National Writers’ Congress: Authorship 20/20
Jacqui Dent Communications Officer Australian Society of Authors
Melissa Lucashenko
• In a world of free content, how do authors communicate to readers that their work is worth paying for?
• Should we be considering other models for copyright law?
• Will authors ultimately become publishers in the future?
Coinciding with its 50th Anniversary, the Australian Society of Authors will host a National Writers’ Congress to bring together authors, illustrators and industry practitioners at a critical moment in the history of authorship. From Thursday 17 – Saturday 19 October at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney, the Congress will provide a national forum to examine and explore the future direction of Australian authorship. Congress speakers and participants will converge, discuss, identify the issues and define the directions that are needed – by 2020, with 20/20 vision.
The digital revolution has delivered further means and opportunities for the creation and distribution of texts and images. But along with potential benefits, new challenges have arisen for those authors who seek to earn from literary creativity. To better guide their own activity, authors need, at the very least, to be informed on developing trends in reading and publishing, changes occurring in writing practices, and the options for electronic dissemination of their work.
Miles Franklin award-winning authors Anna Funder (All That I Am, Stasiland) and Thomas Keneally (Schindler’s Ark, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith) will deliver the Congress opening addresses, examining the circumstances under which the ASA was formed 50 years ago, what Australian authors need to continue their craft today, and in the future.
The main Congress program on Friday 18 & Saturday 19 October will feature panels of authors and industry practitioners including: Australian Copyright Council Chairman Michael Fraser AM on the future of copyright; authors Susan Johnson (My Hundred Lovers) and Anthony Lowenstein (The Blogging Revolution, My Israel Question) on the future of paid authorship in the age of blogs, online publications and free eBooks; Sandy Grant (Hardie Grant Egmont), Joel Naoum (Momentum), Steven Lewis (journalist and social media consultant) and Ally Blake (best-selling author of more than twenty-five romance novels) on the changing publisher investment in authors and the viability of financially meaningful self-publishing; Sophie Hamley (Cameron Creswell Agency), Kate Forsyth (best-selling and award-winning author of more than twenty books) and Sophie Masson (Chair, ASA) on career sustainability; and Sophie Cunningham (Chair, Australia Council Literature Strategy Group) and Stuart Glover (Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, University of Queensland) on the role of the National Cultural Policy.
Award-winning author, Melissa Lucashenko (Mullumbimby) will deliver the ASA’s annual Colin Simpson Memorial Lecture at the State Library of NSW on Thursday 17 October. Melissa will examine what it means to be an Indigenous author in contemporary Australian society and what needs to be done to support the creation and distribution of works by Indigenous authors in Australia.
The Congress will also include a Literary Speed Dating event on Thursday 17 October for aspiring authors to pitch their work to publishers and literary agents.
On Friday 18 October the ASA will hold a formal dinner for Congress participants.
Saturday 19 October will see the launch of the Keesing Press title Status and Sugar: A History of the ASA 1963-2013 by Stephany Steggall.
With accommodation for interstate and rural attendees provided with the support of Copyright Agency, this will be a truly national Congress. The National Writers’ Congress is a ticketed event. Visit www.asauthors.org for more information and bookings.