Festival Reflections

The 2016 Bendigo Writers Festival was by far one of the most inspiring and educational events that I have attended.  

From creating sustainable cities from gardens on balconies, conversations about literary forms, publications, social media, journalism, politics, the environment and how we can use our experiences to not only create memoirs, but to create novels, poetry, music and many other forms of narratives.  There were so many pieces of advice given at the festival and I found that I learned more than I ever thought I would.

Indira Naidoo not only got me thinking about creating a vegetable and fruit garden but gave me the resources to do it in her book The Edible Balcony. Not only does this book detail how to set up a garden in a small space, Indira has listed the plants that will grow the best in each season. Incredibly helpful for those who have not started a garden before and are looking for a place to start. 

Anne Summers inspired me to continue to write on events that I am interested in and help to break down the barriers for others.

Moreover, it was in a discussion with Anna Goldsworthy that I learned about the process of creating a memoir. Using her memoir written about her childhood piano lessons, how important it is to first gain permission of all the people who have been written about in your book before publishing can go ahead. How, for her it was more important that her teacher like the memoir, more than anyone else does. It was easy to see how much Anna respects her piano teachers, and to hear her talk about the amount of dedication and time that she and many other musicians put into learning and practising their playing, gave a sense of appreciation and awe as to how disciplined and motivated Anna is with her work.

Overall, I am really glad that I had the opportunity to attend the Writers Festival, not only was it a great education experience, I had the opportunity to work with new writers and see the festival in a new light.