The Burdekin Readers & Writers Festival (BRWF) was a festival unlike any other in the area. Drawing acclaimed Australian authors and a wide audience from both Queensland and interstate, tourism and local businesses flourished in the Burdekin as a result.
However, like most events in Australia and around the world, covid hit, forcing organisers to cancel the 2020 event, despite having several prominent writers who’d accepted and were keen to attend.
Before covid scuppered the 2020 BRWF, the festival had fired up the hearts & minds of authors and the Burdekin alike it seemed. The BRWF had been full steam ahead, lining up even more great authors and shaping to be a massive boon for the region again.
Then due to a lack of extra organisers to share the load, the 2022 event never quite got off the ground. Since then, despite repeated calls from authors, publicists, local businesses and council, along with plenty of interest from an eager public to return, the BRWF has been languishing since.
If no one picks up the baton, the festival, and the untold benefits it brings the Burdekin, cease.
Mickey McKellar (pictured) and The Burdekin Readers & Writers Festival committee, ignited minds and fired up the Burdekin region. Photo credit: Mark T. Rasmussen
Mickey McKellar, a member of the Burdekin Readers and Writers Association, discusses the association’s formation in 2013, which first got its start with an initial funding of $320.
“The formation of the festival came about from a group of ladies who were in a local book club that also morphed into a writing group. We used to travel each year to Brisbane to go visit the Brisbane Writers Festival,” Mickey says.
“Because I was also involved in the hotel industry, I was one of those people curious by other people's ideas, be it menus or festivals. They're all built on somebody else's concept. So I put it to the ladies, ‘You know, we could do a festival like this at home. You just work it in with your community and your facilities.’ Well, they all ducked for cover, except for two but that didn't stop us.”
“We finished up with eight ladies originally. Then to register as a not-for-profit organisation we needed money, so we popped in $40 each. With a grand total of $320, off we went,” Mickey laughs.
That first festival eventually kicked off in July of 2015. It featured eight authors, including David Hunt and Matthew Condon, and received significant local business support while being a win for the region.
“Because we were an unknown, the hardest thing of all was trying to attract authors. We had a list of would-be guests and we were going through them and having absolutely no success. But then David Hunt, who wrote Girt, well he was the first to respond and said he'd love to come. Shortly after followed Matthew Condon, a journalist with the Courier Mail, but also an author who wrote stories relating to crime and corruption in Queensland.”
“Then it all happened so quickly that I remember saying to one of the women, ‘It's like they've got a network. The minute one responds, another does.’ Before we knew it, we finished up with eight authors that first year,” Mickey extols.
“Amazingly, there'd never been a literary festival in this town before, but we got a good response from the local business community. It enabled us to pay for authors’ flights, accommodation, and give them a speaking fee. I know our fees were more than what ASA (Australian Society of Authors) recommended, but we knew that they'd have to take a couple of flights just to get here, so we went over and above what they expected to get.”
And it worked! Because at the very next festival (2016) the BRWF managed to secure around 12-14, authors, including kids book authors!
“The first festival was extremely successful, and Matthew Condon, who was still writing for the Courier Mail, contacted me about six weeks out from the 2016 festival and said he'd like to do a story. Honestly, what he put together about the first festival, as far as advertising goes, we would never have been able to achieve that. He didn't only write about the festival, he wrote about the community. It was very well done,” Mickey proclaims.
On the back of two highly successful festivals, someone recommended BRWF do it every second year, so they skipped 2017 and went straight to 2018. As a result the festival expanded to 20 authors and attracted over 3,500 attendees – a boon for both local businesses and the Burdekin as a result.
“For the 2018 festival we mixed it up and instead of the school kids coming to the Burdekin Theatre, we took the authors to them! That was a masterstroke. The authors did workshops, which was a great success thanks to a couple of committee members who were former teachers.”
With 20 authors, big attendances, 2018 was a smash, while the community fully came on board.
“The fact of the matter is that it costs a lot of money to run a festival. While we did get grants, the business community really supported us and came aboard. We got private sponsorship of about $28,000 that year, which was amazing,” Mickey exclaims.
The festival had fired up the hearts & minds of authors and the Burdekin alike it seemed. The BRWF were full steam ahead planning for 2020, lining up even more great authors… then covid hit.
“It was too risky for the committee to book flights not knowing if the authors would be able to fly or whether we’d be able get a refund if flights got cancelled. A not-for-profit can't exist on airline credit,” Mickey says.
Sadly, that’s where things ended. There hasn’t been another festival since, while the BRWF committee has remained in limbo.
“You lose momentum in so many ways, and that's what happened. We've thought about many things. We've got money in the bank, but what do we with do it? We've now got grandkids and the people who've been there since the beginning like myself, they're tired, they don't want to be doing it anymore. We're sort of in limbo at the moment.”
“I understand all of the people that want it to happen again, from council to community, authors and publicists, and maybe I shouldn’t go on record here, but I'm going to say it anyway. The suggestion for me to contact you came from the Mayor because she said the new journalist in town is an author. Then the former mayor, Lyn McLaughlin, also contacted me to say I should reach out. And I appreciate them thinking that, but just because someone new comes to town who is an author doesn't mean to say that it's going to happen again. They don't seem to understand that there's a lot of work involved. No one wants to give their time anymore.”
If no one picks up the baton and uses the incredible foundation that Mickey and her BRWF committee members have laid, the festival, and the untold benefits it brings the region, cease. It’s as simple as that.
In what shapes as a do or die moment come February 19, the BRWF committee may well be meeting for the very last time. They’re appealing to the public to attend and become part of something that means so much to the community.
“Whether it's a Writers Festival or a Water Festival, if you want them to continue, then get involved. I'm 77, you know. It's time for younger ones to step up otherwise we have to wind it up. It’s so much easier than when we started with nothing. We have community support, we have business support, we have council support, and most importantly, we have authors support. Everything works. As long as you approach it in the right manner, you can't go wrong,” Mickey concludes with a hopeful smile.
The BRWF are meeting at 11:30am, 19 February, at the Burdekin Library, Ayr. If you want to revive this popular festival, attend, participate, otherwise this once great festival is gone forever. For more info email Mickey: mck4247@bigpond.net.au
Authors on a panel enjoying themselves during Burdekin Readers Writers Festival. Photo: Supplied
BRWF volunteers, were a core reason the festival was a success. Photo: Supplied
The BRW festival has plenty of local support. Photo: Supplied
The festival was attended by big crowds. Photo: Supplied
A novel Garden Party with author and attendees. Photo: Supplied
Professor Roly Sussex speaking at the Burdekin Theatre during the BRW festival. Photo: Supplied
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