What’s on in March: Resident Organisation Round Up

As the centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, we are host to some fantastic arts and culture organisations.

Within the Wheeler Centre building lives Australian Poetry, Blak & Bright, Melbourne City of Literature Office, Emerging Writers’ Festival, Express Media, Freeplay Independent Games Festival, Melbourne Writers Festival, PEN Melbourne, the Small Press Network and Writers Victoria. Beneath the Wheeler Centre you can enjoy a European culinary escape at Italian inspired restaurant The Moat.

Discover what’s coming up in March 2024 for these organisations below. 

Blak & Bright

The Blak & Bright First Nations Literary Festival returns this March! Enjoy an exciting range of conversations, performances, workshops and live readings taking place from 14 to 17 March. Explore the full program here.

The Melbourne City of Literature Office

This World Poetry Day, The Melbourne City of Literature Office is hosting an online Poetry salon — highlighting six poets from local poetry publisher Vagabond Press. This event is aimed at an international audience so Australian poets can showcase their work to the world, but locals wanting to start their day with some stellar poetry are more than welcome. Join them 8am AEDT, Thursday 21 March via zoom. 

Emerging Writers Festival

The Emerging Writers’ Festival currently has two exciting opportunities for community participation. Expressions of interest are open now for their Festival Focus Group, perfect for those who wish to join a small community of 2024 festival consultants. 

Meetings will be undertaken in a hybrid format across March, May and July with simple catering provided for in-person attendees and each participant will be offered an honorarium of $75 for their contribution. Express your interest here.

Expressions of interest are also open to become a 2024 Guest Curator. This opportunity is for an emerging First Nations producer who is keen to get literary and festival programming experience with a national festival. Learn more on the EWF website here. Expressions of interest close 11.59pm AEDT, 1 April. 

Express Media

The first season of Express Media’s 2024 Toolkits program is open for applications now. Toolkits is a 12-week online program for creatives aged 30 and under to develop their skills, workshop their work and connect with other writers. Express Media is excited to present two streams in the upcoming season: Fiction and Non-Fiction. Discover more on their website and submit your own applications before Thursday, 28 March. 

Melbourne Writers Festival

The 2024 Melbourne Writers Festival goes on sale at 7pm, 21 March! This year, MWF have an incomparable line-up of writers coming your way from all over the world – and the risk of missing out on tickets is real. Subscribe to their eNewsletter so you don’t miss out on what promises to be one of the best MWF that Melbourne has ever seen.

PEN Melbourne

Join PEN Melbourne on International Women’s Day to pay tribute to persecuted women writers. On Thursday, 7 March PEN Melbourne members and friends will read the writings and poems of persecuted female writers and write cards in solidarity with the women in prison to let them know they are being thought of.

Come along to their card writing evening, meet PEN Melbourne members and share refreshments as PEN acknowledges courageous women writers who cannot be with us. 

Writers Victoria

Join Writers Victoria at 6.15pm on Wednesday, 13 March for the 2024 Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship announcement. Preceding the announcement of this year’s Fellow, previous winner Mandy Sayer will be in conversation with Adolfo Aranjuez about her biography Those Dashing McDonagh Sisters: Australia’s first female filmmaking team. This event is free, but bookings are essential so grab your tickets now. 

The Wheeler Centre

We recently announced a special live recording of hit podcast Being Biracial with co-hosts Maria Birch-Morunga and Kate Robinson. The co-creators will take to the stage at The Round, Nunawading on Thursday, 21 March alongside special guests comedian Aurelia St Clair and AFLW champion Darcy Vescio. Join them this March for a broad-ranging discussion on identity, juggling cultures and biracial joy. Tickets are available here.  

The Moat

Skip eating at your desk and instead take a trip to The Moat as lunches return this March. Join them on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 12pm for delicious Italian lunchtime fare featuring a plate of handmade pasta with a glass of house wine for $30. You can also add dessert for an extra $10. We can’t think of a better reason to get out of the office for an hour.