Programme: August 17-19

Welcome to Country by a Dja Dja Wurrung elder and official opening of the festival by Mayor of Hepburn Shire, Cr John Cottrell.

Arnold Zable will explore the inspirations, literary influences, sources of ideas, and practical lessons learnt in confronting the empty page.

Explore the evolving structure of a story, and how to break the various blocks that can come up in the process.

Local Abstract Artist, Claire Clifton takes us on an exploration of those literal and metaphorical thresholds we cross throughout our lives. Abstract art meets philosophy with a touch of Bach.

Author Cate Kennedy’s short story collections are currently on the VCE English syllabus. In this session she will be giving an insider scoop on the stories, their themes, how she wrote them, and how to craft your own short stories for assessment.

Talented local actors join screenwriter Josephine Winter for a rehearsed read-through of The Oasis, a time-hopping science fiction drama set on the Nullarbor plain. 

Award-winning historian Ross McMullin talks on his latest book about one of Australia’s most famous and controversial military leaders.

Utilising luggage tags ; Brown for change & blue for chance participants will write their reflections and hang them upon trees creating a social statement as an installation that will be collated at a later date for posterity.

Join leading writer and permaculture co-originator David Holmgren as he explores the power of ecological writing in our transition to a carbon-positive, low-energy future

Acclaimed authors Barry Hill (Reason & Lovelessness) and Richard Zachariah (This Vanished Land) illuminate different perspectives in their passions regarding the settlement of Australia and its historical predicaments.

Cate Kennedy will kick off this event with some stories, a few poems, and a song or two to inspire any one game enough to step up to the mic.

Come listen to the stories of Australia's pioneers in artisanal, small scale baking, from growers to millers, bakers, activists and researchers.

Change and personal reflection: Both are essential in life. But what does it feel like for someone in the public eye?

Petrus Spronk will complement the beautiful music of the Mana Moto Duo, consisting of Justine Walsh on vocals, electric guitar and loops and Adam Menegazzo on electric violin and loops, with images from his extensive travels abroad.