Dubbo Writers’ Festival next month will quietly celebrate a decade of bringing publishing industry professionals to Dubbo for the benefit of local and regional writers.

An initiative of the Outback Writers’ Centre (OWC), the annual event regularly attracts attendees from around NSW, and sometimes beyond. Last year’s event attracted writers from the Central Coast and Canberra.

OWC president Nisaba Merrieweather says the annual festival coincides with the seasonal arrival of warmth and light each year and is an important cultural event.

“This is one of the events in Dubbo that adds to the cultural richness of our community,” she said.

“Being so different and so geared towards upskilling writers makes it uniquely exciting among writing festivals,” Ms Merrieweather added.

Unlike other writers’ festivals, which are city-centric, costly and designed to primarily sell books, the two-day Dubbo Writers’ Festival has a skills-development focus and offers a mix of free and low-cost events.

Helping regional writers connect with successful, established authors, literary agents and publishers is an important focus of the festival.

Multi-published Central West author Kim Kelly will sit down with Jenn Cowley OAM at the Macquarie Regional Library on Friday, September 13 for an In-Conversation event that formally opens the festival.

Starting at 5.00 pm, the free, public event includes an author showcase featuring the published works of about 20 local and regional authors who are also available to talk about their works. Refreshments will follow before Jenn Cowley and Kim Kelly take to the stage at 6.30pm.

Ms Kelly will present three workshops on Saturday, September 14, and writers can arrange publishing consultations with Jane Curry (Ventura Press), Fiona McDonald (Christmas Press) and Dr Kate Cuthbert (Pantera Press) on the Sunday.

Thanks to the support of the NSW Government, Create NSW and Orana Arts Inc, the workshops and publishing consultations will cost just $50 each – a considerable saving on similar activities at other writers’ festivals.

For Festival Director Val Clark, who has been involved from the start, bringing the publishing world and famous authors to town each year has been a labour of love.

“It has been a privilege and a delight to work alongside many Outback Writers’ Centre members and see the festival grow each year over the last 10 years,” Ms Clark said.

“That’s 10 years of bringing publishing industry professionals to Dubbo to build the publishing competencies of regional writers.”

This amounts to 30 publishers and 10 traditionally-published authors coming to Dubbo for the festival, to show writers how they can make their work submission-ready and how to improve their craft, she said.

“I’m stoked that what started out as a small idea has continued to grow,” Ms Clark concluded.