With the cost of living rising, it can be hard to justify going to festivals. So this year, we put Australia’s longest-running literary festival, Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF), to the ultimate test: broke attendee mode.
All but one event were free festival offerings (because I’m neither strong enough to pass up on seeing Kate Ceberano, nor to avoid talking about it afterwards), and spoiler: all were amazing.
While I adore the free yearly Love YA events, it’s the increasing focus on Indigenous voices and ensuring their accessibility that I love. This year’s Indigenous events were curated by author Melanie Saward, who decided to prove an old stereotype wrong: “Often, we’re asked to perform our trauma for non-Indigenous audiences,” she noted at the keynote address. “This year, we’re focusing on Aboriginal happiness instead.”
First Word, BWF’s keynote address, may not be everyone’s cup of tea, given the political speeches, but for those willing to brave it, iconic Aboriginal author Melissa Lucashenko used this year’s event to teach a masterclass on history and allyship. Drawing from the inspirations of her new novel, 'Edenglassie', she disproved the idea of the invading culture bringing ‘civilisation to the savages’, destroying the trope in one Margaret Mead quote and three images from Australian history. Though no mention of Palestine or Israel were made, it was impossible not to draw connections between Australia’s past and Palestine’s present, and I doubt I’m the only attendee on a research binge after hearing Melissa’s speech.
Kate Ceberano is Australian music royalty, and she’s just as fantastic in conversation as you’d imagine. Honest and funny, the session felt like a catch up with friends rather than a paid event, and the opportunity to hear not only a sneak peek of her daughter’s newest single, but to have Kate give an impromptu performance was not to be missed.
Lubly Stories, led by the inimitable Cheryl Leavy and featuring Melanie Saward and iconic Aboriginal author Anita Heiss, explored the need to take diverse characters from sidekick mode and into the starring role. “Our writers are busy rewriting the history books and setting the record straight, so there’s a lack of writers humanising and normalising Aboriginal lives,” Heiss noted, urging Indigenous audience members to write themselves into the fictional narrative as well as the historical one.
Anne-Marie Te Whiu is one of Australia’s most important poetry champions; an artist you may never have heard of, but who has been instrumental in bringing Aboriginal, Torres Strait Island and Maori voices to public attention. Her latest editorial effort, 'Woven', created collaborations between diverse First Nations voices around the world, and the BWF event saw beloved Brisbane poet Samuel Wagan Watson in discussion with his collaboration partner, Sigbjørn Skåden, discussing the intricacies of bringing different environments and cultural understandings together to create work that interweaves opposing concepts and explores their points of connection.
In Love YA’s Digging Into the Lore event, Rhianna Patrick settled in with authors Sydney Khoo and Vanessa Len to discuss the transition from fanfic to full length novel, the importance of worldbuilding, and the ways you can shift narrative tropes to create something infinitely more interesting.
For those looking to engage with the free aspects of next year's BWF, it’s important to get in early, because tickets sell out fast. And maybe start putting aside money now, because it’s highly likely you’re going to fall in love with a bunch of books while you’re there.
