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It's our pleasure to extend to you an invitation to the Tamar Valley Writers Festival's Annual General Meeting on Tuesday September 30, 6:15pm, at the Gunners Arms Tavern, Lawrence Street, Launceston. Snacks will be provided. We would value your presence as we step into a new season for the festival. We are also inviting members to a Special General Meeting beforehand, at 6pm, same day and venue, to approve recommended changes to the constitution as per the attached . Nominations are open for all committee positions. Nominated people must be financial members and can be submitted to the attention of the secretary at info@tamarvalleywritersfestival.com.au . Please note that our AGM is open for anyone to join us, but only financial members (Festival Friends) are able to vote.  Not a Festival Friend... But Want To Be? Fabulous - it's really very easy! Simply follow the steps here  to fill out your details and pay the small annual fee of $20/individual, $35/family.  Were you a 2024 Member (Festival Friend)?  Your membership expired at the end of 2024, so it's time to renew in order to have your vote counted at the AGM and to make the most of Festival Friend perks, including discounted tickets. Simply click here  to renew your membership before the AGM.   THE AGM SKINNY TVWF Annual General Meeting & Special General Meeting September 30, from 6pm Gunners Arms Tavern 23 Lawrence St, Launceston RSVP required to info@tamarvalleywritersfestival.com.au We look forward to seeing you there!

We are welcoming submissions from published authors at all stages of their careers to participate in the 2026 Tamar Valley Writers Festival on October 16-19. Successful authors will preferably have released a new work in the 18 months before the festival, or have a new publication due to be released shortly after. To make a submission, please fill out the form at this link: You may send a review copy of your latest work to accompany your submission to: Tamar Valley Writers Festival, PO Box 5306, Launceston, TAS, 7250. Submissions close November 30, 2025. We are a small volunteer-run festival, and sadly cannot provide feedback on every submission. We aim to craft a program that is diverse and vibrant, and which often connects with a certain theme. If your work is not selected for the 2026 program, please know that this is not a reflection of the quality of your writing. We wish you all the best with your submission and your writing forays!

Join the Tamar Valley Writer's Festival in conjunction with Petrarch's Bookshop at Launceston Library as we launch A Woman's Voice by bestselling author Alli Sinclair. Wednesday September 10, 5:30pm Launceston Library 71 Civic Square, Launceston Follow violin virtuoso Laura Hartley as her celebrated music carer comes to an end once her precious instrument is stolen, crushing her sense of self and purpose. Fleeing to her grandmother’s home in the Australian outback, Laura discovers an extraordinary legacy woven through sheets of music – a powerful symphony born from the revolutionary hearts of suffragettes who refused to be silenced. In this soaring tale of inheritance, courage and the fierce bonds between women across time, we’re reminded that the most powerful revolutions often begin with a single voice – and that true freedom lies in finding the courage to become who we were always meant to be. All are welcome to this free event (bookings essential). Book sales and refreshments available at the event.

This winter, Libraries Tasmania has launched an initiative to invigorate your reading habit from the cozy comfort of your armchair. Warm Winter Read is a fun and inspiring campaign that gives the tools to build positive reading habits and also connect readers across Tasmania. Adults and young people aged 16 and over can now register to join the campaign that will run from now until 31 August 2025. Whether you’re a seasoned bookworm or just rediscovering the joy of reading, the Warm Winter Read offers something for everyone: set your own reading goals track your progress explore book reviews and recommendations from library staff go in the draw to win prizes! Libraries Tasmania Executive Director Patrick Gregory said the campaign is a great way to enjoy reading during the colder months. “Winter is the perfect time to curl up with a good book. The Warm Winter Read is about making space for reading in our daily lives and connecting with others through stories and a shared loved of reading,” Patrick said. “Readers can join online or by visiting their local library. Participation is free, and there are no set rules – just read what you love, when you can." The Warm Winter Read is delivered in partnership with public libraries across Tasmania and Victoria. Visit libraries.tas.gov.au/WarmWinterRead to get started.

International Children's Book Day is coming up on April 2, and its sponsor IBBY Netherlands has developed a suite of activities, lesson ideas and a competition to encourage participation. The 2025 theme is  The Freedom of Imagination , and the motto is the last sentence of the poem The Language of Pictures: ‘Make pictures for my poem, and please feel free: these words belong to you even though they came from me.’ The poem comes from the illustrated poetry collection Alle Wensen Van De Wereld (2021) by Rian Visser and illustrator Janneke Ipenburg. This book was awarded a Zilveren Griffel in the Netherlands and the Gouden Poëziemedaille (Gold Poetry Medal) in Belgium. International drawing competition Children are invited to create a drawing, painting or other kind of artwork based on the poem The Language of Pictures (see below). Once completed, take a photograph of your art and (optionally) a photograph of yourself with your artwork and email it to IBBY Australia ibby.australia@gmail.com or directly to IBBY Netherlands ibby.secretariaat@gmail.com . IBBY-Netherlands will show all the entries on their website and select the winners, who will be rewarded with a package of books for their school. The virtual exhibition will be a celebration of the freedom of imagination. The Language of Pictures by Rian Visser Translation: Laura Watkinson   Can you draw pictures for the words, for the things I say? Then draw part of the picture, cold, wind, a lump in your throat or tough luck, draw a cough, a sigh, the scent of fresh bread, time, a moment, the beginning or the end of a plan, draw the place wherever, the place where never, the place where soon something is going to happen, draw the pain of a push, the taste of the sea. There is so much that I want to see, like love, one day, and maybe for me. Make pictures for my poem, and please feel free: these words belong to you even though they came from me.

Drumroll please.... The longlist for the Tasmanian Literary Awards was announced recently and, once again, it highlights the breadth of talent in our island state. We wish to extend a hearty congratulations to all those named in the longlists under the various categories, and look forward to hearing which titles are announced in the shortlists (February, 2025) and then the winners in March.

Dear Members and Friends, We know you're busy. We know you're counting down to when you can down-tools and join your friends and family to make merry. We know the joy of Christmas beckons. Which is why we wanted to drop a short-but-sweet letter to say a few final things for 2024. Thank You. It's been a brilliant festival year to have shared with you, and if you attended the Tamar Valley Writers Festival in October, I'm sure you will agree that it was a memorable event that will be hard to top. But we will be working very hard to do just that when we have our next festival in 2026! Please keep an eye out for our Festival Friend member sign-up opportunity in the new year. Events Incoming! While 2025 isn't a festival year, we continue to be committed to bringing you a lineup of events that satiate your literary appetite, including our annual Book Week Trivia Night. To begin with, we will be supporting two wonderful book launches in partnership with Petrarch's Bookshop: - Half Truth, by Nadia Mahjouri (from Hobart). February 19: Scroll below for more details and to book for this free event. - Where the Birds Call Her Name, by Claire van Ryn  (from Launceston). March 25: more details to come. Merry Merry Christmas. We wish you a wonderful Christmas, New Year and summer holiday season and hope you have oodles of rest and relaxation and, importantly, the opportunity to get stuck into your TBR pile.  With warmest regards, Georgie Todman & Lyndon Riggall Co-Presidents | Tamar Valley Writers Festival Tasmanian Literary Awards The longlist for the Tasmanian Literary Awards was recently announced, with a wonderful selection of titles penned by Tasmanian writers. Click on the button below to check out the longlisted authors.

What a year! As co-presidents of the TVWF, we are delighted to report back on the enormous success that was the 2024 Tamar Valley Writers Festival (TVWF) . Held from 11-13 October, our first festival engaged an impressive crowd across a weekend of conversations, panels and workshops, distributing more than 1,100 tickets. With the stunning backdrop of Launceston’s picturesque Lakekeler/North Esk River in the vibrant River’s Edge building at the University of Tasmania, the feedback from attendees and writers alike was overwhelmingly positive, affirming the festival’s reputation as a premier literary event in Tasmania. We hosted a diverse range of writers whose unique voices and stories created unforgettable moments for our audience. Notably, this year’s festival program included a blend of established authors, emerging voices, and genre-specific events that expanded our reach even further, celebrating everything from the speculative to the spicy. Among the many successful sessions, several stood out for their exceptional attendance and audience response. Our experimental SMUT! event was a huge draw card this year and brought a notably younger and more gender-diverse crowd to the festival. This popular event’s success demonstrated the power of incorporating genre-specific programming to attract different audience demographics, with many attendees buying a ticket to this event not having tickets to the mainstay festival, and 100% of attendees expressing enormous satisfaction with it. Alongside SMUT!, other highly rated festival sessions included Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s insightful talk with Martin Flanagan, Markus Zusak’s discussion, the in-conversation with Benjamin Stevenson, the Speculative Fiction and Romance panels, the keynote "Light in the Dark" panel, Greg French’s discussion with Adam Thompson, and the "Pitching & Publishing" workshop with the festival’s own Ruby Ashby-Orr. Feedback from attendees of these events, as well as many others, consistently emphasised guest satisfaction, engagement, and inspiration. 90% of visitors reported being very satisfied with their chosen events, and 69% remarked that the festival exceeded their expectations. The event space itself contributed to this intimate and inviting atmosphere, with attendees frequently commenting on the beautiful riverside location. We are very keen to return to this site in future, but feedback on logistical improvements in signage and on-site food options were noted and will be addressed to enhance the festival experience further in future iterations. The festival attracted plenty of locals, but we also welcomed a significant number of attendees from outside the Launceston region. 42% of ticket holders reported traveling more than an hour to be at the festival—including, significantly, an international book club group from the UK—and contributed to the local economy through visits to nearby restaurants, cafés, bookshops, and accommodation. This reinforces the festival’s dual role of fostering a literary community and positively contributing to northern Tasmania as a tourist destination in the shoulder season. Every writer who participated in the Tamar valley Writers Festival expressed high satisfaction with their experience and felt welcomed by the festival’s warm, supportive atmosphere. Every single one of them confirmed that they would eagerly recommend TVWF to their peers, highlighting the festival’s strong curation, diversity, and professionalism. One writer noted: “The festival was an absolute delight: both intimate to attend and wide-ranging in talent and topics discussed.” The festival was particularly praised by guests for its “friendly and intimate” atmosphere and for maintaining an engaging and varied program at an accessible price point. Attendees were excited to be able to find authors such as Markus Zusak, Erin Riley or Mark Mupotsa-Russell so easily available and open to moments of individual connection. Attendees frequently expressed their eagerness to return, with one stating: “This was my first time attending the festival and it was fabulous. I’ve been to Sydney Writers Festival and the Hobart Writers Festival, and this one, while smaller, stood equally with those for being engaging, interesting, fun, inspiring and affordable.” This year’s success would not have been possible without the support of our dedicated sponsors, partners, and volunteers. We extend our sincerest thanks to Petrarch’s Bookshop, The Hotel Grand Chancellor, The Florance, The Sports Garden Hotel, Peppers Silo Hotel, Du Cane Brewing, Green Bean Catering, Entally Wines, Wesley Chambers, and Declan Durrant along with The Examiner, all of whom played an instrumental role in bringing this year’s festival to life. Their support, along with the tireless efforts of our incredible volunteer team, ensured a smooth and unforgettable experience for all involved. Claire from Inkling Media and Madeline from Right ID were responsible for our incredible re-branding, program and website, and Professors Sonya Stanford and Natalie Brown, as well as Dr Robert Clarke and Greg Marshall were instrumental in venue management and the facilitation of the University of Tasmania’s “Read, Write, Publish” program on the Monday. We are so grateful to our committee members from the past who played a crucial role in the instigation of this particular festival, including Suse Henshaw, Beck Beaumont, and former vice-president Johanna Baker-Dowdell, and current committee members Ruby Ashby-Orr, our secretary, Jo Stirling, our treasurer, Caitlin Jarvis (who manages our membership), and Suzi Claflin (who has been our wonderful wizard of data, and whose extensive surveying and notes have formed the basis of this report). Judy Ridge and Meahd Farnaby acted as our administrative assistants and volunteer coordinators for the lead-up to the festival this year, and the team that they led did a wonderful job of supplying not only professionalism but also undeniable enthusiasm. Of course, we haven’t had time to mention here additional events from 2024 such as our continued relationship with the Sydney Writers Festival’s Live & Local program in the University of Tasmania’s Inveresk Library, our pre-festival event with Claire van Ryn and Annette Higgs, and Andrew Bovell’s playwriting workshop. As we reflect on the triumph of the 2024 festival, our sights are already set on the possibilities for TVWF 2026. Building on the momentum of this year’s success, we are eager to explore opportunities to enhance the festival program, learn and grow from what worked best and what we can improve, expand our audience, and deepen our engagement with Tasmania’s growing literary community. Additionally, we are excited for planned satellite events in 2025, which will allow us to continue the festival’s vibrant literary presence across the Tamar Valley region throughout the coming year. We are so delighted, and inspired, and tired, but the festival will return. Thank you to everyone for their enthusiasm, support and energy in lighting the dark with us this year… Here’s to an even brighter future!   Georgie Todman and Lyndon Riggall Co-Presidents The Tamar Valley Writers Festival *This was presented as the 2024 Presidents Report at our recent AGM on November 19.

Award-winning Tasmanian author Kate Kruimink this week launches her second novel, Heartsease (Pan Macmillan, Australia). The new work has been described by author Robbie Arnott as, 'Sharp, gorgeous and unforgettable.' Author and environmentalist Jane Rawson said: 'Heartsease will make you gasp — from heartbreak, hilarity and the sheer beauty of life.' Launched on May 29 at Fullers Bookshop in Hobart, the book from the author of Vogel Award-winning A Treacherous Country has excited great interest. About Heartsease I saw my mother for a long time after she died. I would see her out windows, or in the corner of my eye. Always in the periphery, always a dim blur, but unmistakably my mother, the herness skating through every line and flicker. Charlotte ('Lot') and Ellen ('Nelly') are sisters who were once so close a Venn diagram of the two would have formed a circle. But a great deal has changed since their mother's death, years before. Clever, beautiful, gentle Lot has been unfailingly dutiful - basically a disaster of an older sister for much younger Nelly, still haunted by their mother in her early thirties. When the pair meet at a silent retreat in a strange old house in the Tasmanian countryside, the spectres of memory are unleashed. Heartsease is a sad, sly and darkly comic story about the weight of grief and the ways in which family cleave to us, for better and for worse. It's an account of love and ghosts so sharp it will leave you with paper cuts. About Kate Kruimink Kate Kruimink is a writer from southern Lutruwita. Her first novel, A Treacherous Country, won the 2020 Vogel/Australian's Literary Award. It was shortlisted in the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Fiction and longlisted in the UK for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In 2021, she was one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Novelists. Kate also writes short stories and essays, which have been published widely. Heartsease is her second novel.

Exciting news just in: one of Tassie's favourite authors, Robbie Arnott, will release his fourth book in October this year. The beloved author of Limberlost, The Rain Heron and Flames brings a new work called Dusk, published by Picador (an imprint of Pan Macmillan Australia). About Dusk In the distant highlands, a puma named Dusk is killing shepherds. Down in the lowlands, twins Iris and Floyd are out of work, money and friends. When they hear that a bounty has been placed on Dusk, they reluctantly decide to join the hunt. As they journey up into this wild, haunted country, they discover there's far more to the land and people of the highlands than they imagined. And as they close in on their prey, they're forced to reckon with conflicts both ancient and deeply personal. About Robbie Robbie Arnott is the author of Limberlost, The Rain Heron and Flames. He's a two-time winner of The Age Book of the Year, and has also been awarded the Voss Literary Prize. He's been named a Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Novelist, and has twice been shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, as well as the Dylan Thomas Prize. He lives in Hobart with his wife and daughter. We interviewed Robbie on our podcast when he was working on Limberlost. Watch it here.

We are thrilled to announce that one of our headline guests for the 2024 Tamar Valley Writers Festival will be Benjamin Stevenson. Benjamin is an award-winning stand-up comedian and author. He has sold out shows from the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He is the author of four novels, including the national bestsellers Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, which has been sold in 27 territories around the world and will soon be adapted for a major HBO TV series, and Everyone on This Train Is a Suspect. The 2024 festival will run from October 11 to 14, and promises to be our best yet, with a superb lineup of speakers that will be announced in coming weeks as we firm up our program. Sign up to our newsletter to ensure you're in the loop, and are first to know about the program release.

The Tamar Valley Writers Festival committee is delighted to share that beloved Australian author Markus Zusak will be one of the featured authors at the 2024 festival in October, just weeks after the release of his first work of non-fiction. Markus joins an incredibly strong program, and we look forward to hearing insights and wisdom from the internationally bestselling author of six novels, including The Messenger, Bridge of Clay and The Book Thief. The festival will run October 11-14. Sign up to our newsletter to ensure you don't miss important program announcements in coming weeks. First non-fiction for Markus Three Wild Dogs (and the truth) will be released in September this year, chronicling the relationship between Markus Zusak's family and three big, wild, pound-hardened dogs. You will meet Reuben, a wolf at your door with a hacksaw; Archer, blond, beautiful, deadly; and the rancorously-smiling Frosty, who walks like a rolling thunderstorm? The result can only be chaos: there are street fights, park fights, public shamings, property trashing, injuries, stomach pumping, purest comedy, shocking tragedy, and carnage that needs to be seen to be believed . . . not to mention the odd police visit at some ungodly hour of the morning. There is a reckoning of shortcomings and failure, a strengthening of will, but most important of all, an explosion of love – and the joy and recognition of family. From one of the world’s great storytellers comes a tender, motley and exquisitely written memoir; a love letter to the animals who bring hilarity and beauty – but also the visceral truth of the natural world – straight to our doors and into our lives, and change us forever. ‘For the last fifteen years, my family and I have lived a chaotic, comedic, beautiful, shocking, heartbreaking, and ultimately loving life. We’ve brought animals into our home who’ve not only impacted our everyday, but shown us who we are. Writing it was a joy, even amongst the heartbreak. It reminded me why I became a writer in the first place: I do it because I love it. I can feel that in every page, and hope readers will feel it, too.’ - Markus Zusak About Markus Markus Zusak is the international bestselling author of six novels, including The Messenger, Bridge of Clay and The Book Thief – one of the most loved books of the twenty-first century and a New York Times bestseller for more than a decade. His work is translated into more than fifty languages, and has been awarded numerous honours around the world, ranging from literary prizes to bookseller and reader choice awards. His books have been adapted into film, television and theatre. Markus was born in Sydney, and still lives there with his wife, two children, and the last dog standing in a once thriving household of animals.