The Melbourne Writers Festival

The Melbourne Writers Festival is an annual event that brings over 400 writers from around the world to Melbourne in August.

It is an opportunity to rug up, meet writers and get absorbed by a program of talks, debates, literary banquets, film screenings, gigs and workshops.

The MWF has been around since 1986 and is an important part of Melbourne’s literary culture. It provides great support for its writers and publishers, and has helped grow and prosper its community of readers and writers.

Each year, many of the who’s who of the world of words descend on Melbourne from around the globe: novelists, playwrights, poets, screenwriters, journalists, songwriters and bloggers – from politicians to artists, from policy wonks to pop culture icons, from crime writers to high culture theorists.

To these events flock hundreds of local, interstate and international guests - celebrating the work of the known and unknown writers, who nevertheless may surprise you in unexpected ways. It is a fantastic opportunity for writers and readers to connect.

What’s On at the Writers Festival

The festival program features an enormous range of literary activity including entertaining discussions, debates, readings, film screenings, interviews, literary banquets, performances, workshops and book launches - everything words and writing:

• Big Ideas – to get you thinking on pressing issues;
• Digital and Journalism;
• Film and Television;
• Food and Wine – literary dinners;
• Fiction – the heart of the Melbourne Writers Festival, with a stellar list of international and local Australian fiction writers, talking about all sorts of topics in many different ways;
• Poetry;
• a schools program with a wide array of literature for Children and Young Adults;
• Graphic Novels and Illustration – with the world’s best illustrators;
• Hot topics and ideas about History and Politics;
• Keynote events with famous writers;
• Music and Performances – poetry, story telling, comedy and talk show;
• Professional Development – workshops, seminars and masterclasses for writers of all levels;
• Walks – exploring Melbourne, the city of literature.

The Melbourne Writers Festival is held at various venues around Federation Square. It’s best to buy tickets online from the MWF website, so you won’t miss out.