Our top picks for Melbourne Writers Festival 2017
Staff share their top picks from this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) program.
As part of the 2017 program, we’re hosting a full day of fantastic free events showcasing a range of new Australian fiction – learn more here. We’ve also prepared a list of terrific international guests who will be in attendance this year, and you can browse the full Festival program here.
Stella Charls recommends…
If you asked me to name my favourite author and favourite book right at this moment in time, I’d answer Megan Abbott (always and forever), and Rachel Khong’s incredible debut novel Goodbye, Vitamin, respectively. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to find out both Abbott and Khong are coming to Melbourne Writers Festival this year.
I adore Abbott’s psychological thrillers, unsettling coming-of-age narratives laced with intrigue, and have raved about them on this blog here, here and here. Goodbye, Vitamin is a small miracle of a novel about family, friendship and memory – equal parts laugh-out-loud hilarious and acutely moving. You can read my review here.
Abbott is appearing in three sessions: Meet Megan Abbott, Binge Culture (with the always entertaining Brodie Lancaster and Benjamin Law), and The Dark Side of Womanhood (with Joyce Carol Oates). This third event – a discussion on writing the complicated interior lives of women – is my must-see event of MWF 2017!
Khong is only appearing in one event, Alzheimer’s in Fiction. She’s paired with local author Harriett McKnight, whose much-anticipated debut novel Rain Birds comes out in September.
I really enjoyed Emily Witt’s essay collection Future Sex, a fresh, wry investigation on sexuality in the 21st century, and I’m planning to see two of her sessions: Women Writers in the City (exploring the relationship between geography and gender alongside fellow essayists Sophie Cunningham and Rebecca Harkins-Cross) and Loneliness and Connectivity (with Elizabeth Tan).
Rounding out my wishlist is a whole range of sessions with Australian authors whose work I’ve loved reading this past year. Pop Culture and Feminism features Brodie Lancaster, author of the brilliant pop-culture memoir No Way! Ok Fine., and poet Hera Lindsay Bird, author of my favourite poetry collection, Hera Lindsay Bird. There’s also a lecture by Robert Dessaix on his recent book The Pleasures of Leisure, Jenny Valentish speaking on her insightful and brutally honest memoir Woman of Substances, and lawyer, constitutional reform fellow and editor of A Rightful Place Shireen Morris’s keynote on Indigenous constitutional recognition.
And finally, Georgia Blain: The Museum of Words is a special memorial event with performed readings celebrating Blain’s life and work, as well as the launch of her latest book The Museum of Words by her partner Andrew Taylor.
Lina Hingee recommends…
I’m hearing nothing but amazing things about Angie Thomas’ The Hate U Give, and her keynote address on YA & Activism seems like it could be one of the most relevant and fascinating discussions of the Festival. I’m so blown away by how engaged and informed teens are today – it gives me a lot of hope for the future – and I’m looking forward to hearing Thomas share her thoughts on how books can encourage young readers to engage with the world around them.
As a devoted binge-watcher (though sadly one whose favourite shows keep getting cancelled on cliffhangers), I’m keen to hear Megan Abbott, Brodie Lancaster and Benjamin Law chat about how screenwriting has changed in the current ‘Golden Age’ of television at Binge Culture.
Speaking of ‘Golden Ages’ I’m loving how much incredible, literary dystopian fiction is hitting our shelves at the moment, even if I’m a little frightened by how close to reality some of it is becoming, so the session on Reality & Fantasy, which will look at how sci-fi and fantasy fiction can reflect reality back at us, sounds engrossing.
Nina Kenwood recommends…
This year’s MWF program has such a great line-up of authors and topics, it’s really hard to choose what I’m most excited about. I could honestly see everything. That said, here are my top ten picks, in no particular order:
Binge Culture: Megan Abbott, Benjamin Law and Brodie Lancaster talking about TV.
The Dark Side of Womenhood: Megan Abbott and Joyce Carol Oates on the complicated lives of women. I’m a big fan of Abbott.
Investigative Journalism: David Grann and Christine Kenneally on the future of long-form writing.
YA & Activism: Angie Thomas on giving voice to young black Americans and her acclaimed novel The Hate u Give. (Readings staff rave about this book here).
Utopia for Realists: Dutch historian Rutger Bregman discusses the feasibility of ideas such as universal basic income and a 15-hour work week.
Reni Eddo-Lodge on Race: The author of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race on feminism, class and race.
Living in Trump’s America: Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, Min Jin Lee and Micah White on the experience of minorities living in Trump’s America.
Pop Culture and Feminism: Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, Hera Lindsay Bird, Brodie Lancaster and Patricia Lockwood on how TV, music and the internet are shaping young feminists.
Meet Kevin Kwan: The author discusses his brilliant Crazy Rich Asians series, another personal favourite.
Visibility and Voice: Janet Mock on her experience of growing up poor, multiracial and trans in America.
And a bonus extra: Readings Recommends: This entire day features a range of amazing new Australian authors – and all the sessions are free.
And one more bonus extra mention: Harry Potter Day: Look at these photos from our recent Harry Potter Trivia Night to feel inspired.
Leanne Hall recommends…
It’s no secret that I am a die-hard Crazy Rich Asians fan, so I am thrilled that author Kevin Kwan will be appearing at the festival this year. The CRA books are sharply satirical and also completely bonkers, so I’m keen to find out what kind of person and mind created them. If I’m brave enough to ask a question at the session, I’d like to know how Kwan stays on top of the never-ending torrent of CRA tastes, desires and whimsies, and what part his books might play in discussing or exposing economic inequities.
I was overjoyed to find out that American author Angie Thomas will be speaking on YA & Activism. Thomas’s debut novel The Hate u Give has been a staff favourite at Readings, and I can think of nothing better than hearing her speak on writing as a personal reflection of American life and society, as well as a political tool.
And I’m really looking forward to chairing our special Readings Young Adult Book Prize winner session as part of our Readings Recommends day. This is the first year we’ve held the Prize, and I loved reading so much Australian YA writing as a judge. The judging panel were unanimous in our admiration for the winning book, and it’s going to be an absolute pleasure talking to the winning author.
Chris Gordon recommends…
For now, I’m keeping my top picks to two days only.
On Friday 1 September, I’m planning to hear British journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge’s talk On Race. She’s the author of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, and I know I’ll learn a lot by listening to her. Later that same evening, I’ll be just one of the many fans lining up to hear Tex Perkins at TEX. It will be tremendous fun to hear the stories behind his songs – we all know he’s a bloke that doesn’t hold back.
On Sunday 3 September, I’m heading in to hear Julian Burnside talk about our government’s disingenuous stance on refuges. It’s part of the excellent Big Ideas presented by The Monthly series. Then I plan to finish off the day with the Closing Address from the legendary journalist, Robert Fisk, who will be discussing the changing landscape of the Middle East. Both these Sunday events will be sobering but I feel confident that I’ll come away more equipped with knowledge than fear.
Bronte Coates recommends…
I’m excited about so many international guest this year: Megan Abbott, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Kevin Kwan, Janet Mock – to name a few. But more than anyone else, I’m thrilled that Angie Thomas will be here and giving a keynote address on YA & Activism. I love that MWF is showing their support of teen readers by getting behind Thomas, whose The Hate U Give has been the most talked-about YA book of the year, and deservedly so.
This year’s program has a range of other interesting events for kids and teens including Q&As, workshops, and (most exciting of all) a Harry Potter Day on Sunday 3 September!
At first glance through the program, I love the sounds of the panels on Pop Culture & Feminism, Intergenerational Warfare and Women Writers in the City. And I always enjoy performative events so delighted to see that there are so many to choose from this year. At the top of my list are Louder Together and Don’t Look Away, but I feel certain I’ll be adding others to my list after a more thorough look through the program.
Jo Case recommends…
I’m a big fan of Megan Abbott, whose psychological thrillers are also dreamy, immersive, knife-sharp explorations of adolescent girlhood: competition, emerging sexuality, expectations and self-realisation. Those ordinary dramas are made extraordinary by being embedded in gripping, fast-paced mysteries.
In The Fever, the girls at one high school are falling suddenly, mysteriously ill, one by one, in what seems to be a mix of contagious hysteria and demonic possession. Is it linked to sexual activity? And in her latest novel, You Will Know Me, there’s a murder – and a cover-up – in the close-knit community of adolescent aspiring Olympic gymnasts and their stage parents. It’s a heightened dramatisation of the way overparenting, intense ambition and hothouse environments can warp lives.
I can’t wait for Meet Megan Abbott.
The other international author I’m super excited about is David Grann, whose incredible literary true crime Killers of the Flower Moon is probably my non-fiction read of 2017 (so far).
On its most basic level, it’s the story of the systematic murder of members of the Osage Nation in the 1920s, for their oil money. The story opens out from one family, in which all but one member died (including an assassination-style shooting and a house bombing) to encompass – and implicate – the whole community of Osage County, Oklahoma. This thread is structured as a whodunit, culminating in a court case. One layer beneath, it illuminates the seeds of the FBI’s evolution into its modern monolithic role, under the directorship of a young J. Edgar Hoover. This was its first homicide case, and it changed the way murders were investigated.
And then, Grann goes deeper still – his own investigations reveal shocking, large-scale truths about the treatment of Native Americans as recently as half a century ago. I think I might need to book into all of his sessions.
Locally, I love the look of Women Writers in the City, on essays, gender and geography (with Sophie Cunningham, Rebecca Harkins-Cross, and Emily Witt) and Intergenerational Warfare (with Mark ‘Ganglands’ Davis, Rebecca Huntley and Jamila Rizvi), on the challenges faced by different generations in housing, education and job security.
Rachel Khong’s gorgeous debut novel Goodbye Vitamin, about family, imperfect relationships, grief and connection, blew me away. She’s in one session, Alzheimer’s in Fiction – I highly recommend booking it before it books out.
Finally, Robert Fisk gave one of the best talks I’ve ever heard when he delivered the closing address at Adelaide Writers Week on the publication of his masterpiece landmark history, The Great War for Civilisation. So his Closing Address will be a must-attend.
