Welcome to the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival The ďŹ rst weekend of August traditionally offers one of the stellar literary events on the Australian cultural calendar and it’s upon us. With great joy and anticipation, I welcome you to the 17th Byron Bay Writers’ Festival and the world of ideas, stimulation and inspiration it contains. From 2 till 4 August, you can immerse in three days of the best conversations you’ll have all year, through ďŹ ve marquees, 99 sessions and in the company of 135 presenters. And that’s not to mention the fabulous feature, foodie, theatre and poetry events studded through the week and popping up in venues around Byron Bay and beyond.
Whether you opt for a 1-, a 2- or a 3-day pass, you will ďŹ nd an intoxicating mix of novelists, comedians, memoirists, musicians, journalists, historians, cartoonists, politicians, short-story writers, songwriters, poets: all with stories to tell, narratives of human existence, chronicles
a stage that holds the national gaze and attracts international attention is of enduring importance and it delights and astounds me that, every time I have had the privilege of assembling the BBWF program, there are new and locally grown voices to join the choir. Must be
BYRON BAY WRITERS’ FESTIVAL 2-4 AUGUST 2013
For those of you who have never ventured to a Writers’ festival, who perhaps think it’s not your thing and that it will be a bunch of literary luminaries using long words and discussing esoteric concepts, dive in! This is a festival that reaches out to readers, to thinkers, to dreamers, to those curious about the world in which we live – and isn’t that all of us? To me, the magic of a festival is in encountering interesting minds, sharing stories and experiences, real or imagined, and opening oneself to the possibility of a new way of seeing. Come on: do it!
of life experience. I promise you belly laughter, the tenderness of tears, moments of sheer wonder and, above all, the indulgence of feeding and nourishing and perhaps even changing your mind. Striding through the program are no fewer than 30 local writers and presenters, and this is of key importance to the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival. The event has truly grown from the midst of our community and holds that community at its heart. To showcase our northern rivers’ creative culture on
something in the water; we’re certainly punching above our weight in the literary ring! Amid the voices new and the voices unfamiliar, we must acknowledge those whose names have become familiar to us all and whose presence in the marquees emphasises the regard in which the BBWF is held across industry professionals and the writerly world. MJ Akbar, Peter Carey, Marele Day, Robert Drewe, Peter FitzSimons, Andrea Goldsmith, Kerry Greenwood, Anita Heiss, MJ Hyland, Cate
Kennedy, Ramona Koval, DBC Pierre, Michael Robotham, Kate Veitch: that’s a roll call to conjure with! Add in the excitement of Paul Kelly, Michael Leunig, Judith Lucy, Archie Roach, Denise Scott. It’s divinely diverse and most of all, enormous fun!
But don’t take my word for it: take theirs, the writers’. This from Tom Keneally, Booker Prize-winning author, after the BBWF 2012: ‘Byron Bay Writers’ Festival does everything to bring together author and author, author and audience, reader and reader. I am amazed that in a regional town – even if it is Byron – they can ďŹ nd the people to organise it and bring it all together. May it ourish.’ Join us on our beautiful North Byron Events site for the Byron Bay Writers’ Festival 2013. Will you? Jeni Caffin, Director, Byron Bay Writers’ Festival
View the updated program online at:
bit.ly/BBWF13
La Strada da Seguire
During the challenging years between the Great War and the Second World War, ordinary people find themselves pushed to their limits. In La Strada Da Seguire, Susan Toscan uses fiction – inspired by her own history – to tell the tales of two seemingly unrelated communities, one in Australia and the other in Italy. In the 1930s in Griffith, New South Wales, an emerging major farming district, a family diligently works to build a life on their farm. When Italian migrants move to the town, bringing invaluable knowledge and a commitment to hard work, thriving businesses are born. The new neighbours struggle to develop a successful multicultural society. Things are no easier in Italy. In the uncertain years following the Great War, everyone hopes for some stability. Barely recovered from the Great War, they now find themselves caught up in the inescapable wave of another. Desperate for change, a young woman looks for an escape from her frightfully mundane existence. As the Second World War breaks out, the young men from both of these communities are called to service. Ripped from the only lives they know and the relative safety of home, they must face an unpredictable future with as much dignity and bravery as they can muster, against forces and events far beyond their control. Life, love, and tragedy are all part of the new world, and the members of these communities must now choose between being victims – or survivors. Susan Toscan toscan@westnet.com.au
La Strada Da Seguire is available from The Book Warehouse stores in Lismore and Ballina
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
THE FESTIVALS FUNNIEST COMEDIANS IN ONE UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT
SAT 7 SEPTEMBER 8PM
BOOK
NOW starcourttheatre.com.au Tel: 6622 5005 or 7KH 7KHDWUH %R[ 2IĹ• FH 6WDU &RXUW $UFDGH Lismore.
The Byron Shire Echo July 30, 2013 23