ADELAIDE WRITERS' WEEK 2015 Sets Full Program; Runs Feb 28-March 5

The third annual Adelaide Writers' Week will take place from Saturday 28 February to Thursday 5 March with six days of conversation and debate set in the beautiful Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden. Adelaide Writers' Week, as with the Adelaide Festival of Arts, is celebrating its 30th event in 2015.

For the first time, the Adelaide Writers' Week 2015 program guide is available free of charge, and can be collected at 31 Bendigo Bank branches across South Australia from Wednesday 21 January. The guide can also be collected from all good bookshops and participating newsagents across Adelaide from Saturday 24 January. You can access the guide online HERE.

In her fourth year as Adelaide Writers' Week Director, Laura Kroetsch said, "This year Adelaide Writers' Week celebrates 55 years of bringing readers and writers together. While some elements of the event are new, at its heart it remains a unique opportunity for both writers and readers to celebrate the written word. This year's program is a rich mix of stories and ideas that will make for both a wonderful week of conversation and a great year of reading."

This year 82 international and local writers will participate in the event. Highlights among the latest writers to be announced include, Nicholas Shakespeare (UK), Willy Vlautin (US), Carl Hoffman (US), Sophie Cunningham, David Marr and Omar Musa. This year's event is dedicated to one of Australia's most gifted writers, Robert Dessaix, author of Night Letters, Arabesques and recently, What Days are For.

Those who missed Julia Gillard's sold-out talk in October 2014 will have another chance to hear her discuss her memoir My Story in conversation with Laura Kroetsch.

Of the many conversations that will take place in the Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden, you will hear stories about Australia and the bush, families of all types, childhood and youth, history, end times, adventures through time, hope, artists, anxiety, troubled America, politics and sexual politics, migration, money, New York, travel, medicine, and Palestine.

The iconic Writers' Week entrance arch is this year transformed into a native living wall. For the last 12 months, the team at Writers' Week have been working closely with local native species champions Trees For Life to develop living walls for the event site. The entrance arch, stage backdrops and information desk will feature more than 3000 South Australian native plants, consisting of a mix of 35 species of grasses, succulents, groundcovers and climbers. Director Laura Kroetsch and Stage Designer Bruce McKinven are the brains behind the project, which will be a living work of art in various shades of green and multiple textures.

In keeping with the theme of native flora, artist Katie Scott was commissioned to create the beautiful artwork for the native plants seen on the Adelaide Writers' Week poster. Ink stamps of native plants and native seed packets will also be featured giveaways during the week, including Kids' Weekend.

Kids' Weekend returns with two big days of stories, games, painting, printing, parades and performances. In the big red story tent Andy Griffiths, Ted Prior, Andrew Joyner and a little mouse called Maisy join Story Trove, who will be performing iconic children's stories in foley. Nest Studio returns with three letter presses, a handmade book, environmentally friendly watercolours, and a family friendly library. Bendigo Bank, as corporate Presenting Partner of Kids' Weekend, have introduced a screen printing activity and Evelyn Roth's Nylon Zoo returns with a big blue whale and a mighty salmon for journeys into the deep.

This year's ticketed session The Third Plate with influential chef and author Dan Barber (USA) includes lunch, wine and a discussion on the politics of food. With his new book The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food, Barber -- whose TED Talks have amassed over two million views -- explores the philosophies that have become central to the farm-to-table movement and proposes a new definition for delicious and ethical eating.

DETAILS:

Adelaide Writers' Week 2015
Pioneer Women's Memorial Garden, King William Road
Saturday 28 February - Thursday 5 March (Kids' Weekend: Saturday 28 February and Sunday 1 March)
FREE - no bookings required

Ticketed Session:
The Third Plate: Dan Barber
Where: Jolleys Boathouse Restaurant, 1 Jolleys Lane
When: Wed 4 Mar, 12pm - 2pm
Tickets: Adults $85 - includes main course, sides, coffee and a glass of wine.
Dan's visit is made possible in partnership with Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

FULL LIST OF WRITERS:
*denotes newly listed writers who were not announced at launch in October 2014

International

Ken Babstock (CAN)*
Martha Baillie (CAN)*
Dan Barber (US)
Elia Barceló (SPA) *
Jonas T Bengtsson (DEN)
Alastair Bonnett (UK)
Helen Castor (UK)
John Darnielle (US)
Kate de Goldi (NZ)
Michel Faber (UK)
Esther Freud (UK)
Roxane Gay (US)
Marcos Giralt-Torrente (SPA)*
Smith Henderson (US)
Carl Hoffman (US)*
Terrence Holt (US)
Anne Kennedy (NZ)
Porochista Khakpour (IRA/US)
John Lanchester (UK)
Cat Thao Nguyen (VIET)*
Jenny Offill (US )
Heather O'Neill (CAN)
Jerry Pinto (IND)
Tom Rachman (CAN)
Joanna Rakoff (US)
Miranda Richmond Mouillot (FRA)
Tom Rob Smith (UK)
Nicholas Shakespeare (UK)*
Jenny Uglow (UK)
Willy Vlautin (US)*
Ian Wedde (NZ)
Damien Wilkins (NZ)

Australian

Munjed Al Muderis*
James Boyce
James Bradley
Peter Brune*
Annie Buist*
Leila Yusaf Chung
Nicholas Clements*
Matthew Condon
Sophie Cunningham*
Julian Davies*
Phil Day*
Robert Dessaix*
Ceridwen Dovey
Martin Edmond*
Chris Flynn
Helen Garner
Julia Gillard*
Jane Gleeson-White
Andy Griffiths
Samela Harris*
Libby Hathorn
Mark Henshaw
Barry Hill
Erik Jensen
Andy Joyner*
Kooshyar Karimi*
Cate Kennedy
Sofie Laguna
Kate Llewellyn
Antony Loewenstein
Joan London
Tim Low
Hugh Mackay
David Marr*
Geoff McGeachin
Dan McGuinness*
Chris McKimmie*
Angela Meyer
Susan Mitchell*
Omar Musa*
Favel Parrett
Ted Prior
Hannie Rayson
Graeme Simsion
Betty Snowden*
Jared Thomas
Ellen van Neerven
Samuel Wagan Watson
Don Watson
Rohan Wilson

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