I’ve been invited to participate in three events at the 25th Melbourne Writers Festival — the equivalent for me of winning Olympic gold. I’m delighted and daunted in equal measure. Delighted by the honour and the opportunity to meet other writers whose work I admire, and daunted by the prospect of appearing intelligent and witty on three distinct occasions.
Actually, I’m very much daunted by the first event, ‘Health at Whose Cost? Writers on Poverty and Health‘, which is being hosted by One Just World to coincide with the United Nations Conference in Melbourne, Advance Global Health – Achieve the MDGs [Millenium Development Goals]. I am on a panel with two highly distinguished speakers, Dame Carol Kidu, OBE, Minister for Community Development and Women in Papua New Guinea, and Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur; and Sir Gus Nossal AC, Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research 1965-96, Professor of Medical Biology at the University of Melbourne, Australian of the Year 2000, etc.
Details: Tues 31 August 2010, 6.oo-7.30pm FREE at BMW Edge at Federation Square.
The Morning Fix is a regular feature of this year’s festival, billed as a way to ‘kickstart the day with a piping hot cup of literary goodness as a specially selected blend of writers discuss and read from their work. I will be appearing in a ‘crime lovers’ line-up with RJ Ellory, Peter James and Mark Dapin.
Details: Fri 3 Sept 2010, 10.00-11.00am, FREE at Feddish, Federation Square.
Detectives Without Borders is a topic my fellow panelist and Text stablemate Adrian Hyland and I came up with for our joint session. The blurb from the Festival program says: ‘Crime fiction is an international phenomenon, so one of the sub-themes in many books tends to be the clash between different cultures. But what does this mean to the detectives who operate in culturally diverse environments. Do you need to speak the lingo to have the upper hand? Adrian Hyland and Angela Savage are speaking your language.’
Details: Sat 4 Sept 2010, 5.30-6.30pm, ACMI Studio 1, Federation Square; buy tickets here.
Download the complete Melbourne Writers Festival Program here. I’m still working a few angles, spinning a few stories, to see how many sessions I can attend…
Angela Savage 
Congratulations! I’m going to try hard to make it to the first event.
LikeLike
Spectacular! Hope it all goes well for you.
LikeLike