The weekend just passed was the fourth annual Newcastle Writers Festival at which I volunteered all day Saturday and Sunday. It was a tiring, yet extremely rewarding experience. I met some really lovely people and even got to listen in on some really brilliant sessions.
The highlight for me was seeing all the festival goers friendly smiling faces AND!!!! a YA@NWF16 session on Sunday afternoon at the Newcastle Playhouse. The State of Play for YA in which industry insiders Jennifer Dougherty (Allen & Unwin), Stephanie Speight (Text Publishing) and Zoe Walton (Penguin Random House) discussed with Host Gerry Bobsien (Author, Surf Ache) the ins and outs of what is happening in Aussie YA at the moment. The ladies bounced off each other beautifully. It was a fun, fast pace, informative and fantastic session. I’ve purchased a ticket to the TeenCon Panel at the Sydney Writers Festival on the 22nd May – so it’ll be interesting to see how they compare.
Every session I stuck my head in at NWF16 seemed fantastic and there were some really inspirational authors on show. From what I heard from other volunteers and festival goers this was the norm among all the festival sessions – enjoyable, entertaining and informative. Happy little Novocastrians all round.
Looking forward to next year! which I am sure will keep up this years growth and be bigger and better again.
RIOT’S REDEMPTION 