17-20 August 2023
From the Chair…
The concept of a Dunkeld Writers Festival (DWF) had long been forming in the hearts and minds of a passionate local collective, drawn together by a common bond of a love of literature, the powerful impact of story telling and a compelling desire to share the stunning beauty and intrigue of the ancient Gariwerd/ Grampians landscape. So, with the encouragement of locals, the enthusiasm of loyal volunteers and support of generous sponsors, the inaugural Dunkeld Writers Festival was held with overwhelming success in 2022.
It is now with great excitement that I write to welcome you to our second Dunkeld Writers Festival.
We are inspired in the knowledge that over 40,000 years ago, the First Nations people gathered at the foothills of Wurgarri (Mount Sturgeon), Mud-Dadjug (Mount Abrupt) and beyond, sharing their stories, culture and traditions whilst caring for the land. The DWF vision is to bring a valued, cultural event to Dunkeld that celebrates the people and places of the Western District of Victoria and beyond. It will provide you with the opportunity to meet with leading authors and
each other, whilst sharing engaging conversations in unique Dunkeld venues. I trust you will enjoy the various festival events that have been thoughtfully chosen to align with the essence of Dunkeld.
For those of you visiting from afar, I encourage you to take the time to enjoy Dunkeld and explore the surrounds, knowing that the businesses and many volunteers supporting this event, are delighted you are here.
Finally and most importantly, on behalf of the Committee, enjoy the DWF 23 experience. We look forward to you creating memorable moments, perhaps forging new friendships and departing with a deeper connection to Dunkeld. We look forward to hearing from you again and welcome your feedback.
Yours Sincerely,
Mary-Ann Brown Chair Dunkeld Writers Festival Committee
What some of our sponsors are looking forward to during this year’s festival…
Cathy Taber, Bellcourt Books
“To have three wonderful Australian authors, in Marg Hickey, Garry Disher & Mark Brandi talk about their just released books and give us some insight to the process will be a highlight for me.”
Roz Greenwood, Old and Rare Books
Roz Greenwood Old and Rare Books
“Marcia Langton delivering the James Dawson Oration is high on the anticipation list. I thoroughly enjoyed Jock Serong’s latest book and look forward to hearing his take on storytelling set in regional locations.”
Paul Carrazzo, Carrazzo Consulting
“My favourite session during last year’s Festival was a sports themed discussion chaired by Sam Lane. As a cricket tragic, it was brilliant to hear the thoughts of the iconic Australian cricket scribe, Gideon Haigh. I’m excited to see Sam is returning and for not one, but two sports themed sessions this year!”
John Myers, Royal Mail Hotel
“It’s impossible to choose one session I’m most looking forward to. I’m sure The Friday Night Bookclub will be really entertaining, Words, Wines and Finger Limes, with the addition of Hamish from Best’s Wines will be really interesting and anything where Barry Jones is on stage will be sure to make an impression.”
Thursday
17th August
7.30pm
JAMES DAWSON ORATION
STERLING PLACE, Dunkeld
The James Dawson Oration is a conversation which honours and acknowledges Dawson’s outstanding advocacy for aboriginal people in the early days of colonial settlement. Published in 1881, the book Australian Aborigines: The Language and Customs of Several Tribes of Aborigines in the Western District of Victoria by Dawson and his daughter, Isabella Park Taylor, is a tribute to their interest and scholarship. This seminal work recorded the language of our indigenous people. Dawson is honoured in this Conversation as a friend and mentor of indigenous people in a time of unrest, and as an indefatigable defender of their human rights in the press of his day and in his writing.
Delivered by Marcia Langton, in conversation with Barry Jones.
A book launch of First Knowledges Laws: The Way of the Ancestors with both authors, Aaron Corn and Marcia Langton, signing their books, will follow. Drinks and canapes by Izzy’s Catering included.
Friday
18th August
10am - 3.30pm
HILLS WANDERING
– Discover Dunkeld up Hill and Down Dale.
A day of activities hosted by locals ‘in the know’. Your choice of a guided visit conducted by Mark Bachmann to the rehabilitated jewel that is Walker Swamp; a stroll through Dunkeld Arboretum with expert ‘tree people’; a wildflower walk on the Rifle Range; or a stride along the Grampians Peak Trail at Cassidy’s Gap, with expert bushwalkers Doug Craig and Doug Fleming or a wander through history at the Dunkeld Museum with our local experts sharing their knowledge.
Friday
18th August
10am - 3.30 pm
‘THE DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME’ TOUR
ABC’s‘ The Gardenist’, renowned garden designer and author, Michael McCoy will lead an exclusive bus trip. Fully catered, starting with Devon Park historic Homestead, moving on to ‘Blackwood’ at Penshurst, and culminating with a tour and drinks in Maria and Allan Myers’ elegant private garden at Dunkeld, with head gardener Rob Glazebrook.
5pm - 6pm
PLANTS: PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE
Venue: STERLING PLACE:
Chair: Michael McCoy
Panellists: Mark Bachmann, Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan.
Finish off the day’s exploring, or join us for the beginning of your festival experience, with this panel discussion, comprising a celebration of Country in a wide range of applications, including conservation, garden design and thoughtful application of First Nations Knowledge, including food production and use.
6.30pm OFFICIAL FESTIVAL OPENING
WHAT ARE YOU READING? - Friday Night Book Club
Venue: STERLING PLACE
Featuring Jamila Rizvi, Marieke Hardy and Jason Steger.
Our expert panellists will present a riff on reading, in a lighthearted kick-off for the weekend’s sessions.
Drinks and canapes by Izzy’s Catering included.
Saturday
19th August
9am - 10am THIS IS THE PLACE FOR A BOOK LAUNCH Venue: STERLING PLACE
Hosted by three award-winning authors, Margaret Hickey (Broken Bay, Cutter’s End, Stone Town), Mark Brandi (The Others’, Southern Aurora, Wimmera) and Garry Disher (Bitter Wash Road, Day’s End) will celebrate and sign their new books.
10am – 10.30am Join us for Morning Tea where DUNKELD OLD BAKERY CROISSANTS will be served for guests at either 9am or 10.30 am sessions
10.30am - 12 noon ‘A DARKENING AGAIN AND A SILENCE’ Venue: STERLING PLACE
Chair: Gideon Haigh
Panellists: Barry Jones, Marcia Langton and Aaron Corn. Megan Davis uses this quote from the poet Longfellow to vividly conjure up the dangers of silence when it relates to our indigenous history. This panel will explore many of the aspects of this history and Australia’s reaction to this very silence that many hope we are about to emerge from. All three are at the forefront of political, educational and social reform and are strong voices in advocating for the advancement of indigenous Australians.
12.15pm – 1.00pm Lunch Break (Sessions resume at 1.15pm, Mt Sturgeon Woolshed). Complimentary bus transfers depart from Sterling Place. NB Pre ordered Royal Mail lunch boxes will be served at Mt Sturgeon Woolshed, drinks available for purchase throughout the afternoon.
1.15pm - 2.15pm CATCHING A DEADLINE
- WHAT WOULD CARDUS SAY?
Venue: MOUNT STURGEON WOOLSHED
Chair: Samantha Lane
Panellists: Gideon Haigh and Marion Stell
How does genuine sports journalism survive saturation advertising? Does gambling signal “sport washing”, do advertisers need to fill out the uniforms of our Australian cricketers with logos instead of the coat of arms? Do spectators love to see huge numbers on the backs of cricketers? Are literate sports writers in danger of becoming ghosts of the past clinging on to minimal spaces at the back of the newspapers? Our panelists are fine examples of sports writers, but how do they deal with the world of Moneyball?
2.30pm - 3.30pm CORRUPT, CRIMINAL and COUNTRY
Venue: MOUNT STURGEON WOOLSHED
Chair: Jock Serong
Panellists: S.D. Hinton and Garry Disher.
A fine line-up of absolutely top quality writers whose works revolve around country communities. Garry Disher has written intriguing mysteries using specific regions, first on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula and lately in an isolated South Australian bush town with Bitter Wash Road. S.D. Hinton’s ‘The Brothers” is set on the south coast of Victoria and is her highly successful debut novel. Jock Serong writes engaging colonial mysteries as just one aspect of his published work.
3.30pm - 4.30pm WORDS, WINE and FINGER LIMES
Venue: MOUNT STURGEON WOOLSHED
Chair: Michael McCoy
Panellists: Hamish Thomson of Best’s winery at Great Western, Andrew Fielke, award winning chef, pioneer of innovative Australian native cuisine and author of best-selling cookbook Australia’s Native Creative Cuisine, Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan, authors of the ‘First Nations Food Companion’ and ‘Warndu Mai’. (Good Food.) Damien is an Adnyamathanha man of the Flinders Ranges. Best’s wines are local favourites, and Andrew and Damien and Rebecca’s books are the go-to books for cooking with a wide range of indigenous foods. The Woolshed bar will be open to allow you to sip while you listen with delicious cheese and accompaniments, and as with all sessions, the books will be available for signing.
6.30pm for 7pm DUNKELD WRITERS FESTIVAL DINNER
Venue: PARKER STREET PROJECT, ROYAL MAIL HOTEL
A highlight of the weekend, fine food and wine sourced from local ingredients is the signature of Dunkeld’s Royal Mail and we are proud to showcase our well-known treasure. Our writers will be in attendance, the atmosphere will be literary, the food will be superb as usual, the conversation is sure to be outstanding.
Sunday
20th August
9.30am - 10.30am ET IN ARCADIA EGO (And I too was in Arcady).
Venue: STERLING PLACE
Chair: Margaret Hickey, with authors: Garry Disher and Mark Brandi In an Arcadian landscape we can combine classical pastoral images with more sensational scenery such as Mt. Abrupt (MudDadjug) which can express darker emotions. As well as waterfalls, escarpments and precipices, explorer Major Thomas Mitchell encountered both a wild and a cultivatable landscape. Garry Disher, Mark Brandi and Margaret Hickey use the Australian landscape to background their crime novels. Death is present, even in Paradise.
10.30 - 11am THE AMAZING SCONE MORNING TEA is supplied by a local fundraising group DRASS (Dunkeld Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support group) for guests to either of the 9.30am or 11am sessions.
11am - 12.30pm SPORTING ADDICTIONS
(includes Bernard’s Quiz)
Venue: STERLING PLACE
Chair: Sam Lane Featuring Bernard’s Quiz – The Last Wicket. Originator of ‘The Baggy Green Test Match Quiz’, Bernard Whimpress will give a light-hearted test of his own on your cricket knowledge, with a prize for the winner. Test players, the Aboriginal Cricket Team, women’s cricket, backyard cricket are all in the mix. The session then continues, with:
THE MEDIA HAS IT
Sam Lane, Marion Stell, Gideon Haigh and Bernard Whimpress will discuss matters of sporting history, outstanding sports people they have encountered, and finding how they found their way into the sporting press and the media.
The Dunkeld Writers Festival is made possible by the generous support from our wonderful sponsors. The Committee acknowledges and is grateful for their ongoing support.
Roz Greenwood Old and Rare Books
We respectfully acknowledge the traditional owners and occupiers of the land where we gather and recognise that it continues to be sacred to them. Let us hail them as guardians of the earth and of all things that grow and breed in the soil; as trustees of the waters – the seas, the streams and rivers, the ponds and the lakes – and the rich variety of life in those waters. May we thank them for passing this heritage to all people since The Dreaming.
DWF SCHOOLS PROGRAM
Dunkeld Writers Festival is proud to offer a schools program as part of the 2023 Festival. This primary school focussed program, held at the Dunkeld Consolidated School, will feature Internationally published author Sarah Speedie (Mozzies V’s Flies and Meowster Chef) and Nova Weetman whose latest book “The Jammer” has seen Nova referred to as the “newgeneration Judy Blume”. DWF is committed to expanding the schools program in 2024.
Explore Dunkeld
Dunkeld is a town that embraces its natural environment in all its magnificent shapes and forms. Peacefully wander through the picturesque Dunkeld Arboretum. This sanctuary is home to native flora, tranquil billabongs and towering red gums. Spoilt for choice with hikes and panoramic vistas, Dunkeld affords easy access to four mountainous peaks. Dunkeld is also a gateway to the Grampians Peaks Trail. Time a visit to Dunkeld during one of the many annual events; Dunkeld Polo, Dunkeld Cup, Serra Terror, Peaks and Trails, Dunkeld Writers Festival or 3 Peaks Festival. Dunkeld is positively spoilt for choice with a variety of shopping opportunities, unique accommodation and quality dining options, stay on (or return!) and experience it all in Dunkeld.
Venues: Sterling Place, 14 Sterling Street
Parker Street Project (Royal Mail Hotel), 98 Parker Street
Mt Sturgeon Woolshed, 30
Dunkeld-Cavendish Road
