Almanac Literary: Adelaide Writers’ Week 2022 – Further highlights

 

Adelaide Writers’ Week 2022 proved once again to be a very successful festival; one that was stimulating, enthralling, and undoubtably, a most compelling program conceived by the programmers, and one fitting to celebrate Jo Dyer’s last festival as director.

 

The variety and scope of the program, the topics and the presenters ensured there was something to suit everyone’s taste. The only difficulty for many patrons was which session to choose with so many incredible options on offer to select from.

 

A theme central to many of the presentations involved accountability, transparency, integrity, and leadership, and in particular how and why government, organisations, and individuals are responding to whistleblowers by instigating litigation and defamation cases.

 

And of course, there was plenty of literary  fiction , crime writing, and other genres presented by well-known, and  emerging authors to provide entertaining and informative information about the writers’ craft.

 

The weather once again was absolutely superb, and the venue, The Pioneer Women’s Memorial Garden, with its leafy trees and ambient environment provided the ideal setting for such a festival.

 

My reports for Day 1 and Day 2 can be read by clicking on the link.

 

Day 3 of the Adelaide Writers’ Week 2022 proved to be another absorbing day of excellent presentations of thought provoking and stimulating discussions about creativity, books and writing, and issues affecting us all.

 

John Mullan on screen, Linda Jaivin interviewing

 

While some technical difficulties with Zoom from London held up John Mullan’s presentation, ‘The Artful Dickens’, had Linda Jaivin flying by the seat of her pants to fill in time, which she did admirably, to maintain the audience’s attention with her thoughts and anecdotes about Charles Dickens. Eventually the problems were resolved and Mullans came through loud and clear from London. Obviously a very passionate man and an expert in the field of the novels of Charles Dickens he spoke in support of his book dedicated to espousing ‘what is so good about Dickens’ novels’ in an illuminating and passionate manner.  I’m wondering when I’ll have time to reread or read these classic books!

 

 

John Bell and Jonathan Biggins

 

‘Theatre, Leadership and the Imagination’  jointly presented by John Bell,  founder of Bell Shakespeare and Australia’s foremost Shakespearean interpreter; and Jonathan Biggins, a leading political satirist and actor was a session of two superb thespians at the top of their game. Both spoke passionately about their lives in theatre, and mused upon how through the magic and imagination of theatre, by the portrayal of specific characters qualities of leadership can be held up as prime examples for our leaders today. Both provided examples of characters they played, and why the leadership qualities of those characters were so effective.

 

 

‘The Luminous Solution’ is the latest title from Charlotte Wood and one that looks at creativity, resilience, and the inner life from her perspective as an author. Sharing with the audience her own experiences from a long career in writing, she expanded on the concept of creativity and the role it plays during the writing process. She was ably assisted by Chair, Kerryn Goldsworthy whose questions drew out from Wood precise and interesting responses.

 

 

Chair Andrew Fowler and Bernard Collaery

 

David Mc Bride

The session titled ‘Australia’s War on Whistleblowers’ was an extremely powerful one featuring, Bernard Collaery, David McBride, and Jennifer Robinson. All are lawyers who have been involved in high profile whistleblower cases  such as the Commonwealth’s alleged illegal spying on Timor Leste, the allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, and Julian Assange’s Wikileaks case. All spoke about the shockingly punitive measures being adopted by government and the consequences of those actions on themselves. Litigation, defamation are some  measures employed and the audience certainly had their eyes opened up to the scandalous behaviour of governments. Lots of big money from the big end of town is being pledged to hire the best silks in town to ensure whistleblowers are well and truly dealt with.  As the government controls the debate through their use of, or threat of, punitive responses it makes it extremely difficult for the true and full story to be presented. The audience responded to speakers giving them a standing ovation in acknowledgement of their efforts. Many minds were opened at this session.

 

Peter Goldsworthy and Peter Carroll

 

The closest Australia has had to a poet laureate was the late Les Murray. To celebrate the posthumous release of Continuous Creation, Peter Goldsworthy presented a session looking at the life and times of Murray in a very eloquent and enduring fashion. Veteran of the Australian stage, Peter Carroll, then read poems from the new release, as well as some of his best known poetry in a performance that demonstrated the depth and soul of Murray’s poetry.

 

 

Evelyn Arleen and Jazz Money, and the wonderful statue celebrating women

 

First up on Day 4 I went to the ‘Once and Future’ session featuring two exciting young indigenous poets, Evelyn Araluen, and Jazz Money. From the excellent and well formulated questioning of chair Natalie Harkin,  both provided an insight into their successful early stage careers in becoming poets especially from an aboriginal perspective and the experiences incurred along the way. Both read from their most recent releases, powerful poems of issues affecting aboriginals and their way of life. Excellent session.

 

 

 

Jeremy Moss and Prof Ian Lowe

 

‘Bad Energy’ with Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe and political philosopher Jeremy Moss gave a chilling and sobering account of why nuclear power should not be an alternative power source as countries come to grip with climate change and the need to move away from fossil fuel power creating industries. Both articulated their positions as to why nuclear power should not be an option very clearly and effectively.

 

Day 5

Polly Samson (on screen from Hydra), Chair Sophie Cunningham, Paul Geroni and Tanya Dalziel

 

I’ve had a strong interest for a long time in the life and times of authors Charmian Clift and her husband George Johnstone particularly their time on Hydra in the Greek Islands during the 50s and 60s.  So the session ‘The Legend of Charmian Clift’ therefore was not to be missed, and proved to be an excellent session featuring Tanya Dalziell, Paul Genoni, and Polly Samson, all who have studied and written about her providing  an in depth and detailed account of her literary legacy. It was a fabulously revealing and intensive session presented by passionate presenters to a passionate audience.

 

 

 

Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer prize winner and author of All the Light We Cannot See, one of the best books I’ve read in recent years appeared via zoom from the USA to discuss his new book Cloud Cuckoo Land. Very good session.

 

‘Policy Drift’ with CEO of the Grattan Institute John Daley, and Martin Parkinson who served six prime ministers as an integral part of key policy development discussed that ‘Australia should demand more courage and commitment from their political leaders’. Leadership, a common thread through some sessions during the week, again raised its head indicating the concern this issue is causing frustration for many Australians  and will not go away. Both speakers articulated effectively the specific nature of leadership and why it is important in driving policy direction. Another very interesting session.

 

 

 

More from Col can be read Here.

 

 

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