By Emma Young
A new Perth literary festival was announced on Saturday morning, to be headlined by Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York – global humanitarian, film producer, and New York Times-bestselling author of more than 50 books.
Her Perth-based publisher is promoting her new picture book with copies on sale at the festival ahead of the Christmastime release.
Thriller writer Dervla McTiernan; the Duchess of York; and historical fiction author Natasha Lester.
The festival, to be held in the northern suburb of Joondalup on October 19, was the result of a simple conversation: a City of Joondalup events staffer asking commercially successful Perth author Tess Woods one evening whether she had any ideas for cultural events.
Woods, whose fourth contemporary fiction novel is releasing this September with Penguin, proposed a festival with one key difference from the usual Australian literary festival – it would focus on commercial genre fiction instead of the literary fiction usually preferred for such gatherings.
Woods suddenly found herself the director of an event organisations were falling over themselves to support, with not only the City sponsorship but the local Peter Cowan Writers Centre offering to host and the northern Edith Cowan University campus providing a 350-seat auditorium.
Dymocks Joondalup and Dymocks Australia have each separately committed funding, and major publishers stumped up to fly their authors over.
This has resulted in a lineup including not only the Duchess but globally bestselling Perth-based writers Dervla McTiernan (thrillers) and Natasha Lester (historical), Looking for Alibrandi author Melina Marchetta, acclaimed novelist Tony Birch, homegrown sci-fi and thriller writers Sara Foster, Holly Wainwright, Michael Trant and Donna Mazza, children’s authors Kylie Howarth and James Foley and more, in back-to-back genre-based panels.
“Popular fiction gives us a chance to escape from the stress of the everyday. When we read romance, crime, fantasy, thrillers – any kind of genre fiction really – we lose ourselves in a story,” Woods said.
“It brings balance to busy lives and takes our minds off our day-to-day problems. Getting invested in a character-rich, fast-paced story can help with loneliness and boredom. Reading fiction is a balm for the soul.”
The day will end with a rare opportunity for Perth authors – a separately ticketed speed-pitching session with agents and representatives of Penguin, Pantera Press, Fremantle Press and Magabala Books looking to sign completed manuscripts from children’s, middle grade, young adult, adult and First Nations authors.
Publishers will also spill their secrets in an industry panel.
Woods said there was a clear need for events to embrace fiction generally overlooked for festivals.
“Popular fiction is often called “easy to read” fiction. But being easy to read doesn’t mean it’s easy to write,” she said.
“Creating compelling narratives and characters that readers invest in is difficult to achieve, no matter what … some of Australia’s most talented authors write genre fiction, and their storytelling is just as impressive as their non-fiction and more literary fiction counterparts.
“Writing is a lonely business and reading is often done in isolation so for writers who have sometimes spent years creating their stories and for readers who have been devouring those stories for years, the opportunity to meet and share their love of books in person is so uplifting.
“Hopefully we’ll get more people to try putting down their phones and getting lost in a good book.”
Tickets to the Festival of Fiction are now open. Ticket sales to the pitching sessions will open next month.
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