OzAsia’s Weekend of Words is not your average literary festival
OzAsia’s literary festival, Weekend of Words, has plenty to attract not just the literary set from November 8-10.
It was easy for comedian and writer Sami Shah to fall in love with OzAsia on his first visit as a panellist a couple of years ago.
“I mean, firstly, there’s the entire garden of delight with all the food that happens, which is just such a joy,” Sami says.
“On top of that, the weekend full of literature and conversations about writing and by people from or connected to Asia, it was such a unique kind of hothouse of energy and creativity.”
Sami wanted to capture that energy in the program this year, and having been a guest at many festivals he knew what not to do as the curator of Weekend of Words.
“I’ve been a guest at many festivals, a panellist at many festivals, and I, as a result, have very strong opinions and feelings about what I like and dislike about them,” Sami says.
“I remember a few years ago, I was at one of the writers’ festivals and I met the person who was curating it.
They said “I only wanted to create a festival that was filled with people I like” and I thought that sounded really boring!
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“I want a festival full of stuff I don’t know anything about, about stuff that makes me uncomfortable, about stuff that I disagree with or agree with, because therein lies an actual festival,” Sami says.
One of the program highlights with this idea at its heart is the closing night debate which Sami promises will be “deliciously cool”.
Benjamin Law, Sarah Malik and Sukhijt Kaur Khalsa will debate Chinese Food vs Indian Food against Urvi Majumdar, Jason Chong and Jennifer Wong.
If the food debate makes you hungry, Lucky Dumpling Market is the cure. This picture: Helen Page Photography.
Sami says a celebration of literature and writing should be fun and creative while showcasing depth and diversity of ideas, personalities, identities and politics.
“We’re from all over Asia, the idea that all of us are in agreement about everything is ludicrous to me, and not something I would like to have at a festival,” he says.
“I would like a festival where we all convey points of view and can learn from each other and have dialogue and disruption.”
OzAsia’s Weekend of Words is the largest gathering of Asian and Asian Australian writers and thinkers in the country.
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Sami says it’s a unique and rare gathering of authors, journalists, screenplay writers, comic book writers and more ranging from first, second and third-generation migrants as well as writers based in Asia that make the trip.
“All of us are a kind of loose community already, we all are at these other festivals, like Melbourne Literary Festival or the Sydney Literary Festival for example where we’re part of a larger pool of writers, and we’ve fought for that space,” he says.
“We’ve fought to be seen, and continue to fight sometimes, to be seen as just writers in those spaces, not like a Pakistani writer or Indian writer, but just writer, Australian writer.
“But that Pakistani or Indian part of you is always there, and to have it be celebrated as something more than just a token element that someone else can use to tick off the diversity or representation box, but actually explore what it means by talking to other people to whom that meaning resonates as well, and to other people to whom that conversation is also resonant.”
With that in mind, the Weekend of Words presents ‘Tokens: The Diversity Panel’ starring Benjamin Law, Sarah Malik and Beverly Wang, who have all been blamed for filing a diversity quota.
“They’re always there as the token ethnic and so then talking about that experience, you could only have that at this festival,” Sami says.
L-FRESH The LION is a rapper/producer from South West Sydney performing at OzAsia. This picture: supplied
The Weekend of Words includes sessions on screenwriting craft, the Art of the Graphic novel, workshops on zine-making and writing rap and hip hop with L-FRESH The LION.
Of course, there’s also a pop-up bookshop, a zine fair and a free closing night party with a hip-hop performance from L-FRESH The LION.
Sami says one of the other things he doesn’t like about other festivals and wants to avoid is only catering to a literati crowd, and not a wider audience.
“I read all genres but I’m a geek at heart. I like science fiction, I like comic books and movies and TV shows, so I wanted the people in our communities who are working in those areas to also have a space,” he says.
“I wanted to have panels that appeal to anyone and everyone or even if you don’t know anything about this, and you walk in and sit down because you want to rest your legs, you walk away with your mind blown, that’s what I was aiming for.”
OzAsia’s Weekend of Words is on November 8-10, view the full program on their website.