Perth Writers Festival

The programme for the Perth Writers Festival runs from 4^th to the 7^th March.

On the Friday I’m appearing in an all-day seminar called, The A-Z of Getting Published with such luminaries of the publishing world as literary agent Lyn Tranter www.austlit.com Meredith Curnow, Publisher of Vintage and Knopf at Random House in Australia www.randomhouse.com.au Mandy Brett, senior editor at Text Publishing  http://textpublishing.com.au/ Clive Newman, Director of Fremantle Press http://www.fremantlepress.com.au/ Terri-Ann White, the director of UWA publishing http://www.uwap.uwa.edu.au/ and Emma Morris, publicist with Scribe Publications  http://www.scribepublications.com.au. It should be a great day with lots of the inside skinny on how to be published.

On Saturday at 2.00pm I’m chairing a debate between Raymond Gaita and Antony Loewenstein  on Gaza: Zionism and Anti-Zionism. The start point will be the invasion of Gaza in 2008, which provoked worldwide condemnation of Israel and even questions about its right to exist. Some asked why other nations acting unjustly don’t face debate about their sovereignty. Raymond and Anthony will be discussing these and other issues in what is bound to be a robust and sparkling debate… with me in the middle.

On Sunday at 9.30 I’m chairing a panel called The Death of Print with four experienced critics and writers:  James Bradley, Lev Grossman, Angela Meyer and Geordie Williamson who will be surveying the entire literary landscape to see how much it has been altered by the internet. Although the death of the book is constantly being proclaimed is it being exaggerated? What is the future of books and reading? Will e-books change the way the publishing industry works? Lev Grossman, Geordie Williamson, Angela Meyer and James Bradley will be weighing into the debate… and I’ll be on the sideline listening with bated breath.