A belated posting of my experiences at the inaugural Willoughby Literary Festival hosted by @chatswoodlibrary. An amazing lineup of incredible authors, poets and panels. Unfortunately, I could only make one day, but I made the very most of it!
– Started with @shankarichandranauthor speaking about the winding path of her career, and her varied writing styles for her novels. Her warmth and fascinating stories made the time go by in a blink. I could easily have listened to her for another hour or two!
– The next session was a panel discussion on Australia’s Literary History & Legacy. @nicoleabadee expertly facilitated the discussion between the biographers @nadia_wheatley_au , @brigittaolubas and @wyndhamsusan1 as they discussed the loves, lives and exception writing careers of Charmaian Clift, Shirley Hazzard and Elizabeth Harrower. I was totally fascinated and my to-be-read pile has now grown substantially!!
– Finally, I loved the the panel discussion of The Making of a Poem, facilitated by @michele_seminara and featuring Colleen Keating, Anne Oasey and Denise O’Hagan. It was a spell-binding and spine-tingling session, and again I was in awe of the power of words to elicit such deep emotion. These poets are truly masters of their craft.
Thank you so much, @chatswoodlibrary ! Can’t wait for the next one – and I’ll be sure to clear my calendar beforehand! 🙏