Emerging Writers' Festival Program Launch

Last Wednesday night I dragged my foggy, draft-writing brain off to the Emerging Writers' Festival program launch at the Wheeler Centre. It was a great evening with four guest writers being challenged to write outside of their genres as part of a 'discomfort zone'. The results were all very funny. Here's hoping this becomes an annual event.

The other incentive for heading down was to grab a copy of the program fresh off the press so I could read up on the presentation I will be involved in.

The panel is Finding Genre, part of the Writers' Conference component at the festival. It's at 11am on Sunday 26 May at the Melbourne Town Hall. Hosted by Mel Campbell the other panellists include Alison Croggon, Jane Harrison and Wayne Macauley.

We'll be discussing such things as how writers find their genre, why some genres are better represented than others at festivals and whether the passion for genre is there from the outset or develops over time. I feel very flattered to be involved particularly given the caliber of the writers I will be appearing alongside.

I am jotting down any stray thoughts I have about crime/legal thrillers as they occur to me. Should have the added advantage of forming the basis for something I can put up on the blog after the panel is done.