Welcome to True Story Festival, a showcase of some of the best creative non-fiction writing in Australia today.
Fiction gets a lot of attention at other writers and readers festivals - but True Story Festival's focus is on real life, true stories because they have a direct, relatable relevance, and their unique perspectives may help us navigate this increasingly complex world. It’s not just the planet that is overheating, sometimes it’s the temperature of debate.
This year at True Story: Stranger Than Fiction you’ll find memoirs ranging from the humorous to the spiritual, together with voices sharing ideas about community resilience, cultural identity, local media and regional food, Dharawal language and First Nations knowledge sharing, and the courage it takes to become one of our finest investigative journalists.
SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER
11.30AM-1.30PM THINK GLOBAL, WRITE LOCAL
Workshop with Alan Sunderland
Join respected journalist, author of The Ten Rules of Reporting and former ABC Editorial Director Alan Sunderland to learn key principles of telling local stories for local readers.
2.15 HALL DOORS OPEN
2.30-2.40PM WELCOME TO COUNTRY
Jodi Edwards
2.40-3.40PM KEYNOTE ADDRESS: AFTERBURN
Bronwyn Adcock won the Walkley Book Award for Currowan, her extraordinary moment-by-moment account of the mega fire that ripped through the south coast. The Currowan fire – ignited by a lightning strike in a remote forest and growing to engulf the New South Wales South Coast - was one of the most terrifying episodes of Australia’s Black Summer.
She delivers an exclusive, specially commissioned keynote address about the tensions that have arisen as affected south coast communities face the grim realities of climate change and strive together for recovery and resilience. As we again face the imminent threat of an El Nino summer, what lessons can be wrought from the tragedy of the fires?
4-5PM DHARAWAL LANGUAGE
Jodi Edwards with David Roach
Following her hugely popular introduction to the Dharawal language at last year’s festival, join Yuin woman with Dharawal kinship Dr Jodi Edwards as she teaches us words for food from her most recent book, an illustrated collection of recipes, Dharawal Bush Tucker: Bawa Dhanjma.
5.15-6.15PM LAUGHING AND CRYING
Wendy Harmer with Caroline Baum
Best known as a stand-up comedian and radio broadcaster, in Lies My Mirror Told Me, Wendy Harmer has written a startlingly candid memoir about her disfigurement at birth and a childhood that made no allowance for self-pity, as well as her rise to the top of the international comedy scene and as the most highly paid woman on radio. Behind the scenes, things were not always as jaunty as they seemed. Unique, brave, uninhibited and fearless, Wendy Harmer has a story to tell unlike any other.
Stay for dinner with our neighbours COLEDALE RSL!
SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER
10-11AM TRUTH TELLER
Chris Masters with Margaret Throsby
A titan of investigative journalism, multi award-winning journalist and author Chris Masters talks to one of Australia’s most loved interviewers, Margaret Throsby, about his childhood on the far south coast, his remarkable career investigating the powerful and the corrupt and the personal toll of uncovering the truth. This promises to be an eye-opening event.
11.15AM-12.15PM BELONGING AND OTHER CHALLENGES
Eda Gunaydin with Sarah Ayoub
Turkish Australian writer Eda Gunaydin won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for her fiery debut collection of essays, Root and Branch, in which she combines personal memoir with her thoughts on class, capital, inherited trauma and what it means to belong. A modern-day millennial, Eda combines raw honesty with fierce analysis and humour in her writing – the result is bracing, confronting, and offers a powerful insight into often uncomfortable topics.
12.15-1PM LUNCH SESSION: HUNGER GAMES
Fiona Weir Walmsley with Nick Rheinberger
In a mouthwatering session, Gerringong cheesemaker and farmer Fiona Weir Walmsley shares the story of running Buena Vista Farm with ABC Illawarra broadcaster Nick Rheinberger. She tells him about learning to ferment foods, grow coffee, run a cooking school and what prompted her to write From Scratch, a user-friendly, money-wise, un-preachy collection of simple recipes including pantry staples and basics.
To go with this session, you can order a specially prepared lunchbox from our friends at Earthwalker Cafe in collaboration with Buena Vista Farm. Earthwalker Lunchbox includes Ancient grain pilaf w/ organic kale, nuts, currant and saltbush, Mat rush crumbed and bulgar falafel, Davidson plum roasted pumpkin, Zesty finger lime hummus, Kelp salted flatbread and Buena Vista beetroot relish. It can be ordered with the addition of Buena Vista cheese, or gluten-free.
1-2PM CONSTELLATIONS AND CONSOLATIONS
Indira Naidoo with Caroline Baum
When much-loved edible gardener and broadcaster Indira Naidoo lost her sister, her grief led her to find consolation and a new appreciation of life in the most unexpected places. The result was her bestselling memoir, The Space Between the Stars. Today, she shares some of the personal insights she gained from looking more closely at the world around her.
2.15-3PM SHOW ME THE MONEY
Jack Manning Bancroft with Jeremy Lasek
In the newly released Hoodie Economics, inspirational CEO and founder of AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience), local social entrepreneur and Bunjalung man Jack Manning Bancroft embraces Indigenous thinking to offer transformational solutions to our current crises. If you want to be part of the solution, come and listen to a mind-expanding thinker who offers refreshingly optimistic alternatives of how we can be more inclusive, share knowledge and do things better.
3.15-4.15PM FUNNY STORIES OF FAILURE
Jackie Dent and Siobhan McHugh with Malika Reese
Wrapping up the festival, two very game authors tell tales of unexpected moments of hilarity, humiliation and horror in the line of duty. Join podcast guru, Walkley award-winner and local author Siobhan McHugh (The Power of Podcasting, The Snowy: A History) and author Jackie Dent (The Great Dead Body Teachers) as they share their true stories with Malika Reese.
Join us for end of festival drinks at our neighbours COLEDALE RSL!
WORKSHOP
SATURDAY 18th 11.30AM-1.30PM
THINK GLOBAL, WRITE LOCAL WITH ALAN SUNDERLAND
What is the news? Who can you trust? We all need access to reliable news, but disinformation is everywhere and opinion is easier to find than facts.
If you are concerned about local issues, and you don’t want your community to become a news desert with no outlets for public interest journalism, and you are interested in learning the principles of reliable reporting, this is the workshop for you!
Drawing on a lifetime of experience in public interest news, respected journalist, author of The Ten Rules of Reporting and former ABC Editorial Director Alan Sunderland will guide you through the dangers of fake news and spin and help you deliver the kind of news that builds trust.
This invaluable workshop will appeal to all those interested in writing narrative factual content, including podcasters and issue-driven activists as well as those with a special interest in being part of the regional journalism renaissance that is providing a platform for new voices.
Combining practical, professional skills with a grounding in ethical guidelines, this is an unmissable opportunity for anyone who wants to play a part in communications and local and regional media, no matter how modest or small the enterprise.
Numbers strictly limited. Book early!
TRUE STORY IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE ILLAWARRA FLAME AND SOUTH COAST WRITERS CENTRE.
WITH FUNDING FROM CULTURE BANK WOLLONGONG
AND SUPPORT FROM COLEDALE RSL AND COLLINS BOOKSELLERS THIRROUL.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I buy tickets?
A: You can buy tickets using this link: https://events.humanitix.com/truestoryfestival.
Q: Can I attend one session instead of the full day?
A: There are no tickets currently available for individual sessions, but they may be made available closer to the festival for sessions that do not sell out. Watch this space!
Q: How do I order lunch?
A: On Sunday, attendees have the option of enjoying the Earthwalker Cafe Lunchbox. To order, simply select the desired ticket and choose to enjoy with Beuna Vista cheese, without cheese, or gluten free. The workshop only and Sunday: one day pass tickets do not include the Lunchbox.
Q: How do I get there?
A: We are located at Coledale Community Centre, 745 Lawrence Hargrave Drive. You can either take a leisurely drive along the coast and enjoy our ample on-street parking, or make use of the bus stop just across the road. For more information on accessibility and travel, please visit this page.