ASAL 2013 Country Conference

A three-day academic/literary conference with more than 100 speakers (including four stellar academic/literary keynotes) in four strands, including foci on poetry, indigenous writing, 19th Century studies, contemporary prose fiction; bibliography; transnationalism etc. Scholars, academics, writers, postgrads, arts people, librarians etc came from all over Australia and overseas. Distinguished writers (eg. Briaqn Castro, Michelle De Kretser) read their work; new books/research were launched (eg the 'Outcrop' anthology, and new titles from Syd Uni Press); significant literary awards were announced (ALS Gold Medal, McCrae Russell and A D Hope awards); online research resources and a new film of classic Australian novel Such is Life were launched; an exhibition of poetry & pictures was included. A world premiere of a new work for didgeridoo and cello opened the conference. It was the biggest Australian Literature conference in Australia for the last few years. The planning, publicity, grant applications, organisation of program & abstracts, conference events, dinner, accommodation, transport, community interaction, publicity etc began more than a year beforehand. The book of abstracts runs to more than 100 pages. More than 130 people attended from around Australia and overseas…