Williamstown Literary Festival

I wouldn't normally post about what is for me a local festival, but this one may be of interest to readers here because it includes film and film-related events. I believe the Williamstown Literary Festival has been a regular event since 2005, but it's never been on my radar until now. I normally find out about it after the fact but this year one of my local bookshops sent out an email promoting it.

Festival guests include film directors Ana Kokkinos and Paul Cox (whose My First Wife will be screening along with a Q&A), actor William McInnes, Danny Katz, Waleed Aly (one of my favourite social commentators, a very eloquent speaker), Steve Bracks, Thomas Caldwell (one of my favourite film critics and bloggers), Marieke Hardy, Catherine Deveny, children's author Andy Griffiths (Zombie Butts from Uranus!) and many others who I'm sure those more in tune with the literary world will be more familiar with. In short, it's a damn impressive line-up, taking place mostly over the weekend of 1 & 2 May at Williamstown Town Hall [map]. And events cost a mere $7 ($5 concession) with some events free.

I'm going to take my son to some of the free kids events (he's a voracious reader and an Andy Griffiths fan) and I also want to attend the Paul Cox screening, hear Ana Kokkinos speak (with a panel) about "place and culture in film and literature", Steve Bracks and Waleed Aly talk about "life, politics" and more, and a few other events.

Check out the full program online or download the PDF. Check out the festival website.