Armidale and Guyra locals can have a free front row seat this week at the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Australia’s largest forum celebrating books and ideas in the southern hemisphere – from around 500 km away.
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Through its Live and Local program, the Festival, in partnership with the New England Writers’ Centre, will livestream panel sessions to the Armidale War Memorial Library from Friday to Sunday, and, for the first time, to the Guyra Lt Starr Memorial Library on Friday.
“Without the libraries’ enthusiasm and their local connections,” organiser Irene Lemon said, “the New England Writers' Centre would really struggle to have the right venue and the right technology capabilities.
New England locals will also be able to ask questions of the panel using Twitter handles and text message services provided by the Festival.
“It gives you a lovely opportunity to find out what's happening in your industry, what the trends are, what people are writing about,” Ms Lemon said.
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“As a regional creative person, it's quite easy to feel left out of the scene, so I really applaud the Writers' Festival for this initiative."
The Festival presents more than 400 events each year, attracting more than 100,000 people for a week-long conversation of books and ideas.
The Live and Local sessions include panels on Chinese and North Korean politics, power and economic inequality in the information age, mental health in Australia, and news reporting in the world’s troublespots.
Former 7.30 Report host Kerry O’Brien will interview policymaker and former politician Gareth Evans, while the ABC’s political writer Annabel Crabb will talk to radio and TV presenters Leigh Sales, Richard Fidler, and Julia Zemiro about their reading habits.
Other speakers include best-selling writers, academics, and journalists from the Guardian, Washington Post, and New York Times.
Ms Lemon is particularly excited by a panel of businesswomen who will talk about how technology has changed the publishing landscape, and of what writers need to be mindful.
“As a regional creative,” she said, "that type of professional development is so essential to our sustainability.”
The event is free, and Ms Lemon hopes to see more than a handful of people come to the sessions.
"The more people that come to these types of events,” she said, “the better atmosphere and energy there is!”
The Sydney Writers’ Festival Live and Local will be livescreened at the Armidale War Memorial Library, 1/182 Rusden Street, from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 May, from 10am to 6pm daily, and at the Guyra Lt Starr Memorial Library, 158 Bradley St, on Friday 4 May, from 10am to 6pm. For more information, including the Live and Local program, and list of speakers, visit the New England Writers’ Centre website.