Sunday 6 November
Trades Hall Bar
54 Victoria Street (Corner of Lygon Street)
Carlton South
Victoria
Australia

10.30am Welcome to the Country, Joy Murphy, Wurundjeri Elder.

11am Session 1: Whose voices are heard?
Readings and discussion, exploring who is, and who isn’t being heard within and across countries and languages. Are women, Indigenous, minority language, and ‘other’ writers being heard?
Readings by Kirpal Singh (Singapore); Tony Birch and Huang Lin (China).

Discussion: Dr Isagani Cruz (Philippines); Alexis Wright and Zohl dé Ishtar in discussion with Arnold Zable.

Lunch – refreshments available

2pm Session 2: Who goes there? Strangers, borders and fear.
Readings by Tom Cho, Javant Biarujia and Shalini Akhil that cross borders of genre, culture, identity and fear.

Discussion:  At a time when the world is closing down its national borders, boundaries of culture, identity, etc are more fluid, open … – at the intersections of boundaries/borders, new forms, practices, theories …
Chandani Lokuge, Mohit Prasad (Fiji) and Goenawan Mohamad (Indonesia) in discussion with Peter Mares.

4.15pm Session 3: Wor(l)d exchange – Cross Currents.
Readings and discussions navigating and mapping the currents that connect us across the Asia and Pacific.
Readings by Cathie Dunsford (Aotearoa-New Zealand), Carolyn van Langenberg, Paddy O ‘Reilly and Dorothea Rosa Herliany (Indonesia).

Discussion: Kirpal Singh (Singapore) and Nicholas Jose in conversation with Jane Camens.

6.30 pm Launch: Holding Yawulyu: White Culture and Black Women’s Law by Zohl dé Ishtar. Published by Spinifex Press.

8pm Session 4: Glocal Vocal
Global voices, local places

Poets: Alvin Pang (Singapore); Chi Vu; berni m janssen; Adam Aitken and local band Way Out West explore the particularity of places – Bondi, Singapore, Malaysia, Footscray - urban, inner,  the imaginary.

Way out West, based in the West of Melbourne, one of the most innovative and exciting new groups on the Australian music scene, explore Footscray and environs through an atmospheric blending of Vietnamese and African sounds with jazz.

Way out West:  Peter Knight, trumpet; Paul Williamson, tenor saxophone; Dung Nguyen, modified electric guitar; dan tranh, (Vietnamese zither); dan bau, (single string plucked instrument); dan nhi, (Vietnamese violin); Ray Pereira, African percussion; Howard Cairns, acoustic bass; Dave Beck, drum kit.

Booking information for Sunday 6 November
A ticket providing entrance to all events on that day can be booked:
Victorian Writers Centre
Address: 1st Floor Nicholas Building,
37 Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9654 9068
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Day ticket pre-sale: $35/$30. Concession price available for Victorian Writers Centre and PEN members.
Door price: $40/$35.
Session tickets: $12/$10.

Session tickets can be purchased on the day at the door, subject to availability. A session is either a thematically linked reading and discussion, or the reading in the evening.

Monday 7 November @ 6pm
45Downstairs
45 Flinders Lane
Melbourne
Mietta Foundation Forum Series

Transgression: giving offence, bearing witness? Perspectives from China.
Dedicated to Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa on the tenth anniversary of his death who was killed by the government for his activities on behalf of the Nigerian people and their land.
Nicholas Jose in conversation with Yu Jie (China) and Cai Yong Mei (Hong Kong) – a bi-lingual conversation.

Booking information for Monday 7 November
Contact: 45Downstairs on (03) 9662 9966. Ticket prices are $10/8(Concession)/5 (secondary students)

For more information about the Asia and Pacific Writers Network, the writers and writing involved in this program, email (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Asia and Pacific Writers Network gratefully acknowledges the support of: Toyota Foundation, through the Asian Neighbors Network Program; Japan Foundation, through the Grant Program for Intellectual Exchange Projects; the Myer Foundation; City of Melbourne; Arts Victoria; and National Arts Council Singapore