York Regional Writers Weekend brings contrast, conversation and camaraderie

It’s a crisp autumn morning in York. I’m standing on Avon Terrace, just outside the old Post Office. At one end, clouds shroud a distant Mt Bakewell (Walwalling); at the other, sunshine sets aglow the Town Hall’s ornate exterior.

It’s these kinds of contrast, these extremes, I’m looking forward to navigating over the weekend as some of Western Australia’s finest authors and poets join me for two days of conversation and camaraderie as part of the annual York Regional Writers Weekend.

And so it comes to pass as writers, poets and punters alike huddle together beneath the roof of the old Rookery, just behind Gallery 152. The Meet The Author series might not be the only attraction of this year’s festival — there are workshops, performances, walks, and plays in other venues — but it’s certainly the most volatile, the most malleable, the most prone to serendipity and happenstance.

Which is just the way I like it.

Ballardong Noongar Elder Marion Kickett kicks us off with a moving welcome to country and a discussion about what it means to be an Aboriginal Elder, and about yarning — a porous, circular concept that becomes the unofficial theme for the rest of the program.

David Whish-Wilson then regales us with tales of Perth’s dark underbelly in decades past. John Kinsella and Shey Marque examine memory and trauma through the dense lens of poetry. Laura Keenan and Alison Middleton talk about the joys and challenges of writing romance as flash fiction.

Sunday brings short-lived showers and longer conversations. Thriller writer Sara Foster zeroes in on the pros and cons of planning versus “pantsing” when writing. Rachael Johns has everyone in stitches as we dig into the rom-com genre. Bernice Barry, author of the book Sarah Evans, describes the gradual shift from non-fiction to historical fiction with a foot in both camps. Emily Bridget Taylor mesmerises with her lyrical, gothic poetry and dance-like gestures.

Like everyone else, I still find time among all this book talk to walk and enjoy the town. I visit the quaint home of the festival’s official bookseller, Barclay Books. I sample the rustic culinary delights of Jules, Nguyen’s Bakery Cafe and Gather York. Jumping back in the car, I drive up to the Mt Brown (Wongborel) lookout to delight in the spectacular views of the valley below.

My only regret is, since I’m facilitating all the sessions in the program, I don’t quite have the time to partake of a pub lunch at the Imperial, or to inspect the exhibitions in Gallery 152, Pantechnica and the Residency Museum.

Yet there is ample recompense in the intimate engagement with writers and audience members alike as we journey together through imaginary landscapes and to other towns built not of bricks but of words — in true yarning fashion.

And if it’s true that, as Marion Kickett says, “Elders are deeply committed to sharing their knowledge, providing guidance, and teaching respect for the country, culture and natural world”, then in that sense each and every one of these writers and poets can claim creative kinship with our first storytellers.