Byron Bay Writers' Festival

Forcing through the aggressive traffic from 3pm onwards on Thursday from my side of Brisbane. Managed to hit the entrance traffic from the Gold Coast at 5pm. In for dinner at nearly 7pm. Damned cold, but the log fire is nice. Hit bed early at 10pm to wake and be refreshed for my first day at the Byron Bay Writers' Festival.

My program consisted of meeting some interesting characters, who were, indeed, playing themselves. My sessions were about things like new languages to explain new concepts, the crafting of short stories, and how various authors have brought history to life through their creations. I listened to crime fiction authors and memoir authors and could translate a lot of the material to assist me.

I took copious notes and have several stories generating for later putting onto page.

There was a discussion regarding how language can play a role in innovation of science and economy. There was some good discussion about the use of the Industrial Revolution model of economics in current day and age, that is, where resources and capital are (in effect) infinite and therefore the capitalist expansion can continue indefinitely.

I found it somewhat disturbing that there was so much talk about getting a global economy correct now there was an understanding of the finite resources we have on the planet. My only question was regarding the involvement of off-world mineral mining and its impact on this new limited-resources concept. My concern is that they will get a "finite resource" model working just when we open up the solar system to resource harvesting/mining.

Does this suggest we should keep the Industrial Revolution model of economy for when off-world resource mining is (in effect) infinite?

I got to talk to lots of authors, like Tom Keneally, Jessica Watson, Nick Earls, Shane Maloney, Kel Robertson (with a sex change), Sulari Gentill and spent ten minutes talking to Michael Kirby and Fran Kelly about various things.

Compared to many other writer festivals I have been at, this one seemed specifically political. It was good to be around left-wing thinkers again. They have been seriously lacking in Brisbane recently.

I was most inspired by Sulari Gentill, who (ashamedly) I had never heard of before I went to the festival. I accidentally managed to sit in on several of her sessions and found her humour and smile infectious. She spoke about becoming a writer and how it had changed her life. She was also happy to talk to someone like me and share some of her insights.

The common threads I could see were the knowledge of something lacking inside yourself - this hole can only be filled by telling stories for me (and sharing them with others). If you don't embrace this writer, you fill it by finding hobbies that take up your mind-space. My hobbies have been widespread, numerous, sometimes brief, but all focused on gaining experiences to write about.

My entire aerospace career was undertaken to learn more about the field I wanted to write in - Science Fiction.

Sulari Gentill convinced me I am doing the correct thing. One day I'll have to thank her for inspiring me.