Willy Lit Fest

Williamstown Literary Festival | June 14-16, 2024 | Boon Wurrung Country

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Early winter mornings are for twitchers! Grainne Cleary and Georgia Angus led a group of hopeful bird watchers through the Williamstown Botanical Gardens on the opening morning of Willy Lit Fest 2024 and made a few exciting feathery discoveries. 🦆🌴

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What a gift it was to host Stereo Stories 10th anniversary concert only a few chilly Fridays ago. Congratulations to the marvelous Vin Maskell, the Stereo Stories Band and all the wonderful artists that gave us another rocking evening!

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For both Ernest Price and Sam Elkin their transitions and queer coming-of-age have been experiences filled with tenderness, distress, and a whole lot of paperwork. They’ll speak to vulnerability with bureaucracy in their journeys to live authentically as their truest selfs.

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THIS SUNDAY!

We've now released additional tickets to previously SOLD OUT events:
🌊'On Jawbone Reserve' with Sandy Webb,
🏛️'Early Seaside Towns, A History' with Carmel McKenzie and Carolyn Fraser!

Don't miss out!

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Let a thousand blossoms bloom! Jac Semmler (Superbloom Handbook) joins Jaclyn Crupi (Garden Like a Nonno) in conversation to talk about her flourishing garden Heartland; about experimenting in the garden, and growing things for pleasure.

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Much more than a muse; Barbara Tucker was a vital partner in the artistic success of her famed husband. Biographer Hermina Burns (Barbara Tucker: The Art of Being) will present a multifaceted view of Tucker and the life she made, with Mary Crooks of the Victorian Women’s Trust.

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When Annette Trevitt’s father passed away she inherited an estate of paperwork, debt and dilapidated properties. Gina Perry (My Father the Whale) and Trevitt will discuss parental relationships, grief and how to gather and hold the debris of a life that has been splintered.

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Irma Gold (The Breaking) and Karen Viggers (Sidelines) are two halves of the podcast Secrets from the Green Room, where they interview writers. In a special festival edition, Irma and Karen will break the fourth wall as Irma interviews Karen about her latest novel, Sidelines.

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🖋️ Workshops galore at Willy Lit Fest 🖋️

For all established, upcoming and simply intrigued writers, we present to you our 2024 suite of dynamic workshops. See the Willy Lit Fest website for details and tickets.

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How our book list is looking with one week left until Willy Lit Fest 2024 📚️

Join us for a weekend in Willy, full of all the books, poetry, music, nature and storytelling needs. Tickets are up and seats are limited!

Book now on the WLF website 🔗

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Khin Myint talks to Thuy On (Decadence) about his “quietly devastating and uplifting” memoir Fragile Creatures addresses life’s hardest choices, his sister’s mystery illness, an unexpected court case in the US and growing up Burmese Australian in Perth in the 90s.

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Join architect Fooi-Ling Khoo and interior designer Lauren Li as they discuss why the grass seems greener on the other side of the median strip. Drawing on their practices to explore our cultural fascination with other people’s homes, in conversation with Patricia Callan.

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Raconteur historian Robyn Annear brings the streets of historic Melbourne to life; today she turns to her own genealogy and the scandal that resulted in the birth of her Dad. Come courting in Williamstown in the 1930s in Annear’s very own personal history walking tour.

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Dennis Glover’s latest novel Thaw is based on a true lost expedition to Antarctica in 1912. Journey to the icy continent with Dennis in conversation with real-life Antarctic voyager and Davis station commander David Knoff (537 Days of Winter).

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Queer relationships in Australia have historically been written as close, intimate friendships. Danielle Scrimshaw reads between the lines to illuminate Australia’s often obscured queer history, with accounts of Lesbia Harford and other female friends with a ‘special connection’.

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Smart, successful and sixty, Jo Peck was totally floored when her husband of 25-years left her for a much younger woman. She joins Toni Jordan to relive it all: the crushing disappointment, the friends, wine, therapy and dating apps in a humorous and cathartic conversation.

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Nova Weetman joins 3RRR’s Mel Fulton (Literati Glitterati) to discuss her memoir Love, Death and Other Scenes and life’s big themes of love and death, and the living we do in the spaces left by loss.

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Nardi Simpson (Song of the Crocodile) is a Yuwaalaraay singer, songwriter and novelist. She joins Jen Cloher (I Am the River, the River Is Me) in conversation to talk about her writing practice, her sources of inspiration and how her creative life is informed by music.

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Recently home from hospital following the birth of her baby, Ariane Beeston thought her baby was a dragon. Ariane Beeston chats to ABC’s Big Ideas host Natasha Mitchell about her memoir and views post-partum psychosis as both a traumatised mother and clinical psychologist.

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Kids go free at Willy Lit Fest!

Check out our exciting array of kids events; from drawing lessons with Leigh Hobbs, to a multilingual storytime, a constellation whale puppet, tips and tricks for time travelers, and more 🐳✨️

RSVP through the Willy Lit Fest website now