I managed to get to three mid-week Melbourne Writers Festival events (honestly, my children thought I’d taken up residence at Federation Square…).

Paul Kelly

I wonder why we don’t refer to Paul Kelly as a ‘national treasure’? He is. His music has been part of the soundtrack of most of my life. He was in the line-up at some of my first concerts at the Myer Music Bowl – those endless summer gigs where there would be one band after another; he was the campfire music of my uni days; his was the background song playing when I first met the guy I’d end up marrying.

Despite being a self-confessed introvert, Kelly was a natural fit for MWF – every one of his songs tells a story. The event, titled ‘Other People’s Words’, began with Kelly performing poetry put to original music. Poems from Dickinson, Plath, Yeats and more, were a beautiful match for Kelly’s distinctive, understated style of music. Between songs, he shared a little bit about why each poem was meaningful to him. To introduce Barn Owl by Gwen Harwood, he said, “To paraphrase Chekov, if there’s a gun in a poem it’s probably going to go off.”

Kelly’s performance was followed by a conversation with fellow writer and poet, Maxine Beneba Clarke. They talked about their creative process and Kelly said that using other people’s words changed how he worked – ordinarily, he writes a melody and then comes up with lyrics but by using existing poems, that process is reversed.

Clarke asked why he had started putting music to existing poems and he replied, “I’ve been a songwriter for over 40 years… I’ve probably said enough.” I don’t think his audience agreed but they were certainly thrilled to hear his interpretation of poetry.

#PaulKelly sonnet 18 #MWF2018 pic.twitter.com/XohjWxP6Cj

— candococonut (@kateinkew) August 29, 2018

Tim Winton

To be frank, I had reservations about the Judith Lucy/ Tim Winton pairing for his session – I find her too brash, too caustic, too much of the same joke for the past twenty years. But I had to eat my words. Lucy was the perfect foil to Winton’s reserved, almost sedate style.

Lucy didn’t hold back on her thoughts about Winton’s latest main character, Jaxie, labelling him a ‘narcissistic, bigoted little arsehole’. Winton agreed, saying, “I’ve spent years writing stories about people who aren’t articulate but have strong feelings.”

In creating the character, Winton said “I just surrendered to Jaxie. He wasn’t for parking. It’s like a relationship you hadn’t planned on.” But Winton was also relieved to say goodbye to Jaxie, “…being trapped in that lexicon (Jaxie) made the heart heavy.”

Winton went on to talk broadly about boys, men and the importance of social connections. It’s Winton’s belief that in terms of communities and families, “…we’ve deskilled in a few generations”. He didn’t have an answer for this problem so Lucy lightened the mood by making him read a section from The Shepherd’s Hut that I think he would have preferred not read (page 116 if you’re interested),

I really enjoyed this rare public appearance from Winton but was a little baffled and disappointed to hear that he had come out the following day with disparaging remarks about ‘non-writers’ being included in writers festivals. I’m assuming he collected his appearance fee before going to the media…

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Sometimes you hear authors talk and every single thing they say is a quotable quote. Such was the case with Ta-Nehisi Coates. He talked about his childhood; Thanksgiving (he’s not a fan – “We’re essentially flat-earthers. That’s why we have Thanksgiving. It’s obscene.”); how he came to journalism; and his meetings with Obama.

Of course, it was his thoughts on Trump that had the audience riveted. Looking back to before Trump was elected, he said “…I thought ‘white people are at least self-interested enough not to do it’ {vote for Trump}. I underestimated whiteness.” He noted that “…the very fact that Trump was in the race was enough to show people had lost their minds”, let alone “…elect someone manifestly unqualified, save for being rich and white.”

Funnily, host Santilla Chingaipe, admitted to not reading comics. Coates was suitably aghast and sung their praises – “Comics allow for your own private experience – you have to fill in the space between panels… it’s your experience but you can have an exchange with other people about that experience.”

Coates finished by talking about his creative process and the constant pressure to produce ‘great work’. He is mindful not to assume too much from success – “I’d rather write five bad books but keep trying. I fear resting on my laurels.”