Bendigo Writers Festival’s new pop-up venue! The Big Top in the Dudley House garden, right in the heart of the festival precinct.
All activities in the BIG TOP are free to attend, no ticket required, with a full schedule of local authors, storytellers, poets, songwriters and performers each day.
Saturday Program
11:00am
Choice Voices at Bendigo Writers Festival
Bendigo’s inclusive community choir, Choice Voices, presents songs with local connections. In presenting these songs Choice Voices bring their own experiences that speak of the importance of belonging and connection.
12:00pm
Vanessa I. R. Craven: Under the Mop Top Tree
‘Weavings of ‘facts’, ‘foibles’ and ‘fantasy’ from the heart - through spoken verse and song . An open-hearted embrace of what it means to be alive in this complex and multi-horizoned age. Poems that will relate to the lives of a wide range of readers.’ Ross Gillett
12:30pm
Geoff Collishaw: A Vintage Death - adaptation for stage
What does it take to translate a novel into a stage play?
Hear from local Bendigo theatre troupe - Synchronicity - as their co-founder, Geoff Collishaw, explains how he's morphed Bendigo novelist Colin King's murder mystery "A Vintage Death" into an exciting drama.
The play's world premier is two weeks after the Bendigo Writers Festival.
1:30pm
David Munro: To infinity and beyond- the poetry of mathematics
Poetry is a powerful way to explore the world. So is mathematics.
Join Dave Munro to explore the unexpected things that happen at their boundaries.
2:00pm
Creative Communities: Co.Lab
Co.lab was founded by Viewpoint Handmade Gallery and BendArts in 2012 to run alongside the first Bendigo Writers Festival. It then became a central part of “Write on the Fringe” from 2014 to 2019. Co.Lab made a return to Dudley House in August 2021.
The aim of Co.Lab was to bring local writers and artists together to create collaborative or complimentary works. A writer and artist team together, each to create work for the exhibition. They can either work together to create collaborative works, or one might create a response to the work of the other.
This panel brings together past artists and writers to talk about the project and what they have planned for Co.Lab 2024 (coming up in September).
2:30pm
Christine Burrows: Towards a Blue Sunset, One Haiku at a Time
Spoken word work in two poetic forms, commencing with a narrative poem starting with the Big Bang and moving through geological time to current human space endeavours, then inviting reflection on "right here, right now".
