Students have the write stuff at Byron Writers Festival

Here at the Byron Writers Festival 2022, our theme is radical hope. We've invited a lot of authors who have expertise in climate change, gender equality, racial Injustice and then a whole lot of people who are invested in science and environment to to really share their knowledge about what can be done to address some of these really big issues we're facing as a community. It's all about really profiling thinkers who are engaged in this journey of transformation and that is a journey which is really about how we solve the complex challenges that we all face as communities and central to that is really this theme of of transforming tomorrow. What are we going to do now that will set us up to transform tomorrow?

I think what's really interesting about what academics do, about what universities are about is really that deep thinking about how society can be better, how can we change um what we're doing to make a better tomorrow. And here at writers festivals we're taking that deep thought and we're bringing it out to the public for people, everyday people to access and digest. So, it really is a perfect alignment for us to be partnering with SCU because we can do that work together, hand in hand. All of the great moments in history of revolution, of change, of transformation have come from writing and thinking and collectivizing and the kinds of communities that you can build with shared representations through storytelling are utterly transformative.

Being here is like being, you know, immersed in your profession and you get to meet potentially, you know, people that you've read. You get to talk to them. You get to hear them speak. And I think it's an amazing opportunity for them as creative practitioners. Students being out there and helping us to get the word out about great books to read, great authors to discover is a big part of, you know, what we're doing here today. Felt really expansive talking to Dylan and affirming and inspiring, as well. Really, really inspiring.

I feel like Southern Cross have been really incredible in coaching me to be able to perform these interviews. I've never done a formal interview with anyone before and yeah I guess the guidance that they provide us and the opportunity to come as a student because as a student you can't really afford to come to these kinds of things. It's been more than a quarter of a century we can say together and beyond obviously the support, the profess that the University extends to the festival, it's just a fantastic alignment.