Reason 1: The books
Whenever I go to a writer’s festival, I choose one book to buy.
Before I even get to the Kyogle Writers Festival I have my eye on a few after perusing the program.
I confess, I like to sniff a new book, to crack it open and be the first person to set eyes on the pages, the story – on everything.
At the Kyogle Festival there will be a pop-up bookshop.
I’m hoping the bookshop is near one of Kyogle’s cafes as I may need a few lattes while I decide which book to buy.
Reason 2: The words
As a writer I love words – finding the right ones to express the story.
As a reader I love words in a different way – soaking in them like bath, re-reading a sentence if it strikes me or is a thing of beauty.
Reason 3: The wisdom
What a wonderful word this is – and of course wisdom is fluent and means different things to different people.
For me wisdom is an ah-ha moment. Sometimes sudden but more like a soft but insistent breeze that tousles my hair and makes me whisper – “ah-ha.”.
Wisdom can offer an insight, a confirmation or an epiphany.
There’s that wisdom that you take home and keep forever.
One of my favourite quotes is from Arundhati Roy’s God of Small Things (she isn’t at this year’s festival, but who knows, one day).
‘Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.’
Is that not stunning?
You will find words, sentences, quotes that steal your attention. These are the treasures you take home from hanging out at the Kyogle Writers Festival.
Mary Oliver’s poem The Swan stayed with me from the first moment I heard it read aloud.
The last lines are:
And have you too finally figured out what beauty is for?
And have you changed your life?
Change your life, be inspired by words and wisdom at the Kyogle Writers Festival.
Here are the artists you will see and hear from on the May 12-15 festival weekend.
Enjoy the town of Kyogle. It’s a friendly and beautiful place to visit.
Buy tickets to the festival here.
This article appeared on indyNR.com on 1 May 2022.