Author talks and teddy playtime highlight activities at Shire of Harvey’s first ever Literacy Festival

A new festival of literacy in the Harvey region is set to return next year after a successful first run.

It was two days of celebration for all things literary on March 9 and 10 as the Shire of Harvey Libraries hosted its inaugural Literacy Festival.

There were a number of free activities and events on offer for folk of all ages and reading abilities, with a theme of “Imagine the Possibilities”.

For the children just starting their literary journey, they enjoyed a special story time at Australind’s Ridley Park as part of the City of Bunbury Libraries’ Teddy Bear Roadshow, while young ones in Harvey enjoyed a teddy bears picnic with plenty of singing, dancing and play.

Those who were a bit more mature were able to enjoy author sessions, workshops and presentations from bestselling authors and industry professionals.

Fiona Palmer, Dervla McTiernan, Rachael Johns, Brooke Dunnell and Jeanette Stampone all visited the Harvey and Australind libraries to talk about the life of being a modern writer, their careers to date and their latest work.

A Local Authors Roundtable was also held, which saw self-published writers Suzi Spinelli, Helene Smith, Tricia Trevaskis, Rob Littlewood and Ian Hooper discuss the publishing process and content marketing.

Harvey Shire president Paul Gillett said the author talks were one of his highlights from the festival.

“I think there is a budding author in all of us and it was good to hear their experiences,” he said.

The Shire of Harvey has already announced the festival will return for 2024 following the success of this month’s events.

Mr Gillett described the new festival as a “great initiative”.

“We have got fantastic staff that go above and beyond, and I am sure we will do even better next year,” he said.