Begin your exhilarating journey on the Scenic World Cableway before descending through eucalypts to the Rainforest Room, an open gazebo nestled among lush ferns and towering turpentines.
Join writers Inga Simpson, Jessica White and Jane Rawson in conversation with Brain on Nature’s Sarah Allely, as they discuss the many ways they connect with the environment.
From Inga’s acclaimed writing on climate, to Jessica’s reflections on how deafness has moulded her relationship to the natural world, to Jane’s candid explorations of adaptation and discomfort after leaving the city for a cottage in the Huon Valley, each author’s deeply personal approach to the natural world will inspire new ways to experience the landscape.
Don’t miss this incredible chance to consider your place in the world, surrounded by birdsong and fellow travellers.
Inga Simpson is a writer whose work focusses on our relationship with the natural world. Her latest novel, The Thinning, was longlisted for the Stella Prize and the 2024 Indie book award for fiction, and was voted one of The Guardian’s 25 Best Australian Books of 2024. Inga’s previous novels have all been long- and short-listed for numerous awards, including the Miles Franklin Literary Award, while her first work of nature writing, Understory: a life with trees, was shortlisted for the Adelaide Writers Week prize for nonfiction.
Jessica White is the author of two novels, and a hybrid memoir about deafness, Hearing Maud, which won the 2020 Michael Crouch Award for a debut work of biography and was shortlisted for four national awards. Jessica is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing and Literature at the University of South Australia. She is also co-founder and Chief Advisory Board Member of Science Write Now. Her latest book is Silence is My Habitat.
Jane Rawson is the award-winning author of three novels, a novella, and the non-fiction book The Handbook: Surviving & living with climate change. Her most recent book is Human/Nature: On life in a wild world. You can read Jane's essays in Living with the Anthropocene; Fire, Flood, Plague; and Reading like an Australian Writer. She has been the Environment & Energy Editor at The Conversation, the Communications Coordinator for the Tasmanian Land Conservancy and is currently the Managing Editor of Island magazine.
Sarah Allely is a multi award-winning journalist/producer who tells stories across multiple platforms. Sarah’s independent six-part documentary podcast, Brain on Nature, was critically acclaimed and continues to find significant audiences around the world. Sarah previously produced Insight on SBS TV, and she worked in print for seven years, holding staff reporter roles at daily and local newspapers.
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This event starts with a journey on the Cableway from Scenic World down to the valley floor, and is followed by a 20-minute walk that descends further into the understorey, before arriving at the Rainforest Room. The author session takes place in the Rainforest Room and will last for approximately 45 minutes. Once the event is finished, you will make your own way back to Scenic World, via the Cableway.
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You will require private transportation to Scenic World - no shuttle bus is provided for Read the Rainforest on Sunday morning.
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Your choice (subject to availability) of one Scenic World Special Event is included in Platinum & Gold Weekend Passes.
Subject to availability, a limited number of single tickets may become available 19 August.
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This event is not wheelchair accessible and includes a 20-minute walk each way with 80 steps in total.
If you have any further questions, please email hello@bluemountainswritersfestival.com.au.