We are so excited to introduce EWF’s new Associate Producer, Parth Rahatekar. We sat down and chatted with Parth so you can get to know them better.

Read on for the full interview!

Hey Parth, we’re so excited to have you on the EWF 2026 team, as Associate Producer. We’d love for our community to get to know you better – please tell us about a little bit yourself!   

I’m so happy to be here. I grew up in a riverine city, Pune, so making Naarm home has come easy for the last 2 years. Writing and poetry found me in Pune, and immediately became sustenance for me – first emotionally, then professionally. My practice has taken me across realms of film, fashion, advertising, and literature and been on stages, pages, and platforms across the world. Currently, it is quietly bubbling into a collection of poetry on immigration, belonging, and intergenerational aspirations.  

So, what drew you to Emerging Writers’ Festival? And being part of the team this year, is there anything you’re particularly looking forward to? 

There is such a treasure of undiscovered, but ambitious talent here. I am drawn to a festival that platforms such voices, since I see a lot of myself in that hunger. This is what made me volunteer with the festival in my first year in Naarm (2024). I immediately felt located in the otherwise vast literary wildness of Australia. I am looking forward to programming events that have that effect on people.  

Since EWF is a literary fest, we’re obliged to ask what kind of literature catches your attention? 

Creative non-fiction and poetry feed me! I love when you find resonance and connection in someone else’s lived experiences. It creates a bridge between all those we have been told are inherently different from us.  

Speaking of literature, what kind of stories have been cluttering your bedside table or filling up your watchlist lately?  

Currently reading My Life In Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler. It is such a beautiful blend of ocean research and memoir writing. Every paragraph delivers something profound so delicately. Also never letting go of Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq. So vital! Whenever I tire of non-fiction, my collection of poetry anthologies gives me reasons to keep dreaming. 

Parth Rahatekar is Associate Producer for the 2026 Emerging Writers’ Festival, which is running 10-18 September 2026.

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