Virtual insanity – get lit(erary) with these awe-inspiring Brisbane Writers Festival online events
Calling all lit-lovers – the Brisbane Writers Festival is coming to town this weekend with a huge line-up happenings that are sure to impress! If you can’t make it in person from May 7–9 (or are just hungry for more), then you’ll be pleased to know that a bevy of brilliant minds will sharing their wisdom online, right up until the end of May. That’s right – the festival goodness extends beyond the weekend for an entire month! Here’s what will make your brain melt from the comforts of your couch …
For the first time ever, Brisbane Writers Festival is going virtual – and it’s got a jam-packed line-up of online events, to say the least. For a dose of literary goodness, join award-winning novelist and screenwriter Emma Jane Unsworth as she discusses her book Adults, a novel that traverses the misadventures of maturity. Things take a slightly more serious turn for the riveting event Women, Men & the Whole Damn Thing, where journalist David Leser will explore the roots of misogyny, the historical injustices leading to the #MeToo movement, and white privilege.
Reflect on the dumpster-fire of a year that was 2020 with Fire Flood Plague, and listen to a collection of essays from a diverse range of Australian voices detailing what last year meant to them. Continue to burn through the BWF program with Fire Front, a ground-breaking anthology of poetry and essays from leading Aboriginal writers and poets. More important themes will be discussed in The Altar Boys, where six-time Walkley Award-winning investigative reporter Suzanne Smith will discuss her important role in helping to expose the widespread clerical abuse of children in Newcastle.
Fresh-faced folk can flip through BWF’s Word Play program, which is aimed at primary and secondary-age book worms. Youngsters can tune into readings of books like The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling with Wai Chim and Ghost Bird with Lisa Fuller, or learn some tips and tricks of creating graphic novels with writer and artist Remy Lai. Kids (and kids at heart) can continue to work out their brains in The Fictionarium, an online hub that features free activities like map making, reading challenges, book-themed puzzles and even a space where you can design your own book cover.
This article was written in partnership with our friends at Brisbane Writers Festival. To scope the entire festival program, head to the BWF website.
To find out more about what’s on in Brisbane, head to our Event Guide.
