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“Citizens of Literature”: Notes from the Emerging Writers’ Festival 2011.

Bethanie Blanchard June 21

When the temperature drops and the nights close in, festival season begins in Melbourne. As workers take down the Comedy Festival banners strung up across the city, and Leunig’s creatures no longer smile down upon us, the city is abuzz with the beginnings of another event – the Emerging Writers’ Festival.

Beginning as a one-day zine fair in 2004, the festival has expanded to almost two weeks of events, workshops, panel discussions and gala nights, as well as digital events using the #ewf11 hashtag – ubiquitous on Twitter recently if you follow certain writer types.

There is often a mystique surrounding writing, as though analysing the craft might drain you of your power. Or worse, that by drawing back the curtain you will be revealed – like the Wizard of Oz – as small and powerless, all smoke and lighting effects. But in panel events and workshops throughout the eleven days of the festival, established and emerging writers did just that – openly discussing not only their work and writing process, but their doubts, rejections and even the rarely mentioned business side of being a writer.

The festival featured many highlights, such as the Not Your Nana’s Slide Night where writers shared travel stories in pecha kucha format, one that imposes a strict limit of twenty slides, twenty seconds per slide. At that event we heard tales from abroad and from Melbourne, in particular the hilarious proposals (thankfully scrapped) for the site of Federation Square, and the beautiful story of a town in which every building is a museum.

Or the Dirty Words sex writing night, where Linda Jaivin revealed the erotic potential of a supermarket aisle, and made everyone look at a bowl of fruit in a whole new light. (Helpfully bringing the term “love blender” into the lexicon.) While one piece of erotic fan-fiction has probably ruined any hope of watching re-runs of The Golden Girls seriously ever again.

The festival was closest to its roots in the two-day Town Hall Writers’ Conference, with events like 2 Sides of the Coin: Faking It verses Making It where established writers such as Benjamin Law and Clem Bastow talked openly about the trolling, lack of integrity and lack of funds that goes along with being a writer who has ‘made it.’ Or Page Parlour where writers, independent publishers and zinesters sold their creations at a market at Federation Square.

Writing is an infinitely solitary experience, so one of the greatest pleasures of the festival was simply the sense of community. The comforting feeling of standing in a room at the closing night Spelling Bee and not being the only one cheering excitedly at the prospect of someone spelling “Bildungsroman” correctly. Or gasping in horror when an entrant was asked to spell “coccyx.” The satisfaction of chatting with those known usually through twitter handles and blog musings, or the slightly disorienting feeling of seeing author photos and bylines become real.

There are lots of festivals about writers. But there are very few for writers. It is this that makes the Emerging Writers’ Festival so special. At the program launch, director Lisa Dempster spoke of the importance of the apostrophe in the festival’s title: Writers’ not Writers. This spirit of inclusiveness, this “for writers-ness”, informs everything in the program.

In a city now officially deigned by UNESCO as one “of literature”, we are all citizens of literature too. For eleven days at the end of May, the Emerging Writers’ Festival brings the citizens of literature – both lovers and creators of it – together.


 

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Comments

by Dan
22 Jun 11 at 9:50

Great piece Beth, thanks to you and Lisa and everyone involved in EWF. Can’t wait till next year!

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by Elizabeth
29 Jun 11 at 23:13

I love it when writers talk about writing. The process is often far more mysterious than it needs to be! Good work to all of you for making that happen.

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