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Words on the Waves: Angela Bennetts
WORDS on the WAVES
WORDS JENNIFER ENNION
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The peninsula will again be buzzing with creatives and lovers of literature with another Words on the Waves Writers’ Festival. The festival is returning for its second year, with a main program at Umina from June 3 to 6. Although the program is still to be revealed as we go to print, if the lead-up events are anything to go by we can expect another stellar line-up. We already know that best-selling author Heather Morris (The Tattooist of Auschwitz) will be the star guest at a literary lunch in Pearl Beach (March 5), while applauded novelist Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project) will share his writing wisdom at a workshop (March 6) in the same suburb. A few weeks later, award-winning journalist and author Jane Caro AM (The Mother) will be at Words at Wagstaffe (March 26), in partnership with The Bouddi Society. »
Words on the Waves Festival Director Anglea Bennetts
The fact that such a new festival has attracted so much clout is promising. Festival Director Angela Bennetts puts it down to a fantastic response from publishers.
‘When we say that we’re creating this space for events of that size and scale, publishers have just been so happy, so relieved that they can bring authors here and there’s the capacity to accommodate that,’ Angela says. ‘There’s such a huge population of engaged readers but, to date, there hasn’t been any ability to host authors of that kind (on the Central Coast).’
The festival was started by two publishing professionals, Jacqui Barton and Benny Agius, both of whom moved to the Central Coast and fell in love with the relaxed lifestyle. But they noticed a big hole in the region’s very young cultural calendar – there were no major literary events. That’s despite there being a healthy library community and local book groups just about everywhere you look. ‘…They kind of put their heads together and dreamt up the name and the concept and then, bit by bit, people joined the committee, and it was very organic,’ says Angela.
One of the charms of Words on the Waves is its location in and around Umina, a suburb that’s seeing growth, both in population and identity.
‘Obviously, it’s not been the cultural hub to date,’ says Angela. ‘There are more facilities in Gosford and The Entrance; there are more touristy things happening in Terrigal and Avoca, and it’s been quite sleepy down on the peninsula.
‘But, it’s seeing a lot of change, so I think there was a lot of demand for something of this kind. We certainly saw that once we released the tickets.’
Angela describes locals’ reception of the festival as being ‘overwhelmingly positive’.
‘They say that every town needs a bookshop … I kind of feel that for a region of a certain size, a festival can be something like its soul or its heart.’
Give it a few more years and Words on the Waves may be exactly that. This year’s festival will be bigger and consist of author talks, book signings, workshops, a book-themed film screening, a children’s program and even a literary cruise. Festival programmers are also keen to support local writers and artists, and have invited them to be a part of a book launch program.
