Arabic version: مهرجانات أصغر تنمو فيما يبقى حدث بيرث للكتّاب بلا موعد

According to ABC News, Perth is now the only Australian state capital without a major writers’ festival after a planned refreshed event for early 2026 did not materialise. Perth Writers Week, formerly part of Perth Festival, was due to return to the University of Western Australia but has not been scheduled.

Literature has been part of Perth Festival since the University of Western Australia founded it in 1953. The writers’ program became a standalone component in the 1990s and was known as Perth Writers Week by 2018. After the pandemic reduced it to a single weekend, the 2024 event was jointly run by Writing WA and the State Library of WA.

A Perth Festival spokesman said the intent to establish a new festival remained, with an emphasis on creating conditions for it to emerge sustainably at the right time and scale. Writing WA chair Per Henningsgaard said recent national controversy around literary programming could make a restart daunting, while adding he had no special insight into the festival’s thinking.

In the gap, smaller volunteer-supported events have expanded, including the Festival of Fiction in Joondalup, Totally Lit in Fremantle, the Mandurah Writers Festival and Kalamunda Writers Festival. The ABC also runs the Big Day of Books in Perth, while the State Library has hosted a one-day event featuring Premier’s Book Awards shortlisted authors.

The three-day Margaret River Writers and Readers Festival has attracted international and interstate authors and benefited from ongoing Tourism WA funding for Arts Margaret River since 2017. General manager Michelle Wright said scheduling near Sydney and Melbourne writers’ festivals helps share international-author travel costs. Henningsgaard welcomed the smaller festivals but said Perth’s missing major event was acutely felt, particularly because volunteer-led programs cannot replace a larger festival with full-time staff.