Our 2022 program

Scroll all the events on one page or filter according to event type. Lots to get excited about!

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Exhibitions & tours

2022 theme

This year's Festival theme is 'Playing with Story'. We're exploring truth, imagination, creativity and reinvention through the arts of storytelling.

Festival opening: Tree Talk

Join us for the launch of Tree Talk and a Wiradjuri Welcome to Country as we open the Festival.

Black and white image of a woman standing in front of a brickwall. Text says Albury City Short Story Awards. 6pm Wednesday September 14. There is a image of a video play symbol in front of the image.

AlburyCity Short Story Awards

Competition judge, Margaret Hickey, announces the winning stories in an online broadcast.

Image of books on table. image focused on book by Stan Grant titled, Talking to my country.

Radical Book Club Open Night

Read Talking To My Country by Stan Grant and join in critical discussion with a cohort of regular radical readers.

Close up image of a 20 side dice, an 8 sided dice and a 6 sided dice. They are sitting on top of a board with a fantasy style image of a woman pulling back an arrow in a bow.

Dungeons & Dragons: Playing with Story

Join us for a glimpse into the compelling fun of D&D, followed by discussion about what role-playing games offer the craft of storytelling.

Image of woman with her head tilted to the side and a big friendly smile on her face. She has brown thick hair and brown eyes. She is wearing a white top. Image is taken outside.

Literary Lunch with Sulari Gentill

Sulari Gentill discusses her stand-alone mystery, The Woman in the Library, and shares anecdotes about the ways fiction and real-life intertwine.

close up image of lots of books on a table.

Big book sale

Snap up a bargain at the Friends of the Libraries & Museum sale of pre-loved books.

Image of man standing holding microphone. He is holding his finger in the air, microphone to mouth open in an 'o' shape. He has a full beard and twirled moustache. He is wearing round glasses and a brown baseball cap backwards on his head. There is a blurred image of a banner behind him with the text, Word travels.

Readings & performance

Poetry Slam at Hyphen

Don’t miss our cross-border mega slam at Hyphen Wodonga, hosted by slam champion Huda the Goddess.

Composed image. Right hand of image is of a woman with grey hair. She is smiling at the camera. Right hand side of the image is a book cover with the textg, Riparian 1, 2022.

Readings & performance

Riparian Writers

Local writers group, Riparian, pay tribute to the late Dorothy Simmons in their first group publication.

Woman sitting on grass looking up at the camera. She is wearing a olive green hoop skirt spread out on the grass around her. On her head is an old fashioned bonnet with a lace rim. Hanging around her neck is an old beating suit case. The case is sitting on her lap as a writing desk. She has a small card in one hand and a pen in the other poised to write.

Readings & performance

Charlotte Raven: Roving Writer

The delightful and mysterious Charlotte Raven returns to WAM. Catch her wandering the library on Saturday morning.

Close up of a guitar plectrum floating above a stage with dramatic stage lighting spot lighting it. Text on the plectrum, Stereo Stories, a song, a place, a time.

Readings & performance

Stereo Stories in Concert

A unique collaboration between writers and musicians, the Stereo Stories Band returns for a fifth year to bring us stories of heart, soul and daring, inspired by iconic songs.

Two woman standing side by side. One woman is holding a guitar.

Readings & performance

Stiff Gins at the LibraryMuseum

STOP PRESS! The Stiff Gins are performing a half hour set at the LibraryMuseum at 2.15pm on Sunday 18 September. Join us for an intimate and cozy gig indoors.

Left half of image is woman wearing black jacket she has black shoulder length hair and is wearing red lipstick. Right half of image is a book cover with the text, Dignity in a Teacup: True Stories of courage and sacrifice from Christmas Island. Christine Cummins

Refugee Journeys

Christine Cummins shares stories and understanding from her five years as a Torture and Trauma Counsellor on Christmas Island.

Right hand side of the image is a man in a dark grey suit with black shirt. He has a shaved head and is wearing glasses. On the left side of the image of a book has the text, Jeff Sparrow. Crimes against nature. Capitalism and global heating.

A World of Possibility

Yves Rees talks to Jeff Sparrow about climate change, capitalism, and the power of people just like you and me to change the tide of history.

Image composed of three headshots. Woman on left with black hair with dog on her lap. Woman in middle with blue denim shirt and brown shoulder length hair. MAn on right black and white shirt and short curly dark hair.

Creating Culture: Perspectives on Identity & Belonging

Gabrielle Wang, Gary Lonesborough and Eliza Hull discuss the importance of diversity and representation in writing for children and young people, with Yves Rees.

Image of two books. Book on left has the text, The writer laid bare: Matering emotional honesty in a writer's art, craft and life. Lee Kofman. Book on right has the text, True Friends, Patti Miller.

Truth and Storytelling

Patti Miller and Lee Kofman talk to Eliza Henry-Jones about creativity, memory and truth in storytelling.

Image comprised of three headshots. Woman on left in green top with fox and flowers design. Man in glasses wearing white shirt. Woman on right wearing black blouse with flower design and ornate gold earings.

Storytelling: The Essentials

Michelle de Kretser, Keir Wilkins and Amal Awad get at the heart of what’s essential to storytelling, with Margaret Hickey.

Image comprised of three headshots. Man on right with short brown hair wearing a black t-shirt. Woman in middle with long blond hair wearing green dress. Woman on right with long dark hair wearing brown top. They are all smiling.

Haunting Stories

Jason Steger talks to Nardi Simpson, Eliza Henry-Jones and Jock Serong about historical trauma and the spirit of place in their novels.

Image has person on the right with short blonde hair wearing a black jumper. To the left is a book with text, All about Yves, notes from a tranistion, Yves Rees

Notes from a Transition

Matthew Ruby talks to Yves Rees about their journey of transition and re-becoming, beyond the gender binary.

left hand side of the image is a woman with medium length blonde hair. She is wearing a black top. Right hand side of the image is a man with waivy hair, beard and glasses. He is wearing a leather jacket over a t-shirt with Japanese text. There are images of two books between the people. First book has the text Stone Town, Margret Hickey. Second book has the text, 36 Streets, T.R. Napper

Shades of Noir

Jock Serong talks to Margaret Hickey and T.R. Napper about the ways and whys of their novels being described as noir fiction.

Left of image is woman wearing a black dress with a fox's head and flowers design on it. On the right hand side of the image is a book with the a image of a single red cherry on it. The book has the text, Michelle de Kretser, twice winner of the Miles Franklin Literary award, Scary Monsters.

Book of the Festival: Scary Monsters

Jason Steger talks to Michelle de Kretser about her surprising double-sided novel, Scary Monsters.

Blue book shape with text overlayed, Weekend Ticket Package.

Weekend Panels Package

Book our panels package to attend all seven panels on Saturday and Sunday at a discounted rate.

Two children and an adult sit in a museum looking at two images on the wall. The adult is talking to one of the children seemingly discussing the art.

Writing Back: Responsive writing activity

Participate in a spontaneous writing opportunity stimulated by one of the 43 paintings in the MAMA exhibition, Zombie Eaters.

Poetry Slam Workshop

Learn to wow the crowd with your words with Australian Poetry Slam Champion, Huda the Goddess.

World Building with T.R. Napper

Award-winning science fiction author T. R. Napper shares the fundamentals of world building.

A woman sits smiling at the camera. She has long blonde hair and is white thin jumper. She is outside in a picturesque rural setting.

How to Tell a Story, for ages 12-16

Find inspiration for stories and learn how to get started in a fun, hands-on workshop with Eliza Henry-Jones.

A woman sits a t desk behind a laptop. Behind her bookshelves full of books.

Character Intensive with Amal Awad

Amal Awad discusses the importance of authentic characters and how they are the ultimate storytellers in your work.

Woman sits smiling at camera. She has red hair and is wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt.

Life Stories with Patti Miller

Patti Miller shares exercises and tips on how access particular memories and how to bring the colour and texture of experience to vivid life on the page.

A weathered frame sits on top of a image of the Taj Mahal. Underneath this is magazines and various other cut up images.

Creative Collage with Donna Caffrey

Cut and tear your way through a mix of books and magazines to create your own new and visual stories.

Image of woman smiling. She is wearing a necklace with the aboriginal flag colours, red yellow and black. Next to her is the an image of the book by Frane Lessac and Mark Greenwood, Magic Boomerang.

Yalbilinya Wiradjuri: Storytime

Enjoy a Wiradjuri storytime with local Wiradjuri educator and storyteller, Ruth Davys.

Composed image lefthand side is an image of a woman. she is wearing a black top and has long straight brown hair. On the right of the image is two childrens picture books. the title of the books are

Storytime with Aimee Chan

Aimee Chan reads two new stories, Alfie the Guard Dog and My Uncle Lives in Antarctica.

On right of image is a woman with wavey brown hair. She is wearing a orange top with small black dots and large hoop earings. On the left of image is a children's book cover with the text, Come over to my house, Eliza Hull and Sally Rippin. David Gray-Barnett.

Storytime with Eliza Hull

Eliza Hull reads Come Over To My House, a delightful picture book that explores the home lives of children and parents who are Deaf or disabled.

Composed image. On the bottom right is an image of a woman with black hair. On the top left is a cute drawing of a dragon over a colourful background.

Drawing Dragons with Gabrielle Wang

Children's Laureate, Gabrielle Wang, shows children just how easily they can draw a dragon.

In a ornate golden picture frame there is a black and white image of a woman striking a dramatic pose with pursed lips, disheveled hair and looking down through her thick framed glasses. The frame is superimposed over image of lush green leaves.

Lady Botanica

Join Lady Botanica for stories and songs from the secret lives of trees.

Pink heart over cream coloured background. Text across image says Rivers of Stories Awards

River of Stories: Student Awards

Come and celebrate the winning entries in this long-running short story and poetry competition for students.

Image of people in museum space looking at displays

Exhibitions & tours

LibraryMuseum - Crossing Place Tours

Join a guided tour of the LibraryMuseum’s permanent Crossing Place exhibition.

image of hyphen library at night.

Exhibitions & tours

Say hello to Hyphen

Take a tour through Hyphen, showcasing the stunning new building and its features.

1920s criminal

Exhibitions & tours

Underworld: Mugshots from the Roaring Twenties

Descend into Sydney’s seedy 1920s underworld through this captivating series of police mugshots.

image by Jenni Munday

Exhibitions & tours

From where I sit: Stories from within

A quirky and thought-provoking exhibition of artworks from the Re-Create Collective.

Zombie Eaters

Exhibitions & tours

Zombie Eaters

Zombie Eaters is an exhibition that looks to celebrate strengths in recent Australian Painting.

self portrait of Farhad Bandesh

Exhibitions & tours

In Between

In Between explores the diverse works of artists who have sought asylum in Australia