Thursday 1st August

OPENING DINNER
Speaker: Hilary McPhee
Publisher, editor, Chair of the Australia Council (1994 – 1997), writer and commentator, Hilary McPhee has had a unique and lasting influence on the literary life of Australia and on the work of individual writers. She is able to present an overview of extraordinary depth and breadth in her reflections on the present state of the art of writing and the role of writers festivals in the contemporary Australian literary scene

MC Mandy Nolan
Featuring The Steve Russell Trio
Sponsored by Southern Cross University.

Friday 2nd August

LAKEHOUSE

9.00am – 10.00am (HS)
The Play’s the Thing: The Specialised Art of Writing for the Stage.
Janis Balodis & Hannie Rayson

10.15am – 11.15am
Covers & Titles: How Important Are They?.
Harry Williamson, Bob Sessions, Jeff Higgins & Susan Wyndham (Chair)
We all judge books by their covers. Cover design is an artform that can play an essential role in persuading the buyer
Sponsored by designlab new media

11.30am – 12.30pm
Class in Literature: Is it Still Relevant?
Mardi McConnochie, Craig McGregor, Melissa Lucashenko & Caroline Baum (Chair)
The notion of class, of social stratification, was an underlying assumption of literature in the past, from the works of the Bronte sisters to novels about slavery. How relevant is it to the literature of today?

12.45pm – 1.45pm
In Conversation
Ita Buttrose & Ruth Ostrow.

2.00pm – 3.00pm
“Why Am I Here?”: The Writer’s Refrain
Kim Mahood, Hilary McPhee, David Leser & Caroline Baum (Chair)
Panelists contemplate the proposition that fundamentally every story is a search for the answer to the big question. Equally some stories allow the writer to feel it is the one they are here to write

3.15pm – 4.15pm
Evocative Images From Around the World
Lau Siew Mei, Larry Buttrose, Mark Mordue, Lien Yeomans & Irina Dunn (Chair)
The panel will discuss how they transmute exotic places into evocative images. Is the result armchair travelling or do such images alter the psyche in profound ways?

Sponsored by Qantaslink

4.30pm – 5.30pm
What If? How the World Could Be
Rosie Scott, Robyn Williams, Alan Saunders & David Dale (Chair)

Sponsored by Thursday Plantation

BLUE MARQUEE

9.00am – 10.00am (HS)
Living in Australia Today: Truth and Accountability
Donald Horne, Jennifer Byrne, Margo Kingston, Don Watson & Mick O’Regan (Chair)

The panel looks at the big issues facing Australia and the writer’s responsibilities in recording, reporting and interpreting them in order to inform the public.

Sponsored by the Beach Hotel

10.15am – 11.15am (HS)
Biography: A Special Art
John Baxter, Drusilla Modjeska, Heather Wearne & Peter Corris (Chair)
Biography writing is a distinct genre with its own set of problems and rewards. This session will focus on the methodology and experience of writing biography. How and why is it done? What motivates a writer to write about another person?

Sponsored by SCU Division of Arts

11.30am – 12.30pm (HS)
Inspiring Characters
Lau Siew Mei, Bryce Courtenay, Roger McDonald & Jane Palfreyman (Chair)
Real people can be the inspiration for a writer’s characters. Writers’ characters can inspire real people.

12.45pm – 1.45pm (HS)
Difference & Tolerance as Seen by the Poet
Dorothy Porter, Peter Skrzynecki, Barry Hill, Susan Hawthorne & Larry Buttrose (Chair)
The issues of difference and tolerance are most important in the current political climate.
The panelists will discuss and share their own poetry dealing with this theme.

Sponsored by Persephone’s Window

2.00pm – 3.00pm (HS)
Finding Your Voice in the First Novel
Rosie Scott, Bryce Courtenay, Markus Zusak, Vivienne Cleven & Peter Bishop (Chair)
How do writers find their ‘voice’? Does the tone and style adopted by the writer in a first novel develop into a distinctive signature as the writer’s career develops, or change from book to book?

Sponsored by The Australian Women’s Weekly

3.15pm – 4.15pm
The Propriety of the Media
Mungo MacCallum, Jeff McMullen, Margo Kingston & Mick O’Regan (Chair)
What are the established principles, rules or customs of the media in Australia? Are there acknowledged standards, and if so, to what extent do media conform to them?

Sponsored by the Northern Star

4.30pm – 5.30pm
The Thin Blue Line:
The Value of Editing
Hilary McPhee, Jean Bedford, Janis Balodis & Susan Wyndham (Chair)

Sponsored by Byron Shire Echo

YELLOW MARQUEE

10.15am – 11.15am (HS)
The Art of Storytelling
Arnold Zable, Abbas El-Zein, Adib Khan, Judy Atkinson & Di Morrissey (Chair)
Since antiquity, and in all cultures, story telling has played an important part. Panelists will examine the role of the storyteller, and writing as a medium for telling a story.

Sponsored by the Byron Bay Beach Resort

11.30am – 12.30pm (HS)
Young Writers
Megan Jacobson, Daniel Mason Markus Zusak & Simon Higgins (Chair)
To write you need to have accrued lots of life experiences, but Jacobson, Mason and Zusak break the mould. They discuss how it is to be young and a writer.

Sponsored by Byron Shire News

12.45pm – 1.45pm (HS)
Writing & Illustrating
Tohby Riddle & Matt Ottley
Both Riddle and Ottley use illustrations and words to relate a story. What inspires them? How do image and text work together?

2.00pm – 3.00pm (HS)
Research: How is it Done?
Peter Watt, Marele Day, Arthur Pike, Stephen Gray
& Heather Wearne (Chair)\
Memory is not always a reliable source, even when writing about your own life. Panelists discuss their methods of research and how they transform it into narrative.

Sponsored by byron-bay.com

3.15pm – 4.15pm
Fingerprints on the Language
Robert Dessaix, Marion Halligan, Drusilla Modjeska, Loubna Haikal & Jean Bedford (Chair)
Writers manipulate and mould language, leaving their mark on it and making us see language in a new light. Dessaix, Halligan and Wearne will consider the legitimacy of writers in ‘breaking the rules’.

LAUNCHING PAD

10.00am
LAUNCH
Lismore City Council
Seniors Anthology
with Ita Buttrose

12.00pm
LAUNCH
White Cow
Max Ryan & Cleis Pearce

2.00pm
LAUNCH
Harper Collins
Your Soul Purpose
Brendan Nichols

5.00pm
LAUNCH
Allen and Unwin
Mrs Cook: The real and imagined life of the Captain’s Wife
Marele Day

OTHER VENUES

FESTIVAL DINING ROOM
8.30am – 11.00am
ABC LOCAL RADIO NORTHCOAST
Live Broadcast With Fiona Wyllie

ACTIVITIES ROOM
2.30pm – 3.30pm
In Conversation
Andreea Ritivoi & Raimond Gaita
Sponsored by SCU Division of Arts

ACTIVITIES ROOM
4.00pm – 5.30pm
Southern Cross University
Writing Students Read

FESTIVAL DINING ROOM
8.00pm
An Evening with Max Gillies & Guy Rundle

Masters of satirical review, Max Gillies and Guy Rundle will entertain, discuss and demonstrate how it’s done with extracts from their current show Your Dreaming.

Sponsored by Channel 10

Saturday 3rd August

LAKEHOUSE

9.15am – 10.15am
In Conversation
Bryce Courtenay & Susan Wyndham

10.30am – 11.30am
These Words Out Loud
James Bradley, Lau Siew Mei, Adib Khan
& Melissa Lucashenko (Chair)
Does hearing writers read with their own individual nuances change your understanding of their work; and how does reading out loud affect their view of what they’ve written?

11.45am – 12.45pm
The Importance of Literary Prizes: Judges & Winners Discuss
Stephen Gray, Jean Bedford, Megan Jacobson, Vivienne Cleven & Marele Day (Chair)
Reading by the winner of The Australian Women’s Weekly’s Short Story Writing Competition

Winning a literary prize can launch a new writer and boost an established writer’s career. Panelists talk of their experiences. Plus reading by the winner of The Australian Women’s Weekly Short Story Writing Competition.

12.45pm – 1.45pm
In Conversation
Jennifer Byrne & David Leser

2.00pm – 3.00pm
As Time Goes By
Marion Halligan, Kim Mahood, Andreea Ritivoi & Adib Khan (Chair)
Memory changes with time, time changes through memory. The writer’s imagination changes both.

Sponsored by SCU Division of Arts

I3.15pm – 4.15pm
Intrigue
Peter Watt, Beverley Harper, James Bradley
& Simon Higgins (Chair)
Panelists reveal the mystery at the heart of their stories - lost treasure, ancient curses, family secrets, romance and adventure

4.30pm – 5.30pm
Postcards from Paris: Living & Writing in Paris
John Baxter
John Baxter has realised the Australian writer’s dream - living and working in Paris

Sponsored by Margaret Robertson First National

BLUE MARQUEE

10.00am – 11.00am
Laughter or Wry Smile
Tohby Riddle, Mungo MacCallum, Robyn Williams, Loubna Haikal & Mandy Nolan (Chair)
How does humour work on the page, from a range of genres and intentions? Panelists discuss the role of humour in their writing.

11.15am – 12.30pm
Byron Bay: A Sense of Place
Robert Dessaix, Rosie Scott, Dorothy Porter & Alan Saunders (Chair)
Extracting the essence of place. How and why writers engage with place and transform it into words. Panelists will also present their postcard views of Byron Bay.

Sponsored by Sharing a Thought for Byron

12.45pm – 1.45pm
Writing About Lifelong Fascinations
Roger McDonald, Robyn Williams, Beverley Harper & Di Morrissey (Chair)
Trees, science, Africa. How do authors write about their life-long fascinations and make them equally fascinating to the reader?

2.00pm – 3.00pm
Favourite Books
John Baxter, Ita Buttrose, Dorothy Porter & Peter Bishop (Chair)
Panelists discuss books that have impacted on them both as readers and writers.

Sponsored by Dymocks

3.15pm – 4.15pm
Publishing in the New Millenium
James Fraser, Ian Robertson, Nicholas Pullen, Peter Phillips & John Hertzberg (chair)
This session covers aspects of publishing such as contracts, advances, marketing, publicity, legal and management advice.

Sponsored by Pan Macmillan & Holding Redlich

4.30pm – 5.30pm
New Worlds, New Words
Donald Horne, Susan Hawthorne, Hannie Rayson & Margo Kingston (Chair)
Globalisation, biodiversity, economic rationalism - meaningful terms for the contemporary world or what Donald Horne calls ‘current claptrap’?

YELLOW MARQUEE

9.00am – 10.00am
Autobiography: Telling Your Own Story For Better or Worse
Jeff McMullen, Ita Buttrose, Irena Hatfield & Heather Wearne (Chair)

Do autobiographers wash their dirty linen in public or only put clean sheets on the line?

Sponsored by HarperCollins

11.15am – 12.00pm (KIDS)
Meet the Authors
Markus Zusak

12.15pm – 1.00pm (KIDS)
Meet the Authors
Jackie French & Simon Higgins

1.15pm – 2.00pm (KIDS)
Meet the Author
Tohby Riddle & Matt Ottley

.15pm – 3.45pm
Byron Bay: A Sense of Community
Ruth Ostrow, David Leser, Di Morrissey, Mungo MacCallum, Melissa Lucashenko, Deb Cox & Alan Saunders (Chair)
Can a sense of community be maintained in one of the world’s prime tourist destinations, and if so, what sort of community is it? Local writers discuss.

Sponsored by Sharing a Thought for Byron

4.00pm – 5.00pm
A Question of Appropriation
Stephen Gray, Mardi McConnochie, Arnold Zable & Mick O’Regan (Chair)
Using other people’s stories, other people’s ideas and traditions. Is writing about them appropriate or appropriation?

LAUNCHING PAD

10.00am
LAUNCH
Dangerously Poetic
Laura Jan Shore
with Dorothy Porter

12.00pm
LAUNCH
Crawford House
Brothers? Uncles! Sister? Aunt!
Tamaso Lonsdale

3.30pm
LAUNCH
Varuna and Picador
Seducing Mr Maclean
Loubna Haikal
with Peter Bishop

5.30pm
LAUNCH
Allen and Unwin
Somebody Save Me
David Leser
with Jennifer Byrne

BAYSHORE

9.00am - 12.00pm
WORKSHOP
On the Road: Travel Writing
Mark Mordue

12.30pm – 2.30pm
WORKSHOP
Making Up Stories for Children
Nette Hilton

3.00pm – 5.00pm
WORKSHOP
Documentary from Script to Screen
Sally Browning
Sponsored by the NSW FTO

BBBR Reception
8.30am – 12.00pm
Golf Day
with Peter Corris

ACTIVITIES ROOM
10.15am – 11.15am
Talking Gardening
Jackie French
& Jean Bedford

ACTIVITIES ROOM
11.30pm – 12.30pm
In Conversation
Mardi McConnochie
& Caroline Baum

ACTIVITIES ROOM
12.45pm – 1.45pm
In Conversation
Barry Hill & Larry Buttrose
discuss the Role of the Poetry Editor

FESTIVAL DINING ROOM
12.00pm
Golf Presentation
with Peter Corris

FILM NIGHT
The Hard Word with Al Clark, Scott Roberts and Peter Thompson
The film The Hard Word will be viewed in the presence of its producer, Al Clark and writer & director, Scott Roberts. Film critic Peter Thompson will guide the post-screening discussions and the audience’s questions and answers segment.

Sunday 4th August

LAKESHORE

9.30am – 10.45am
SEMINAR
Screen by Screen: Examination of Film Script: The Hard Word
Scott Roberts, Al Clark & Peter Thompson
This seminar will focus on script development from first draft to final product with a focus on The Hard Word.

Sponsored by the NSW FTO

11.00am – 12.00pm
Words of Art
Stephen Gray, Kim Mahood, Drusilla Modjeska & Craig McGregor (Chair)
Is a picture worth a thousand words? Panelists discuss how language and visual images come together in their art.

12.15pm – 1.15pm
The Role of Reviewers
Robert Dessaix, Susan Wyndham, Caroline Baum, James Griffin
& Peter Corris (Chair)
How influential is the reviewer in both the marketing of books and in the development of literary trends.

Sponsored by Linley Jones Bookstore

1.30pm – 2.30pm
The Search for Belonging: Journey and Migration
Arnold Zable, Loubna Haikal, Adib Khan, Abbas El-Zein & Andreea Ritivoi (Chair)
Panelists consider notions of belonging, travel and relocation. Is home one fixed place, the whole world, or in the spaces of the imagined?

2.45pm – 3.45pm
Writing for the Screen:
A Discussion
John Baxter, Mardi McConnochie, Megan Heyward, Deb Cox, Scott Roberts
& Peter Thompson (Chair)
Screenwriting has become one of the most popular artforms. The panelists will discuss the art & craft of writing for the screen.

Sponsored by John Weiley

BLUE MARQUEE

9.30am – 10.30am
Does a Novel Grow Like a Garden or is it Sculptured Like Stone?
Rosie Scott, Marion Halligan, Roger McDonald & Arnold Zable & Inez Brewer (Chair)
Writers describe the different processes of shaping imagination into prose.

Sponsored by Zentveld’s Coffee

10.45am – 11.45am
A Question of Tolerance
Tohby Riddle, Melissa Lucashenko, Abbas El-Zein, Donald Horne & Mungo MacCallum (Chair)
Why is difference so difficult to accept? Why is the need for tolerance a perennial theme?

12.00pm – 1.00pm
Don Watson
Recollections of a Bleeding Heart
Introduced by Jean Bedford
Don Watson will discuss his most recent book and share reflections of his time spent as Paul Keating’s speechwriter.

Sponsored by Hertzberg Heydon Solicitors

1.15pm – 2.30pm
Byron Bay: Direction of Community and Place
Margo Kingston, Jennifer Byrne, Craig McGregor, Robyn Williams & Alan Saunders (Chair)
Consensus and dissent - how communities move forward. Panelists reflect on their experience of place and community. (Participants are asked to attend previous Byron Bay panels where possible)

Sponsored by Sharing a Thought for Byron

2.45pm – 3.30pm
In Conversation
Raimond Gaita & James Griffin

3.45pm – 4.45pm
THE LATE LATE LUNCH
The Best Travel Stories are Always the Disasters
Mark Mordue, David Dale, Jeff McMullen & Mandy Nolan (Chair)
The Best Travel Stories are Always the Disasters
A humorous discussion about the pitfalls of travel and life on the road be it as a correspondent or travel writer. Food, sex and drugs are sure to be common themes!

Sponsored by Jetset Byron Bay

YELLOW MARQUEE

POETRY READINGS
Introduced by Larry Buttrose
10.00am – 10.30am
Poetry as Narrative
Dorothy Porter

10.30am – 11.00am
The Inland Sea
Barry Hill

11.00am – 11.30am
Poetry and Prose of the Northern Rivers and New England
Peter Skrzynecki

12.00pm – 1.45pm
Local Readings
David Hallett
Laura Jan Shore
Max Ryan & Cleis Pearce
Arthur Pike
& Poetry Prize Finalists

TRAPEZE SITE
1.45pm – 2.15pm
Aerial Performance
Susan Hawthorne

2.30pm – 3.30pm
In Conversation
Drusilla Modjeska & Hilary McPhee

LAUNCHING PAD

10.00am
LAUNCH
Spinifex Press
Trauma Trails, Recreating Songlines
Judy Atkinson

2.00pm
LAUNCH
Random House
Salt and Blood
25th Cliff Hardy Novel
Peter Corris
with David Dale

BAYSHORE

10.00am ­ 12.00pm WORKSHOP Visualising the Word By Invitation Only Peter Powditch

OTHER VENUES

ACTIVITIES ROOM
11.00am – 12.00pm
FTO Seminar
Aurora Project: Working in Teams
Sally Browning
Sponsored by the NSW FTO

FESTIVAL DINING ROOM
12.00pm – 1.00pm
Food: A Cultural Perspective
Lien Yeomans, David Dale & Adele Wessell, Marion Halligan
& Simon Thomsen (Chair)

You are what you eat. Food helps indicate our places, our positions, our cultural identity.
Sponsored by Northern Rivers Echo

ACTIVITIES ROOM
12.15pm – 1.15pm
In Conversation
Irena Hatfield & Mick O’Regan

ACTIVITIES ROOM
1.45pm – 2.45pm
Seminar
New Media: Writing Non-Linear Narrative
Megan Heyward

This seminar will discuss writing for new media with an emphasis on non-linear writing and interactive structure. Demonstrated by the new media narrative Of Day, Of Night.
Sponsored by the NSW FTO

THE RAILS
2.30pm
Writers at the Rails
10th Anniversary
featuring
Peter Skrzynecki
FREE ADMISSION

FESTIVAL DINING ROOM
5.00pm
The Gift of the Song
Grace Knight, James Griffin, Alison Pearl and special guests.

Songwriters will join to discuss the importance of songwriting in popular culture and perform some of their favourite songs.

Monday 5th August

FINS RESTAURANT
12.00pm
LITERARY LUNCH
Travel & Food
David Dale & Alan Saunders

Tickets will be available in June 2002. For all inquiries or to be included on the mailing list for the program please call The Northern Rivers Writers' Centre on 02 6685 5115 or e-mail info@nrwc.org.au with your full name and postal details.