I've been promising (largely to myself) to do a roundup of the Syndey Writers' Festival, but life got away on me a bit over the past week or so.

So, The Sydney Writers' Festival Wrap Up will probably come in dribs and drabs from now on:

The first event I went to was called Crossing Over, which I was interested in because it was about writing fiction for kids, which is read by adults. As with many sessions at the festival, the topic proved to be a very loose description of what actually happened. Highlights:

- Matthew Reilly's story about his most graphically violent book being banned in a school in Victoria on account of an intimate scene between two teenage characters that lasted for two lines. Apparently severed heads = okay. Cuddles = bad.
- Margo Lanagan's description of her books' more "intimate" scenes, which are "usually quite explicit but which involve fairies and elves, so it's okay"
- A couple of the things Reilly said. When he started out, I thought he was brash and arrogant. By the end of the session, he was my stand-out favourite. Self-published his first book and now he's a bajillionaire (no, this is not an actual figure - I am basing this on a combination of book sales and the fact that he drives a sports car. Shuttup, please).

I then missed this session, which I may one day forgive myself for (Shane Koyczan, whose book and CD I have forced almost everybody to submit to over the past few weeks).

Then we went to the Sydney Opera House with Standing There Productions Captain of Industry Ms M Howlett, who has (criminally) never seen Withnail and I. I feel implicit in this tort, given how as her old housemate of several years, I apparently did not force Withnail and I upon her, Clockwork Orange Style, in order to better equip her for, you know, life. Anyhoo. We saw this, which was slightly strange due to the intimate discussion being held in the enormous venue. Highlights:

- Richard E Grant apparently auditioned for Withnail and I when he was at the end of his (cold, poor, wet) tether. He walked through the rain in a second-hand trenchcoat to the audition, saw Kenneth Branaugh emerge from the audition - followed by Bill Nigh - and entered the audition in a pissed off, wet, tired, fed-up mood, ready to not get the part. If you haven't seen Withnail and I, add "drunk" to that list and that's a very good description of Withnail.
- His description of his father's funeral, where a local man thought he had healing powers and jumped into his father's coffin and attempted to bring him back to life.
- He talked about what it's like to work on a truly crap film in Hollywood. Description of big famous names banding together to escape theatres before the lights come up again - hilarious.
- He is a big old name-dropping gossip. Yay.

So that's Day One of the festival. Good on me. Day One. This is why I could never keep a diary.

Enjoy the rain, Melbournians!