The 2026 calendar of Australian literary events is up!
There is already a healthy listing, especially in the first half of they year, with the big question being: will Bendigo Writers Festival bounce back from this year’s kerfuffle?
The calendar is slightly more streamlined this year, with events yet to be confirmed listed at the bottom.
As always, please feel free to get in touch to bring events to my attention or alert me to errors.
I’m very chuffed to report that Kirstyn and I will be guests of honour at Conflux, Canberra’s festival of speculative fiction in October this year.
Conflux has always been a fabulous convention, offering plenty of information about the craft and business of writing as well as a great opportunity to hang out with writers and readers, united in their love of all things spec fic.
It’ll be challenging and fun to be taking part as a guest, especially as a double bill with Kirstyn (others are yet to be announced), and I’m looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones.
I expect I’ll be banging on about the enduring allure of vampires, the Gothic, and climate fiction, and whatever else pops up.
Attending conventions has been a valuable element in my journey as a writer, and I’ve always appreciated opportunities to give back to that. This will be next level, though!
I encourage genre writers to investigate such opportunities, to get insights into the industry, meet like-minded souls, and be part of the community. So come on down, the water’s fine. Memberships are now open.
The calendar of Australian literary events is up!
As always, please feel free to get in touch to bring events to my attention or alert me to errors.
The calendar of Australian literary events is starting to populate, with more than 20 on the list already, up until August so far. Adelaide Writers Week is well ahead, having posted dates for 2026 as well!
Next year’s events are still listed under the 2024 calendar – they’ll get their own page in late November.
As always, please feel free to get in touch to bring events to my attention or alert me to errors.
It is a two-vampire-story year, with a short story following hot on the heels of my novella, Cruel Nights.
Sounds like a good reason for a party! Friday the 13th? Even better!
Nosferatu Unbound invites an international cast of writers to revisit the world of its namesake, the marvellous 1922 film.
As it happens, co-editor Steven Paulsen, illustrator Dillon Naylor and a certain Kirstyn McDermott are all fellow Ballaratians (or perhaps more fittingly, Ballarodents), hence: party!
Nosferatu Unbound will be celebrated at a release party, part of Collins Booksellers’ After Dark series, on 13 September at Collins Booksellers in Bridge St Mall, Ballarat, kicking off at 6.30pm. Also on the table will be Cruel Nights, still waiting for its official raising of the glass since its May release. There will be minimal official words, mocktails with a vampiric flavour, and books to buy, get signed, and chat about: as well as the anthology and Cruel Nights, Dillon’s fabulous vampire yarn Batrisha, and more dark tales from the four contributors.
There is a Facebook event to indicate your interest for catering purposes, or drop me or the bookstore a line.
As a further local connection, my story, ‘The Late Stage’, ships the undead off to Ballarat during the gold rush – not all gold diggers are after money, are they?
Kirstyn, meanwhile, has a familiar character of her own hot on the trail of the movie itself. Ooh!
Nosferatu Unbound is officially released on 16 September – keep an eye on the publisher’s website for purchase options.
November is still an action-packed month for literary events, and Oz Comic-Con has added some excitement to December, but next year’s calendar is already looking healthy with events scheduled through to November.
Interesting to note that the Bendigo Writers Festival has moved back to August (Melbourne Writers Festival has stayed put in May, which must be a relief for all concerned after this year’s date clash), and props to Milton’s StoryFest, which has already staked its claim for 2025!
The 2024 calendar of literary events is now live with plenty more to be confirmed. Updates, notifications and corrections are appreciated.
November is still an action-packed month for literary events, but next year’s calendar is already looking healthy with events scheduled through to September. So let’s get planning! The 2023 calendar of literary events is now live with plenty more to be confirmed. Updates, notifications and corrections are appreciated.
There are plenty of events already hitting the 2022 calendar of literary events, with some postponed from the Covid disruption of the past couple of years – more strength to them! As I wrote last year, with hit-and-miss results, here’s hoping the new year runs smoothly, with plenty of chances to gather in person to celebrate writing, reading and spoken word. Updates, notifications and corrections to the calendar are appreciated.
The 2021 calendar of Australian literary events is showing plenty of signs of life as the community dusts itself off from the devastation and chaos of 2020. Here’s hoping the new year runs more smoothly, with plenty of chances to gather in person to celebrate writing, reading and spoken word. Updates, notifications and corrections to the calendar are appreciated.
The calendar of Australian literary events is piling up with cancellations and postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but numerous writing organisations are heading online to keep the words flowing and the connections intact.
I’ve listed festivals offering online programming at the top of the calendar as well as in chronological order, and I’m curating a page at Ballarat Writers listing activities available online, such as joining in spoken word and poetry gigs, tuning in to award ceremonies, and listening to readings.
Please share recommendations here.