The Australia Council for the Arts supports Australian writers to appear at local and international literary festivals.

There they promote, discuss and share their work and their worlds with readers hungry for new and illuminating stories, perspectives and words.

In the past year, Australia’s unique storytellers have spread the word to festivals from Montpellier in France to Ubud in Indonesia.

At home, Australian communities – from Kununurra in the west to the big cities of Sydney and Melbourne – have been intoxicated by narratives, which reflect and illuminate their lives.

The Australia Council provided more than $600,000 to help writers spread the word last year, through Presentation and Promotion grants and the Literature International Market Development Strategy.

Australian and regional literary festivals

Adelaide Writers’ Week is Australia’s longest running and most influential literary festival. Held every two years, the next festival will be in March 2008.

Allwrite! is the Come Out Festival’s books and writing program and one of Australia’s largest literature festivals for children and young people. It was held 15 to 18 May 2007 in Adelaide.

The Auckland Writers and Readers Festival is festival of ideas to celebrate books and reading, featuring top New Zealand, Pacific and overseas writers. It was held 24 to 27 May 2007.

The Brisbane Writers’ Festival is the premier literary event in Queensland. It will be held 12 to16 September 2007.

The Byron Bay Writers’ Festival is billed as the most picturesque writers festival in Australia, held on the NSW far north coast. It will be held 26 to 29 July 2007.

Canberra Readers and Writers Festival has annual themes range from Deserts and desertion to this year’s Icy Worlds – Cool Words. It will be held from 21 to 23 September 2007.

The Emerging Writers’ Festival connects writers to peers and colleagues, audiences; and a future of literature. It was held from 25 to 27 May 2007 in Melbourne.

InterplayM is an international organisation for the development of young playwrights. Every two years Interplay organises the largest festival of young playwrights in the world.

The JUTE Playwrights’ Conference has generated an unprecedented level of interest in the ‘regional voice’ being developed in far north Queensland.

The Kimberley Writers Festival is held in Kununurra each June.

The Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival is Asia’s premier English-literature event, hosting 60 authors from around the world. It was held from 12 to 21 March 2007.

The Melbourne Writers’ Festival is one of Australia’s leading literary festivals. It will be held from 24 August to 7 September 2007.

The Mildura Writers’ Festival is three days of words, food and wine on the banks of the Murray River held over a weekend in late July.

National Poetry Week celebrates its fifth year in 2007, and was most recently held in partnership with the Australian Poetry Festival.

The National Young Writers Festival (NYWF) provides advice, inspiration and challenges for both emerging and more established writers.

The Perth International Arts Festival – Writers’ Week has something to cater for every taste. It will be held 22 to 28 February 2008.

The Sydney Writers’ Festival is a weeklong annual celebration of reading and writing. It was held 28 May to 3 June 2007.

Tasmanian Living Writers’ Week is a brand new festival of words, not just in one location but across the entire state.

The Ubud Writers and Readers Festival brings together writers, readers, artists and performers from Indonesia, South-East Asia and the West with the theme Sekala Niskala: The Seen & Unseen. It will be held 27 to 30 September 2007.

Wordstorm 2006 was the fourth Northern Territory Writers’ Festival held in Darwin.