Session 2

Saturday 24th August
Sterling Place
9am - 10am

CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS - A PRIMAL RESPONSE

When Helen Garner, one of Australia’s finest writers, published her first non-fiction book, The First Stone, she was later to comment wryly “People in the grip of a primal response to the very existence of a book will read it….between the narrow blinkers of anger and fear”.

Included in this discussion will be the various responses by their subjects, the legal profession and the general reader and the news media in our authors’ experiences in writing about crime. How do writers become familiar with police procedures, legal matters, publisher’s expectations, and how much do they welcome critics and readers’ comments? Do these questions engender anger and/or fear? What stimulates and inspires their storytelling? How many toes have they trodden on to get their stories down in print?

Chair: Jane Sullivan

Panellists: Sarah Krasnostein, Dr Katherine Kovacic, JP Pomare

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Session 3

Saturday 24th August
Sterling Place
10.30am - 11.45am

LEGENDS IN THEIR OWN LUNCHTIME 

There is sports reporting, sports commentary, and, with a bit more of a flourish, Sports Literature. Not only can the players become ‘Legends’, but the best writers can also scale the heights of legend too. John Harms, writer, broadcaster and editor of The Footy Almanac which attracts sports lovers, writers and historians with its thought-provoking articles, is reaching legend status. So too is Adam McNicol for his thoughtful sports biographies. Karen Viggers, who points out in her novel ‘Sidelines’, that the real sporting dramas are not always on the field, could decide that there are too many anti-heroes. After 28 years sports reporting, Warwick Hadfield has reached legend status as proclaimed by ABC Radio Nationals Patricia Karvelas.

All these panelists are privy to the inside information on the sports people we admire and cheer for, and can help us decide whether this is really a good idea.

Chair: ​John Harms

Panellists: Adam McNicol, Karen Viggers, Warwick Hadfield

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Session 4

Saturday 24th August
Mount Sturgeon Woolshed
1pm - 2pm

THE JAMES DAWSON ORATION PRESENTED BY THE VICTORIAN INDIGENOUS RESEARCH CENTRE AT STATE LIBRARY VICTORIA

Our keynote session, held in honour of early Western District resident James Dawson for his work in recording the activities and the language of First Nations people in Western Victoria and advocating for them with early settlers and government. Dawson famously kept up a vociferous correspondence with the authorities of the day, and is renowned for paying for the construction of a memorial to the last aborigine of the Colac district that is to this day the largest and most impressive memorial in that cemetery, The Oration is part of our aim to celebrate people and places in the Western District and its landscape in the context of its indigenous history, including the importance of truth-telling in our history.

Professor Barry Judd in Conversation with Professor Richard Broome

This session is only included in Gold, Silver or Saturday Afternoon Passes. See top of this page to book.

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Session 5

Saturday 24th August
Mount Sturgeon Woolshed
2.15pm - 3.15pm

OUR LANDSCAPE, OUR MEMORY

Volcanic plains, spectacular mountain ranges, unique flora and fauna, all frame the Western District landscape. Even while their way of life was forever changed for indigenous people, it was being recorded elegantly and painstakingly by scientists and artists in the 19th century. With conservation and replanting in the 20th and 21st centuries, and recently with the acknowledgement of the Budj Bim World Heritage listing, this landscape has been cherished by many Western Victorians who carry on the recorded work of early European artists and geologists. ​Grampians rock art was admired and recorded, an acknowledgement of the inspiration that the indigenous people gained from their surroundings over the centuries before white settlement.

This session will deal with some of this history, with scholarly discoveries being revealed even today. Our panelists, who are experts in the art and history of this district, will reflect on their personal responses to this landscape and those who recorded it.

Chair: Allan Myers AO KC

Panellists: Dr Ruth Pullin, Dr Katherine Kovacic

This session is only included in Gold, Silver or Saturday Afternoon Passes. See top of this page to book.

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Session 6

Saturday 24th August
Mount Sturgeon Woolshed
3.45pm - 4.45pm

WHERE DID YOU GET THAT RECIPE? Hunting For Cookbooks  

Rare and unusual cookbooks are worth hunting for, as food history, social history, Australian history, indigenous history, and migrant history, are all important to categorise and record. Many of our 19th and 20th Century cooks kept written records of their recipes and shared them with friends and family. These manuscript cookbooks were quite common, especially in farming communities in the Western District, and helped to create social cohesion. Our expert on old and new cookbooks, food and wine, and dealing with eccentric chefs, Tim White, of ‘Books For Cooks’ will let us into the secrets of cookbook collecting, joined by Natalie Paull (aka Beatrix Bakes) who is a keen baker, lover of sweet things, and cookbook collector.

Chair: Jason Steger

Panellists: ​Tim White, Natalie Paull

This session is only included in Gold, Silver or Saturday Afternoon Passes. See top of this page to book.

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Session 7

Sunday 25th August
Sterling Place
9am - 10am

HOLDING UP A MIRROR: BIOGRAPHY, IMAGINATION AND MEMOIR

Joel Carnegie, ABC presenter, storymaker, and biographical playwright has created ‘The Storymakers Institute’. His podcast interviews are required listening for anyone interested in hearing writers talk about their works. He will explore, with Sarah Krasnostein and Hamiltonian Louise le Nay, the highs and lows of the various forms and interplay between writing about people in a creative process.

Chair: Joel Carnegie

Panellists: ​​Sarah Krasnostein, Louise le Nay

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Session 8

Sunday 25th August
Sterling Place
10.30am - 11.30am

CADAVER COUNTRY

Panellist Dr Katherine Kovacic has observed that ‘place is a character’ and in fact many of our best writers use the countryside as a vital backdrop to their works. For crime fiction, an eerie and evocative setting in a dark landscape is a compelling way to flesh out a good story. This session aims to look into what makes a good backdrop. Can it be that after Covid we have travelled more often in our own state and can more easily tap into this feeling for place? With a renowned literary journalist and writer, a Ned Kelly Award shortlister and well as a multi-award winner, we will be up for a lively session murky world of imagination and mystery.

Chair: ​Karen Viggers

Panellists: ​​​Steve Carroll, JP Pomare, Jane Sullivan

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Session 9

Sunday 25th August
Sterling Place
11.45am - 12.45pm

GREAT MOMENTS IN SPORT

Do you have to be there, has there been a poem written about it, is there an iconic newspaper photograph, was that the mark of the century, is that the best book on…footy, cricket, grand finals, horse racing? Our panel will discuss these moments, and our audience will be invited to come up with some favourites. Who are our panellist’s favourite sports writers and journalists? Can the written word compete with slick TV coverage? Or how many gambling ads do we endure before turning the box off?

Chair: ​​Warwick Hadfield

Panellists: ​​​​John Harms, Professor Barry Judd, Adam McNicol

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