Upcoming Events

Written by Hepburn Springs local, Ian Scott. The session will intersperse scene readings from the new play The Last Voyage of Mrs Cook with poems written about the inner Captain Cook. It is 1832. Mrs Cook is 83 years old. The play explores the disintegrating landscape of Mrs Cook's mind and relationship with her maid as they grapple with Admiralty requests for any remaining Cook correspondence and how to deal with Cook's returning ghost, his legacy and his possessions. Ian…

GROWING PINEAPPLES IN THE OUTBACK (UQP) REBECCA LISTER AND TONY KELLY Meet the Authors:  Join Rebecca Lister and Tony Kelly, in conversation with poet Terry Jaensch as they discuss their book Growing Pineapples in the Outback, followed by a short reading from the book and a QnA session with the audience. When Rebecca Lister and Tony Kelly move from Melbourne to Mount Isa to care for Rebecca’s elderly mother, Diana, they have no idea what they’ve signed up for. The isolation,…

Renowned author and activist, Dennis Altman talks with Neil Pharoah. Celebrating the publication of his new book, God Save The Queen: The Strange Persistence of Monarchies and his recent memoir, Unrequited Love: Diary of an Accidental Activist, this conversation will explore sexual politics, our obsession with the United States and our equally strange obsession with royalty. To follow this talk, the bar will be open so join us to toast to the opening of our writers' festival! Aperitif from our sponsors, Passing Clouds wine and Hepburn…

Back by popular demand, The Cicada Story Slam! This year's theme: RELENTLESS. The Cicada Story Slam is the brainchild of renowned Daylesford storyteller, Anne E Stewart. It is dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling and is modelled on story slams, like The Moth in New York and ABC’s Now Hear This. Our series is unique in aiming to tell the story of our community by asking tellers to share their personal stories about the Hepburn Shire. Anne E.…

Got a story worth telling? Kevin Childs can help you frame anything non-fiction from profiles to adventure, drawing on his university teaching, 11 newspapers and eight books. $20.

Characters are about more than just names and descriptions. They are as real to us as the people in our lives. Learn how to build three-dimensional characters who will drive your story and shape the events around them. Bio: Les Zig is the author of three novels: Song of the Curlew (Pinion Press 2019), August Falling (Pantera Press 2018), and Just Another Week in Suburbia (Pantera Press 2017). He’s also had three screenplays optioned. His unpublished manuscripts and unproduced screenplays…

Join us for a book launch and talk on Georgiana Houghton, A Gift from Spirit: a catalogue of works held at the Victorian Spiritualists’ Union. Edited and contributions by Daylesford's own Jeff Stewart and designed by Ian Robinson. Georgiana Houghton (1814–1884), was an English artist and a Spiritualist. She attended her first séance in 1859 at the age of forty-five, and began guided water colour and gouache drawing in July 1861, creating what are now recognized as the first abstract…

Join Tanya Loos, author of Daylesford Nature Diary: six seasons in the foothill forests in this exploration of our connection to nature here in the Wombat Forest and surrounds. Tanya will talk about our local weather cycles, and how our flora and fauna respond to the seasons. Noticing these cycles can help ground us in place, and provide a source of joy. The craft of nature journaling is discussed. https://tanyaloos.com/

Readings and talk with local authors/ illustrators with slide show. Three Unordinary Tales - to open the festival to our young Readings by local authors/ illustrators with slide show.  Be the first to get into this new, special series, curated by the festival for our young ones, our teenage ones and those unlimited by age and young at heart. Join us in realms where nothing is for certain: a fable is fractured in the forest, a river runs deep deep…