Melbourne, the City of Literature is alive and bustling with writers at the moment, because at Federation Square, The Wheeler's Centre, Town Hall and other venues, the Melbourne Writers Festival is in full swing!
To me, volunteering at the festival is the best way to attend it, and I think even when I have books out I'll still try and volunteer. Wonder what the protocol is there? Anyway, not only do you get to attend as many sessions as you can, for free (if there's room for you) but you get to meet all sorts of book lovers and book makers. I had a fabulous day working on the "Whole Shebang" workshop (I'd say it was more like a day at a conference) and met many of the speakers - editors, agents and writers alike, not to mention the other volunteers and fantastic participants who are so passionate about books, writing and the industry. Like me!
And that night I worked at the Town Hall and nearly collided with Joss Whedon (think the creator of Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Doctor Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog and the upcoming Avengers movie) as he came inside for his sound check.
Being a volunteer at an event is such a different experience to attending, and I have a great time doing it.
Being a young adult fiction writer, I am attending some sessions this week during the schools program which feature young adult authors. This year is the first year I discovered that NON school people could attend these sessions too. Think of all the amazing speakers I've missed out on! But no longer.
In the next couple of posts I'll share what I learnt when Melina Marchetta (Looking for Alibrandi, On the Jellicoe Road, Finnikin on the Rock) discussed 'How I Write', and Chris Morphew (Zac Power, Phoenix Files) and Gabriel Lord (Conspiracy 365) talked about 'Action!'
I still have more sessions to attend, so stay tuned for those!
Sairz
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