The Emerging Writers’ Festival returns in 2026 over nine days. We are delighted to announce our 2026 festival will run 10-18 September, from our home in Melbourne with events in the city, outer suburbs, interstate and broadcast online. Continuing our hybrid festival model, the whole EWF Team is excited to bring you our 2026 festival following the immense success of our 2025 festival.

In 2025, we programmed a total of 242 artists from across the continent and internationally over 80 events and projects. This year’s festival also saw brand-new and renewed partnerships with venues across Melbourne including Northcote Social Club, Howler Bar, Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne Zoo, and Abbotsford Convent! Our growing community of emerging writers entered these new spaces to share their ideas and forge new creative connections this year, and we are excited to continue this momentum with you all at our 2026 festival.

With that in mind, we are excited to reveal that the 2026 open artist call-out will be opening in early January! Whether you’d like to pitch your upcoming book, dip your toes into writing with your peers and friends, pitch yourself as an artist, or if you have an exciting event idea, EWF’s open artist call-out is for you. This is your chance to be part of the Emerging Writers’ Festival and connect with the writing community nationwide.

Keep an eye on our newsletter, blog and socials in the coming weeks for the 2026 EWF Artist Call-Out!

Photography by Grace Auld