This writers’ festival offers more than words on a page, with novelists, poets and literary masters performing their stories live on stage. The five-day event hosts poetry slams, discussions, panel talks and workshops led by wordsmiths from across Australia as well as international creatives.
Organised by World Travels (aka non for profit arts education organisation the International Performing Writers' Association), festival events will be popping up around the Rocks area. The Australian Poetry Slam National Final is a popular feature of this annual writers’ gathering, with this year's showdown happening on the final day of the festival (Oct 20) at the Sydney Opera House.
Headlining wordsmiths on the slam line-up include multilingual Métis artists Moe Clark from Montreal. She’s a creative who wears many hats, including spoken word poet, musician, activist and public speaker, and she’s appeared on the TEDx stage as well as more intimate educational workshops. The 2018 Australian Poetry Slam Champion from Yirrkala in East Arnhem Land, Melanie Mununggurr-Williams, will also be making an appearance. The Yolŋu Matha speaker has made waves around Australia and beyond, talking and writing about family, place and her Aboriginal identity, and she’s set to release her first book of poetry in 2020.
The full Story-fest program will be released closer to the October event.