For a full weekend this March, the small town of Clunes invites authors and readers alike as it becomes a literary wonderland once more.
North of Ballarat, the town of Clunes is opening its doors to the world again for its annual Booktown Festival, just a little earlier in the season than usual.
From Saturday the 25th to Sunday the 26th, this March, the historic main street will come alive as a spectacular book bazaar right outside in the autumn air, with visits from a wide array of renowned authors, poets, speakers, and even musicians, as well as plenty of outdoor fun for kids and grown-ups alike.
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around the region here.
Clunes Booktown hopes to celebrate everything that goes into a literary work, from the writing and illustration to the binding, selling, and, of course, sharing, and thus offers books and conversation on almost every topic one can think of. If it can be written about, it will be there.
Going one step further this year, the 2023 program looks at the many and various ways we tell stories – through books, film, music, theatre, songwriting, photography and other visual arts, even the houses we make. There will be first-hand stories – this year arising out of ageing, small-town crime, imagining other worlds, land management, women’s business, and more.
Guests this year include authors Tony Birch, Candice Fox, CS Pacat, JP Pomare, Eliza Hull, Chris Flynn, Emily Bitto, Emma Viskic, Jacinta Parsons, Nina Kenwood, Miles Allinson, Nova Weetman and Vikki Petraitis, visual artists and photographers Ponch Hawkes, Hollie Johnson, and Simon Perry, and playwrights Bill Garner and Hannie Rayson, and many more.
These guests will join visitors in a variety of workshops, author talks, and panels to delve into countless fascinating themes, be it romance, small-town crime, speculative fiction, or First Nations perspectives on the environment. And in the meantime, there’s also live music from the Tin Shed and kids will enjoy the massive maze and many roving street performers.
Clunes Booktown Highlights 2023
Tin Shed Show
For the first time this year, the festival will also feature a diverse and vibrant evening of live music from the old Central Garage— a setting some may remember from the film Mad Max. Taking place on Saturday, March 25, visitors will witness a night of live music in the Clunes iconic tin shed featuring five talented artists and bands who combine music and storytelling to transport listeners to other worlds and introduce them to different perspectives.
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Kicking off the Tin Shed Show at 3:45 will be Sally Ford and the Idiomatics, a band that play songs of life, love and lived experience. Patrick Cronin, Michael Havir and Alice Garner provide lush backing arrangements to Sally Ford’s wryly-observed lyrics. The underscore of keyboards and electronics is embellished by cello, trombone, sax, flute and mandolin to generate a rich musical experience.
Next is The McNaMarr Project at 5pm, which brings together the musical forces of Andrea Marr and John McNamara, both well respected and experienced Australian Soul and Blues artists in their own right. They’re right up there with the very best. In 2019 they released ‘Holla & Moan’ – their debut collaborative work. And the global blues and soul scene sat up and took serious notice, with great airplay support worldwide, and fabulous reviews likewise pouring in from all corners. The album won the Vic/Tas blues awards for Album of The Year and Song of The Year. Now, three years and a whole new world later, The McNaMarr Project are back with their second album – Run With Me.
Effortlessly blending the sounds of soul, R&B and pop throughout her music, Kee’ahn will take to the stage at 6pm, weaving her lush melodies and words reminiscent of heartbreak and healing. With a name coming from the Wik people, meaning to dance, to sing, to play, Kee’ahn aims to honour her name and Ancestors through her soulful music. Kee’ahn released her debut single ‘Better Things’ on May 28, 2020. Kee’ahn was awarded the Archie Roach Foundation Award at the 2020 National Indigenous Music Awards.
From 7pm, David Bridie (Not Drowning Waving and My Friend The Chocolate Cake) has transformed a lockdown collaboration project with 14 writers and will launch this exciting new album ‘It’s been a while since our last correspondence’. Kutcha Edwards, Arnold Zable, Cathleen Fallon, Edwina Preston and Farhad Bandesh will deliver their contributions live on the night.
Rounding out evening and taking to the stage at 8pm will be the multicultural music of the Footscray Gypsy Orchestra, which smashes all walls and borders and brings fresh excitement to Balkan, Klezmer and European styles in a dozen languages. The Footscray Gypsy Orchestra will stir the heart and move the feet with a mix of familiar favourites and authentic village music.
Alongside these powerful storytellers, there will also be a pop-up bar and art garden will also be on site, bringing this incredible venue to life for one night.
Dark mirrors: visions of tomorrow in Australian speculative fiction
Inspired by climate chaos, dystopian technologies, drone warfare and pandemics, this special panel, on Saturday, March 25 at 3:30pm, will see authors Grace Chan, Chris Flynn, Angela Meyer and Else Fitzgerald explore their varied visions of near-future speculative fiction – ranging from the deeply human to the tragic, dark and downright hilarious.
Grace Chan is a speculative fiction writer and doctor. Her writing explores brains, minds, technology, alien worlds, relationships, power, identity, and hidden parts of the self. Her soft-cyberpunk-with-feelings debut novel, Every Version of You, is about mind-uploading and identity and transformation.
Chris Flynn is the author of three novels, the most recent of which, Mammoth, was shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards and the Russell Prize for Humour. He is Editor-in-Residence at Museums Victoria. His latest book of short stories is Here Be Leviathans.
Angela Meyer is a writer and editor. Her debut novel, A Superior Spectre, was shortlisted for a number of awards. She is also the author of a novella, Joan Smokes, which won the inaugural Mslexia Novella Award (UK), and a book of flash fiction, Captives.
Else Fitzgerald is a Mornington Peninsula based writer. Her writing has been recognised in awards including the Grace Marion Wilson Prize, the Elizabeth Jolley Short Story Prize, the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards, the Fair Australia Prize, the VU Overland Short Story Prize and the Margaret River Short Story Award.
Chaired by Tom Brooker, expect an eye-opening and imaginative journey into the minds of these talented guests.
There’s just so much crime in small towns
For those whose guilty pleasure is a true crime podcast or Netflix crime documentary, this is a panel discussion for you.
Everyone dreams of escaping to the safety and peace of a small country town. But things are not always what they seem. What makes small towns so attractive for crime writers and readers? Jacqui Horwood will quiz Candice Fox, Emma Viskic, Sean Wilson and Vikki Petraitis about big crimes in small towns.
Candice Fox’s first two novels (Hades and Eden) won the Australian Crime Writer’s Ned Kelly Award back-to-back in 2014 – 2015. She is also the author of the bestselling Fall, Crimson Lake and Redemption Point, all shortlisted for Ned Kelly and Davitt Awards. She’s co-written five books with James Patterson.
Emma Viskic’s debut novel Resurrection Bay was shortlisted for two CWA Daggers and won five Australian awards, including the Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut. Its sequel, And Fire Came Down, won the Davitt Award for Best Adult Novel while Darkness for Light won the Readers Choice Award.
Sean Wilson is a Melboune based writer, playwright and communications professional. His short stories have been published in Australian and international journals, anthologies and literary magazines including Island and Narrative, and he was previously shortlisted for the Patrick White Playwrights Award by Sydney Theatre Company. Gemini Falls is his first book.
Vikki Petraitis has written 18 books; the latest, The Unbelieved, won the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize in 2022. Vikki is well known for her true-crime books including The Frankston Murders and The Phillip Island Murder, and her podcasts with Casefile that have been downloaded millions of times.
The Books
Well of course this had to be on our highlights: the books!
On the 25th and 26th of March the stunning historic main street of Clunes will be lined with booksellers and collectors. Across the day, book lovers can get on the hunt to track down that elusive edition and special book to add to their collection. Over seventy specialist book traders will offer an extraordinary range – new and second-hand, antiquarian and contemporary, rare and popular – covering every imaginable topic and theme.
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Home grown – fresh local produce
Shining a light on local storytellers, Home Grown – Fresh Local Produce is a panel featuring Leslie Scott, Adrian Elksnis, Julie Kloppenberg, and Nadine Crabtree, who will unite to talk about their recently published work on Sunday, March 26.
Leslie Scott lives on a small property in historic Clunes with a menagerie of animals. In her spare time, she’s either riding her horses in the bush or hiking through it with her dog. For Leslie the bush is not just a place to visit – it’s her home.
A.J. Elksnis’ passion for writing began in primary school. His Enter Portal series is a culmination of many years of ideas and research. He has drawn on his experiences with his many colleagues and people he met during his international travels, as well in Ballarat.
This one is guaranteed to inspire writers, emerging or established!
Workshop: kickstart your novel
If you’re looking to elevate your skills over the weekend, this short course is for those who may not have any writing underway and are seeking a way ‘in’. It touches on the key building blocks of a novel: character, dialogue, setting and plot, and contains many fun exercises designed to inspire new writers to get started with a project.
The invaluable workshop will be led by Alicia Thompson, who grew up on a farm two hours north of Sydney. She has a Masters in Creative Writing and has worked as a bookkeeper, photographer, editor, adventure tour leader in the Middle East and China, business analyst, writing teacher and general herder of cats. Her debut novel Something Else was released in 2021.
Poetry Slam
Flex your poetic chops or simply watch the chaotic fun at Clune’s open-mic poetry slam on the theme “adaptation” on Saturday, March 25 at 6:30pm.
Your MC is Aloma Davis, winner of the Victorian Poetry Slam. As a poet, Aloma Davis prefers the term ’emerging’ over ‘amateur’ since she can no longer use ‘young’. When it comes to books and cats, she prefers ‘collector’ over ‘hoarder’ and, finally, she prefers ‘published’ over ‘Are you still writing that stuff?’.
Want to compete? Simply register with [email protected].
Public image(s)
Placing artists in the storytelling spotlight, on Sunday, March 26, three incredible artists – Geoff Hogg, Jimmie Buscombe, Helen Bodycomb – will present a panel discussion about the struggles involved in making work ‘in situ’.
Trained as a painter, Geoff Hogg was an early contributor to the revival of contemporary Art in Public Space. Wall painting, banner making and leader on over eighty multi-disciplinary public art projects, he has taught and worked in public art at RMIT University.
Jimmi Buscombe is a professional artist based in Warrnambool, on the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. He specialises in highly detailed wildlife art, public art, mural & street art, integrating a range of methods and mediums including paint, ink and pastel to create stunningly life-like representations of his subjects.
Helen Bodycomb is one of Australia’s few contemporary artists working primarily in mosaic. She is widely active – exhibiting, doing public art and private commissions, and teaching nationally and internationally. Helen has just finished writing ‘Mosaicism’ – a book exploring the philosophy of making, due for release in mid-2023.
Festival Weekend Pass
Make the most of the weekend with a festival pass, which gets you Saturday and Sunday entry to the Clunes Booktown Festival precinct, as well as access to all stalls, booksellers, cafes, food trucks, the kids village and roving live entertainment.
Gates open 25 March 9am to 9pm and 26 March 9am to 5pm. Oh, and kids under 12 are free!
Clunes – the destination
If the author talks, live entertainment and the main street becoming the biggest bookstore in the country weren’t enough, Clunes also features stunning architecture from the gold rush era, specialty museums and cute cafes, truly providing the relaxing literary escape of your dreams.
Clunes is about thirty minutes north of Ballarat and a shade under two hours from Melbourne by car or comfortable train ride and is the perfect site from which to explore Dja Dja Wurrung country and the goldfields.
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For writers, bibliophiles, families, and anyone looking for a bit of weekend fun and relaxation, Clunes Booktown Festival offers plenty to get excited about.
Clunes Booktown Festival will take place from Saturday, March 25 to Sunday, March 26 2023. Entrance and event tickets, as well as further information, can all be found here.
