It’s ONE MONTH to go until our jampacked conference in Newport on August 3rd and 4th. There’s still plenty of time to register your in-person or online attendance! That’s right, if you can’t make it in person you can still join in with most of the online via Zoom.
We are thrilled to announce that thanks to the support of Hobsons Bay City Council through its Make it Happen Grants program, the opening sessions for each day of the conference will be open to the public!
That’s right, Michael Earp’s Keynote Address and our Special Guest Presentation from Jaeden Williams (Boonwurrung educator, and founder/director of Biik Bundjil) will be free for everyone to attend. PLUS Michael’s Keynote Address will be Auslan interpreted too.
However, spaces for both sessions will be limited so whether you’re coming to the whole conference or just the morning sessions with Jaeden and Michael, register now!!!
Register for the Full Conference (Single Day, Two Days, and Online) here.
Get tickets to the Keynote Address by Michael Earp here
and to our Special Guest Presentation by Jaeden Williams here.
(Note: if you’ve registered for the conference, you already have a place at the Keynote and Guest Presentation)
If you’re coming from regional Victoria, interstate, or even overseas(!) we have a handy dandy welcome pack to give you a starting point to find your way to the Newport Community Hub and other nifty bits of advice. You can download the welcome pack here.
We’re undergoing a little program revision, but start and end times will not change. Be ready to start at 9:45am each day, finishing by 6:30pm AEST and 4:30pm AEST on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th respectively. That gives you plenty of time to calmly plane, train, or automobile your way home. An updated conference program will be out very, very soon…
All AFTS members will have access to the recordings of conference sessions in the future, but if you have registered (regardless of whether you’re a member, and joining in-person or online) you will get access first. So what are you waiting for, get registered and get excited for a jam-packed weekend. We can’t wait to welcome you to Newport!
And if you need a reminder, our fantastic conference artwork is by the brilliant Roslyn Quin (@roslynquinart)!
Michael Earp is a non-binary writer and bookseller living in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). They are editor of, and contributor to Everything Under the Moon: Fairy tales in a queerer light, Kindred: 12 Queer #LoveOzYA Stories, Out-Side: Queer Words and Art from Regional Victoria and co-edited Avast! Pirate Stories From Transgender Authors with Alison Evans. Their writing has also appeared in Archer, The Age, PopMatters, The Victorian Writer, Aurealis and Underdog: #LoveOzYA Short Stories. For over twenty years they have worked between bookselling and publishing as a children’s and young adult specialist. Their role managing The Little Bookroom, the world’s oldest children’s bookstore saw them named ABA Bookseller of the year. A passionate advocate for LGBTQIA+ literature for young people, they established the #AusQueerYA Tumblr to catalogue all Australian young adult fiction containing queer content and characters. Representation of all people in the literature available to readers of all ages is the ethos that motivates their entire career. They have a Masters in Children’s Literature and a Teaching degree and previously served as committee chair for the #LoveOzYA campaign. Tea is the source of all their power.
Australian Fairy Tale Society 