Emerging Writers' Festival history

Our Festival aims to support grassroots writing by providing a place to showcase the amazing diversity of work that new Australian writers are creating. At the Emerging Writers' Festival, authors outside the mainstream can present their writing without the normal boundaries of literary fashion or favour. It's a great opportunity for readers too, to hear fresh work from the best writers they haven't heard of – yet.

The Emerging Writers' Festival developed out of Express Media's "Make It Up" zine fair. This day of workshops and presentations also included the independent press and zine fair – still a key element of the Festival you know today. By 2003 the event's success had outgrown its limited format and size, and Express Media worked in partnership with the Victorian Writers' Centre (VWC) to develop a program of events that catered specifically to emerging writers. Express Media's then Artistic Director Richard Watts recognised that writing was changing – but so were writers. Because emerging writers are not merely to be found among young writers, the Express Media-VWC partnership was crucial in defining and welcoming a diverse audience of writers at early career stages,

"Writing no longer means just the book or the novel," says Richard Watts, inaugural Festival Director in 2004. "While these are still perfectly valid forms of literary expression, many writers go unrecognised by the established literary industry because they are writing for on-line publication or for performance. Our Festival aims to support grassroots writing by providing a place to showcase the amazing diversity of work that new Australian writers are creating. At the Emerging Writers' Festival, authors outside the mainstream can present their writing without the normal boundaries of literary fashion or favour. It's a great opportunity for readers too, to hear fresh work from the best writers they haven't heard of – yet."

The 2004 Festival presented 68 writers from six states for a weekend at the Victoria Hotel's conference centre, as well as Make It Up IV at the Melbourne Town Hall.

2005 Festival Director Terry Jaensch came to us fresh from fresh froman Asialink Residency in Singapore, where he collaborated on a volume of poetry with Singaporean poet Cyril Wong. Terry drew 56 artists together from all over Australia for a very full weekend.

In 2006 the Emerging Writers' Festival took on a life of its own, now fully independent of parent organisations Express Media and the VWC. The two organisations continue to have key roles to play in the Festival, however, and it continues to be managed by Express Media, though with its own specialised board. Having outgrown the Victoria Hotel's space, the Festival moved to the Melbourne Town Hall, where 81 artists from almost every state presented work and ideas to a record attendance.

2006 and 2007 Director Steve Grimwade expanded the scope of the Festival to include additional special events, such as the Scrabble Saturday night performance event and literary speed dating, and new in 2007: the "Rich Text" art exhibition and the 48-Hour Play Generator. The 2006 Festival had an indigenous writers' focus, while in 2007 we present a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) writers' focus. A new partnerhsip with Federation Square meant that the Festival will be presented both at the Melbourne Town Hall and Federation Square in 2007, with umbrella events at the RMIT Gallery, Trades Hall, Ross House and the Victorian Writers' Centre.

In 2008 the EWF had its first sell out festival with over 350 people enjoying the Melbourne town hall program and another 1000 people across the festivals events/ 2008 saw the introduction of the ambassadors program, the EWF’s unique artists in residence program.

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