Williamstown Literary Festival

What a festival we had! Hundreds of visitors flocked to our charming seaside suburb to soak in the literary gems on offer.

We had a number of lead up events, opening with a Pub Walk based on a book about Williamstown's pubs led by local historian Ian Rae.  The walk was a great success, attracting 20 participants and ended appropriately with a beer at the historic Stags Head hotel in Cecil St. Thursday night's open mike poetry and prose session at the Pirates Tavern proved another winner.  There were more than 100 participants and guests who came from as far as Caulfield Ringwood and Ivanhoe.  Willylitfest patrons gave the new format the big thumbs up and organisers are keen to hold it at Seaworks next year.

The Royal Nuptials failed to spoil Friday night's official opening party with local actress Margot Knight enthralling guests by reading from the winning entries in the Ada Cambridge short story prize.   Lucia Nardo, a perennial placegetter finally shared top prize for her moving short story about her late mother.   The 100 or so short listed entrants and their guests were entertained by local band Willy Philly with festival patron Terry Bracks giving the keynote address.

Saturday opened in bright sunshine and a smoking ceremony to unveil the revised First People of Hobsons Bay publication with Boonwurrung Elder Aunty Carolyn Briggs.

With the front town hall back in use, guests enjoyed sipping coffee at an open air cafe on the town hall lawns between the many scintillating sessions. Corinne Grant, Tracy Bartram and Cal Wilson proved true queens of comedy with a hilarious hour-long chat about crafting words for laughs.   There were more funny words in the afternoon at Shaun Micallef's sellout interview with Corinne Grant about her new memoir.

Sessions by children's and YA authors such as Claire Saxby and Alison Lester proved popular and the many workshops were sold out by aspiring writers keen to learn from experts for the cost of a coffee and doughnut.

Patrons packed out the beautifully restored Council Chamber for Tony Wheeler's session on travel writing, with Tom Trumble and Jack Faine and returned for another festival highlight, a chat between Patrick Donovan and muso Dave Graney about his new memoir.  Graney thrilled the audience by ending the session strumming his guitar and signing his new song, I don't want to know about me.

Earlier, mutli-award winning Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight thrilled festival goers by drawing and donating a signature cartoon of Jeff Kennett.   The signed cartoon is being auctioned online to help with festival expenses. Top sports writing and broadcasting was well covered by the likes of Sam Lane, Gideon Haigh, Greg Baum and Mike Sheahan and film buffs even got their own session on Saturday night with the book author and screenwriters of Death in Brunswick.

A sparkling final session with union boss and self-confessed faceless man Paul Howes and crime novelist Shane Maloney, chared by Barry Donovan, brought the 8th Willylitfest to a fitting finale.    Howes flew down from Sydney for the event and the audience reckoned it was one of the best $7 investments they'e ever made!

This year the stories for the Ada Cambridge Prize and the poems for the Seagull Poetry Prize both appear in one exciting anthology. There are six short listed stories and ten poems including the winners of each competition.

Told with strong arresting voices, the biographical short stories immerse us in the experiences of those living in a cruel and indifferent world, soliciting deep empathy for the characters involved.

In the poems, the theme most often encountered is an engagement with the changing natural world, and the negotiation of the human place within it. Ideas and emotions are effectively conveyed by fresh language, and powerful imagery.

Last night we celebrated the talents of local writers and performers with our annual People's Choice Awards at the Pirates Tavern, setting a warm and rousing tone for what is bound to be a sensational Festival.

The prose prize was easily awarded to Mathew Lang, whose piece Raisins and Cheese - penned in the style of Dr Seuss and based on a conversation overheard on a bus - was simply delightful and a runaway winner. Second placegetter was one of the Lit Fest’s most loyal supporters and participants, James Howard of Footscray, who entertained with his charming monologue Things My mother Told Me!

The poetry winner Lily Chan, with her The Everything poem, mesmerised the crowd with her unique and compelling literary voice. Second placegetter was Richard Pannell, a Willy local and retiree active in creative writing at the local U3A, with his poem entitled Trial by jury (The jury is a trial). The winners went home with a bounty of $100 a piece, with the runners up each securing $50. The night was charmingly MC'd by Passionate Tongues's Michael Reynolds, and further enhanced by the brilliant Jackie Kerin.

Our offical festival blogger has a more detailed post about the event, along with some great snaps of the evening's highlights, which you can see here.

Cheques should be made payable to The Williamstown Literary Festival, and addressed to Post Office Box 807, Williamstown, VIC 3016.

We are delighted to announce that the iconic Sun Bookshop is our official bookseller for the 2012 Williamstown Literary Festival.

The Sun Bookshop - located within the historic Art Deco treasure The Sun Theatre - is a local Yarraville haunt and a highlight for visitors to the West. The Bookshop regularly holds book launches and hosts a monthly book club as well as other literary events. 

The Sun Bookshop will have a strong presence throughout the festival; stay tuned for festival discounts!

The Willy Lit Fest team is proud to have such a significant contributor to the community as its official bookseller.