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Festival Director's Welcome
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Reading opens our eyes, minds and hearts to other worlds. To read good writing - writing that astonishes, elates, deeply saddens or activates - is to receive a gift from the writer. Be it through the true story of an undertaker in training relayed by Tom Jokinen or the misadventures of an accidental political advisor created by début novelist Jessica Rudd, writers invite us challenge us, even to explore unfamiliar territory. Brisbane Writers Festival retains its commitment to bringing together an extraordinary range of international, national and local writers, both renowned and emerging, in a range of free and ticketed sessions. We are particularly proud of our education program Word Play, the largest of any Australian writers festival. |
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Thursday and Friday night's Visiting Writer Evenings showcase high-profile international writers including Joe Bageant, Val McDermid and Jostein Gaarder, and I extend an especially warm welcome to our Festival First Night speaker, and winner of the 2009 Caine Prize for African Writing, E. C. Osondu. I sincerely acknowledge the generous and invaluable support of all BWF partners including 612 ABC Brisbane, State Library of Queensland, The University of Queensland and The Australian, but especially the QLD Government through Arts Queensland. And finally, I give thanks and pay tribute to the dedicated staff team with whom I am privileged to spend my days, and the wonderful volunteers who make Brisbane Writers Festival possible. I look forward to sharing this wonderful program with you all when the readers and writers gather in September. Jane O'Hara | |
The Brisbane Writers Festival acknowledges the assistance of the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and the Department of Education and Training, and the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.