In just a few weeks’ time, writers from all over the central west and beyond will descend on Dubbo for the 2023 Dubbo Writers’ Festival. Now in its eighth year, the festival is one of the few major literary events to be held west of the Blue Mountains. 

This year’s event is headlined by award winning Australian crime novelist, Candice Fox, who will deliver two workshops and provide professional story consultations along with other industry professionals. She will also be interviewed at the formal festival launch at Macquarie Regional Library on September 8. 

Organised by a dedicated team of volunteers from the Outback Writers’ Centre, the Dubbo Writers’ Festival includes a mix of free and paid events. 

The festival’s value to regional and remote writers is incalculable because of its mix of skill-building, networking and practical activities, according to event organiser Val Clark, president of the Outback Writers Centre. 

“We connect local writers with publishers, editors and others well versed in the field of publishing, giving them opportunities to have a conversation with [industry professionals] and get comment on their work,” said Ms Clark, who leads a small team of volunteers tasked with bringing the event together. 

“The festival also helps writers build skills in different ways and to connect with other writers and build relationships.” 

One of the highlights of this year’s festival will be the return of the Author Showcase, which will provide regional authors with the opportunity to display and sell their books.  

PHOTO: The author showcase returns in 2023.

“Last year was our first Author Showcase and we [featured] 18 published authors. It’s very difficult to market your work out here. We like to give local authors as many opportunities as we can to get their work up in front of readers in the region,” Ms Clark said.  

Ms Clark said that the festival concept stemmed from the desire of local Outback Writers’ Centre members who wanted to do more than just meet monthly and share what they had written, few of whom were able to afford to travel away to attend festivals in other locations. 

“It’s very expensive for [regional and remote writers] to go to Sydney or Newcastle and attend a weekend of workshops there. If you’ve got children or are disabled, there are more issues again. We thought: why not try to do it ourselves?” Ms Clark said. 

Valuable assistance from the then NSW Writers Centre (now Writing NSW) helped connect the Outback Writers Centre volunteers with publishing industry professionals and the first festival was held in 2014. The Dubbo Writers’ Festival has been held every year since, with the exception of a pandemic-forced hiatus in 2020. In 2021, the festival returned but took place online. 

“We wanted [our festival] to be different from other writers’ festivals, Ms Clark said, indicating that many large literary festivals focus on work by published authors for promotion and sale, rather than upskilling or building the competencies of writers. 

“The Dubbo Writers’ Festival became the festival by writers for writers. We have tried really strongly to keep that emphasis [over the years].” 

Ms Clark said the Dubbo Writers Festival has always been able to secure the involvement of well-known authors and publishing professionals and this year is no exception. She is thrilled to bring popular novelist Candice Fox, editor and publisher Linda Nix from Lacuna Publishing, and literary agent Rochelle Fernandez from Alex Adsett Literary Agency to Dubbo for this year’s event.

All three will provide private story consultations during the festival and Ms Fox will also provide writing workshops on heroes and villains. Other events will include a Festival Dinner and “Festival Cup” writing competition, as well as an event especially for Outback Writers Centre members whose writing will be judged for submission-readiness by the panel of special guests. 

Find out more about Dubbo Writers' Festival or get your tickets for the free and paid events here.