The gentle art of persuasion.
April 23rd, 2010
Last night I went to the program launch for the 2010 Emerging Writers’ Festival at the Wheeler Centre. I did feel a little out of place, though. And it wasn’t because I am already an ‘established writer’. Emerging writers are very cool – there was lots of groovy facial hair and hipster clothes going on. I hadn’t been to the Wheeler Centre before (it only opened earlier this year), and I was very impressed. The Wheeler Centre (named after Tony and Maureen of Lonely Planet fame) is the centrepiece of Melbourne’s UNESCO City of Literature Initiative and as well as hosting literary events is also home to the Victorian Writers’ Centre, Melbourne Writers Festival, Australian Poetry Centre and something called SPUNC.
The Emerging Writers’ Festival is… I’ll let them explain: The Emerging Writers’ Festival exists to promote the interests of emerging writers – to improve their opportunities for professional development and their engagement with the broader public. The Festival mixes emerging literary professionals with more established writers to forge a better understanding between the past and future of Australian writing, and to bring a high level of intellectual endeavour to all the Festival’s activities.
I attended the launch of the festival because I’m talking on one of the panels. The topic is ‘The gentle art of persuasion’ which is described as: Case studies, life stories, getting quotes, being inspired … No matter what your genre, interviewing is an important skill for a writer. But what makes a good interview, and what to do if it all goes horribly wrong? And how do you turn the content of an interview into a finished product? Joining me on the panel is Tait Ischia, Barbara Lemon and Hoa Pham. There’s a whole bunch of interesting panels and talks going on over the festival which runs from Friday 21st may to Sunday 3oth May. Most of the events take place at the Melbourne Town Hall and if you’re interested in hearing me waffle on incoherently then my panel is on Saturday the 29th at 11.00am. You can find out more on my events page here.
And the good thing is that I’ve got over a month to grow some groovy facial hair.
On April 27th, 2010 Patrick O'Neil said: