Celine's BWF 2024 Wrap Up

On the first day, I darted into the bookstore to purchase a few of the books on my pre-determined purchase list. In preparation for the festival, I had tried to read as many books from festival authors as possible via the library. Then, I purchased my favourites on the days of the correlated events and signings.

'The Great Undoing' by Sharlene Allsopp was one of these favourite reads! It’s quickly jumped to the top of my Best Reads of 2024 list. Highly recommend!

I was fortunate enough to see heaps of insightful and engaging panels throughout the festival (my itinerary was FULL). One of my earliest highlights was the Translation panel. I hope to have as precise a grasp on the English language as these authors someday. I spent half the panel entranced by the eloquence of their speech!

Another panel I was eager for was the What Publishers Want panel. I always enjoy hearing about the publishing industry from those making the decisions behind the scenes — and the Brisbane Writers Festival is perfect for this!

The Gothic Tales panel was another thought-provoking event. I loved the discussions around what Australian gothic is and the features of urban gothic. While not entirely related to the genre being discussed in this panel, this event inspired me to think more deeply about my own WIP. These author’s discussions helped me realise the genre I’m writing is urban science-fiction (is it a real genre? I’m choosing to believe it is).

Since my day job is as a software engineer, it should come as no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed the Machines Will Do the Work panel. I loved the conversations around “digital minions” and the ways machines (AI) can and should work for us.

Finally, from the main program, I loved the Between Cultures panel. I already had 'Burn' by Melanie Saward on my radar as a book to purchase, but went ahead and disrupted my book buying plans to buy another ('Dirt Poor Islanders' by Winnie Dunn). All of these authors were wonderful to hear speak, and I am eagerly looking forward to working through all their books (including 'Songs for the Dead and the Living' by Sara M Saleh, and 'Checkerboard Hill' by Jade Kake).

As a youth ambassador, these were the events I was most anticipating. I’d seen the program months before and brainstormed ideas with my fellow ambassadors on how to create a great event for those attending. One of these ideas was to have a photobooth. Below you can see the shimmery setup Jodey and I put together (Jodey for scale).

The first event was Masters of Suspense. Here you can see Carl Merrison ('Tracks of the Missing') sharing his unforgettable crocodile story. This story on its own had all the hallmarks of a great suspense story: from the intriguing setup to eventful conclusion. You just had to be there!

The second event was a chat between Lynette Noni and Jeann Campillo about returning to Medora with Lynette’s latest epilogue book. I loved hearing about Lynette’s publication journey, writing process, and future works.

Josephine and I had the opportunity to introduce the third panel of the day: It’s Completely Normal to Never Speak of This Again (and Other Lies) featuring Megan Williams and Biffy James.

Here you can see Biffy and Megan, along with chair Jane Sullivan. I don’t know if anyone in the audience was prepared for the chaotic nature of this panel. By the end, Biffy had everyone in stitches. Both their amazing novels (which were written around the same time, seperate from one another) follow very similar themes around female friendship and teenage grief. I highly recommend you give them both a read!

The final panel at Love YA Day was Digging into the Lore with sydney khoo and Vanessa Len (and chaired by Rhianna Patrick). I enjoyed their fun conversations around writing what you love (and fanfiction).