Podcast of my talk on Edna Walling in Clunes Booktown

 

What a joy it is to have mates who will follow me on a two hour drive with lots of potholes all the way to lovely historic Clunes, north of Melbourne. These cheery friends explored Clunes with me over the weekend of September 13 when I presented a PowerPoint talk about Edna Walling (see previous post re). So if you enjoy hearing about Edna Walling and like listening to podcasts: here's the link to my talk:   https://clunesbooktown.org.au/booktown-on-sunday/   (just scroll down the page to find my podcast in the list of veritable authors speaking about their work).

It was an honour to be invited to this famous little town, which is officially a 'Booktown' - the only one in Australia. A Booktown is a small rural town that features an annual festival of literature and arts and has a multitude of second-hand bookshops and all manner of stalls set up for the occasion, plus author events, workshops, and talks. Hay-on-Wye in the UK started this trend some years ago, and other towns followed this successful venture all over the world. The success is all due to book lovers - especially those of recycled books. Clunes, with its historic collection of goldfield-era buildings makes a wonderful setting for its two-day festival in March. And, as I discovered, it was a lovely place to explore for a long weekend when I was invited to take part in Clunes monthly Booktown on Sunday Author Talk Program.

Here's the link to the Clunes Booktown Festival in March 2027: https://clunesbooktown.org.au/

Clunes historic buildings have attracted various film and TV productions to make use of its locations. For instance, film crews took over the place during the filming of The True History of the Kelly Gang (2019), the original Mad Max (1979), The Dry (2020) and Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).

Well worth a visit. I especially enjoyed Agatha's Lounge and Wine Bar - http://agathas-clunes.square.site/

Cheers.

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