6–8 September 2024
The curtain has fallen. The fanfare and excitement of the festival has subsided. Authors and presenters have gone back to their writing rooms and jobs that pay the bills. The audience went home.... It was hard work. It was worth it. Energising and inspiring.
I knew we were in for a treat. It’s as though she had just stepped out of a fairyland storybook herself. The children were so excited to see her and being such a wonderful storyteller, she quickly engaged them (and even some the adults), into her magical imaginative narrative and adventure around the Coolart gardens.
The University of Southern California has conducted a study where they found that men are four times more represented as characters in literature than women. There is a gender bias towards male characters although most readers of fiction are female, and many women writers struggle to be taken seriously.
The Western Port Writes festival was a wonderful event. I’m sure everyone is exhausted and can’t contemplate another one next year. If and when they do, I’ll be ready to don my T shirt and lanyard again.
Some of what the authors said about their stories and the wisdom of their trade has been captured in more stories, by some of those who attended.
Stories bind and hold us, as they pull us in. To their magic. Across the weekend of September 6 – 8, our awesome authors reminded us how much we are drawn to and connected by story. To ourselves, to each other. To the universe.
The Community Storytime Concert. It will be a night of words and music for the whole family. Pick up your meal from the Flying Calamari Bros, or bring your own; order your cocktail or mocktail from Fantasy Cocktails; grab your seat and settle in for a night of fun.
In his younger days as he walked the beaches of our bay, Richard always knew there was something missing. He felt the presence of those who were here before him. And as he tells us ‘when you look for something, it reveals itself to you.’
The Western Port Writers Group is the second iteration of an idea by a local emerging writer Tessa Moriarty, to create a regular gathering of locals who share the love of writing. Two of the group members write about their experience of the fortnightly sessions.
We are excited to announce another issue of our festival magazine. Western Port Writes News is hot off the press from Galaxy Printing in Hastings.
We acknowledge the Boon Wurrung | Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation as the traditional owners of these lands and the original storytellers. We honour their enduring connection to land and sea and pay our respects to their Elders past and present.
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