The Whole Shebang

For me, one of the most satisfying aspects of MWF is how it involves local writers, particularly those who are beginning to dip their tootsies into the tumultuous waters of publishing. There are a range of great workshops designed to nurture the next generation of talent run by our stellar guests – this year for example we have masterclasses taught by Simon Winchester, Elif Batuman, Nadifa Mohamed, Tiffany Murray, Louise Doughty, August Kleinzahler, Louise Welsh, Arnold Zable, Cory Doctorow, Bryce Courtenay, R J Ellory, Peter James, Barbara Trapido, Francis Wheen, Gavin Pretor-Pinney & Amanda Lohrey. Wow. Be warned though, these indispensable classes have very limited places and tend to sell out quickly (some of these already have, sorry!) which is not surprising – how often would you get the chance to sit down for 3 hours with writers like these to discuss your work?

One of the best sessions I attended last year was The Whole Shebang, a mammoth 7 hours of definitive info on how to get ahead in publishing. Supported by the Victorian Writer’s Centre, the Shebang kicks off the festival this year on Friday 27th at 10am and is unmissable (and great value) if you want to get in the game and pick the brains of the industry’s heavy hitters.

What’s at stake here? You’ll get the lowdown on grant writing, networking, drafting, submitting, editing, find out who to talk to and who can help you as the cloak of mystery surrounding publishing falls away. Organisations like the Australian Society of Authors, PEN Melbourne, Express Media, SPUNC, the Australian Poetry Centre and Victorian Writer’s Centre will all be in attendance to make your writing life smoother. On top of that we have guests like Penguin’s charming director of publishing Bob Sessions, Text Publishing supremo Michael Heyward, Scribe’s fiction guru Aviva Tuffield, Sue Hines, Tom Cho, Lisa Dempster, Toni Jordan and a dazzling array of others.

Penguin's Bob Sessions

The Whole Shebang is basically an invaluable once-a-year event that no aspiring writer can afford to miss, so sign up now you budding scribes and let’s see what you’ve got!