The 2019 Melbourne Writers Festival is set to unfold from Friday, August 30 to Sunday, September 8.

At the beating heart of this year’s festival is the theme ‘When We Talk About Love’, adapted from the title of one of Raymond Carver’s best-known short stories.

“The way love inspires us to make better art, the way it connects us to place, how it brings us to our knees and gently raises us back up... is the inspiration behind this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival theme,” artistic director, Marieke Hardy, wrote on the festival’s website.

From this weekend, hundreds of authors, journalists, playwrights, poets, artists and performers will come together at the festival’s new home at the State Library of Victoria to interrogate love – for people, sex, politics and country – through conversations, new writing, music and interactive events.

This year’s host of guests includes many of Italian background, from both Australia and abroad.

Iconic YA author Becky Albertalli will head over from the US to talk with writer and journalist Jenna Guillaume about the runaway success of her queer romance Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda, and the book’s second life on the big screen in the form of Love, Simon.

She will discuss passion on the page, the aching tenderness of adolescent love and how important it is for younger readers to see themselves reflected in literature.

Albertelli will also appear in a panel event, chatting alongside Melina Marchetta (Looking for Alibrandi) and Christos Tsiolkas (The Slap) about what it’s like to have a novel adapted for the screen. 

Melina Marchetta, a bestselling author in more than 20 countries and 18 languages, will also talk about her latest novel The Place on Dalhousie, in a second panel event with Randa Abdel-Fattah (When Michael Met Mina).

Melina Marchetta

Both authors are celebrated for works that touch on the complex themes of love, family and belonging, and will discuss why they write for YA audiences.

Marchetta will also share the stage with Tali Lavi to discuss her new novel in greater depth.

Not to be missed, celebrated singer-songwriter Tina Arena will come together with Yorta Yorta woman, soprano, composer and educator, Deborah Cheetham, to reflect on their brilliant and varied careers and how music has shaped their lives.

Meanwhile, managing director of Readings, past president of the Australian Booksellers Association and founding chair of the Melbourne Writers Festival, Mark Rubbo OAM, will team up with veteran publisher Hilary McPhee to discuss the joys of connecting readers with writers – and vice versa.

Mark Rubbo OAM

Speaking of Marks... award-winning great Mark Brandi will star in a panel event with two fellow giants in crime writing – Val McDermid and Christian White – and come clean about the trials and tribulations of a life devoted to writing about the wrong side of the law.

Also to participate in the festival is Dominic Guerrera, a Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Italian person who has worked for 15 years in Aboriginal health, particularly Aboriginal sexual health.

Guerrera is the co-host of the ASH Podcast, which reaches out to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through a lens of sex positivity.

Guerrera and Bunganditj woman Sasha Smith will bring their podcast to the stage for the first time at the festival, with special guest Nayuka Gorrie.

Also on the lineup is the talented Enza Gandolfo (The Bridge), who will team up with Kristina Olsson (Shell) to talk about how their novels are centred on the construction of Australia’s most iconic structures, using them as catalysts to examine how we reckon with difficult pasts and uncertain futures.

Following the release of his first novel The Fireflies of Autumn, Moreno Giovannoni will appear with three other artists to respond to the challenge: present a piece that’s old, new, borrowed or blue.

Moreno Giovannoni

Join host Emilie Zoey Baker as she draws literary magic and live readings from Giovannoni, Manisha Anjali and Chloe Hooper, celebrating romance and heartbreak.

Last but not least, Daniel Santangeli, Program Manager at Midsumma Festival, Australia’s premier queer arts and cultural festival, will participate in a panel discussion with Quinn Eades and Val McDermid, about the highs and lows in queer liberation over the last few decades, from Stonewall to marriage equality.

This is just a snippet of what you can expect to see at this year’s Melbourne Writers Festival... there’s all of this and so much more to love!

For more information and tickets, head to the Melbourne Writers Festival’s website.