Words Out West delivers an exciting new chapter for the Western Downs

18 February, 2020

The region’s first Words Out West Readers and Writers Festival has been hailed a resounding success with hundreds attending the Festival over three days from 14 to 16 February. 

The Readers and Writers Festival welcomed some of the country’s top storytellers – offering a valuable insight into the literary world across several mediums including traditional writing, podcasting, illustrating, cartooning, and blogging.  

Western Downs Regional Council Mayor Paul McVeigh said the event further demonstrated the region’s ability to host world class events catering to a range of interests.  

“Words Out West offered a rare opportunity to hear from renowned Australian writers and explore the wonder of modern-day literature, right here on home soil,” Cr McVeigh said.  

“Council has received extremely positive feedback from both presenters and attendees, with all sessions experiencing strong attendance numbers. 

“The Featured Author session featuring John Marsden was our most popular event with around 120 people attending that particular session alone.  

“Around 130 people attended the Gala Dinner on Saturday night, with guest speaker Kurt Fearnley AO offering a thrilling and engaging insight into his personal journey.  

“More than 1,100 local school kids also attended the school engagement day on Friday, 14 February, which gave local schools a chance to explore reading and writing in different ways, with help from popular Narrator Stig Wemyss and illustrator Gregg Dreise.” 

Words Out West offered a jam-packed program over three days including a Writers Retreat in the Bunya Mountains, Main Festival Days at MyALL 107, and a glamorous Gala Dinner at the Dalby Events Centre.  

As part of the event, the region welcomed a stellar line-up of presenters including John Marsden, Fleur McDonald, Rachael Treasure, and Hayley Maudsley with sessions covering a wide range of topics including publishing, politics, Australian fiction, crime podcasting, fantasy fiction, cartooning, and news journalism.” 

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