A message from the CEO and Artistic Director
ZOE POLLOCK
I am delighted to introduce you to my first Brisbane Writers Festival program as CEO and Artistic Director of UPLIT. It is a great honour to be custodian of this important literary event, now in its 55th year, returning to its home at State Library of Queensland.
Early in my career I had the privilege of working with the late Jill Roe, a distinguished Australian historian, best known for her celebrated biography of Miles Franklin. Jill emphasised the importance of a well-stocked mind, reading broadly and across a range of genres. She treated the characters she met in novels as companions in life and often referred to figures of the historical worlds she studied as though they were still alive. As indeed they were in her mind.
I think we can all relate to the experience of losing ourselves in a world created by an author and carrying with us the stories and experiences of those we read about, long after we have finished the final page. At this year’s festival we invite you to explore how writers curate the fictional and real worlds we enter, enriching our understanding of others and deepening our sense of connection.
We will welcome over 100 authors to Brisbane this year in a celebration of our shared love of literature and the lifelong enrichment reading can give us. At this year’s event, among much else, we will bring to life Alexis Wright’s seminal novel Carpentaria through a large-scale interpretive artwork by Gordon Hookey. Immerse yourself in the world of Carpentaria through our program of performance and talks, an incredible live literature experience that has been made possible by the generosity of the Taylor family.
Of course like every major event, this is the product of many hands. The Brisbane Writers Festival is lucky to work with partners who share our vision to connect through ideas. They include our principal partner, the University of Queensland, which we thank for its ongoing support, as well as Arts Queensland and the Australia Council for the Arts who make our work possible. I also want to acknowledge the incredible dedication of the UPLIT team and the many volunteers who contribute. Most important, of course, is the ongoing support of our loyal audience. We hope you enjoy what we have put together for you this year and that you find the discussion delightful, surprising and stimulating.
I look forward to seeing you in September!