“I will tell you why you should draft my story. Because migrant stories are broken,” writes Peter Polites, channelling his mother, in his stunning third novel, God Forgets About the Poor, set between Western Sydney and the Greek peasant village where she was born.
Meanwhile, the protagonist in Winnie Dunn’s debut, Dirt Poor Islanders, lost her mother at a young age, and finding her way means pushing against the constraints of tradition, family and self until she becomes whole in her own right.
Greece and Tonga may be oceans apart, but these authors share an incredible skill for writing about class, migration, identity and familial bonds in heartfelt, humourous and elegant prose.
Peter Polites is the author of two queer noirs, Down the Hume and The Pillars, the latter of which won the 2020 NSW Premier's Multicultural Literary Award. He also won the 2020 Woollahra Digital Literature Prize for Fiction.
Winnie Dunn is the general manager of Sweatshop Literacy Movement and the editor of several critically acclaimed anthologies including Sweatshop Women and Another Australia.
Please note that this venue is licensed and entry is for over 18’s only.
This venue is wheelchair accessible, but please visit our Accessibility page or email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au if you have any other accessibility requirements.
Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival will have Auslan interpreters available for the Festival and will schedule them into sessions on request. Please complete the Auslan request question at checkout.
Festival Ticket Information
To take full advantage of all the events on offer, we recommend purchasing a weekend or day pass. Subject to availability, a strictly limited number of single tickets may become available, see below.