Maybe I’ve had too many coffees, maybe I’m cracked out on Codral, or maybe I’m just in a hurry but the good news is that the program for the 2007 National Young Writers Festival is now online, and it’s bulk ace.
It’s been a few years since I went to Newie, so it’s good to see that thery’ve got some untold and grouse guests this year, including Andy Jackson, George Dunford, Anna Funder, Henry Reynolds (wow!), Lisa Dempster, Charles Firth and, last but not least, Ryan BINGO Paine! I’m really looking forward to it.
Oh and I’m in it. I’ll be doing a reading and appearing on a panel on Friday arvo (the 28th), and then chairing a panel on online publishing on Sunday afternoon. Which gives me plenty of time in the intervening hours to maniacally update my crackbook.
Mega props to Kelly-lee and Nic and everyone else for putting this together. I can’t wait to sit back and sip some alcoholic ginger beer and then check out some of the events in the five day festival, being held as part of the massively untold TINA (This Is Not Art) gargantuan.
Whelp!
The Melbourne Writers Festival programme is now online and I’m happy to say that there’s a fair bit of poetry this year. While most of the guests seem to be the usual suspects, it’s great to see that js harry will be appearing, although I think I’ll give Clive James and Les Murray a wide berth. Still, it could be worse – Pam Ayres could be on the programme. As it is, I’ll be appearing at the official Soi3 book launch on Saturday August 25! Full details are 
After four days of literary jauntiness and speed intellectualism, I’m beginning to feel a bit like Richie Watts after attending the Comedy Festival – blown-out, exhausted and thrilled by the sheer number of genii (or should that be geniuses – whatevs) presently living, breathing and creating stuff for people like you and me to enjoy. Yep, you got it – the Emerging Writers Festival (and its sister-event, the Independent Press Conference) proved for me that Ozlit, in its many and varied forms, is alive and kicking against the pricks, no matter what the doomsayers want you to think. 
The Emerging Writers’ Festival is on again this weekend, and it’s packed with interesting panels, readings, speeches and games of Scrabble. This will be Festival Director Stevie Grimwade’s second tilt at the gig, and it promises to be lively. I’ll be chairing a panel on Saturday at 12 noon, entitled Where’s the new avant garde? (Does anyone care?). Hmmm. I’m not sure where I stand on that second question but that’s what these kind of sessions are all about, isn’t it? Heres’s some more information for you: