Day Two – July 17, 2015

By the time I arrived at her session ‘Writing Across the Tasman’, Tracy Farr had already dazzled me by following me on Twitter, but experiencing her insight in person was even more impressive. Tracy was a warm presence, and discussed her experiences of having a home in both Australia and New Zealand, and of the need for writers to move away and return home. It made me think of the time when I’ll eventually move away from home, and likely see my writing transform as I do, a collective idea that brings a mixture of feelings.

Later, Alexis Wright discussed the marginalisation of Indigenous Australians and how her experiences as an Indigenous woman influenced the creation of her third novel, The Swan Book. I was moved by just how deeply Alexis cares not only for the state of her people but for the fate of humanity as a whole. Alexis beautifully epitomised the crux of her discussion with a sentence that asked us to consider how we treat other people as well as ourselves: “You’ve got to be able to own your future.”

Sharon Olds returned to the stage for an amusing, heart-warming and surprising discussion with Peter Goldsworthy on writing life. She dropped perhaps one of the most exciting things I’ve heard at the festival thus far with the declaration that as a child she would have “give[n] up everything I’ve learned to write my own poems”. Eileen Chong and Anthony Lawrence followed with Judith Beveridge to share their experiences writing poetry. Eileen revealed how her pieces ‘ferment’ from an image, memory or sound and she pens them only when they are ready, while Anthony discussed his love of landscapes and how his poems begin with an emotion he wishes to explore.

The day ended with a ‘Writers' Welcome’, in which we students got the opportunity to mingle with the writers and others involved in creating the festival at the Art Vault. It was a fitting end to an endlessly entertaining day.

I can honestly say that all of the writers I listened to were vastly different and engaging people, and that every one of them that we’ve seen so far has opened my eyes in a different way.