Auld lang wotsit

That time of the year again, when all the tv channels look back at the year and we all say “ooh, I forgot that happened” or “oh goodness, did xx die?!”. Or, in some cases, “blimey, is xx still alive?!”.

And this year the reminiscing is going to be even worse as it’s the end of the decade.

However, 2009 is feeling pretty good coming from the end of the most successful Melbourne Writers Festival ever, and with the sun shining, and the holidays upon us. Birds are singing outside my window, children are walking past chattering happily, and evil Santa is yet to make his appearance.

Hope you all have a great break, eat too much, drink too much and enjoy lying down all boxing day watching the test. Bliss. .

Helenka

We’re he-e-e-e-r-e

Ah, finally we’ve made it to the shiny new premises at the newly entitled Wheeler Centre at the corner of Little Lonsdale and Swanston Streets, in the old museum building. It’s been quite a process to get here, but finally, finally we are esconced in the basement, looking out at builders’ legs as they finalise the lift, and the entrance to our space.

Still living out of boxes and crates of course, but we’re getting there, even though the main question is “Has anyone seen the…..?”.

Our new festival director, Steve Grimwade, is very busy talking to writers, publishers and agents about the 2010 program, and already some exciting news about potential guests for next year. You’ll just have to make sure you subscribe to our e-bulletin for news!

Apart from the lovely building, the brand new computers (bliss after years of elderly equipment and software drag), new furniture and sharing space with fellow writing organisations, there is an absolute plethora of fantastic eating spaces, shops and other vitals of urban living which has been lacking in Southbank. All I need now is to track out my new cycling route!

Helenka
Festival Manager

Foot sore and footloose

Last day at the festival is all about bump out.  I spend most of the day either taking things apart or getting ready to take things apart.  There are a couple of last minute dramas to contend with, one of which is pretty intense, ending with someone in tears which is horrible, and I’m certainly walking, talking and dealing with things as much as ever, but I do have time for a last breakfast in ACMI Lounge with most of the festival staff which is fun.  And  later I share a cheesecake with Chay-ya, the artist who created our scrabble boards in the upper plaza which have been a great success.  

I summon all the staff to the atrium for a group shot by Jim our photographer.  I’m not sure if we are all silly through fatigue or elation that the festival has been such a success.  Pretty sure evil Steve does some bunny ears, and Louise nearly falls asleep in the flower bed.  

A woman stops me in the atrium to compliment me (us) on how fantastic the festival has been.  Someone else comes by and says she’s had the best time ever at any MWF.  A long time punter tells me that she loved the deckchairs.  Mark Rubbo gives me the final hug for the festival and seems generally pleased with how it’s all gone.   

Chris Flynn gives me a hug to help me get through the day, and  Ralph from Jolimont Expresso shouts me a soup he made himself.  It’s delicious. He’s been trying to make me have lunch every day, but this is the first time I’ve had time for it.  Some days I’ve got home at 11pm and realised I haven’t eaten since breakfast.  It’s not good or sensible I know, but it’s so busy during festival time, you don’t realise you’ve gone all day without eating.  

Then its dealing with tradies – armies of men taking things apart and toting big trolleys full of equipment.  I haven’t lost a single bit of furniture, but we have lost the trolley for the marquee.   Everyone has their  bump out sheets and the box offices start to come down, the green room gets dismantled though all the festival equipment is left in the middle of Tjanabi, so I have to get people to come  back to take it to the Edge for loading up!  All the banners are gathered up throughout the venues, and all the documentation.  

I say bye to our wonderful FOH coordinator Zohar who has made such a difference to the festival this year.  The volunteers start leaving and then the last event finishes, and we all swoop into the venue taking everything down to the loading bay and Gen’s sturdy van which is doubling as our production vehicle. 

I think I’m holding it together, not forgetting anything, synchronising all pack downs and not getting too stressed. All the glasses bar one come back, and the jugs; the laptops are gathered up and all the unused volunteer and author bags returned.

Tom and the production team Gen and Will  make sure all the techie stuff arrives back at the temporary office at BMW Edge, and we make three trips in the van taking everything back to the office in Sturt Street. Jane is the driver for two of them and comes back to the office looking grey with fatigue.  

I can’t believe how much stuff we’ve gathered!  Everyone is so exhausted that we can barely speak.  We sit on the floor in the temporary office, sharing a meal of fries, and some wine and talk about something or other and wait for the festival club to end so we can finish bump out and go home.  I’m scared I’ll never be able to get back up from the floor, I feel about 80.  My feet and legs are painful from all the walking and those damn stairs up from the BMW Edge, and from the unyielding floor of Federation Square!  It’ll take more than a few sleeps for them to recover I know.  Jane says one of the volunteers had a pedometer to track her walking.  I don’t know that I want to know how much I’ve walked over the last 11 days.   

I make everyone give me their Fed Square security swipe cards and walkie talkies.  It’s really the end of the festival.

Nina and I do a final sweep to make sure we have everything and already its like we were never there, with the cleaners sweeping up the last of the tickets, and just the skeleton of the bookshop waiting for collection.

Festival club finishes, we all sweep in and pull everything out.  It’s done.  We’re out of there by 10.30pm. Louise disappears into the city to catch a tram.  I say, see you Monday and think probably there should be something more ceremonial given its the end of the festival, in each other’s pockets, ears and heads for ten days.

Gen gives me a ride home and I sink into my couch with exquisite relief.  It’s all over, it’s a great success, I can sleep in, my feet will recover and I can eat normal meals.  All I need do is find that missing trolley.  Tomorrow.

Helenka
Festival Manager

Smells like…

The atrium at Federation Square is quiet. A whirr of a coffee machine off in the distance, and a regular clump clump from Readings bookshop as they set up books for the day. Some muzak, thankfully unidentifiable, is humming through the airwaves. And then. And then a noise in the background, a gentle hum, a louder drone. Getting louder. And then BLAM. In comes the first schools group, 21 13 year olds, followed by more and more groups, led by their harassed teachers shouting in vain to keep them under some semblance of control. The festival’s schools program has started. 10,000 students in 3 days.

They come in waves, getting louder and louder and then shuffling into the sessions for the hour, bouncing off each other,  yelling, bumping into  everything, putting their tickets out to be scanned, and barging into the venues.  

Peace reigns for a while. Then the riffs of noise start up again as they all come out in the same gamboling, uncoordinated, bumping way, eating, drinking, just sucking in life as they go about their day.  Eventually they disperse to make way for the next tsunami of school groups.

I go into the venue.  It’s littered with bits of paper and unidentifiable flotsam.  The whole place smells of hormones – wafting through the space looking for somewhere to implant themselves.

I back out.

It’s exhausting.We all feel we’ve survived some spectacular, some cataclysm.  But it’s fun, energetic, life affirming. 

Later that day, the cleaners at Federation Square email me to say they’ll have to charge extra for after the schools. 

Two more days before we go back to the main program. 

Helenka
Festival Manager

Art for arts sake

Talked to Chay-ya, the artist who is creating our artwork for the festival, and the colour is ORANGE! So congratulations to Michelle for picking the winning colour.

It was nearly mustard though. We were both entranced by a man of mature years, passing by in the plaza, who was wearing mustard cord trousers, and darker mustard top, and sporting a cane. He looked fantastic! And if only he had had a green beret he would have been Flinders Street station in human form. But we gathered ourselves from such whimsy, and orange it is.
I’m very excited and hope that everyone takes the opportunity to interact with the artwork, its fun. It’ll be right by our information booth in the upper plaza, by Il Pomodoro and the Australian Racing Museum. Information and fun in one place!

Just over a week to go, bump in is on Thursday 19th, and whilst the office looks like a warehouse with boxes everywhere, everything is under control, and calm. Mind you the coffee run gets earlier and earlier every morning.

The devil, we agree, is in the detail.

Helenka
Festival Manager

Small talk

I’m sure people think we talk literature  at the festival office. Well, now and then, we do actually have conversations about (gasp) books. I remember having a conversation with Arnold Zable about yiddish literature and us both being rather surprised that he’d rung the festival office and we’d actually talked about writing!

But generally of course not.  Today for example we had a great conversation about Muumuus and whether we could get away with wearing them.  (Consensus was sadly no). And then the drama that is unfolding at MIFF; a staff member’s ‘princess shoes’, tram routes and whether living in Bentleigh East was too far away.

I did talk to ‘my’ artist though and give her the suggestions you sent for the colour of the artwork.  Stay tuned on that one!

All our signage is starting to be created.  I hope you have had time to check out the box office in Swanston Street and the beautiful skins created by JWT and installed by Evan Evans.  Looks stunning.  The banners and signs now being developed are going to look great.  Look out for the banners coming on Flinders Street station in mid/late August. And then everything else hits the streets on 21st August.

Anyone seen our posters in the ‘burbs?

Helenka
Festival Manager

Artwork competition

Well it’s all very exciting – the program is out, the website is live – and the compliments (and the tickets!) are coming thick and fast. You like us!  

Our box office is going great guns and already some sell outs. Which ones? Check out our website to keep up to date. Also just posted on our website is a video of festival director, Rosemary Cameron, talking about the 2009 program. A first for us, and good fun.

Not much to report however of much interest; the climatic week of the program launch now gives way to the mundanity of actually getting the festival to happen! What can I say?  

Well, I’m working with a local artist on creating fabulous artwork  that will bring the Fed Square plaza to life.  (Well of course, she’s doing the artwork, I’m just, um, watching).  That’s not mundane, and is great fun.  You’re all going to enjoy playing with it too.

Question: what colour should it be?  Now there’s a question when you don’t know what I’m talking about.  But yes, there’s artwork. And we need to decide on a colour for part of it.  What colour should it be?  Take a punt and let me know.  No clues except remember that it’s going to be in Federation Square plaza.  Book to the person who picks the winning colour.  Pick a colour, any colour.

Now, back to the Tour de France for me. Go Cadell!

Helenka
Festival Manager

This is the now

We’re all flat chat, it’s our big week of launches of all kinds,  and I know you are all rushing out first thing this Friday, 17th July, to buy your copies of The Age which will contain the festival program. And then, of course, straight to the festival website to book your tickets!

So,  very busy, very exciting, and I’m determined to  make time to read at least some of the authors coming to this year’s festival before too much time passes.  I’m currently enjoying John Boyne’s The House of Special Purpose, a mix of past and present, Tsarist Russia, modern England and wartime Europe.  I’m not sure yet whether its a tragedy or a romance; its a story of a life.  It’s certainly intriguing and compelling. How lucky we all are to be living in peaceful and prosperous times, here in Australia at this time.  It always stuns me how governments in all parts of the world still regard their people as an entity to be plundered, abused, dominated and terrorised; and then get surprised that their people rise up and protest.  The old quote is so often ignored. Stupid as well as immoral.

I”m also dipping into David Kilcullen’s The Accidental Guerrilla and Catherine Therese’ The Weight of Silence. And will give them both the time they deserve once this week is over and the festival is well and truly launched.

All our hard work coming to fruition. Wonderful.

Helenka
Festival Manager

Full steam ahead

I get an email from our insurance agent, needing an update on our insurance policies.  I’m not sure whether this is a welcome diversion from the intensity of festival preparation, or not! It’s easy to forget the world outside when you’ve got all these festival deadlines coming up one after the other.  (Note to self: must find out where my perspective has gone).

A triumph in that evil Steve, the festival box office manager, and myself, have got the professional development program on line and up for sale, a week before the official program goes live.  Already there are some takers for one of the masterclasses.  Hurrah!  The web works!  The ticketing works!

Meantime, my lovely web volunteers continue to do their work off site uploading the text for 300 + sessions, and 400+ writers. It’s a massive task. All will be revealed on 17 July,. I’m doing work on the web this weekend in the office; need to have quiet space to concentrate on it, and I’ll make a note of how many films, walks, dinners and other events we’re doing for my next blog. We’re really pushing sales through the internet this year.  Went up from 20% to 60% in 2008, and we’re hoping to make that 75% in 2009.

An exception to the current work.work.work regime is the glory that is the Tour de France.  Nothing like watching other people work hard (very hard!) biking up mountains, dodging dogs and mad ‘devils’, in fantastic countryside in the hot, hot sun to help you find your perspective tucked under a sofa cushion.  Looks a bit depressing for local boy Cadel Evans  but I always look forward to the Basque sections of the race, and the wonderfully named Euskaltel Euskadi team.  Suddenly the mountains turn orange.

Helenka
Festival Manager

Hives and bees

The office is a hive of activity, with staff groaning, sighing and occasionally yelling out ‘wahoo’! Yes, it is get the program to The Age time.  Nothing like a healthy deadline to get the adrenalin pumping!  It’s an exciting time; it means that the festival is really and truly happening.  Of course, it also means that the first major deadline of the year has passed.

The next deadline is 17 July when the program comes out in The Age, is live on the festival website, and the box office opens.  Then we’re open for business!

So with just over 3 weeks to go, the busy little bees at festival hq are head down, down to the wire and wired for action.  It’s a frightening deadline; there is no leeway here, come the day we’re live, ready or not.  And then after that of course is the final deadline of August 21 when the festival begins.

The reality of seeing the program in print perks us all up though.  It’s a great program this year with some truly interesting and unusual guests among the more popular and well known.  I love that about writers festivals, indeed all festivals.  Sometimes you just find a little gem of a writer, a film, a play, that you stumbled upon and it was magic.  I’m already ticking off some of these and hope to be able to schedule spare time for myself to check them out.  Since I plan the staff schedule, I can surely be forgiven for making it suit myself?!

I’m looking forward to the Sounds & Music season at The Toff in Town.  Apart from the wonderful McSweeney’s launch, there are a number of other events that are really appealing.  I’ll be on duty at the Big Ideas@RMIT Capitol Theatre season, but will have to sneak out to catch them.

Helenka
Festival Manager