Festival Program

Hone your eyes to old signage, details of architecture, traces of the past, and secrets hidden in plain sight. Join Nick Gadd, author of Melbourne Circle: Walking, Memory and Loss, on a psycho-geographic walk around Williamstown, and find out how place and stories are intertwined; take in some the Street... Read More

‘A book of unquestionable national importance’ – Professor Henry Reynolds, University of Tasmania. Have you ever wondered why an area of Hobsons Bay is devoted to the name Truganina? Truganini’s story has made her an international icon for a monumental tragedy, yet how much about her life do you actually... Read More

Curious about Street Libraries? How to get one? Build one? Host one? Street Libraries are boxes attached to a property that provide small, free book exchanges for the community to use. They create community connections and increase a love of literacy in neighbourhoods. Hobsons Bay boasts over thirty Street Libraries... Read More

Alice Pung (One Hundred Days, Unpolished Gem) was born in Footscray a month after her parents Kuan and Keen arrived in Australia. Alice’s father, Kuan – a survivor of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime – named her after Lewis Carroll’s character because after surviving the Killing Fields, he thought Australia... Read More

2020 and 2021 have been watershed moments; times of great change. The stunning scenes of Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo Movement have made us spectators to history happening under our porchlight. The 1970’s was also a time of social change and upheaval and some pretty seemly fashion statements. From... Read More

Our world is forever changing and the books we share with our children need to reflect this. Books can be transformative and they can be affirming; they are windows into other worlds and mirrors into our own. Join our panel of experts to hear their thoughts about the power of... Read More

“We wrapped our dreams in words and patterned the words so that they would live forever, unforgettable.” – Neil Gaiman On seas of words we dream, the writer navigating through stormy, unexpected waters and tranquil silent seas. Join Homegrown Hobsons Bay Writers, Nicholas Abdilla, Helen Penrose, Vicki Milliken  and H.... Read More

You can hear the music in this novel; it seems to sing off the page. Even a tin ear could make a tune from these words. Yuwaalaraay woman Nardi Simpson comes to Melbourne to celebrate her debut novel, the stunning Song of the Crocodile. Winner of the Black&Write 2018 fellowship,... Read More

Come along to the celebration of the annual statewide Ada Cambridge Writing Prizes 2021 and the inaugural Jennifer Burbidge Writing Prize. Join Adas’ judges Lis Grove and Dr Chris Ringrose as they announce the winners for the Biographical Prose, Poetry and the Young Ada awards. The winner of the inaugural... Read More

Swan in, in silver, to be part of the inaugural Vision Splendid, live on stage in Williamstown’s gorgeous Ballroom. Come be part of the unmasked scene of Melbourne with the much-loved everyman – Dave O’Neil hosting an evening of sparkling conversation and throwing in a few curve balls for the... Read More

In this online event featuring How to Be an Author, Fremantle Press takes you behind the scenes with some great life hacks for an author in Australia. Over three panels filled with practical advice and tips to help you on the path to publication, Holden Sheppard will be in conversation... Read More

As if by apparating, the great Dr Karl Kruszelnicki bursts live onto the big screen in the Ballroom at the Williamstown Town Hall, offering answers to all the questions you never expected to ask: Why is sharpening a pencil in space a risky business? What makes a sunset red and... Read More

Come along and celebrate the launch of Cast Your Eyes Astern. Cast Your Eyes Astern is the fifth attempt to publish a documented history of the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. A history of the Club was written during the 1940s and another brief history was printed in 2003. Two... Read More

“Science, for me, gives a partial explanation for life” – Rosalind Franklin, an overlooked female figure who helped uncover the structure of DNA. So why are there so few women recognised in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)? Since Wild Dingo Press produced their STEM stars series... Read More

“I see far more in the countryside than charm. I see infinite splendours.” Reading the novel, one can actually feel the shape of the land, the sunshine, the cloud cover; the tragedy and heartache. Complexity reveals itself, just as in a painting slowly layered, and in the character of the... Read More

Join multi-published, award-winning local author, Alison Stuart on a ‘sensory’ exploration of Williamstown. As a writer you want to transport your readers to another time, another place and embed them in that fictional world, show them what the characters are living alongside, seeing, and smelling. One critical tool you have... Read More

Join the goons of Tough Guy Book Club who know a thing or two about drinking beers and reading books to have your questions answered at this excellent event. Hear readings from classic Australian novels that have been expertly matched with outstanding Australian beers. Presented by the Tough Guy Book... Read More

The world spins ever faster on ever smaller dimes and we, with vertigo, watch in the bottom of a crucible, wondering when it will all fall in on itself. Award-winning author of The Trauma Cleaner, Sarah Krasnostein gets in deep with 2019 festival guest Into the Fire’s Sonia Orchard as... Read More

What happens to contemporary and speculative fiction authors when reality overtakes prescience? Three profoundly creative YA authors meet local writer Matt Davies to discuss how they use their writing to help unpack the social, political and environmental realities of our world and how they balance this with themes that inspire... Read More

An annual festival favourite, the People’s Choice returns to the Pirate’s Tavern on Sunday June 20 at 4pm. After a successful albeit curious Zoom event last year, winners were rewarded for originality, presentational and brevity! This year we encourage each presenter to spend four minutes exploring the silver lining of... Read More

What is it that keeps a writer writing? Three decades in the making for Nikolai the Perfect. Williamstown entity Jim McIntyre’s debut novel was published in September 2020 – a COVID book. It had been scheduled to launch at Willy Lit Fest 2020, but COVID got in the Festival’s way... Read More

However you spent lockdown, there is a good chance you discovered a new lens through which to observe you patch. Siblings Hilde Hinton and Samuel Johnson OAM published Heroes Next Door during COVID; the timing itself is a coincidence, but the result is an inspired curation of golden moments and... Read More