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Dine with Miles Franklin Prize winners, visit notorious Perth crime scenes, learn how to ‘read’ a dress, enjoy the narrative power of VR technology or take a ride with the kids in a storytelling Kombi van.

These are just some of the many extraordinary experiences on offer at the UWA-supported Perth Festival Writers Week 2018 which runs from Monday 19 to Sunday 25 February 2018.

Join in the activities as the celebration of storytelling returns with more than 100 international, national and local writers new venues across town and a full seven days of festivities for the week.

Most of the more than 160 events are free at different locations including The University Club of Western Australia, the new hub for storytelling, and the Strange Company small bar in Fremantle.

Highlights include the pairing of Australian literary giants, Helen Garner and Kim Scott, a preview of Tim Winton’s next novel, The Shepherd’s Hut, the heart-rending words and imagery of William Yang’s closing address, Australia’s best-selling female novelist Di Morrissey, Booker Prize winner Alan Hollinghurst, celebrity cook Maggie Beer and dazzling American debutant novelist Rachel Kong.

The University Club’s venues will provide dynamic interactions between readers and writers across different genres, from rural romance and crime to rock ’n’ roll memoir, poetry, sci-fi and children’s picture-books.

There is Boffins’ new Festival boutique bookstore, meal-based events with literary luminaries, a fun kids’ hub and a pop-up Western Australian Museum exhibition featuring quotes from favourite WA authors. Architecture will receive a special focus, including guided heritage walks and a retrospective of Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine’s quirky documentaries about spaces and the people who use them.

Perth Festival Artistic Director Wendy Martin said she was delighted when William Yeoman accepted her invitation to be the 2018 Guest Curator.

“The program reflects his extraordinary knowledge of literature, his passion for the arts and his eclectic taste,” she said.

While there is a lot new about Perth Festival Writers Week 2018, at its heart remains the ancient tradition of sharing stories with one another.

“Seeing art in a new light means finding new ways to talk and write about art, which is part of the art of story,” Guest Curator William Yeoman said.

“What’s new is the invitation to embrace mystery and play, explore different spaces and levels of intimacy and see how other disciplines, such as architecture, can be a form of storytelling.”

For the full Perth Festival Writers Week program click here

Media references

Jess Reid (UWA Media and PR Advisor) (+61 8) 6488 6876