Carr to speak at festival
CONTROVERSIAL former NSW Premier Bob Carr has been invited to speak at Geelong’s Word for Word festival, weeks after being dumped from the Brisbane Writers’ Festival.
Despite the Brisbane festival’s withdrawal of an invitation to the former Labor MP, Geelong’s non-fiction writers’ festival has confirmed Mr Carr will be welcome to speak.
Geelong Regional Library Corporation chairman Cr Ron Nelson said that, in its five years the Word for Word Festival had never shied from presenting a diverse range Australian non-fiction writers and personalities.
“The theme of this year’s Word for Word Festival is Get Real,” Cr Nelson said. “This festival has always explored the issues that are important in our society; and this year will be no different.”
Mr Carr, a former journalist, is publicising a political memoir titled Run For Your Life covering a range of topics including his attitudes to Israel.
Last month it was revealed the Brisbane Writers’ Festival had changed it’s mind regarding his invitation to take part in the event — soon after he had spoken out against rampant political correctness.
Speaking to The CourierMail last month, Mr Carr said he was unsure why he had been axed from the festival program.
“I tried to write a book brist- ling with ideas and arguments, which is what I thought writers’ festivals wanted,” he said.
A statement issued by the Brisbane Writers’ Festival said Mr Carr had been uninvited for the sake of “balance”.
“Brisbane Writers’ Festival does not shy away from controversy or challenging ideas, but as all festival organisers know, it’s invariably difficult to choose between the many authors currently promoting books and the need to provide engaging choices for our audi- ence along a curatorial theme,” Brisbane Writers’ Festival acting chief executive Ann McLean said.
The Melbourne and Brisbane writers festival also closed the door to Germaine Greer.
When asked if Ms Greer would be invited to Word for Word, a GRLC spokeswoman said: “Internationally based authors receive an invitation only if their promotional tour coincides with the event. This was the case with New York-based author Peter Carey, who opened Word for Word last year. Ms Greer’s tour dates did not.”
Geelong’s Word for Word National Non-Fiction Festival, held at the Geelong Library from November 16-18, will release its full program later this month — set to include 70 writers over 35 events.
The festival is hosted by the GRLC, in partnership with the City of Greater Geelong and Deakin University. For more information visit wordforword festival.com.au.