Festivals are tricky things. They arrive with so many promises. Promises of inspiration, rare insights, chance encounters and diets suspended by designer morsels. But what happens when the Festival comes in the guise of a Congress, like the recent Australian Society of Authors, National Writers Congress, what then?
National Writers’ Congress © The Ponder Room
As luck would have it (and a bit of planning) I found myself in Sydney on the same weekend as the Congress held at Luna Park. Being one of the ASA representatives in Perth, the Congress would be a chance to catch up with colleagues face to face, but what else should I expect from a Congress instead of a Festival?
The first indication that I was in for something special came when I saw the program. No concurrent running workshops. What a relief.
Over the years I’ve trialed several strategies for getting the most out of concurrent Festival sessions. In 2011 I even achieved a personal best by attending 20 one hour sessions out of a possible 24, over three days. Admittedly the last few sessions were taken in while lying on the floor at the back of the room. Human backs just aren’t designed to sit in straight conference chairs for 20 hours. Inevitably two topics of interest would clash and the one I was in would be a complete waste of time as the speaker deviated off topic. Thankfully this was not the case at the Congress.
The next indication was the rousing opening address by multi award-winning author David Marr who reminded us of the importance of writers. Without writers there would be no newspapers, no books, no television, no movies, no academic texts, no education. He concluded that ‘even God needed a writer’.
The world was ours for the taking!
Adam Bandt
National Writers’ Congress © The Ponder Room
Then reality hit when we were reminded about the average wage of an author … $11,000 and the average agents advance … $10,000 to $25,000. Clearly we’d have to wait for the World to slip into the remainder bin.
Next was the proliferation of politicians in the room.
I must disclose that my work demands that I live my life completely neutral when it comes to politics, consequently I have a pitiful level of knowledge about who plays for which team. Sadly on this occasion the gentlemen’s attire didn’t provide me with any assistance. There was a decided lack of blue and red ties and the grey one gave me flashbacks to certain scenes from a popular novel, scenes that should never be associated with someone proposing to run the country.
Shadow Minister for the Arts the Hon Mark Dreyfus, began the political infestation by telling us that ‘reading is the most popular way that the arts are consumed’, and that he liked books, especially Jackie French’s books, which was pretty handy since she was on the same panel as him.
Adam Brandt MP reminded us that ‘authors have always known insecurity’, which was good to know, and that he’d written a book.
Then Minister for the Arts Senator George Brandis arrived with two henchmen in tow, one recording his every word. As he took to the lectern he explained that ‘the spoken word owes a debt to the written word’, and proceeded to demonstrate this by keeping his head down and not deviating from his notes for a second, which made me wonder why his speech needed to be recorded. Speech over he shook a few hands, posed for a photograph and then Elvis left the building.
Senator Brandis National Writers’ Congress © The Ponder Room
This was a real shame as it would have been fascinating to watch the elephant that had been wined and dined in the corner all morning, finally be unleashed.
Much of the Congress discussions around the buffet table, centered on the Governments plan to redirect $104.8 million from the independent Arts Council, into a newly created ‘National Centre for Excellence in Arts’, which it was suggested, would then be reallocated at the discretion of the Arts Minister of the day. Sadly when the moment came the elephant remained in the corner swaying from side to side.
Elephant tethered the Congress continued with six panel sessions. Panel sessions are good. The inclusion of three or four speakers greatly increases the likelihood of someone saying something relevant, inspirational even, or at least not just reading an excerpt from their latest book.
That was another difference between a Congress and a Festival, there were no book readings. The Congress was less promotion and more debate … debate about the wearisome issues faced by modern day authors.
Sadly I don’t have enough space to outline all of the debates here but some of the topics discussed were: What is Australian writing?; Is Australian content important or should we all be writing ‘international stories?’; Are agents necessary today?; Is there an end in sight for the copyright wars?; Are book reviews worth anything when they can be obtained for $5 a pop?; How do you find readers?; What is the best way to work the internet?; and the future can only be ensured if people pay for content. [See my Instagram account for a few quotes from these sessions.]
One of the most interesting and inspiring panel sessions was by four young authors who are pushing the technology boundaries, including writing speeches for robots. Imagine that robots delivering prepared speeches, hmm.
Christy Dena National Writers’ Congress © The Ponder Room
Robot National Writers’ Congress © The Ponder Room
Another key moment was the ‘Your Say’ session at the end of the Congress. Unlike a Festival, the Congress included a Feedback Session where audience members could freely voice their concerns and have input into the direction of the ASA, as it advocates better lives for authors.
Back home I ponder …
- The National Writers’ Congress was well worth the rushed trip to the east, not only for the content but also for the opportunity to be involved in the future direction of life as an Australian author, however you define us. To be part of such a diverse, interesting and powerful group of people was an absolute privilege.
- I look forward to watching on as the elephant reaches its prime fighting weight and finally makes its charge. In the meantime I, like most artists, will continue to rummage about in the crevices of the couch, and live off tins of tuna, while our words as used by highly paid, well attired people to inform, educate and entertain the world.
- Time to get back to the Merry Go Round of pitching.
If you’re an Australian author, musician, or artist, make sure you google the Arts funding debate and get involved for the future of all creative enterprises. And keep an eye on the ASA website. As someone at the conference said ‘we know how to support artists … it’s called paying them.’