Clunes Booktown Festival

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Clunes Booktown Festival

We are an annual celebration of every aspect of storytelling.

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Clunes Booktown is a member of the prestigious International Organisation of Booktowns - the only village in Australia to be recognised internationally. The town hosted its first Booktown festival in 2007 and now hosts activities that celebrate 'the book' year round under the auspices of the volunteers of Creative Clunes Inc.

01/09/2026

Today is Indigenous Literacy Day (ILD), a national celebration of First Nations peoples’ stories, cultures and languages created by The Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

This Indigenous Literacy Day and every day, we respectfully acknowledge and extend our deep appreciation to the Dja Dja Wurrung people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we celebrate our love of stories, song and culture.

If you missed our opening panel 'First Nations Oral Storytelling' from our 2026 Clunes Booktown Festival, today is the perfect day to enjoy this panel as a podcast episode.

Search “Clunes Booktown Festival” on your preferred podcast platform, or visit 👉 https://clunesbooktown.org.au/podcast, happy listening!

📷 by Ash + Elm Studios

30/08/2026

This time in two weeks on Sunday 13 September, you will be reflecting on an awesome afternoon at Clunes Booktown on Sunday | Sara Hardy 'The Unusual Life of Edna Walling'.

Join Sara Hardy as she explores aspects of Edna Walling’s life as presented in her biography 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘯𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. Sara will present images and information that she has discovered since the publication of her book in 2005.

Sara Hardy is a biographer, playwright, and former actor. Born in Devon, England, Sara performed with various theatre companies in London before arriving in Australia. She was inspired to write her first biography, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘯𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, after portraying the famous Australian landscape designer in an outdoor theatre performance in Melbourne.

Her second biography, 𝘋𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘢𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘥 – 𝘓𝘰𝘷𝘦 & 𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤, celebrates the Australian opera singer and golf champion. Sara’s most recent publication is 𝘈 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦, a novel that explores the glittering but dangerous LGBTIQ+ underworld of the 20th century with adventures set in London, Berlin, and Melbourne – where Edna Walling makes a cameo appearance.

📖 Sara Hardy 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘯𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨
🗓 Sunday 13 September, 2pm
📍 Clunes Railway Station, 80 Service Street, Clunes
🎫 $5 booktownonsunday.org.au

26/08/2026

With Children’s Book Week in full swing, we are throwing it back to the Birds of Booktown Parade from our 2026 Clunes Booktown Festival! 🐦😍

The parade had us soaring high from our 'Community Bank Kid’s Village', led by the legends from 'Real Pigeons' Andrew McDonald - author and Ben Wood Illustrator.

Here's to bringing children and books together, this week and every week to celebrate Australian children’s literature. Books we love 'em, books we love to read 'em...

📷 by Ash + Elm Studios

23/08/2026

We have another great podcast episode for your listening pleasure this week, 𝘔𝘺𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘰𝘧𝘪𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘯𝘢.

Sofie Laguna’s latest novel, The Underworld, is a coming of age story about a misfit teenage girl sent to boarding school, studying Latin and entranced by Roman mythology and the concept of the underworld.

In this conversation, Jane Sullivan explores the mythic and being on the cusp of adulthood with the author.

You can enjoy this podcast via the 🔗👇 or search “Clunes Booktown Festival” on your preferred podcast platform, happy listening!

https://clunesbooktown.org.au/podcast

19/08/2026

As we eagerly anticipate our next Clunes Booktown on Sunday | Sara Hardy 'The Unusual Life of Edna Walling' on the 13th of September, we are excited to share our second post-festival Booktown on Sunday podcast episode.

Listen to author and comedian from BirdLife Australia, Sean Dooley, as he discusses his memoir 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩, the results of the latest Aussie Bird Count and the joys of birdwatching.

Now available to listen here 👉 booktownonsunday.org.au or by searching your favourite podcast app for “Booktown Sunday", enjoy!

13/08/2026

Save the date for our next Clunes Booktown on Sunday | Sara Hardy 'The Unusual Life of Edna Walling' on Sunday 13 September!

📖 Sara Hardy 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘥𝘯𝘢 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨
🗓 Sunday 13 September, 2pm
📍 Clunes Railway Station, 80 Service Street, Clunes
🎫 $5 booktownonsunday.org.au

Edna Walling is one of Australia’s most popular landscape designers. Born in England in 1895, her popularity and influence was at its height from the 1920s to 1960s and her ideas still guide landscape designers and gardeners to this day - whether they realise it or not!

Edna Walling possessed an abundance of creative and practical skills. She was a gardener, photographer, hands-on builder, architect, journalist, author, sketcher, and watercolourist. Edna Walling was also a tireless and outspoken advocate for the protection of our native plants and wildlife - a concept well before her time.
Edna’s work has been celebrated over the decades in books, exhibitions, and all manner of media. Meanwhile, existing gardens have been lovingly restored and made available for public viewing. Her most extraordinary achievement is her self-created village of Bickleigh Vale, near Melbourne. This village is a beautiful oasis in the suburb of Mooroolbark, a stunning example of Edna Wallings’s creativity, determination, and vision.

Yet who was Edna Walling?

'The Unusual Life of Edna Walling' was written in response to that question.
Sara Hardy's biography explores the life and character of the woman behind those fabulous achievements. It examines her formative years spent in Devon, England, plus the challenges of moving to the other side of the world. The biography also explores key friendships and relationships that provided the support that enabled Edna to achieve all that she did.

Sara Hardy’s talk will explore aspects of Edna Walling’s life as presented in her biography and present images and information that Sara has discovered since the publication of her book in 2005.

Held on the second Sunday of each the month, Clunes Booktown on Sunday allows us to throw open the doors of our lovely historic home of the Clunes Railway Station with pre-loved book sale from 1:00pm, then our featured author talk at 2:00pm - so there is ample time to explore the Clunes Farmers & Makers Market in the morning and grab a bite of lunch beforehand.

$5 admission. Drinks at bar prices, along with networking opportunities afterwards. We look forward to welcoming you for a superb Sunday afternoon in Spring.

10/08/2026

📣Expressions of Interest are now OPEN for our 2027 Clunes Booktown Festival!

If you answer yes to any of the questions below, please be sure to register here 👉 https://clunesbooktown.org.au/get-involved

📚Want to volunteer?
📚Want a book stall?
📚Want to be involved in a panel or workshop?
📚Want to perform?
📚Want to bring your food truck?
📚Want to sell your produce or have a makers stall, or you are a community group?
📚Are you a Clunes local (or a nearby town), and interested in helping with accommodating our visiting authors?

We are looking forward to another fabulous festival on the 20th and 21st of March 2027.

09/08/2026

A superb Sunday afternoon, thank you so much to all that joined us today for Clunes Booktown on Sunday | Tony Birch in Conversation with Bec Kavanagh.

A packed house and a really insightful conservation, followed by 30 minutes of questions. We are proud of these sessions and love the opportunity to keep the Clunes Booktown Festival vibes going.

Thank you Tony and to Bec for your open and honest conversation. A sensational way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and start a new week.

07/08/2026

Do you have plans for this Sunday 9th of August? You do now!

We would like to welcome you to Clunes Booktown on Sunday | Tony Birch in Conversation with Bec Kavanagh.

Join award-winning author, Tony Birch in conversation with Bec Kavanagh, discussing the best of his short fiction from the past two decades. Cherry-picking from across his oeuvre, 𝘗𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘠𝘰𝘶 showcases his skills at finding the extraordinary in ordinary lives, and the often-unexpected connections and kindnesses between strangers.

📖 Tony Birch in conversation with Bec Kavanagh
🗓 Sunday 9 August, 2pm
📍 Clunes Railway Station, 80 Service Street, Clunes
🎫 $5 booktownonsunday.org.au

We will throw open the doors of our lovely historic home of the Clunes Railway Station with pre-loved book sale from 1:00pm, then our featured author talk at 2:00pm - so there is ample time to explore the Clunes Farmers & Makers Market in the morning and grab a bite of lunch beforehand.

$5 admission. Drinks at bar prices, along with networking opportunities afterwards. We look forward to welcoming you for a superb Sunday afternoon.

05/08/2026

Did you catch our panel 'The Power of Theatre' at our 2026 Clunes Booktown Festival?

If you did, you can now enjoy it all over again, and for those that missed out, you now have the pleasure of hearing it for the first time in our most recent podcast episode drop.

Since ancient times, theatrical performances have been spaces to ask difficult questions, make people feel heard and even generate social change. In this panel three esteemed playwrights, Mary Anne Butler, Samah Sabawi and Nathan Maynard, discuss with theatre maker Mari Lourey why they write plays and the ongoing power and importance of theatre.

You can enjoy this podcast via the 🔗👇 or search “Clunes Booktown Festival” on your preferred podcast platform, enjoy!

https://clunesbooktown.org.au/podcast

Address

70 Service Street
Clunes, VIC
3370

Telephone

+61353453947

Website

http://clunesbooktown.org.au/, https://linktr.ee/clunesbooktownfestival

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