The Sydney Writers Festival is coming to town via a special livestream event facilitated by Gloucester Arts and Cultural Council Inc (GACCI).
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Following the success of last year's event, GACCI will once again be hosting four days of the festival, livestreamed from Sydney to the Gloucester Senior Citizens Centre from Thursday, May 23 to Sunday, May 26.
According to GACCI secretary, Jenny Lindsay, the livestream events provide a unique opportunity to see and hear a diverse range of writers talking first hand about their work.
"People can come down to the senior citizens Hall and listen to fabulous speakers on all sorts of things like politics, fantasy, technology," she said.
"They can come in just for an hour or they can come in for the whole four days; we've invited the high school as we thought it'd be useful for their English classes and so on to probably come down."
While the talks may be of great benefit to students and aspiring writers, one point GACCI wished to communicate was that the sessions would be of interest to anyone who just loves to read.
Feedback from last year's event indicated a very positive response from those who attended the sessions, with one unexpected offshoot being the formation of several local book clubs.
This year's festival includes such notable writers as Trent Dalton, Julia Baird, and Christos Tsiolkas to name only a few.
The sessions run from 10am through till 7:30pm on each of the days, and participants are able to participate in live Q&A sessions at each event by sending their thoughts via SMS straight to the Sydney stage.
Helping to connect
Its an opportunity for a regional town to have the same quality experience as if they were living in Sydney.
- GACCI treasurer, Jenny Lindsay
The livestream format is helping to connect regional audiences with events that might otherwise be inaccessible to them.
It is a way technology is helping to benefit regional audiences experience events that through time, distance or costs may have excluded them in the past.
"It's just trying to give regional people who cannot afford to go down to Sydney to go to these high level events an opportunity to interact in the same way," Jenny said.
"I just think it helps regional towns feel connected to big events that are happening in the big cities and not feeling as isolated."
Livestreaming of the 2024 Sydney Writers Festival can be viewed at the Gloucester Senior Citizens Centre from Thursday May 23 to Sunday, May 26. Sessions run from 10am to 7:30pm.
Tickets are $10 per day or $30 for all 4 days and free for school students.
For more information view the GACCI website and follow the links to the writers festival page.
