Melbourne Writers’ Festival
In her final year as festival director, Lisa Dempster champions political activists, marginalised voices and bold thinkers, offering fresh perspectives on difficult issues.
Kim Scott: Opening Night Gala
West Australian novelist and professor Kim Scott will open the festival as part of a celebration on the identities, stories and resistance of Australia’s First Nations people. Scott – who is a descendent of the Noongar people and was the first Indigenous author to win the Miles Franklin Award – will discuss his literary career, in which he has reconstructed narratives of Indigenous experience and challenged existing histories in novels like
Benang and his most recent work, Taboo. Deakin Edge, Fed Square, Swanston & Flinders Sts, Melbourne 3000. mwf.com.au. 6.30pm. $50. Fri Aug 25.
A Better Tomorrow
The festival’s ‘Polemics Gala’ is an opportunity to be inspired by powerful Australian voices campaigning for a fairer, kinder future. Join Yassmin Abdel-magied, Jane Caro, Stan Grant, Tony Jones and Omar Musa as they propose alternatives to our current values and institutions. Your host, singer-songwriter Clare Bowditch, who will also perform. Deakin Edge, Fed Square, Swanston & Flinders Sts, Melbourne 3000. mwf.com.au. 6pm. $35-$45. Thu Aug 31.
Janet Mock: Visibility and Voice
Internationally renowned transgender rights activist and New York-based journalist Janet Mock is in high demand as a speaker thanks to her bestselling memoir Redefining Realness
and Surpassing Certainty and her social media project #Girlslikeus, which aims to empower trans women. She will reflect on the power of storytelling as a catalyst for social change, and the history of trans women in LGBTQIA and feminist history. Deakin Edge, Fed Square, Swanston & Flinders Sts, Melbourne 3000. mwf.com.au. 8.30pm. $35-$45. Thu Aug 31.
Rutger Bregman
Is the concept of a 15-hour work week more realistic than it sounds? Historian and author Rutger Bregman is best known for his recently released bestseller Utopia for Realists, in which he makes a case for a shorter work week and universal basic income. In two talks at MWF, he will discuss his vision of a more equal future, and address the implications of AI on the workforce. AI: Towards Worklessness: Studio 1, ACMI. 1pm. $19-$22. Sun Aug 27. Utopia for Realists: Deakin Edge, Fed Square. 8pm. Free. Sun Aug 27. mwf.com.au.
Reni Eddo-lodge
In 2014, London-based writer and activist Reni Eddo-lodge wrote a blog post titled ‘Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race’. Three years and countless clicks later, Eddo-lodge has written a book of the same name. In her three talks at MWF, she will navigate issues of racism, class and feminism.
On Race: Deakin Edge, Fed Square, Swanston & Flinders Sts, Melbourne 3000. 11.30am. $19-$22. Fri Sep 1. Towards Inclusivity: ACMI, Fed Square, Swanston & Flinders Sts, Melbourne 3000. 10am. $19-$22. Sat Sep 2. Decolonising Feminism: ACMI. 2.30pm. $19-$22. Sat Sep 2. mwf.com.au.
Binge Culture
If you’ve ever sat down to watch one episode of a Netflix show and then realised you’re still sitting there five hours later, this panel talk is for you. Join Megan Abbott (novelist and writer on HBO series The Deuce), Melbourne writer Brodie Lancaster ( No Way! Okay, Fine) and Sydney writer Benjamin Law ( The Family
Law) as they explore the way that binge culture has influenced television. Studio 1, ACMI. mwf.com.au. 1pm. $19-$22. Sat Aug 26.