Perth Writers Festival

More than one hundred ‘writers, thinkers, artists, and activists’ will be gathering in Perth from 23–26 February to participate in the 2017 Perth Writers Festival. The event will open with a keynote address from writer and researcher Ben Rawlence, the author of City of Thorns (2017), and will close with architect and memoirist Marwa al-Shabouni, the author of The Battle for Home (2016) . In between will be ‘Courtyard sessions’, a ‘two-night party showcasing spoken word, music, hip-hop, and comedy’ from writers and performers including Marieke Hardy, Angie Hart, Omar Musa, who featured in ABR’s States of Poetry in 2016, and Nick Earls, author of the Wisdom Tree (2016) novellas. The festival will also host talks from writers such as refugee advocate and lawyer Deng Thiak Adut (Songs of a War Boy, 2016), Hannah Kent (The Good People, 2016), and Clementine Ford (Fight Like a Girl, 2016).

‘Expect everything from the heart-stopping to the controversial to the beautiful’, said Festival Program Manager Katherine Dorrington. The Perth Writers Festival is part of the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF), which runs from 10 February–5 March.