The Emerging Writers’ Festival work, learn and play largely on the land of the Kulin nation, and pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

EWF celebrates the history and creativity of the world’s oldest living culture.

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Event Guide

Each year, EWF programs events across a number of different streams. To help you navigate the program, we’ve added some information on each of them below.

You can search the following event types by visiting our full program, clicking the ‘Event Type’ drop-down menu and selecting any of the following event types, or by simply clicking the links below.

Special Events

Our Special Events stream is a curated offering of live, in-person events in intimate settings. With limited in-person attendance numbers, the focus is on the artists and their creativity. Gather with us under stars, inside memories and between worlds for a series of limited capacity, boutique performance events. 

Special events include Opening Night: Truth Telling, Closing Night Gala: Celestial Bodies, HIBERNAL: under the moon and Scream Scenes. 

Professional Development

Our professional development stream gives writers access to industry insight, genre-specific development opportunities, and a chance to meet like-minded creatives. Across the 2023 program, EWF will present a series of interactive professional development events, each shaped around the most topical and in-demand subjects, and responding to industry trends and skills gaps. This information is drawn from audience feedback, market research, conversations with industry professionals, and the open artist call-out. 

Masterclasses

For writers wanting to get serious about improving their craft. These full-day online masterclasses are an incredible opportunity to learn from the masters, with a schedule of keynotes, panels and interactive workshops led by acclaimed writers and industry experts. 

Writers’ Night School

Really want some of that one-on-one writer attention? Book yourself into one of our intimate writers’ night schools. In these limited capacity workshops, let the experts impart their wisdom as you spend the night learning the tips and tricks to refine your work – whatever your specialty.

EWF X

EWF X events are co-produced by selected collectives and curators who express interest in offering events specific to their communities and comrades.  

In 2023, we’re stoked to team up with Crawlspace, Indiginerd, Australian Multilingual Writing Society and more, to present evenings of stellar performances and fresh perspectives. 

Free Events 

EWF is committed to presenting at least half of our program for free, which we achieve through a combination of partnered events, digital projects and our three core free streams – Morning Pages, Lunch/Break and ☾. 

Projects

Projects are a huge part of the way EWF celebrates writers. Over the years, these have ranged from audio productions and literary maps to video exhibitions and social media experiments. In 2023, view a range of projects, some in collaboration with partners, to showcase the incredible breadth and talent of the emerging writers’ community.

Morning Pages

Warm yourself up on a chilly Melbourne winter morning with EWF! Across three mornings of the festival, gather at No Vacancy (or online) for a cup of coffee and some guided writing time from one of our brilliant artists, surrounded by art and fellow writers. A space for creativity and connection to get your writing muscles warmed up.

Lunch/Break

A perfect way to grab a fulfilling bite of EWF23 in the middle of the mundane working day. Get your fill of great ideas on your lunch break with these creative and critical offerings.

☾ 

These readings are the perfect literary night caps to send you sinking into your mattress full of stories and brimming with ideas.