Willy Lit Fest

🚀🚀And we’ve launched! 🚀🚀 Tickets for the 2026 Willy Lit Fest are now on sale. Jump onto our website for full program details, or grab your tickets via Humanitix - link in bio. Choose from 38 conversations, panels, workshops, performances, kids and teen events, walks and immersive experiences over one special mid-winter weekend by the sea. This year we’re honoured to have almost 70 guests on the line-up, including culinary legend Stephanie Alexander, comedy legend Shaun Micallef, and award-winning literary legends Evelyn Araluen, Maxine Beneba Clarke and Tony Birch, who will appear alongside a whole host of broadcasters, journalists, poets, memoirists, essayists, educators, community arts leaders and many local favourites. Stay tuned for more highlights as we count down to the festival weekend. 📚🌊

Make a weekend of it! 🏖️📚✍️🌊 Willy Lit Fest’s Weekend Pass is your key to our entire Saturday and Sunday festival program. For $135 (or $125 concession), you can attend unlimited conversations, panels, performances and immersive events by the sea. You will still need to reserve a spot at each session you attend, and the Pass does not include our Friday night events. For more information, head over to our website. Link in bio.

The Willy Lit Fest just launched its 2026 program and it is…well, lit! 🔥 😆 This year, we’ll be there as part of their teen writing symposium. It’s bloody exciting! Here’s the what, when, why, how… Write Like a Riot is a high-energy writing workshop for teens who want to go deeper, presented by Amanda Falson and Aud Pitch of Bad Writers Club. Together with them, you’ll move beyond ‘what happens next’ and into the heart of why you write, what you care about, what you question, and what keeps pulling you back to the page. Through bold, fast-paced exercises and manifesto-style writing, participants will explore voice, theme, and personal perspective, shaping work that feels urgent, honest, and unmistakably their own. Outcome: Participants will leave with a strong draft of a personal manifesto piece, along with greater clarity around their creative voice, the themes they’re drawn to, and a renewed sense of purpose – the foundations for becoming a lifelong writer. Suitable for ages 13-18. Free. Bookings essential. Book here - /teen-writers-symposium-write-like-a-riot Check out the whole festival program @willylitfest

Looking forward to seeing all that we have on offer for this year’s festival? The wait will soon be over! There is only one more sleep until we unveil our 2026 program ✨ Tickets release May 14 —- 📚 Willy Lit Fest 12-14 June 2026 willylitfest.org.au See you there! * * #williamstown #writing #melbourne #melbournewriters #programlaunch

We are so excited about this year's festival line-up, we couldn't resist sharing the names of a few of the brilliant writers joining us in June 🤭 Regarded as one of Australia’s great food educators, Stephanie Alexander has shaped a generation of home cooks with her iconic book, The Cook's Companion. The author of another 17 influential books, she joins us to celebrate the release of the beautiful 30th anniversary edition of The Cook's Companion. A national treasure and a legend of the small screen, Shaun Micallef has been delighting viewers with his comedic antics for over 30 years. His forays into the written word have seen him publish 11 books, including his latest, De'Ath Takes a Holiday, a wildly inventive gothic satire for the modern age. A Goorie and Koori poet, editor and researcher, Evelyn Araluen's debut poetry collection, Dropbear, won the 2022 Stella Prize. Her latest collection,The Rot, is a searing examination of the injustice and violence of settler colonialism that won the Victorian Prize for Literature and Award for Indigenous Writing at the 2026 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Tickets release May 14 —- 📚 Willy Lit Fest 12-14 June 2026 willylitfest.org.au See you there! * * * * #williamstown #writing #melbourne #melbournewriters⁠ #lineupannouncement #literaryfestival

*Rene Bhanot was included in the shortlist instead of Aashka Purolit. We have amended this error and would like to apologise for any confusion this has caused.* Following a wealth of submissions and some hard-to-make decisions, we are proud to unveil our shortlisted authors for Willy Lit Fest’s 2026 writing prizes! Stay tuned for our award ceremony for the 2026 writing prize winners at this year’s Willy Lit Fest ✨ Tickets release May 14 —- 📚 Willy Lit Fest 12-14 June 2026 willylitfest.org.au See you there! * * * * #williamstown #writing #melbourne #melbournewriters⁠ #writingcompetitions #narrm #shortlist #Congratulations

Now introducing Willy Lit Fest's 2026 festival theme... REFLECTIONS How do art and writing reflect our world? How do they bring us together during times of political, social, economic and environmental crises? And when we’re awash with content that both reveals and distorts - can storytelling help steer us through the hall of mirrors toward something that resembles the truth? From the promises and pitfalls of the digital age to the problem of censorship and the pursuit of happiness, this year’s Willy Lit Fest offers a weekend of conversations, readings and reflections on a range of thought-provoking topics while celebrating the creativity of Melbourne’s inner west. Tickets on sale May 14th —- 📚 Willy Lit Fest 12-14 June 2026 willylitfest.org.au See you there! * * * * #williamstown #writing #melbourne #melbournewriters⁠ #naarm

Thank you to all the writers and poets who have submitted their work to our prizes! Our judges can't wait to delve into the worlds you have created and the experiences you have penned ✒ —- 📚 Willy Lit Fest 12-14 June 2026 willylitfest.org.au See you there! * * * * #williamstown #writing #melbourne #melbournewriters⁠ #writingcompetitions #narrm #thankyou

Help us to inspire a new generation of readers and writers. *Donations made to this fundraiser before 30 April will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $5000. All donations over $2 are tax deductible. Click on the link in our bio to donate now ✨ Willy List Fest is supported through the Australian Cultural Fund. —- 📚 Willy Lit Fest 12-14 June 2026 willylitfest.org.au See you there! * * * * #makingculturehappen #williamstown #writing #melbourne #melbournewriters⁠ #narrm #melbournewritersfestival #willylitfest #books #bookstagram

We've extended the deadline to *most* of our writing prizes! Due to the overwhelming number of submissions from our wonderful poets, the final submission date for The Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize will remain as Sunday March 8. Thank you to all the amazing writers who have already submitted - our judges can't wait to read all the wondrous stories and poems you have to offer ✨ Apply via our website: .au Please read through our terms and conditions before applying. *If you are having any difficulty submitting your work please email our Writing Prizes Coordinator Amanda via: [email protected]* —- 📚 Willy Lit Fest 12-14 June 2026 willylitfest.org.au See you there! * * * * #williamstown #writing #melbourne #melbournewriters⁠ #writingcompetitions #narrm

Entries are still open for our 2026 Jennifer Burbidge Short Story Award. Open to writers across Australia, this prize calls for short stories of fiction or non-fiction (up to 3000 words) on the theme of disability. The winner will receive $500 in cash and will be published in our 2026 Anthology. Please visit our website to view our terms & conditions before submitting your short story. Hurry, entries close March 8!

Entries are still open for our 2026 Ada Cambridge Writing Prizes: ✒️ The Ada Cambridge Biographical Prose Prize ✒️ The Ada Cambridge Poetry Prize ✒️ The Young Adas Short Story Prize The winners will receive up to $500 in cash and will be published in The 2026 Adas Anthology. Please visit our website to view our terms & conditions before submitting your stories or poems. Hurry, entries close March 8!