Reality Bites Festival

Reality Bites Festival

Now in its seventh year, Reality Bites Festival returns to bring Australia's brightest writers and thinkers to the Sunshine Coast. There's big changes for the festival this year. Apart from moving to the last weekend in October,
organisers are set to spread the word out to the wider Hinterland.

Since it's humble beginnings in Pomona, this annual hand crafted literary event has grown in substance and stature on the national literary calendar. While the workshop program and community events will remain at the festival's second home, the Cooroy Library, the 2014 program of panel discussions, readings, author talks and close up sessions will be hosted in the arts loving village of Eumundi.

'We are delighted to be able to bring Reality Bites to Eumundi", says Sunshine Hinterland Writers' Centre president and event manager Annette Hughes. 'We have always enjoyed a great relationship, especially with the Eumundi Green, and the Eumundi Historical Association (EHA) always sponsored our festival launch. Now, in community partnership with Experience Eumundi and ECCO as well, we are looking forward to expanding Reality Bites to its full potential."

Thanks to funding from all tiers of government this year, artistic director Melanie Myers has put together a brilliant program of 36 individual events with over 30 local and interstate authors including Ian 'Molly" Meldrum, David Leser, Mandy Sayer, John Birmingham, Matt Condon, Henry Reynolds and many more great writers and thinkers.

Workshops begin on Thursday 23 Oct, continuing through till Saturday at the Cooroy Library with a range of skills development workshops and seminars for amateur and professional writers alike. By popular demand, the 'pitching' clinic draws an avid crowd of prospective authors to watch colleagues pitch their stories to a panel of experts, including University of Queensland publisher, Alex Payne.

On Friday the festival program kicks of in Eumundi at the Green Room, upstairs at the Imperial Hotel. The Green Room will be the festival hub where patrons can sit on the wide verandah over a glass or two of wine between sessions, or hang out at the bookshop, chatng to authors and discovering like minds. Then on Saturday and Sunday it's just a short stroll up the main street to the Eumundi School of Arts, our second venue where the big issue panels take the stage.

'Love is a major theme in the program this year, book-ending the whole program." says Melanie. 'First up in Friday, journalist David Leser, talks about his beautiful new memoir about the love of a father. The the fnal session of the weekend is about the love of a child. With proceeds going to the Morcombe foundation, both real love and real crime will be in focus, as author Lindsay Simpson talks about the process of co-writing Looking for Daniel with Bruce and Denise Morcombe, and their 10-year quest to fnd out what happened to Daniel."

In between is a full weekend of great stories and big ideas and on Saturday night, it's time to celebrate! The SHWC presents its youth writing award – this year in person by its patron, Mark Tredinnick. Then, Ian 'Molly" Meldrum will talk with preeminent rock journalist and cultural commentator, Toby Creswell about Molly's long awaited memoir of the Countdown years.

This event is set to sell out, but is included in the three day Festival pass, so do yourself a favour and don't miss out.

Book now online and save up to 30% on packages and festival tickets. www.realitybitesfestival.org

Reality Bites Festival 4 day festival of books & ideas
23-26 October 2014 at Cooroy and Eumundi Venues