Join us at Queenscliff Town Hall on Thurs 11 September for our 2025 program launch featuring award-winning Australian author Hannah Kent in conversation with Hannie Rayson.

This outstanding literary event will be your first chance to get your hands on a 2025 program and book to see the stellar lineup of authors at QLF's eleventh annual festival (17–26 October 2025).

Hailed by Geraldine Brooks for her 'deep and lovely grasp of language and story', Hannah Kent is the bestselling author of Burial Rites, which was translated into 30 languages, and the acclaimed novels The Good People and Devotion. 

Her latest book is a memoir, Always Home, Always Homesick, about her relationship with Iceland: that land of ethereal beauty where Kent discovered the story that would form the basis of Burial Rites — and, in doing so, change her life and capture the hearts of readers right across the globe.

QLF is thrilled to have Hannah Kent join us at our program launch, where she will be in conversation about her writing life and remarkable career with multi-award-winning playwright Hannie Rayson.

Get your tickets here.

The QLF cashless bar will be open from 5.30pm. 
Come join us from 5.30, grab a program, buy a drink, and have a catch-up before the 6.30pm start.

We're on the lookout for a Secretary to join our hardworking, highly effective and very fun QLF Committee.

If you're a good communicator who likes teamwork and has strong administrative and organisational skills, we'd love to hear from you!

You'll find the position description here: please send your CV and a cover letter to our President This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Was literacy this much fun when you were in school?

Queenscliffe Literary Festival’s eleventh annual Schools Program has just wrapped up and it was a smashing success.

Across two weeks in May, authors visited every kindergarten and school in the Borough of Queenscliffe. 

CBCA Award-winner Andrea Rowe captivated preschoolers with her beautiful beachy picture books; Beth and Byll Stephen from the Teeny Tiny Stevies had Foundation—Year 2 students up and dancing between readings from their six picture books; Felice Arena, author of the bestselling Specky Magee books, literally had Year 3-4s rolling in the aisles and taking speccies; and CBCA-shortlisted novelist Huda Hayek encountered some year 5-6s so polite they didn’t want to acknowledge her red nose let alone her hijab!

The kids had a ball: here is some of their feedback.

‘I like that it was funny and I learnt about things.’

‘It was super fun.’

‘It was too good.’

‘I would tell my parents that today I had the best school day ever and tell them about it.’

‘I wood tell my parents that I had a grat time.’

Thanks to these excellent authors for visiting Queenscliff and Point Lonsdale; thanks to the schools and kindergartens for their enthusiasm and support (and their AV skills!); thanks to the kids for sharing their love of books with us all; and thanks to the QLF volunteers—Viv, Colette, Marg, Ginny and especially Linden, who put it all together.

Queenscliffe Literary Festival’s Schools Program is supported by the Borough of Queenscliffe and receives donations as people buy tickets for the adult festival program. We are very grateful for the community support for this excellent program, which reaches every preschool and school student in the Borough each year.