With this list of literary events throughout June, there’s plenty of ways to channel all your inspiration from last month’s Sydney Writers’ Festival. Fill your diary with celebrations of the old and the new.
2 June – ABC Book Club taping
Join Jennifer Byrne, regular panellists Marieke Hardy, Jason Steger and special guests for the taping of two episodes from Season 10 of Book Club. Episode 3 will be recorded from 2:45pm to 4:30pm, and features reviews of Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. Afterwards, from 5:30pm to 7:15pm, the spotlight will be on Emily McGuire’s An Isolated Incident and Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim in Episode 4. Tickets are free, book online.
4 June – Live at the Crossing
Celebrate the spoken word and storytelling at the monthly Live at The Crossing event. Featuring regular favourites, new and guest poets, artists, musos and open mic. The Crossing Cafe, Kearsley, Cessnock, from 2-4pm.
15 June – Celebrating Charlotte Bronte
This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charlotte Bronte. Celebrate with Dr. Christopher Cooper as he gives a fascinating talk on the life of this brilliant and mysterious author. He will be exploring many myths and intrigues which surround Charlotte’s life story. Ryde Library, 6:30-7:30pm, gold coin contribution to enter.
16 June – Geek After Dark: Benjamin Law
Here’s your chance to hear Benjamin Law (tutor of our upcoming narrative journalism course) talk about his experience of growing up gay and Asian in Coastal Queensland in the 1990s. He is the author of The Family Law, of which a TV adaptation is currently screening on SBS. From 7pm-8pm. with light refreshments beforehand. Free event but RSVPs are essential.
16 June – Bloomsday: A Celebration of James Joyce
Join Woollahra Libraries staff and special guests this Bloomsday for a public reading of sections of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Bloomsday occurs each year on the day the novel was set in Dublin in 1904. Free event with no booking required, 4pm-7pm.
18 June – Lecture on Noel Coward
Travel writer Walter Mason is giving an illustrated lecture on Private Lives and Noel Coward at Ashfield Library. This free event is from 11:00am-12:30pm, with no booking required.
18 June – Indigenous Women in the Arts
Women in the Arts invites you to an afternoon of conversation and collaboration with a panel of extraordinarily talented Indigenous women working in the creative industries. The event is open to anyone interested in being an ally to Indigenous women, who are consistently underrepresented in galleries and institutions in Australia. It is also a unique opportunity to see some of Sydney’s most inspiring women come together to talk and make change. Verge Gallery Sydney, 1pm-3pm, tickets free but registration required.
21 June – The Moth StorySLAM
Stories about borders. Crossing state lines and personal boundaries. Thinking about your edges, the rumble strip of your comfort zone, marginal behavior and blurring the line. Being an immigrant from country to country, or through states of consciousness, cruising the borderline and maybe seeing the other side. Doors open 7pm for a 7:30pm start, at Giant Dwarf Redfern. Tickets available one week prior to show.
25 June – 2016 Kids & YA Festival
With panels, workshops and a chance to pitch your unpublished manuscript, the 2016 Kids & YA festival offers the tools to take the next step in your writing career – whatever that might be. Run by the NSW Writers’ Centre and programmed by Aleesah Darlison, the program is brimming with diverse and dynamic speakers, including some of our freshest faces and most established storytellers, along with a selection of top industry experts. More info here.
Festivals
If you just can’t get enough of literary festivals, there’s still time to make arrangements for these other events around Australia.
10-13 June – Bellingen Readers & Writers Festival
14-24 June – Emerging Writers’ Festival – Melbourne, Victoria
21-23 June – Outback Writers’ Festival – Winton, Queensland