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Clunes Booktown returns with month-long festival

The town of Clunes in regional Victoria has announced the program for Turn the Page, a new ‘month-long celebration of the book’ to take place over three weekends in May.

Clunes, a town ‘dedicated to preserving and celebrating the book’, cancelled its annual Clunes Booktown Festival in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2021, booksellers will not be operating stalls on the town’s streets as part of the new festival, ‘for the safety of traders and … our audience’. Instead, from 1 May, Clunes Booktown will be hosting virtual booksellers on its website.

The in-person Turn the Page festival will feature author talks over the weekend of 1–2 May, including writers Robert Gott, Garry Disher, Ramona Koval, J P Pomare, Ross Garnaut, Maya Linell, Alli Sinclair, Robyn Annear, Karina Kilmore and Leah Swann; a second weekend of events on 15–16 May under the banner ‘Skilling up: For emerging and experienced authors’ covering creation, pre-production, publication, promotion and other facets of publishing; and a final weekend on 29–30 May dedicated to book clubs.

‘This is the first national weekend for book clubs with opportunities for members to meet other clubs, discover tactics and programs around building and boosting their own book-loving community,’ said the festival in a statement.

For the full program and information visit the Clunes Booktown website here.

 

Category: Local news