Byron Bay Writers Festival

Description

The Byron Bay Writers' Festival began in 1997, when a small group of locals led by Chris Hanley wondered whether authors might accept an invitation to spend a winter's weekend in Byron Bay. They did, and an audience of two hundred locals enjoyed a gathering of fifty Australian writers.

Since then, the Byron Bay Writers' Festival has grown from a single venue event to fill four huge marquees and venues around town and sells 45,000 individual tickets. The guest list now numbers more than one hundred and over the years the most significant and respected contemporary Australian writers have participated through lectures, lunches, panels, conversations, launches and readings.

The Byron Bay Writers' Festival is organised by the staff and Committee of the Northern Rivers Writers' Centre, a member based organisation receiving core funding from Arts NSW. It is usually held for three days in early August.

Bryon Bay Writers' Festival Program

3 days, 5 marquees, 140 writers, 90 panels, workshops, literary lunches, launches, a bounteous food village, a book store bristling with stock, big names, new voices: the world of words and big ideas combine for a home grown community Festival with national significance and universal appeal.

The focus of the program is firmly on Australian writing, with recognition of our physical place in the world through the inclusion of Indonesian and Asian authors. The Byron Bay Writers' Festival enjoys a close relationship with the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival and believes that through words and ideas, bridges are formed that cross cultures and schisms.

Fundamentally, the Festival provides a forum for intelligent discussion and guests are invited to address the issues that matter to them as writers and which necessarily concern us all. It is a celebration of the vitality of thought and creativity with a healthy emphasis on fun.

The annual Byron Bay Writers Festival celebrates the longevity of the book: despite the harbingers of doom and demise, readers are still hooked on books and the literary festival scene enjoying unprecedented popularity.