The Otway Light Writers Festival – New Beginnings
This year, we are thrilled to be launching our inaugural Otway Light Writers Festival, to be held on Saturday, October 25th, at Lavers Hill K-12 College.
It will be an intimate, one-day event set among the rolling hills and tall forests of the Otways. Our aim is simple but ambitious: to offer our readers and broader community a rich and inspiring cultural experience that celebrates the power of storytelling, and encourages people—especially young people—to find their own voice through writing.
The festival brings together established and emerging voices from across the region to ignite a deeper appreciation for the written word. There are three ticketed sessions throughout the Festival: Morning Panel, Workshops and Afternoon Panel.
Seats are limited and tickets are very reasonably priced (plus ticketing fees):
Morning Author Discussion Panel:
Adults $10.00 / Students $5.00 (5 – 16 years of age).
Writing Workshops:
A choice of 3 workshops – Poetry, or Adult, or Children’s/Young Adult: $5.00.
Afternoon Author Discussion Panel:
Adults $10.00 / Students $5.00 (5 – 16 years of age).
Children under 5 free if sitting with parent or guardian.
The day also includes: a chance to meet the authors, a special musical “book performance”, book sales from Great Ocean Reads, coffee van, morning tea, and lunch are available for purchase onsite.
Please consider joining us for what we hope will be a special, meaningful day in our region’s cultural life.
Festival Schedule
9:30am
Registration
10:00am
Welcome and Morning Panel
Panel moderated by Sue Gillett, exploring the theme of New Beginnings
Kate Halfpenny
Kate Halfpenny has spent four decades telling other people’s stories as an award-winning writer, editor and commentator for Who, Vogue, Marie Claire and ABC Radio. Her own plot twists include three kids, two husbands, and one mission to talk honestly about midlife as a columnist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. Post-pandemic, Kate fled Melbourne for Ocean Grove, the backdrop of her 2025 memoir Boogie Wonderland. At the coast, she boogie boards daily and has become unafraid of magpies. A former synchronised trampoline champ and tapestry fan who’s learning the Rocky theme on piano, she’s trying to break up with Botox and cooking.
Rhett Davis
Rhett Davis is the author of Arborescence, a novel about what trees might do if we weren’t careful. His first novel, Hovering, won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an Unpublished Manuscript and was shortlisted for the Readings New Australian Fiction Prize and the Aurealis Award for Science Fiction. He has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and a PhD from Deakin University. Rhett has also been a manager, a consultant, a business analyst, a bookseller, and a writing and literature academic. He lives, works and writes mostly on Wadawurrung land in Geelong.
11:30am
Morning Break
Lunch and morning tea are provided for purchase by the Lavers Hill K12 College Parents and Friends Committee. (cash only thanks)
12:00pm
Writing Workshops
Adults’ Workshop with Philomena Horsley
Title TBC
Philomena is an award-winning writer, professional editor, and complete book nerd.
She loves both the freedom of writing fiction and the creative challenges of non-fiction. She is also a judge of the Davitt Awards, Australia’s national book awards for women writers of crime and mystery – adult, non-fiction, young adult and children’s books. Philomena lives surrounded by nature in beautiful Carlisle River.
Children’s & Adults’ Workshop with Matt Zurbo
Suitable for participants aged 9-16 years
Make a Book in 10 Minutes, Make Your Own Comic
Matt Zurbo, as well as a local bushman, has been a much-published author for over three decades. He has been shortlisted for the CBC YA Book of the Year, written a plethora of children’s books, novels, sports novels, won an Emmy when his I Got a Rocket was adapted into a cartoon, gained a world-wide following due to the New York Times doing a three page spread on his Cielo 365 challenge in which he wrote a children’s book a day for a year. He has a cult following for his music work, and a nation-wide following for his 2 decades of work in the Footy Almanac – focusing on Aussie Rules, love and life in general (over 400 pieces). He has had numerous books published under fake names, once did stand up comedy as a bloated ex-wrestler called the Perculator, and has played over 700 games of bush footy. His latest book, If I Could, written while oyster farming in Southern Tasmania, was the ultimate story of the Cielo 365 project. It is published by Macmillan USA.
Poetry Workshop with Linnet Hunter
Poetry Playground: Create, Shape and Explore
Spoken-word poet Linnet Hunter weaves words with the gentle sound of her autoharp, creating performances that are intimate, lyrical and deeply human. Author of capture & flight and host of the podcast Pause for a Poem, Linnet has appeared at Clunes Booktown, Fireside Poetry nights and community festivals across Victoria. She also leads workshops that make poetry playful and accessible, inviting participants to discover the clarity and courage in their own voices.
1:15pm
Lunch
Lunch and morning tea are provided for purchase by the Lavers Hill K-12 College Parents and Friends Committee. (cash only thanks)
1:50pm
Book Performance – “If I Could” Matt Zurbo
Matt performs an interactive interpretation of his book “If I Could” with his daughter Cielo, creating an immersive experience.
2:15pm
Afternoon Panel
Panel moderated by Philippa Bailey, exploring the theme of New Beginnings
Mark Smith
Mark Smith is the author of five novels: Three Boys Gone, The Road To Winter, Wilder Country, Land Of Fences and If Not Us. Wilder Country won the 2018 Australian Indie Book Award for YA and The Road To Winter is a popular text on school lists around the country. He is also an award-winning writer of short fiction whose work has been published in Australia and overseas. He is the co-curator of Minds Went Walking, Paul Kelly’s Songs Reimagined and Into Your Arms, Nick Cave’s Songs Reimagined
Kgshek Acek
Kgshak Akec is a South Sudanese writer and storyteller based on Wadawurrung Country. A lover of language since learning English at six, Kgshak quickly came to see words as a powerful means of connection, expression, and transformation. She writes to illuminate the voices and experiences that often go unheard or overlooked, drawing from her own story and the wider worlds around her. Her debut novel, Hopeless Kingdom – a deeply personal narrative inspired by her migration journey – won the 2021 Dorothy Hewett Award and was shortlisted for the 2023 Miles Franklin Literary Award.
Kgshak’s work explores themes of identity, dislocation and belonging, inviting readers to question assumptions and imagine new possibilities for connection.
Luke Johnson
Luke is a writer from Ocean Grove, on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. He is married with two daughters. He is a physiotherapist by trade, combining this with his love of reading and writing. A fan of literary fiction, crime fiction, and strong Australian-facing narratives and overtones, his debut novel, King Tide, was released on July 29 2025 through Affirm Press / Simon & Schuster.
Our Sponsors & Supporters
We appreciate the support of Great Ocean Reads Bookstore who will be booksellers at the event.
Commonwealth Volunteers Grant
Moonlight View Accommodation
