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 our 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 2026 festival will run October 15-19
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Previous Festival Guests
Markus Zusak, Benjamin Stevenson, Joanna Nell, 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
Lyndon Riggall
Co-President
Lyndon is a Launceston-based writer and teacher at Cressy District High School. Prior to becoming co-president of the festival, he was a guest author on panels with the TVWF, a panel moderator, and host (alongside Annie Warburton) of the Tamar Valley Writers Festival podcast. Lyndon is the author of the picture books Becoming Ellie (illustrated by Graeme Whittle) and Tamar the Thief (illustrated by Grace Roberts), the latter of which was released for free on the Tamar Valley Writers Festival website.
Georgie Todman
Co-President
Georgie has a passion for creative arts and writing. Highlights include co-writing and touring the musical Happy Me and publishing the play One, Two Three, Home with Anne Riley. Georgie also enjoys presenting and writing poetry for many poetry events around Launceston. Theatrical high points include performing in Elf the Musical (LMS), Away (Launceston Players), Spring Awakening (Black Box), and directing Gloria and Killer Joe for Three River Theatre. Georgie is an English teacher at Launceston College who loves to read and write poetry in her spare time.
Caitlin Jarvis
Vice President
Caitlin has always led a life that revolved around words. She spent 12 years writing for The Examiner and The Advocate in numerous roles that included sub-editor, journalist, senior journalist and acting editor. In 2016 she was among a contingent of Australian journalists (and the only one from Tasmania) to report on the Interpoma Apple Festival (the fruit not the tech company!) in Bolzano Italy. She is aggressively Tasmanian and uses that passion and her skill with words to uplift the state and provide opportunities for Tasmania in her latest role in federal politics. When not working, you will most likely find Caitlin with her nose in a book, and fostering a love of reading and writing with her two kids.
Jo Stirling
Treasurer
Jo is not only an avid reader but has been involved with community theatre in a similar capacity. During the day, Jo is a Director of MDH Accounting and well qualified (Bachelor of Business and FCPA) to help the TVWF in this important position. Jo admits she loves working with artistic people and relishes a challenge.
Ruby Ashby-Orr
Secretary
Ruby is a Publisher at Simon and Scheuster and works remotely from Launceston. She began her publishing career in 2013 and has since edited a wide range of books including novels by Christian White and Pip Williams, memoirs by Dennis Lillee and Kevin Sheedy and many more. She’s passionate about developing new talent and increasing the diversity of stories in the Australian literary scene.
Dr Suzi Claflin
Committee Member
Dr Suzi Claflin is a health systems researcher. She received her PhD from Cornell University in 2016. Her postdoctoral research has focused on health education and access to healthcare within the multiple sclerosis (MS) community. She was the 2022 Tasmanian Young Tall Poppy of the Year and received the 2021 Research Impact Prize from the Menzies Institute for Medical Research. She loves all sorts of books, but is particularly fond of literary and speculative fiction.
FAQs
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.