Queenscliffe Literary Festival each weekend in May.
Exploration
2018 Festival
MAY 4TH – MAY 27TH
VARIOUS VENUES IN QUEENSCLIFF AND POINT LONSDALE
Book tickets below
Please be aware that tickets are now available at the Queenscliff Tourist Information Centre.
WEEK
O1
FRIDAY 4TH MAY
6 – 7pm
Australian Literary Print Exchange
Queenscliff Gallery Workshop
$30 | Includes canapés and bubbles | Sponsored by Writers Victoria
In collaboration with the Queenscliffe Literary Festival, the Queenscliff Gallery Workshop is showcasing The Australian Literary Print Exchange. A display of selected artist’s visual interpretations of the work of Australian authors, playwrights and poets,through printmaking. Special guest John Bell AO (Bell Shakespeare Company).
Limited numbers.
SATURDAY 5TH MAY
6 – 7.30pm
Keynote John Bell
Queenscliff Town Hall
$40 | Includes wine
Opening Weekend Keynote Address and Q&A with John Bell AO and OBE, and Living National Treasure and Bell Shakespeare founder: My Life in Shakespeare.
SUNDAY 6TH MAY
12 – 1.30pm
Keynote Robert Dessaix
Point Lonsdale Bowling Club
$40 | Includes lunch, drinks at bar prices
Opening Weekend Keynote Address with acclaimed author Robert Dessaix: A Writer’s Walk Around the World.
WEEK
O2
THURSDAY 10TH MAY
5.30 – 7pm
YA Writing Prize
Point Lonsdale Board Riders
FREE |
QLF / Deakin VCE Writing Prize, announcement by YA Author Mark Smith.
THURSDAY 10TH MAY
IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM
Wendy Orr
St Aloysius Catholic Primary School
NOT TICKETED |
FRIDAY 11TH MAY
IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM
Marc McBride
Point Lonsdale Primary School
NOT TICKETED |
FRIDAY 11TH MAY
1.30 – 4.30pm
Writer’s Workshop
Queenscliff Neighbourhood House
FREE | Sponsored by Writers Victoria
Josephine Wilson (Extinctions), winner of the Miles Franklin 2017, an exploration of writing from beginning to end. This tour is presented in association with Writers Victoria through the Touring Victoria program which is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
Limited numbers.
SATURDAY 12TH MAY
10 – 11am
The Barabaig
Queenscliff Town Hall
$20 |
Barabaig: Life, Love and Death on Tanzania’s Hanang Plains with author Charles Lane.
SATURDAY 12TH MAY
12.30 – 1.30pm
The Library
Queenscliff Town Hall
$25 |
The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders. An exploration of libraries, a celebration of books and hallowed spaces past and present, with author Stuart Kells and Geelong Library CEO Patti Manolis.
SATURDAY 12TH MAY
2 – 3pm
Pompey Elliott at War
Queenscliff Town Hall
$20 |
Pompey Elliott at War: In His Own Words, explored in his letters by award-winning historian and biographer, Ross McMullin.
SATURDAY 12TH MAY
3.30 – 4.30pm
Miles Franklin Award
Queenscliff Town Hall
FREE | Sponsored by Writers Victoria and Deakin University
Miles Franklin award-winners Josephine Wilson (Extinctions, 2017) and Sofie Laguna (The Eye of the Sheep, 2015) in conversation with Associate Professor Maria Takolander. This tour is presented in association with Writers Victoria through the Touring Victoria program which is supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.
SATURDAY 12TH MAY
5 – 6pm
The Memories of Music
Tussock Upstairs Gallery, Point Lonsdale
$25 |
Andrew Ford, composer and broadcaster, discusses his memoir with Professor David McCooey of Deakin University, and local musician Andrea Robertson.
SATURDAY 12TH MAY
7 – 8.30pm
Lighthouse Arts Collective
New Hall, Point Lonsdale
FREE |
Local artist, writer, and poet Sally Lewry launches her debut poetry collection Able in the presence of rocks, explores death, grief, birth, and life.
SUNDAY 13TH MAY
10.30 – 11.30am
Australia in the New Asia
Queenscliff Uniting Church
$20 |
Author and Professor of Strategic Studies at ANU, Hugh White, discusses his recent Quarterly Essay Without America: Australia in the New Asia.
WEEK
O3
THURSDAY 17TH MAY
6.30 – 9pm
Death Over Dinner
Salt Contemporary Art Gallery, Queenscliff
$60 | Dinner catered, drinks at bar prices
Come to dinner and join a conversation about life, not death, between authors Ailsa Piper and Dr Leah Kaminsky, and acclaimed journalist Caroline Baum.
Limited numbers.
FRIDAY 18TH MAY
1.30 – 4.30pm
Writing and Walking Workshop
Queenscliff Neighbourhood House
$60 |
Author Ailsa Piper uses the local Queenscliff environment for writing inspiration.
Limited numbers.
FRIDAY 18TH MAY
IN-SCHOOL PROGRAM
George Ivanoff
Queenscliff Primary School
NOT TICKETED |
SATURDAY 19TH MAY
10 – 11am
Local Voices
Board Riders, Point Lonsdale
$25 |
Ian Duckworth (The Rip), Greg Jones (Walk A Crooked Mile), and Col Moyle (Indebted), facilitated by local author Dorothy Johnston.
SATURDAY 19TH MAY
1 – 2pm
Crime Writing
Queenscliff Town Hall
$25 |
Crime writing with renowned journalist Michael Brissenden (The List) and author Sarah Bailey (The Dark Lake), in conversation with Angela Savage, Director of Writers Victoria.
SATURDAY 19TH MAY
1 – 4pm
YA Writing Workshop
Queenscliff Neighbourhood House
$80 |
Gold Inky Book Award 2017 winner, author Cath Crowley (Words in Deep Blue) and editor Alison Arnold.
Limited numbers.
SATURDAY 19TH MAY
2.30 – 3.30pm
Shooting the Past
Queenscliff Uniting Church
$25 |
The Queenscliff Scooter Race, with author / historian Clare Wright, in collaboration with Queenscliff Historical Museum.
SATURDAY 19TH MAY
4 – 5pm
The Attachment
Queenscliff Town Hall
FREE | Sponsored by Writers Victoria
Letters arising from an unlikely friendship with author Ailsa Piper and Monsignor Tony Doherty.
SATURDAY 19TH MAY
5.30 – 6.30pm
Foreign Correspondence
Queenscliff Town Hall
$30 |
Acclaimed journalists Michael Brissenden and Hugh Riminton, in conversation with Damien Kingsbury, Professor of International Politics, Deakin University.
SUNDAY 20TH MAY
1 – 2pm
A Camino Experience
Queenscliff Town Hall
$20 |
Two Steps Forward with authors Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project) and Anne Buist (Medea’s Curse).
WEEK
O4
FRIDAY 25TH MAY
12 – 3pm
Masterclass in Chocolate
Point Lonsdale Bowling Club
$100 |
Learn, taste, and indulge in chocolate with Miek Paulus of Ketbaker.
Limited numbers.
SATURDAY 26TH MAY
10.30am – 12pm
Exploration
Queenscliff Library
FREE |
Tell your story. The Queenscliff Library and the Borough of Queenscliffe invite people of all ages to write a short story on ‘Exploration’. Please submit stories to the Queenscliff Library between Tuesday 1 May and Saturday 19 May. A number of writers will be invited to read their stories in the library.
SATURDAY 26TH MAY
11am – 12pm
Native Garden Design
Queenscliff Town Hall
$25 |
Native: Art and Design with Australian Plants with Kate Herd and Jela Ivankovic-Waters.
SATURDAY 26TH MAY
1 – 2pm
Travel – Kyoto & Tokyo
Queenscliff Town Hall
$25 |
Book designer and illustrator Michelle Mackintosh and author / DJ Steve Wide discuss their pocket precinct guides of Kyoto and Tokyo.
SATURDAY 26TH MAY
2.30 – 3.30pm
Travel – Paris
Queenscliff Town Hall
$20 |
Francophiles and writers Alexandra Carroll (Paris: An inspired wander through the City of Lights) and Jayne Tuttle share their passion for Paris.
SATURDAY 26TH MAY
4 – 5pm
Travel – New York
Queenscliff Town Hall
$20 |
Authors Alexandra Carroll (New York: an inspired wander through the Manhattan and Brooklyn boroughs) and 2017 Stella Prize winner Heather Rose (The Museum of Modern Love) explore New York City.
SATURDAY 26TH MAY
5.30 – 7pm
Finale
Queenscliff Town Hall
$15 |
Finale – community, art, books, and the Archibald. Geelong Art Gallery Director Jason Smith announces the winner of the Borough of Queenscliffe primary school Portrait Prize.
SUNDAY 27TH MAY
10am – 1pm
Creative Writing Workshop
Queenscliff Neighbourhood House
$10 |
The Queenscliff Neighbourhood House presents an introduction to Creative Writing.
Featured Authors
John Bell
John Bell is one of the nation’s most illustrious theatre personalities. Award-winning actor, acclaimed director, risk-taking impresario, torch-bearing educationalist, and speaker on leadership.
Robert Dessaix
One of Australia’s best-loved writers, Robert Dessaix is a former Russian scholar and presenter of a national book program on ABC radio.
Testimonials