Writers inspired by their own neighbourhoods

A Melbourne Writers Festival initiative explores the importance of place to writers Tony Birch, Sophie Cunningham and more.
A headshot of a woman and a man.

This year, due to rolling COVID-led lockdowns, Melbourne Writers Festival cancelled its live sessions and brought forward its MWF Digital program to enable access to online events, streaming for an extended period from 3–15 September. Alongside their streaming events, there will also be a short documentary by artist Will Huxley called Writers on Film. Huxley will present self-narrated tours from Sophie Cunningham, Tony Birch and Jennifer Down. These award-winning authors will map out the local Melbourne neighbourhood that so inspired and informed their work.

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Thuy On is Reviews Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the books editor of The Big issue for 8 years. Her debut, a collection of poetry called Turbulence, came out in 2020 and was released by University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP). Her second collection, Decadence, was published in July 2022, also by UWAP. Her third book, Essence, will be published in 2025. Twitter: @thuy_on Instagram: poemsbythuy