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Monday, 15 February 2016

The University of Western Australia’s Crawley campus will again play host to a superb program of international and Australian novelists, activists and contemporary philosophers at the 2016 Perth Writers Festival.

The festival starts this Thursday with an illuminating opening address by cultural thinker Roman Krznaric, who will discuss the power of empathy to fundamentally transform our lives. This event, to be held at UWA’s Octagon Theatre, has already sold out.

US neuroscientist and best-selling author Lisa Genova (Still Alice; Inside The O’Briens) will deliver the closing address on Sunday 21 February at the Octagon. Ms Genova will discuss the artist’s role in finding moments of light, hope and connection when writing about issues central to our humanity.

Highlights of this year’s Family Day, to  be held on Sunday 21 February, include popular UK children’s author and illustrator Lucy Cousins, the multi-award winning creator of Maisy the mouse books, and Australian writer Andy Griffiths, author of the Treehouse series. Children can meet authors and illustrators, take part in art workshops and word games and enjoy performances for the whole family. Every child who attends Family Day will receive their own Perth Writers Festival passport that unlocks all the day’s activities.

Other writers attending include British author and journalist Simon Winchester (The Professor and the Madman; The Men Who United The States); Canadian Booker-Prize nominee Patrick deWitt (The Sisters Brothers; Ablutions); Russian and American author, activist and prolific political journalist Masha Gessen (The Man Without A Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin); and New York Times best-selling novelist and short-story writer Lauren Groff (The Monsters of Templeton; Fates and Furies).

Fine cuisine and food writing combine in the Festival special event “From Paddock To Print”, a cultural feast exploring the explosion of interest in food blogging, politics and storytelling around eating that connects food lovers such as magazine editor Valli Little (Delicious Magazine), blogger Michelle Crawford, (Hugo And Elsa), and UK food creative Anna Jones, who has worked as Jamie Oliver’s food stylist.

Perth Writers Festival runs from Thursday 18 February to Sunday 21 February.

Media references

Rania Ghandour (PIAF Media and Communications Manager)  (+61 8) 6488 8618/(+61 4) 03 025 535

David Stacey (UWA Media and PR Manager)                       (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716

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