News & Events

Byron Writers Festival celebrates a triumphant return

Byron Writers Festival 2022 was a resounding success, delighting audiences with a triumphant return after two years of cancellations. The three-day program of panels, conversations and feature events, curated around the theme of ‘Radical Hope’, filled hearts, nourished minds and sparked much-needed joy for audiences and authors alike.

Indigenous authors dominated book sales, with Paul Callaghan’s The Dreaming Path in the topselling spot, alongside Trent Dalton’s Love Stories. Other First Nations bestsellers included Evelyn Araluen’s Dropbear, Krystal de Napoli and Karlie Noon’s Astronomy: Sky Country, Bruce Pascoe and Bill Gammage’s Country: Future Fire, Future Farming and Corey Tutt’s The First Scientists. Enthusiastic crowds filled marquees throughout the weekend with popular sessions including: Brave New Green World with Damon Gameau, Tim Hollo, Saul Griffith and Sarah Wilson; The Mungo Panel with Kerry O’Brien, Margaret Simons and Barrie Cassidy; Abandoning Afghanistan with Andrew Quilty, Mariam Veiszadeh and Mark Isaacs; Love and Other Stories with Trent Dalton, Nigel Featherstone, Hannah Kent and Alex Adsett; and Country: Future Fire, Future Farming with Bruce Pascoe in conversation with Cheryl Leavy. A common theme throughout the festival was one of hope with authors, staff and audiences all relishing the significance of reconnecting after the upheaval of the pandemic and devastation of floods in the region. ‘We all needed this so much, and I don't think we realised how much until we got here,’ said author Arnold Zable, (pictured above with Jill Eddington). Sessions galvanised audiences to take action on the issues that matter, with much of the focus of discussions being on the power of community. ‘I accept that our system is fundamentally flawed, but I will never accept that our people are. That is where infinite hope lies,’ said Bundjalung climate activist Mia Thom.

Conversations turned time and time again to the power of taking action for a better future world. This year’s festival is a testament to the importance of the arts to the national conversation. Thank you to all who joined us. It’s so wonderful to be back.

Margin Notes

News, events and announcements from Byron Writers Festival

Craig Silvey live at Byron Theatre Byron Writers Festival is thrilled to present one of Australia’s most beloved authors, Craig Silvey (below), who will appear in conversation about his latest book Runt as well as his bestselling 2020 novelHoneybee. Runt is a heart-warming, funny, beautifully told story in the tradition of Babe, Matilda and The Castle. Craig’s third novel, the criticallyacclaimed Honeybee, is a tender, profoundly moving story, brimming with vivid characters and luminous words.

Join Silvey at Byron Theatre on Friday 28 October as he discusses both novels in one enthralling event, in conversation with Sarah Armstrong. Tickets via byronwritersfestival.com/whats-on

Thank you to our festival volunteers

Hats off to our incredible team of festival volunteers, who were instrumental in delivering the 2022 festival to such an outstanding standard this year. Notes of praise for their generosity and professionalism peppered the reams of heart-warming feedback received from authors, industry and patrons, with author Christos Tsiolkas remarking ‘They were astonishing: so good-spirited and helpful and inviting. I want them to know that we writers think them terrific!’ Your tireless contributions do not go unnoticed, so thank you!

Donations help floodaffected schools

Thanks to the generous donations from festival 2022 ticket-buyers, 260 students from flood-affected schools were able to attend the festival’s primary and secondary schools program at no cost.

‘I just wanted to thank you and the team at Byron Writers Festival for supporting us to get to the Primary Schools Day to see the two authors, Corey Tutt and Isobelle Carmody,’ said Gaye Titcume of South Lismore Public School. ‘They were really great! Thank you for organising the tickets for free and also paying for the bus to get them there and back. Our school is appreciative that you have allowed our children the opportunity to immerse themselves in this kind ofexperience.’

Digital Schools Program 2022

Byron Writers Festival will once again be presenting a free Digital Schools program, scheduled for release on 7 November. The program will feature Isobelle Carmody and Corey Tutt (Primary) and Emily Bitto and Gary Lonesborough (Secondary) and be available to stream on demand for two weeks in term four. For more information please visit byronwritersfestival.com/digitalschools. The program is supported by Southern CrossUniversity.

Congratulations to our Student Writing Prize winners

A big congratulations to our winners, runners-up and everyone who submitted their stories to our annual Student Writing Prizes. We received ninety submissions across the three categories of the Susie Warrick Young Writers Award and the Jesse Blackadder Prize.

Winners and runners-up were presented with their awards at Byron Writers Festival by acclaimed author Christos Tsiolkas. A huge thanks to our judges, Siboney Duff, Sarah Armstrong and Will Kostakis who said that “such work leaves us all excited about the future of writing in this country.”

Cover story The artwork for the cover of this issue of northerly is Black Moth by Jo Darvall. Darvall is an established painter and printmaker whose art is driven by the joy of conveying stories about places and people. Darvall is skilled in techniques including watercolour, acrylic, pastel and oil, as well as encaustic monoprints, sculpture and installation. She has exhibited in such disparate sites as churches, long corridors, backlit warehouse walls and white-walled galleries. A keen collaborator with other artists, Jo has exhibited in solo and group shows around Australia and in Singapore. She illustrated the art book The Rose, the Butterfly, the Bee and the Moth, by writer Jane Harrison, which also inspired an original score by Mimi Duo. The published book was collected by the State Library of Victoria in 2016.

Head to page 16 for the winning stories.

Young poets bring Radical Hope Young poets from the Tweed and Northern Rivers were heard by record crowds at the Poets Out Loud Youth Slam held in Murwillumbah recently. The Youth Slam, a satellite event of Byron Writers Festival, was held at The Regent in Murwillumbah and presented nine outstanding young poets from across the Northern Rivers.

More than 200 people were treated to performances by the young writers who delivered their original works with emotion and passion, to the festival’s theme of ‘Radical Hope’. Themes ranged from societal issues such as anxiety and homophobia through to the impacts of the recent floods.

Poets Out Loud director Sarah Temporal said the standard of entries was very high, and the nine finalists were thoroughly deserving of the rapturous applause showed by a very appreciativeaudience. ‘This was a fantastic opportunity for these young writers to perform live in front of a big audience and express themselves on issues which are important to them,’ Ms Temporal said.

It was an evening which firsttime poetry performer Boaz Blennerhassett (pictured above) won’t forget after being judged the winner.

'To be honest I only entered for the free pizza,' Boaz said. 'But now I see that performing poetry is something I cando.' He managed to not only enjoy some free pizza but also was presented with $400 and atrophy. The evening also featured a performance by slam poetry champion of Australia, Huda Fadlelmawla.

LAUREL COHN

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