Australia’s national destination for new ideas, Canberra Writers Festival (CWF), will celebrate the heft and craft of Australian storytelling from Wednesday 23 to Sunday 27 October 2024.
The date change will make Canberra the only Australian capital city to host a writers festival in the last quarter of the year; ensuring that CWF – and its community – is poised for the freshest new releases, and able to capitalise on the late year flood of new publications.
The festival’s Artistic Director, Beejay Silcox says:
“Canberra is the book buying capital of the nation – a city of readers. The festival’s new timing gives our community a thrilling first look at the books and ideas that will lead the cultural discussion in the coming year.
“Our festival has always been a joyful collision of art-makers, big thinkers and storytellers. Placing it in spring, at a time of renewal and reckoning, seems only fitting.”
The change from winter to spring, also opens opportunities for Australia’s reading and writing community to come together and experience the best of what Canberra has to offer.
CWF Chair, Jane O’Dwyer says:
“Canberra is the ultimate embodiment of Australian culture and ideas. We have Australia’s key cultural institutions; blockbuster international exhibitions; the nation’s finest minds; more restaurants per capita than anywhere else on mainland Australia; award-winning vineyards and breweries; and spectacular views at every turn.
“In spring, our city comes alive. Spring is a perfect time of year for visitors around the country to fall in love with our wonderful city that shapes the nation. And the perfect timing for a festival that celebrates the birth of stories and new ideas.”
Silcox says the spring-time program will be the ultimate expression of a year-long conversation with the festival’s community:
“CWF is a part of this beautiful, bookish city. Canberra readers are bursting with curiosity. They’re hungry for ideas, and we intend to feed them!
“Earlier this month we launched a new year-long partnership with the National Film and Sound Archive exploring book-to-film adaptations with monthly screenings, and curated discussions with celebrated authors and filmmakers. And that’s just a taste of what’s to come.”
As the program for spring is developed, CWF’s community will continue to gather to exchange thoughts, perspectives, opinions, and favourite reads. Full program details for the festival week will be released later in the year.
About the festival
Founded in 2016, the Canberra Writer’s Festival has quickly become a beloved event in the national literary calendar – a favourite amongst Australia’s reading, writing and publishing communities.
Canberra is the centre of the nation’s decision and policy making, but it is also a city of poets, authors, journalists, artists and experts. The festival’s perennial theme ‘Power Politics Passion’ captures the depth and breadth of what makes Canberra unique.
The festival celebrates literature, ideas, and storytelling in all its forms and provides a platform for both established and emerging writers to share their work and engage with audiences.
CWF is a place where diverse thinkers come together to explore the big questions that occupy our nation’s consciousness: What do we value? Whose stories are heard? How do we reckon with the past and imagine the future?
The festival’s lively and varied program of events includes master classes, dinners, author talks, panel discussions, workshops, book launches, and performances. All set against the backdrop of some of Australia’s most iconic national institutions.
The festival is made possible by the generous support of supporting partner the ACT Government and foundation partners The Australian National University, the National Museum of Australia, the Museum of Australian Democracy, along with our partners and sponsors.
Key Facts:
Canberra Writers Festival moving dates to spring.
New dates are 23 October – 27 October 2024
About us:
https://www.canberrawritersfestival.com.au/
