With their plans for this year's second Brisbane event all shored up and locked away, the organisers of A Rock & Roll Writers Festival have unveiled the specifics of their plan to take the show on the road with a special Melbourne-based Tour Edition this April.
The inaugural Victorian iteration of the music-literature mecca will be held in the historic Abbotsford Convent, a decision described by the space's chief executive, Collette Brennan as "perfect" for the purposes of the event, "as home to more than 100 in-residence arts and cultural practitioners, many of them writers".
"Australia’s largest multi-arts precinct, the Convent, offers a year-round events program, connecting our community of passionate visitors with artists and cultural leaders," Brennan enthused in a statement. "The RRWF provides a unique opportunity for music fans, musicians, writers and book lovers to hear first-hand about the creative spark between writing and music, in the relaxed, welcoming environment of the Abbotsford Convent."
The Melbourne Tour Edition of A Rock & Roll Writers Festival will feature a stunning selection of guest speakers including singer-songwriters Cash Savage, Mike Noga and Jess Ribeiro, ex Bad Seed and multi-talented producer, performer and writer Hugo Race, The Black Eyed Susans frontman Rob Snarski, veteran muso Mick Thomas and a slew of authors and journalists such as Jenny Valentish, Andrew Stafford, Andrew McMillen, Kate Hennessy, Mikey Cahill and more.
The panels will be moderated by author Nicole Hayes (The Whole Of My World) and triple j host and Oz-music champion Dom Alessio.
Festival director and Brisbane music-scene legend Leanne De Souza said that the event's expansion down south was a natural and effectively inevitable one, given Melbourne's similarly vibrant and vital culture of nurturing musical and literary talent in droves.
"Although the concept and intention behind the event was born of a personal connection with the Brisbane music scene over the past two decades, my vision was always to tour and explore the conversations in the other great music cities of the world," she said in a statement. "We are thrilled that Abbotsford Convent welcomed our first foray in to what was an obvious choice — Melbourne."
The inaugural Tour Edition of A Rock & Roll Writers Festival hits the Abbotsford Convent on Sunday 9 April, running from 1pm to 8pm.
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