We look forward to welcoming another group of fabulous WrICE writers to Australia for events at Melbourne Writers Festival this year, all supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund. Following on from another wonderful residency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in May, this group of writers including Australian Aboriginal writer Ali Cobby Eckermann and one of Australia’s leading young novelists Rajith Savanadasa will perform at two key ensemble events, Writers Across Borders at 2.30pm on Friday 31 August, and WrICE Papers Salon, at 10am on Sunday 2 September, both in ACMI Cinema 1 with WrICE writers Andy Butler, David Carlin, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Joshua Ip, Fiona Murphy, Francesca Rendle-Short, Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas, Rajith Savanadasa, Dicky Senda, Lavanya Shanbhogue, Saaro Umar and Han Yujoo. Also don’t miss Han Yujoo and Ali Cobby Eckermann in For the Love of Dog at 2.30pm on Saturday 1 September.
2018 WrICE Public Events
SATURDAY 25 AUGUST
Local Libraries Series Han Yujoo
6pm, Moonee Ponds Library
Han Yujoo was born in Seoul and is the author of four short story collections. The Impossible Fairytale (to be launched in English for the first time on 1 September) is a fresh and terrifying exploration of the ethics of art making and of the stinging consequences of neglect.
SUNDAY 26 AUGUST
Eulogy for My Career
5pm, Mission to Seafarers Chapel
After the brutal death of your livelihood, how might you bid it farewell? Emerging WrICE writer Andy Butler, along with Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann and Yumi Stynes eulogise the careers they once had as they move through the process of letting go.
FRIDAY 31 AUGUST
Writers Across Borders
WrICE Readings and Panel Discussion
2.30pm, ACMI Cinema 1
This dynamic session sees writers from five countries riff on the real stuff of writing and culture. From India, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia, leading and emerging writers talk about where they connect and differ, and the passions that drive their work. With Ali Cobby Eckermann, Joshua Ip, Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas, Rajith Savanadasa, Dicky Senda, Lavanya Shanbhogue and Han Yujoo. Hosted by Francesca Rendle-Short, introduced by David Carlin.
FRIDAY 31 AUGUST
Radical Poetry: Industry Insights
9.30am, University of Melbourne
Explore the world of contemporary poetry with Singaporean WrICE writer Joshua Ip and experimental poets and academics Bella Li and Eddie Paterson.
FRIDAY 31 AUGUST
Ali Cobby Eckermann 6.30pm, Geelong Library
Meet one of Australia’s greatest living poets and the WrICE Established Writer for 2018. Aboriginal Australian writer Ali Cobby Eckermann is the author of the verse novel Ruby Moonlight, poetry collection Inside My Mother and the memoir Too Afraid to Cry. In 2017 she was awarded Yale University’s Windham-Campbell Prize in poetry. With David McCooey.
SATURDAY 1 SEPTEMBER
For the Love of Dog
2.30pm, Animal Church at 524 Flinders
As the Fauves wisely opined in their 1996 classic, dogs are the best people. Five writers unleash in the Animal Church to sing the praises of the canine. Featuring WrICE Writers Ali Cobby Eckermann and Han Yujoo alongside Tony Birch, First Dog On The Moon and Peter Goldsworthy.
SATURDAY 1 SEPTEMBER
BOOK LAUNCH WrICE & THE LIFTED BROW
Han Yujoo, The Impossible Fairy Tale
4.30pm, The Hill of Content
WrICE and The Lifted Brow present the launch of the English translation of Han Yujoo’s The Impossible Fairytale, a fresh and terrifying exploration of the ethics of art making and of the stinging consequences of neglect.
SATURDAY 1 SEPTEMBER
Me and Melbourne
5.30pm, ACMI The Cube
Keynote speaker and WrICE 2018 Early Career writer Rajith Savanadasa and international students of Victoria reflect on their time and experience in Australia.
SUNDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
WrICE Papers Salon
10am, ACMI Cinema 1
Be immersed in the imaginative worlds of Asia and Australia through a collage of readings on life and death. An ensemble performance weaves together the voices of 12 diverse writers from Mumbai to Melbourne, Seoul to Singapore. With WrICE writers Andy Butler, David Carlin, Ali Cobby Eckermann, Joshua Ip, Fiona Murphy, Francesca Rendle-Short, Gratiagusti Chananya Rompas, Rajith Savanadasa, Dicky Senda, Lavanya Shanbhogue, Saaro Umar and Han Yujoo.
SUNDAY 2 SEPTEMBER
Closing Night Party: You Are There
7pm, Melbourne Museum
The final night of MWF celebrates what it means to let go, as six writers pay tribute to something or someone loved and lost in a night of ritual, healing and farewell. Featuring readings from WrICE writer Ali Cobby Eckermann along with Jessie Cole, Sophie Cunningham, Kate Holden, Mariam Issa and Maria Tumarkin and Megan Washington. Hosted by Rafeif Ismail.