StoryFest: Not Your Typical Writers’ Festival
There is more than one way to tell a story, says Meredith Jaffe (above, far left). “Sometimes we get caught up in the idea of a book, which is just a physical product,” says Meredith, the director of StoryFest. “People tell stories through graphic novels, through film, through poetry, and StoryFest covers all those sorts of stories.”
The festival, taking place in the NSW Shoalhaven towns of Milton, Mollymook and Ulladulla from Friday, June 18 to Monday June 20, has a stellar line-up including novelists such as Craig Silvey and Marcus Zusak, commentators such as Jane Caro (above, centre) and Wendy Harmer, and even politicians such as Tanya Plibersek (above, right).
“There’s a very different vibe compared with the big festivals,” Meredith says, with fewer divisions between festivalgoers and the artists they have come to see. “This is a much more intimate environment, and the artists enjoy that, too. You’ll see them down the shops or having a drink at the Harvest bar.” Its laidback vibe has given rise to a special Sunday morning event at the Mollymook Surf Club, “where you can have a bacon and egg roll with [writers] Malcolm Knox and Jock Serong.”
StoryFest made its debut in 2019. After the cancellation of the 2020 event, this second edition of the festival is set to give a boost to the area, which was hit heavily by the 2020-21 bushfires. Locals are ready to celebrate – especially the area’s arts community.
“Like other regional centres, we have a strong community of artists: visual artists, musicians, writers. One of our key objectives is to make sure there is a platform for the local community, including the NAIDOC dance troupe from the local high school.”
The festival program also features a number of workshops, including Introduction to Memoir by writer Lee Kofman, The Craft of Editing led by renowned editor Louise Thurtell and Shooting Film by documentary maker and international film teacher Jeff Licence.
Among the events selling quickly are a screening of Jocelyn Moorhouse’s film The Dressmaker, accompanied by a discussion between Rosalie Ham, the author of the novel on which the film was based, and the film’s producer, Ham’s childhood friend Sue Maslin, about the process of turning a book into a film and the choices that have to be made.
Then there is a discussion between Tanya Plibersek and Jane Caro about life after COVID-19; a debate led by Wendy Harmer on freedom of speech; and a talk on regenerative agriculture by farmer Charles Massey, author of Call of the Reed Warbler.
Festival director is one of Meredith’s many hats – her latest novel, The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison has just been released – but she says that the challenge of creating a diverse program is one that gives her great satisfaction.
“We have historical fiction, we have crime, we have a schools program. I really wanted to create a program that as much as possible appeals to all the different interest groups we have in the Shoalhaven area.”
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