Inaugural Flem/Ken Writers Festival draws a crowd close to home

The inaugural Flem/Ken Writers Festival went off with a bang over the July 17-19 weekend, with more than 300 people turning out for workshops, author conversations, poetry, storytelling and the literary vibe.

Organiser Amy Faram said the opening and closing events were both memorable, with a Friday night dinner at Bakery Hill Distillery featuring readings from Helen Garner and slam poet Mo Sudi, while the Sunday afternoon blues poetry slam saw Mo and two other performers pick up pieces of poetry written by locals and perform it on the spot.

The kids workshops run by Footscray outfit 100 Story Building were oversubscribed and very popular, Amy said.

And in general “everyone just seemed to have a really lovely time” at the festival.

Authors were very open and generous, and quite a few people were saying, ‘I can’t believe I’m just at the end of my street listening to this conversation or watching this performance’.

“So it was really great to be able to put that on for everyone, myself included, because part of wanting to do this was to be able to have these events that would be more accessible to me too,” Amy said.

Flemington & Kensington Bowling Club president Davydd Griffiths hailed the new event as a “fantastic” one for the club, which acted as the “hub” for it.

“The volunteers who organised it did a magnificent job of enticing a heap of amazing local authors out of their garrets, giving the community a chance to celebrate the talent that we’re surrounded by every day,” he wrote on social media.

According to Amy, a bookseller from Collins had come with 15 boxes of books and left with three – evidence that a lot of residents had not only learnt about local authors but had been able to support them. The festival will be back, she said.

“I’m working on the program.

“Local authors can get in touch so we can stock their books and keep them in mind as we think about programming.” •