GERALDTON in Western Australia will host some of Australia's best storytelling talent when the 13th Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival returns from May 25-27.
Guest author Shokoofeh Azar has just been named in the shortlist for the coveted Stella literary award. An Iranian refugee, her first novel, The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree, was one of only six selected for the prize, to be announced on April 12.
Joining her in Geraldton will be Australian cartoonist, painter, writer, philosopher and poet Michael Leunig, who will present the free festival plenary conversation, sharing how he sees the world a little differently following a near-fatal farming accident.
The impressive line-up continues with best-selling children's author and illustrator Alison Lester; provocative novelist and multi-award winner Charlotte Wood; actor, storyteller and theatre maker Allan Girod; historian and writer Gideon Haigh; Yamaji visual artist and poet Charmaine Papertalk Green; contemporary romance writer Rachael Johns; poet, novelist and critic John Kinsella; children and young adult writer Julia Lawrinson; lawyer turned crime writer Jock Serong; and Singaporean author Nuraliah Norasid who has won her country's richest literary prize.
- Most events are free. Ticketed events start at $35 from eventbrite.com.au Details: (08) 99-566-659, https://library.cgg.wa.gov.au/bigsky2018.aspx
- For accommodation information contact Geraldton Visitor Centre on 1800-8474-84376 or info@visitgeraldton.com.au. Geraldton is a four and a half hour drive north of Perth and there are daily flights from the WA capital.
