The 3-day long Jugiong Writers’ Festival was a rousing success, with writers attending from all over the country. The inaugural festival, which was held on the 6th – 8th of March, attracted high-calibre and amateur wordsmiths alike.
The festival was opened by former Deputy Prime Minister, Australian ambassador to the Vatican, and author, Tim Fisher. Fisher has authored books on Australian history and even trains. His recently published book is titled Maestro John Monash: Australia’s Greatest Citizen General. N
Writers’ workshops were held, along with poetry recitals, live music, and a book editor with over two decades of experience reviewed manuscripts.
On Friday the 6th, a small schools workshop was held for schoolchildren from Jugiong, Wee Jasper, Bongongo and Gundagai South. Prizes were awarded to children who wrote the best version of ‘Poucher the Flying Kangaroo’, written by author Pendrill (Penny) Charles, who held the workshop.
Children were also catered for on Saturday, with two children’s workshops held by children’s authors.
Workshops were held by published authors covering a range of topics from e-book publishing to life writing. Authors also held talks on 12 subjects angled towards benefitting budding authors. A total of 14 published authors attended the festival.
A poetry competition was also held, and it was taken out by Anne Green with her poem ‘Water under the Bridge’.
Organiser of the festival, Joy Coggan, was very impressed with the turn-out for the first-time event. “We were so pleased, it was as big and as good as we could hope for,” she said.
Organisers of the event would like to thank the Harden District Education Foundation (HDEF) for their support.
A second Jugiong Writers’ Festival is envisaged for 2017.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fisher was on hand to open the inaugural Jugiong Writers’ Festival. He is pictured with published author Sulari Gentill in the Jugiong Hall.
