for a drink as we kick off the Festival! DJ Sovereign Trax brings a playlist of the best music from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists as we reflect on the collective stories, identities and resistance of the First Nations. Ticket price includes event and opening party. Supported by the Faculty of Arts, The University of Melbourne Visit mwf.com.au for full Festival program details 7 Highlights Writers are not only storytellers – they are Joyce Carol Oates also witnesses to the world around them, reflecting and critiquing it through their BEARING WITNESS imagined worlds. Iconic American author Joyce Carol Oates (A Book of American Sat 26 Aug, 6.15pm (75 minutes) Martyrs) delves into ethics, empathy and Deakin Edge, Fed Square bearing witness as a novelist, and how $45/$35 | Code 1306 fiction gives both readers and writers the opportunity to explore and understand both sides of complex, multifaceted issues. Supported by the US Consulate General 8 mwf.com.au Highlights Angie Thomas YA & ACTIVISM Sun 27 Aug, 4pm (75 minutes) Deakin Edge, Fed Square $25 | Code 1406 Giving voice to young black Americans and chronicling their experiences of racism, The Hate U Give is the year’s most outstanding YA novel. Hear from author Angie Thomas as she argues for writing that can turn the political into the deeply personal as a way to inspire action and speak truth to power. Be inspired by this young, outspoken writer who is ready to hit three truths home: that life fuels art, art mirrors life, and books can change lives. 9 HighlightsEvents MWF’s sharpest minds deliver an A Better invigorating evening of polemics. This gala event will see writers including Tomorrow Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Jane Caro, Stan Grant, Tony Jones and Omar Musa POLEMICS GALA make individual cases against values and institutions, provoking new possibilities Thu 31 Aug, 6pm (75 minutes) for a better society. Nothing is off-limits Deakin Edge, Fed Square for these bold, outspoken thinkers $45/$35 | Code 1002 – come and hear their visions for a brighter, more equal tomorrow. With a performance by host Clare Bowditch. 10 mwf.com.auSee more and save — buy a Festival 5 or 10 Pack Highlights Janet Mock VISIBILITY & VOICE Thu 31 Aug, 8.30pm (75 minutes) Deakin Edge, Fed Square $45/$35 | Code 1003 Meet internationally acclaimed transgender rights activist Janet Mock, author of Redefining Realness and Surpassing Certainty – memoirs that share her experiences of growing up poor, multiracial and trans in America, and her journey into the highly competitive New York media. Mock draws on her experience as a journalist and prominent trans woman to speak about the power of storytelling in media and popular culture, the history of trans women in feminist, LGBTI and social justice movements, and the importance of visibility and voice. 11 Highlights The West has long fought its wars Robert Fisk on foreign soil. From his experience covering wars in Syria, Iraq, Algeria, CLOSING NIGHT ADDRESS Afghanistan and Lebanon, The Independent’s renowned Middle Sun 3 Sep, 6.30pm (75 minutes) Eastern correspondent Robert Fisk Deakin Edge, Fed Square explains why foreign adventures no $45/$35 | Code 1004 longer come free of charge – because we are no longer safe at home. 12 mwf.com.au Deakin Edge comes to life every night of MWF with an exclusive pop-up bar, open half an hour before every evening session. Enjoy food by Beer DeLuxe and drinks from Hargreaves Hill Brewing Co., Kooks Social Winery and The Melbourne Gin Company. The City of Melbourne is proud to support major and emerging What is arts organisations through their 2015–17 Triennial Arts Grants the role of Program. Aphids Arts Access Victoria Australian Centre for the artist Contemporary Art Blindside Artist Run Space Chamber Made Opera in a creative Circus Oz Craft Emerging Writers’ Festival Ilbijerri Theatre city? Koorie Heritage Trust La Mama Little Big Shots Lucy Guerin Inc. Melbourne Festival Melbourne Fringe Melbourne International Comedy Festival “To disrupt, enliven Melbourne International Film Festival and enrich by taking Melbourne International Jazz Festival creative risks and Melbourne Queer Film Festival Melbourne Symphony Orchestra pursuing excellence Melbourne WebFest Melbourne Writers Festival in all its forms” Multicultural Arts Victoria Next Wave Festival Polyglot Theatre Poppy Seed Songlines Aboriginal Music Speak Percussion Lisa Dempster Festival Director / CEO The Wheeler Centre Melbourne Writers Festival West Space Wild@heART Community Arts melbourne.vic.gov.au/triennialarts Events Friday 25 August 10am Walks ABC BOOKS & Experience Melbourne like never before by ARTS LIVE going for an MWF walk! Join David Astle for Kick off your MWF with ABC RN word game fun, uncover the Yarra River’s Books and Arts’s live broadcast history with Tony Birch, discover Kyo Maclear’s from the Festival. Get a taste for favourite birds, and explore the Melbourne grid the discussions to come as Michael with Nadia Rhook. Afternoon tea included. Cathcart is joined in conversation Visit mwf.com.au for full details. by exciting Festival guests. Supported by ABC RN Deakin Edge, Fed Square Book Launches From well-known The Door Because of You publications to emerging Garcia Sisters Pip Harry writers, check out the Sat 26 Aug, 11.30am Sat 2 Sep, 11.30am future of Australian The Vandemonian War Wish You Were Here writing at a free Festival Nick Brodie Sheridan Jobbins book launch at Beer Sat 26 Aug, 1pm Sat 2 Sep, 1pm DeLuxe, Fed Square.