It’s all about the F word – Festival

Brisbane Writer’s Festival 2012.

The Brisbane Writer’s Festival (BWF) has been and gone for yet another year but not just any year; to be precise, it was the fiftieth year of the festival and also the National Year of Reading and as with all things Queenslander at the moment it has been controversial and emotional.

Germaine Greer ruffled some feathers during her opening night address with suggestions of the hypocrisy of celebrating literature in a state with extreme levels of illiteracy.

“The ABS reports that 47 per cent of Queenslanders cannot read a newspaper, follow a recipe, make sense of time tables or understand instructions on a medicine bottle,” Greer said. “You cannot have a good time at a literary festival when that is the underlying bedrock truth.”

Despite the wailing cries of foul-play however, festival director, Jane O’Hara showed no signs of regret saying Greer delivered on her brief to generate debate on the future of literary festivals.

I wonder if Ms Greer was amused by the furore that her statement created; to think that Queensland media, supposedly guardians of free speech would be so affronted by her statement. One report claimed she made ‘DEROGATORY remarks’ (yes they used capitals) and constantly referred to her as ‘feminist, Germaine Greer’ because, let’s face it, everything that this woman says is under the sinister guise of feminism. Another commentator accused her of misquoting the statistics, correcting her with “not 47 per cent of Queenslanders can’t read a newspaper or a medicine bottle but 14.7 per cent and another 32 per cent struggle with things like lease documents, tax advice and Centrelink forms…” I’m still not sure if this statement is trying to counteract Greer’s point or support it. One thing is certain however, feminism is still a dirty (if somewhat misused) word and the relevance of the speech seemed to have been slightly overlooked; without readers, future literary festivals and indeed publishing are under threat.

But despite the scandal-centric headlines, there were other happenings at Brisbane’s largest literary celebration. Just a few of the highlights include; Jane O’Hara giving her final address as festival director. After four years at the helm, O’Hara has handed the baton over to Kate Eltham (CEO of QLD Writers Centre). Nick Earls delighted delegates with his transformation into an armchair for the Happy 50^th BWFDay Show, while audiences nodded and jeered as The Great Debate tackled whether ‘Reading the Bible is good for you’ with the unlikely teaming of Germaine Greer, Bob Katter and Richard Holloway going head to head against Jacqui Payne, Benjamin Law and Rachel Sommerville. The schools program is also worth a mention as it has grown in the past four years from four to twelve thousand places.

The salvaging of the axed QLD Premier’s Literary Awards has been closest to the hearts of most local, if not national writers and the Brisbane Writers Festival and also played its part, hosting a session with winning and short listed writers.

The annual Brisbane Writers Festival provides a plethora of events, panels, workshops and master classes over five days. Keep track of the actual future of this literary festival by following on your friendly social media network on Facebook @BrisWritersFest or Twitter @BrisWritersFest, or keep an eye on the website brisbanewritersfestival.com.au and be prepared for Festival #51.