2020 Melbourne Writers Festival Goes Digital
The program is here for the 2020 Melbourne Writers Festival! The festival will run in a new digital format from August 7 – 16 and even though we will miss the hub-bub of the crowds, the shared smiles with strangers with the same taste in authors, the signing queues, the waiting queues, the coffee queues and the general queues…
and all the other in real life fun of this annual Melbourne institution, on the plus side -EVERYONE EVERYWHERE CAN COME!
Yes the festival is digital and that means no travel costs (not even the cost of a tram ticket) and no waiting in the cold and the whole festival can be enjoyed from anywhere with anyone – but wait – not at anytime. The festival has combated covid-induced-digital-program-overload-ennui by only making sessions available for a short window of time. That means you have to show up and *ahem* pay attention!
CHECK OUT THE PROGRAM HERE! EXPLORE THE HUGE LIST OF AUTHORS AND SESSIONS!!!!
Just like in previous years, there is a Schools Program for both Primary School and the Secondary School which refreshingly features some LoveOzYA new stars like Lisa Fuller, Helena Fox and Rawah Arja, who was the star of last year’s YA Showcase. This schools program will be available online for free with no bookings required from August 10 -28!!!!
The general program offers a range of national and international guests such as Kevin Kwan author of Crazy Rich Asians and Elizabeth Strout, author of Olive Kitterige.
And what YA is there this year Inky? I hear you ask (which yes – is weird and creepy).
To be honest? Not a lot. There is a session with LoveOzYA star Ellie Marney previewing her new YA serial killer thriller None Shall Sleep with fellow LoveOzYA star Will Kostakis and the winner of the 2020 Readings YA Prize for Ghost Bird, Lisa Fuller with Amie Kaufman. And I think that’s it!
The other innovation for the 2020 Melbourne Writers Festival is a Pay What You Can system for tickets. You may choose from $5, $10, $20 or $50 per ticket, or make a FREE booking.
“We don’t want money to be a barrier to accessing the program, but we’re also making it possible for audiences to be generous where they can, to keep MWF going strong.”
Yay! Thanks MWF! I’ll see you there!
6 comments
Ooh! I've never been to the Melbourne Writers Festival before, I guess this is as good a time as any to start.
Yes it is! And the schools program will just be available on the website from 10 -28th of August. I'm still going through the program to work out what I want to see. I find it interesting to listen to writers even if you haven't read the books!
In reply to inky
Same here!
It’s so disappointing that we couldn’t do it irl this year, I was really looking forward to it! The online program sounds like a lot of fun though, I’m so excited for None Shall Sleep!!
I'll see if we can get a giveaway copy of None Shall Sleep!!
In reply to inky
You definitely should! Amazingly, I was able to get an early copy and I'm reading it now! It's really good!