New Shire book festival promises to be amazing celebration of North Queensland readers and authors
Literary Event
BUSINESS FEATURE
The Inaugural Douglas Shire Book Festival is just around the corner, with more than 40 authors attending the festival across two days on Saturday, August 2, and Sunday, August 3.
The event is set to bring together both book lovers and authors from across North Queensland.
Organisers hope to see the festival become an annual event and can envision the possibility of it even becoming a week-long celebration.
The DSBF will be hosted at two locations - Saturday will be at the Mossman Shire Hall and Sunday the Port Douglas Community Hall.
It is a free family event welcoming all, and will feature various author talks, workshops and panels, making for a great display of local talent.
It also gives authors a chance to connect with the community and share their work.
Organiser Crystal Leonardi is excited to finally see the festival become a reality after two years preparing and trying to secure funding.
“It has been amazing, challenging and it has also been incredibly inspiring,” she said.
“I have learnt how many authors are actually in the Shire.”
Ms Leonardi herself is the chief executive and founder of locally based Bowerbird Publishing - 13 of the authors attending the festival are a part of Bowerbird and this is something she is incredibly proud of.
The festival is being paid for by the Regional Arts Development Fund as well as a number of local sponsors including Club Mossman and Mossman Print.
Ms Leonardi can see the event growing greatly in coming years, and is looking forward to seeing the influx of local authors and readers in our area for the inaugural year.
“We are already planning for next year and I can see so many ways the event can grow,” Ms Leonardi said.
“I would love to see some sort of ticketed literary event or dinner in the area.”
Authors will be attending from across North Queensland, one of the most well known being Lachlann Carter, a former Cairns primary teacher who wrote the Big Trouble book series.
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