ABOUT US
The Tamar Valley Writers Festival is a standout event in Tasmania’s cultural calendar, combining a love affair with our valley landscape and an invigoration of words, storytelling and ideas.
Since the first festival in 2014, we have welcomed some of Australia’s most famed writers and thinkers to the valley, as well as emerging writers, podcasters, critics, journalists, playwrights and poets. Diversity is our jam, and we’ve embraced everything from romance, politics, crime and poetry to comedy, memoir, songwriting, film and television. There is always a special place for first nations writers, and also for the spectrum of minority voices that make Australia such a rich tapestry of stories. The festival unites us for the love of words.
There’s a special place in the Tamar Valley Writers Festival’s heart for Tasmania’s own writing talent, and we acknowledge a richly storied region and heritage. We are excited by the way Tasmania’s literature and topics are a melting pot of diversity, from our indigenous and convict history to the growing interest in genealogy; to education and its challenges; to the presence of fine Tasmanian writing on bookshelves across the world.
Our goal is to encourage a hunger and appreciation for writing and reading in Australia. The committee is open-minded and nimble, constantly looking at new ways to help people connect with the written and spoken word. We are particularly proud of our students program, which reaches more than 600 students each festival.
Collaborations are one of our favourite things, and we have enjoyed working with accommodation providers and stunning venues to bring a festival that is as much an immersive experience of place as a hit of literary inspo. Between festivals, we also play host to a string of author events, hand selected to bring storytelling personalities to the valley community.
The 2024 festival will run October 11-14
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WITH OUR EVENTS & FESTIVAL NEWS
Previous Festival Guests
Melissa Lucashenko, Tim Winton, Katherine Johnson, Robbie Arnott, Lee Kofman, Pip Williams, Adam Thompson, Martin Flanagan, Kyle Perry, Robyn Mundy, Jonathon Butler, Michael Mohammed Ahmed, Winnie Dunn, Lucy Christopher, Poppy Gee, Meg Bignell, Vicki Madden, Jock Serong, Karen Brooks, Dylan Hesp, Michael Burge, Mallika Naguran, Katherine Scholes, Indira Naidoo.
The Committee
Acknowledgement
The Tamar Valley Writers Festival acknowledges Palawa/Tasmanian Aborigines as the original owners of this island lutruwita (Tasmania). We meet on the country where the rivers laykila (North Esk), plipatumila (South Esk), and kanamaluka (River Tamar) join together in the heart of today’s Launceston; the country where two tribes converged, the Litarimirina and the Panina people. We honour those people and all the tribes of lutruwita who are no longer here as a result of the brutal invasion, and the Tasmanian Aboriginal community of today whose unique storytelling culture contributes richly to the realm of literacy.
*Names of tribes and places in palawa kani, the language of Tasmanian Aborigines, are used with approval of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre.