Ten Days on the Island

Join the Tasmanian Writers’ Centre and Hobart Bookshop for a literary weekend, with a packed programme featuring some of Australia’s best writers. Be inspired and entertained as expert panelists discuss questions of identity, morality, political change and the fine line between fiction and history.

Unwind on Saturday 2 April over a glass of wine, readings and music. Make a date to challenge some home truths, ask some hard questions and be stimulated by some new ideas.

2 APRIL
10 - 10.50am
HOME TRUTH: What lies behind a sense of home and identity?
A panel of distinguished writers discusses the joys and the difficulties of home: belonging, relationships, exile and the nature of place. Featuring Carmel Bird, Cassandra Pybus, and Peter Timms. Chair: Katherine Scholes

11 - 11.50am
IN CONVERSATION
Robert Dessaix interviews Melbourne writer Alice Pung about her work, her Chinese/Cambodian background and how she positions herself in Australian society.

12 - 12.50pm
TRUTH AND HISTORY: A changing narrative
The panel will discuss the work of those who dared to follow their consciences, to construct a different history of Australia - a legacy critical to the debate about this country's narrative. Featuring Patsy Cameron, Hamish Maxwell-Stewart and Rebe Taylor.

1.00 - 1.30pm
Launch of Artlink DIASPORA
Speaker James Newitt, video and public artist: The makeshift and the temporal. Meet the people behind Artlink, Australia's most loved art magazine.

1.45 - 2.45pm
POLITICS AND POETRY: The artist as activist
Contemporary poetry often responds to compelling issues and current events. A panel of esteemed Australian poets speak and read from their own work and that of others in a heartfelt exploration of poetry’s role and power in the world. Featuring Tim Thorne, Judith Rodriguez, Dr Terry Whitebeach. Chair Kathryn Lomer.

7.30pm
10 MINUTES ON THE ISLAND UPSTAIRS @ THE REPUBLIC
Celebrate the strength of Tasmanian and Australian writing with readings, a glass of wine and music from the lounge band Recliner

3 APRIL
10 - 10.50am
CHARACTERS UNDER FIRE
Fictional characters are often faced with situations that push them to reflect on their lives and re-define who they are. Eminent fiction writers including Robert Dessaix, Rose Dub, Heather Rose discuss this concept in relation to their own work and that of their favourite fiction writers. Chair Lucy Frost

11 - 11.50am
WRITING SMALL ISLANDS
Just as nations are imagined communities; islands are imagined spaces of possibility. Tasmanian and Prince Edward Island writers share an interest in the study of small islands and culture around the world. This panel will discuss the cultural identity of small islands and the sanctuary they can provide. Session featuring speakers: Godfrey Baldacchino, Laurie Brinklow and Pete Hay. Chair: Elaine Stratford

12.00 - 12.50pm
ISLAND MAG LAUNCH: ISLAND 124 AND ISLET NO 5
Phillip Adams will launch Island magazine and its online journal, Islet, will launch special island-themed issues. Essays, short fiction, poems, conversations and images will explore ideas of islandness from literal, philosophical and metaphorical perspectives. A special connection has been made with writers from the TWC/PEI ‘Islands of Residencies’ program. Contributors include Danielle Wood, Pete Hay, Heather Rose, Elaine Stratford, Stewart Williams and Deirdre Kessler. Island will also be introducing its new editor, Sarah Kanowski, a writer and producer who has made the island of Tasmania her home in order to take up the appointment with the magazine Free event

1.00 pm- 1.30pm Launch of Grease and Ochre Patsy Cameron at Fullers Hobart

1.45-2.45pm
BELIEVING THE UNBELIEVABLE: CREATING THE REAL AND THE FANTASTIC
Celebrated writers David Owen, Lian Tanner, and Danielle Wood discuss the skills behind the constructs of the worlds in their novels, from a familiar urban Tasmania through to the mythical and the lands of fantasy. Chair Robyn Friend.

Contact the Tasmanian Writers Centre to book a weekend package.