PIAF 2015 The Writers Festival

   I have to admit that my favorite part of the Perth International Arts Festival is the Perth Writers Festival. I can't wait to dash over to the beautiful University of Western Australia campus in Crawley with its old buildings,  matured vegetation, wandering peacocks and view of the bay to hear the literati discuss interesting topics. It isn't just for writers. Readers come along for the ride and senior citizens show up in droves for the mental stimulation.  The brochure for the long-weekend  event is well put together for people to chose and chart their way through each day. Half of the one-hour sessions are free and the other half are a reasonable fee of $13.50.  My innate sense of thrift has me leading the blue hair charge to the freebies.

PWF 2015 mementos

   One of the festival days is designated as Family Day. I've learned not to fear attending on this day as there are so many exciting and well-supervised activities, kids do not have a chance to become bored (and thus unruly and bothersome to everyone else.)  A couple of special activities are available to everyone and I asserted my place in line for the free popcorn, the photo booth and to peek at the book made by school kids for the Giants exhibition the previous weekend. One of the offerings was The Future Postal Service (which boldly promised to connect "children and adults one delivery at a time.") whereby kids would write a sentence on a postcard and (under supervision) run to an adult to deliver it. A toothy boy gave me this card. I gave him a baby carrot as a tip. I'm not sure this was the hoped for "connection" but it was what it was.

     Some interesting topics came up: Medical fiction and storytelling (including psychiatry), literature and song lyrics (skipped it--mediocre acoustic guitar music gives me a rash), Kinfolk or slow-food dinner party trends (they are soooo behind my lead) and the emergence of magazines for home decorating. And there seems to be a general trend of has-beens, never-weres, and wannabes who seem to feel their lives are worth documenting in books or movies. Sorry, can't whip up much excitement peering into their delusions-of-grandeur windows.
    I really liked the session on women in the media. Popular local columnist Ros Thomas and national broadcaster Geraldine Doogue shared their experiences with a standing room only crowd.  Both gushed about the immediacy of radio (not a new concept) and the endurance they saw for it in the digital age. The older,  personable Doogue expressed surprise that women seemed to "argue for their limitations"  and that young women were most concerned about work-life balance. From my experience in the industry, these are essentially two fingers on the same hand. A vocation requires more personal investment than the job they may be looking for.  Ros Thomas was concerned about the quality of journalism in the digital information world. "The craft is truth telling," Thomas said, "not repeating whatever is on the web." Sadly, we're still talking about pay inequality.

    A few final observations:
        "Medicine is not a business of victory."
        "Short form (writing) doesn't have to solve everything."
        If the writing is too Australian, it is less international. (yes, some translation or alteration required)
        Writers aren't necessarily great speakers.  ('fraid so, maybe that's why they write)
        Young authors start every speech or reply with "Yeah."
        New venue option this year. It's no longer just the traditional lecture hall, large tent or performance grove created by mature trees.  Enter the very intimate caravan camper locale!

Intimate Writers Fest venue

PWF tent venue