Addi Road Writers' Festival 2024

2024 marks the fourth birthday of the Addi Road Writers' Festival, one of the most innovative literary and storytelling events in Australia.

Our theme this year is ‘Cost of Living’.

It’s about the dangers of losing touch with one another – and even ourselves – when everything seems to drive us toward seeing ourselves as part of an economy, forgetting we can be part of a society too.

How do we avoid losing our humanity in such difficult times? Who and what can inspire us in our day-to-day lives? 

A multicultural and inter-generational arts event like #ARWF2024 offers some excitement and hope.

We’re believers in throwing a stone or two into the pool – and seeing the ripples spread out wider. Words, ideas, poems, songs, conversation, they all work in this same way: empowering us individually and expanding our sense of community.

Through writing and other forms of storytelling we receive affirmations as well as visions of the future. And it’s through conversation that we develop a shared sense of who and what we are – and what our world can be.

Presented by Addison Road Community Organisation  (‘Addi Road’), #ARWF2024 features talks and panels about books, writing, politics and ideas, accompanied by spoken word and music performances on site at the community centre in Sydney’s Marrickville. 

Scroll down below to see how #ARWF2024 has been shaping up with our announcements for the first, second and third waves. You can also view the FULL PROGRAM at the Addi Road website here.

PLEASE NOTE our two workshops: drawing for children 8 and up with David 'Squishface' Blumenstein and a writing workshop with award winning poet, artist and editor Kit Kelen. 

Tickets

$25 ($30 on the door) || $10 Concession/Students 

All ticket proceeds go to Addi Road Food Relief.

Addi Road Writers’ Festival 2024 

SAT23NOV, Marrickville 

#ARWF2024 | #CostofLiving

 Artistic Directors ~ 

Mark Mordue and Sheila Ngoc Pham

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first wave announcement | panels, speakers and performers...

Until Justice Comes / conversation and slide show with photographer Juno Gemes and the Hon. Linda Burney MP =

The Hon Linda Burney MP will sit down with photographer Juno Gemes to discuss her latest book of images, Until Justice Comes (Upswell Press). A monumental work of history and photography Gemes book features over 220 images drawn from 50 years of work. She describes it as “a collaboration, revealing the true history of Australia. The uncovering of an often-invisible history of resistance and the fight for self-determination has long been at the heart of my engagement with the First Nations people I’ve known and worked with over decades and generations.” Gemes photographs include portraits of political and cultural leaders and intimate community events as well as activism played out on the streets for half a century. A slideshow will be used to highlight some of Gemes’ photos and provide examples during the conversation with Linda Burney. 

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Burn My Scars / a conversation with Rox Lavi =

Ipswich born and raised, the proud young Gomeroi man and rapper Rox Lavi was recently selected by The Kid Laroi and Triple J’s Unearthed and Blak Out programs to take part in a concert of rising First Nations artists at SXSW Sydney. His debut single Burn My Scars has already made a major impact. Mark Mordue talks with Lavi about his life and upbringing, his poetic take on hip hop and where he hopes to take his music as a First Nations artist. This conversation will be followed by a brief performance.

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At the Poetry Edge of the World: An Art of Knowing and Not / talk and writing workshop with Kit Kelen =

Published widely since the seventies, Christopher (Kit) Kelen has more than a dozen full length collections in English as well as translated books of poetry in a dozen languages other than English. Kit’s latest volume of poetry in English is Book of Mother, published by Puncher & Wattmann in 2022. Emeritus Professor at the University of Macau, where he taught Literature and Creative Writing for many years, Kit Kelen is also the author of a number of scholarly books about poetry, including Poetry, Consciousness and Community, Anthem Quality and Children, Animals and Poetry – Poetics and Ethics of Anthropomorphism. Kit Kelen is the winner of the 2024 Newcastle Poetry Prize, for his long poem Dombóvár. 

See our ticketing details here at Humanitix to register separately for Kit's workshop: $10 full price registration / $5 for students or unemployed.

STOP PRESS ~ Due to the train strike we have had to CANCEL Kit Kelen's workshop. Apologies to all concerned. The rest of the festival, however, is all stations go.

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A New Class of Journalism / conversation (ARWF2024 Young Writers) =

Tallulah Brassil and Blair Wise are the recent winners of the 2024 Walkley Opportunity Scholarship with SBS and the Newcastle Herald. The scholarship was introduced to redress a lack of employment pathways and career opportunities for journalists from socio-economically disadvantaged communities in Australia. We speak to these two young journalists about their lives, the work they have done already in the media, the problems of class and what it means to be a young journalist today, as well as how the scholarship may help them and where they see their future going. A highly recommended session for aspiring student journalists and those more experienced looking to understand and support tomorrow’s voices today.

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Alas, Indigo / music =

Alas, Indigo says they are influenced by Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker as well as Alex G and Robert Fripp. Appearing at last year’s Addi Rock Youth Music Festival they have demonstrated an ability to play everything from feedback-drenched Crazy Horse rock ‘n’ roll to deeply atmospheric soundscapes that would do Brian Eno proud. Every time they appear at Addi Road their music and story are somehow new and different. On their first single I Want You the sentiments were simple, the emotions complicated: “I want you to call my name out loud.” Have a listen at ABC Triple J’s Unearthed where Alas, Indigo writes a little bio note to introduce themselves: “I stay up late and make indie folk on my bed. Spot the dog barks in my tracks!!!!!!”

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Drawing Wonder Woman / slideshow and talk from Nicola Scott =

Nicola Scott started making comics professionally in 2001. She is a fan favourite artist at DC Comics, working on characters like Batman, Superman, the Teen Titans, and most notably Wonder Woman. 2016 saw the launch of her critically acclaimed creator-owned maxi-series Black Magick and DC’s Wonder Woman: Year One to celebrate the characters 75th anniversary, both in collaboration with writer Greg Rucka. 

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second wave announcement | panels, speakers and performers... 

              

The Lives of Others / conversation between Dr Sarah Gilbert, Sheila Ngoc Pham and Melinda Ham =

Documenting and writing about the lives of others can be rewarding but challenging terrain, particularly when those lives contain complexities far removed from a writer’s own history. In this panel, two authors will discuss their recent books requiring meticulous research and judgement. 

Unconventional Women by Dr Sarah Gilbert features the personal accounts of six nuns and ex-nuns who were in a strictly enclosed order in Melbourne in the 1950s and 60s. The book provides rare insight into the world of the convent and women’s relationship to God and the world during a time of intense social upheaval. The Lucky Ones by Melinda Ham is a moving exploration of Australian refugee experiences from different generations, countries and cultures, spanning 70 years, and tracking individual and family journeys from Iraq, Afghanistan, Poland, Tibet, Vietnam and Zaire. Sarah and Melinda will be in conversation with Sheila Ngoc Pham, co-Artistic Director of Addi Road Writers’ Festival.

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Ceffie / music =

A recent graduate from the Talent Development Project, Ceffie is a 17-year-old up-and-coming indie singer-songwriter from the Inner West. She enjoys writing in ways involve both her own life experiences and fictional ones – creating little worlds that she can live through in her songwriting. With shades of Joni Mitchell and Phoebe Bridgers, Ceffie is able to grasp an audience's attention at the strum of her guitar. In a day of striking performances at last year’s Addi Rock Youth Music Festival she was rightly described as "another young spellbinder with all the right words rising out of her." 

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Squishface / cartooning workshop with David Blumenstein =

Join David Blumenstein from Melbourne's Squishface Comic Studio for a family-friendly comics workshop in celebration of Squishbook! This new comics anthology by 13 local artists and writers is a very silly, but truthful, guide to how and why children should make their own comics and stories. At this event we'll try some activities from the book and kids will do just that! 

See our ticketing details here at Humanitix to register for David's Squishface workshop. Suitable for ages 8 and up with adults encouraged to join in. Materials will be provided. $10 full price registration / $5 students or unemployed – one registration allows participation for one adult with two children.

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Stones in Strange Waters / J. Marahuyo and Loribelle Spirovski talk poetry and prose with Huyen Hac Helen Tran =

In this intimate conversation, hear from emerging writers working across poetry and memoir exploring fundamental questions of inheritance, memory, identity, trauma and mental health. Featuring J Marahuyo, an up-and-coming Filipino-Australian poet whose work has been increasingly recognised and acclaimed, alongside Loribelle Spirovski, a celebrated painter whose forthcoming book White Hibiscus will be released on 1 March 2025 through Upswell. A poetic memoir, White Hibiscus is a meditation on how trauma casts stones into the strange waters of our lives, creating ripples that stretch on long after the stones have sunk. The conversation will be moderated by Huyen Hac Helen Tran, a writer and Associate Editor of Sydney Review of Books.

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third wave announcement | panels, speakers and performers... 

The Cost of Living / conversation between Koraly Dimitriadis, Steven Threadgold, Malcolm Knox and Mark Mordue =

When people talk about ‘the cost of living’ what do they really mean? Our panel explores the struggle to resist dehumanising forces at a time when community – and communication itself – seems to be falling apart. The power to shape narratives is often driven by class: elite capture of even the most noble causes debasing them with performative moralising that simplifies and blunts, corporatising and goodness-washing the status quo of privilege over all perspectives. Art, music and literature can subvert these categorical paralyses, depicting volatile realties, pushing at our integrity and thinking. A creative means by which we stay human, in touch with ourselves and one another – honestly, if not always happily. 

Mark Mordue, co-Artistic Director of the Addi Road Writers’ Festival, talks to three people about the true cost of living today: Malcolm Knox is a Walkley Award winning journalist and author of The First Friend, a dark satire set during the time of Stalin; Koraly Dimitriadis’ short story collection The Mother Must Die is a fearless feminist spin through working class migrant life, sex, religion and single motherhood; Steven Threadgold is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Newcastle with a research interest in class, unequal career opportunities, gambling apps and youth-focussed studies. 

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Dangerous Creations / how do young artists forge voices of protest and healing for stage and film?

This panel engages young theatre and film creatives to discuss the role of storytelling in times of crisis and trauma. It also examines how community responds to those voices. Why is it more important than ever to challenge, confront and engage while also placing lived experience and personal stories in our art? Writer-actor Josephine Gazard in conversation with comedian-actor-musician Roger Ly and the theatre and film director Ala’a al Qasi.

STOPPRESS ~ We are pleased to announce the Dangerous Creations panel will now also be joined by the theatre-making team Lily Hensby and Lotte Beckett, a duo whose work traverses acting, writing and comedy.

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Inheritance / writers and poets bear witness to survival, joy, and resistance =        

Inheritance celebrates the role of storytelling and narrative in shaping our understanding of ourselves and communities. A space where memory and imagination converge, storytelling honors what has been passed down through the generations while also informing new pathways of expression. Join us in witnessing how these writers and poets bear witness to survival, joy, and resistance, offer experiences that transcend borders, disrupt silences, and affirm the generative power of art as cultural and political inheritance. Curated by the poet Sara Saleh, please join us for a series of transcendent spoken word encounters and stories passed down with Ann-Marie Te-Whiu, Jumaana Abdu, Kaiya Aboagye and Jazz Money.

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Addi Road Writers’ Festival is an independent event 

created and run by the Addison Road Community Organisation 

on site at the centre’s grounds in Marrickville. 

Thanks to Inner West Council for funding support. 

Our bookseller for the day is Berkelouw Books Leichhardt.

Thanks also to our friends and partners at Sydney Comics Art Market Place (SCAMP) for bringing some creative life to the Inner West along with us. Just follow the line of people between Petersham Town Hall and Addi Road on the day to see exactly what we mean. Things will be happening all Saturday.

Line-up announcements, performers and bios, and complete panel details for Addi Road Writers’ Festival 2024 can be found at our almost finished (!!) website https://addiroad.org.au/writer...

Otherwise please book early here at Humanitix to avoid disappointment, heartbreak, intellectual impoverishment, political manipulation and existential headaches. 

We are the cure for all your life's ills and concerns, the inspirational groove you've been waiting for. At least for one big, bright, brilliant Inner West day.

#ARWF2024