Excitement is building as the town of Clunes prepares for the biggest weekend on its calendar.
A full program for the 2025 Clunes Booktown Festival was launched earlier this week, with the event set to feature over 70 guest speakers and panellists.
Speaking on the Wake Up Call with Robbo, Creative Director of the Festival, Suzie Cordell said they had already received “great feedback” on the program.
“We have an amazing lot of authors to choose from… we were looking around a theme of ‘Defiance and Hope’ this year and it was just an incredible pleasure to bring these people into the program,” Ms Cordell said.
The aim of this year’s event, she explained was to “bring in as much diversity” and hear “as many people speak about their work as possible”.
“So we’re looking at all sorts of diversity around… different genres and different groups of people who have written really fascinating work.”
Arguably the guest with the highest profile is environmental campaigner and former Greens leader Bob Brown, who will be speaking about his new book, Defiance with presenter Hilary Harper.
Ms Cordell said organisers were “really excited” to have him join.
“He’s a lifelong activist, environmentalist; he stands up for social justice, and he’s spent his life fighting for us … for our life on Earth.”
Other famous names taking part include Miles Franklin Award-winner Sofie Laguna, playwright and screenwriter Marieke Hardy, children’s author Andrew McDonald and illustrator Ben Wood.
It’s not just the panellists that are getting people excited, with many also looking forward to the Book Fair.
More than 130 traders are expected to be hosting stalls, selling thousands of pre-loved titles.
Additional activities happening at the event include historical walking tours and a poetry slam.
The 2025 Clunes Booktown Festival takes place on March 21st and 22nd.
A full program and tickets can be found on the official website.
