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Byron Writers Festival 2016: Where Stories Take You… Welcome to the 2016 Byron Writers Festival! This milestone year is our 20th anniversary with a stellar line-up of 150-plus writers and thinkers converging on Byron Bay for Australia’s largest regional writers’ festival. They will engage you in enlightening discussions throughout 123 sessions at the Festival site at Elements of Byron, and during the feature events and writing workshops that comprise this spirited, stimulating Festival. The inspiration for this year’s Festival stems from our new brand and tagline: Where Stories Take You.
Conceived by Kevin Finn of TheSumOf, it recognises ‘the courage, wonder, joy, creativity and transformational power of storytelling represented through the exchange of compelling ideas in an accessible way’. The Festival celebrates the stories in us all – myriad tales that provide resonance to our lives. The program explores the importance and power of literature and debate through storytelling and the benefits that flow from these discussions. The Festival has always showcased contemporary
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political issues. Recent global events and the Australian election have heightened the political realities governing our world and our children’s futures. We will debate these issues, guided by expert political minds. We will also celebrate the importance of reading for kids: the pathway to all learning. Sunday is a major drawcard for families in the region with Kids Big Day Out, a chance to make favourite stories come alive, to meet some of Australia’s most talented children’s writers. Many feature sessions have already sold out but the
relaxed nature of the event means you will be able to mingle with your favourite novelists and commentators during the three-day Festival. Thank you to the Byron Shire community for your immensely enthusiastic support of the 20th Anniversary Festival and sincere thanks to the writers, commentators and performers whose energising creativity will surely affect us. You are warmly invited to join us and discover where 2016 Byron Writers Festival stories will take you. Edwina Johnson Festival Director
20 years of the nourishing Byron Writers Festival John Howard had not long moved into Paul Keating’s bedroom at the Lodge when we started our Festival 20 years ago. September 11 had not happened and Elton John’s Candle in the Wind was top of the charts. The first Harry Potter book was drawing children back to the magic of reading after a long drift away. It all seems like such a long time ago. Are things automatically better because they are older, because of longevity? Are festivals in particular better experiences for the visitors just because they have hung around and survived the turbulence of taste? No they are not. Often they lose their juice. Their energy fades and the programmers and teams
involved stop stretching themselves and asking the single most important question we all must ask when we are running an event: How can I improve this experience for our guests? At Byron Writers Festival we have spent 20 years trying hard to improve the experience for everyone who attends. By using surveys and constant community engagement we hope that now two decades along we have been able to offer anyone who buys a ticket a unique experience. The best experience we can possibly provide. If you have never been to our Festival please make a note to self: Buy Ticket. For 20 years people have
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said the following to me after attending their first event: ‘I thought the Festival was just for writers and that’s why I did not come along before. ‘It’s so not just for
writers… It’s a real north coast experience… It’s a cultural event in a tent.’ Byron Writers Festival is for everyone, so please get a ticket and join us.
I want to say thank you as we launch our 20th Festival. Thank you to the large passionate local community who volunteer each year to help us run a world-class event in our own region. Thank you also to our many partners and sponsors who have with toil and money supported us all these years. Your generosity has allowed us to provide a platform for the adults and kids in our community to engage with ideas and stories, and writers and poets and musicians and screen writers and journalists from Australia and from all over the world. I also want to thank the Board members, who are all volunteers, and the fabulous directors (eight in total) and
staff who have all worked tirelessly and passionately to program and run what is one of Australia’s best cultural events. Finally, I want to thank everyone who has bought a ticket at any time during our 20-year history. We really appreciate your support. This is my last year as Chair of the event and I want to say finally that being part of Byron Writers Festival has nourished my soul for 20 years. To anyone contemplating community work in our wonderful part of the world in which we are all blessed to live and work… Just do it. The rewards are amazing. Chris Hanley Founder and Chair Byron Writers Festival
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The Byron Shire Echo August 3, 2016 25