Melbourne Writers Festival

Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) is an annual, ten-day literary festival held in the Australian city of Melbourne, a UNESCO City of Literature. The Festival runs across late August and early September each year in the cultural heart of the city at Federation Square. Melbourne Writers Festival is part of the Word Alliance, a partnership of eight international literary festivals which support and showcase the work of writers.

Melbourne Writers Festival's Director/CEO is Lisa Dempster.

MWF was founded in 1986 as a joint initiative between the Melbourne International Festival of the Arts and the City of Melbourne. It was organised as a sister festival to the Spoleto Festival, and was known in the first year as Spoleto Melbourne Festival of Three Worlds. It was held at the Athenaeum Theatre. The Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards were presented as part of the festival for the first time.

In 1990, the Festival was no longer known under the Spoleto name, and became a part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival. It also moved venues form the Athenaeum and Kino Cinemas to the Malthouse Theatre. By 1992 the festival had over 10,000 attendees, and expanded its program to include events in Ballarat. Simon Clews was appointed the new Festival Director, a post he held until 2005. The inaugural Keynote Address was given by Clive James in 1996 to coincide with the festival’s 10th anniversary celebrations.

In 1998 the Festival was held autonomously from the Melbourne International Arts Festival, taking place in August rather than October. The Age newspaper became the Festival’s principal sponsor, taking the name 'The Age Melbourne Writers Festival'. The Age Book of the Year Awards replaced the Premier’s Literary Awards which stayed with the International Arts festival.

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