COAST PREPARES FOR “STORIES BY THE SEA”

The Capricorn Coast Writer’s Festival – Stories by the Sea is set to fuel the hearts and creative spirit of book lovers of all ages. Whether you are an avid reader or writer or wondering how you can get your work published or a booklover in general, the 3rd bi-annual Capricorn Coast Writer’s Festival on 2-4 June is set to have something to tickle your creative and imaginative fancy

The festival is organised and run by a group of volunteers who are a sub-committee of Keppel Coast Arts. The Livingstone Shire Council also supports this event which brings people from far and wide to our town for a weekend of inspiration and creativity

Free workshops for the kids and a story writing competition for school students, which is being supported by the Rotary Club is sure to help the next generation to discover a world of creative possibilities. The full program is being released in April.

Over the next few editions, we’ll be chatting with the main organisers of this year ’ s festival Nene Davies and Alison Ahearn to share with you more details about what’s happening when and how you can become involved All too often this is one event that we hear many locals say that they weren’t aware that it was even happening until they see the pictures and hear the stories after the fact!

The festival was born after a conversation between Nene and Alison, where Nene had an idea that she could ‘just do something small on a Saturday afternoon on the deck at Chapter’, after moving here and discovering that there was no writer’s festival in Central Queensland. The original organising committee consisted of Nene Davies, Alison Ahearn and Nicky Way Organising a Writer’s Festival here on the Capricorn Coast allows locals to access top-quality industry professionals without the added costs of having to travel to a major city to take part in such an event,

2023 will see the 3rd time the festival will be held in our gorgeous coastal town with an opportunity to showcase the best of the coast to locals and visitors alike. While the program is its final stages being finalised, sessions are set to take place at multiple venues across the coast including the Town Hall, The Hub (Centre for Disaster Management), Fig Tree Gallery, Livingstone Shire Library and The Villa in Cooee Bay.

This year will see the event span over 3 full days with a fantastic program currently being pieced together by the volunteer committee made up of 5 dedicated members including Nene Davies, Alison Ahearn, Kasey Allwood, Naomi Nixon, James Manning and Charmaine Grant. Organising an event like this takes a lot of work behind the scenes and extra, dedicated and reliable hands are always welcome to help lighten the load

The committee are currently in search of a Volunteer Manager to help co-ordinate the team of volunteers over the festival. Ideally this would be suited to someone who is currently studying Event Management or Media Studies or Festival Management, as it is an opportunity to put theory into practice and would look great on a future resume!

In addition, volunteers are also needed to help over the weekend with looking after venues, set up and pack down of venues and general assistance. If you are interested in learning more in how you can help, please email info@capricorncoastwritersfestival.com

To keep up with the latest information and announcements as they’re released, follow the Capricorn Coast Writer’s Festival page on Facebook and Instagram and be sure to sign up for the free newsletter where you will receive all the festival information in one easy-to-access spot! Stay tuned for more information in the March edition of The Hub Capricorn Coast!