Festival Reflections

Reflecting back on the Bendigo Writers Festival, it was the best independent experience of my life. I have two overall reflections I have made about the festival which perfectly sums up my experiences. 

One would have to be the freedom I was given to mould the program to my interests thanks to my university subject, Writers in Action (WIA). As I’m interested in both journalism and creative writing, there was an array of sessions which suited both, for example the ‘Tools of the Trade’ and ‘Make it New’ sessions. I was exposed to an abundance of knowledge and insight into the processes of writing, publishing and journalism. I wouldn’t have discovered this if it wasn’t for the freedom we were given as WIA students.

The other aspect of the festival I enjoyed was having the opportunity to explore a new town and its society. By the end of the festival, I did feel a sense of community in Bendigo and felt sad when I had to leave after it all ended. However, I will come back one day though, how can I not? Through the festival in Bendigo, I was able to observe the community at its best. I definitely see myself coming back again for the next Writers Festival.

And speaking of the next festival, if I were to attend again there would be two things I’d do differently. They would be:

1) Allow more time to chat to authors briefly at the book signings'

  

2) Fit in some more practical sessions from the Writer’s Fringe Program

The only author/s I talked to were Lauren Mitchell, Briohny Doyle and Barry Jones. I felt a bit down after an amazing session knowing I couldn’t go to chat to a particular author because I had to run off for my other sessions. At future festivals I will make sure I leave a 30 minute break or so between sessions that I think would stand out the most.

Throughout the festival I also felt like I didn’t attend enough sessions from the Writer’s Fringe Program. The only session I attended was ‘Creating a Digital Presence through blogging’ on Thursday 11^th August, which was a great learning experience about blogging. During the festival, I was thinking of going to the ‘Zine Making’ session with Kelly Robson and looking back now I wish I did. When I come to the festival again, I will have more balance in my program so I may experience all aspects of the festival. Till then, I will focus on developing my writing in journalism and fiction.