Ok. Because they appear no where else I will put them here. Format’s Academy of Words is happening on Saturday, and these panels will all be happening at approximately the following times… I would encourage you to come for the day though!

FORMAT ACADEMY OF WORDS

Criticism and reviewing – 11am
Personal attacks vs regurgitating press releases… what makes a good review? What are the challenges of writing criticism in Australia? And what’s it like to be a critic… is it true they have no friends?

It’s all gone Dave Eggers: the current state of literature in Australia – 12pm
Independent publishing is hip, Melbourne is the new capital of Literature, small mags are fluorishing… is this current publishing explosion all thanks to the success of McSweeney’s? Or are there other forces at play? And what does it mean for writers?

The Great Zine Explosion – 2.30pm
They said blogs would kill zines – they were wrong. Come find out about Australia’s flourishing zine culture, talk collation and distribution, get to the bottom of Why Zines Matter and maybe even shift a few units.

Non-paper publishing – 3.30pm
Books are great, but what are other avenues for writers to be heard and distributed? What are the challenges of writing for digital, audio and live audiences? Is it all about the words or is it all in the delivery?

Mining the Personal – 4.30pm
They say write what you know, but how easy is it to write about yourself or draw material from your life? Do you feel exposed when people read your words, and how do you deal with the fallout? And what happens when people mistake your characters for you?

A deeper kind of anger: the problems of metal music & culture – 5.30pm
Confused by how metal, that most intense and transgressive of musical genres, is also all too often a gathering ground for conservative politics and shallow-mindedness? Do you still think it rocks so hard? Come on down – let’s talk this shit out.

Plus:
EDITORIAL AGONY AUNTS… 1pm
LITERARY ACTIVISM… 2pm
TEEN ANGST DIARY READINGS… 5.30pm

With special guests Paper Radio, Clementine Ford, Metal as Fuck, Sticky, Susy Pow, Dion Kagan, Leticia Supple, Maddy Phelan, Format zine shop, Estelle Tang, Myk Mykyta, Vignette Press, Sam Wise, Bel Schenk, Sam Cooney, Caroline Hamilton, Cutwater, Paul Callaghan, Ryan Paine, Stu Hatton, Paroxyosm Press, John Stevens, Ianto Ware, Angela Meyer, Lisa Dempster… and more… and YOU!

Literary Friction (7.30pm)
Two teams made up of Format Festival panelists and audience members will go head-to-head to be the literary champions of the world! (Or, the room). This RockWiz-style lit-game will have all the fun of trivia, write-offs, pick the fake blurb or character, identify the opening line, who am I? questions, finish this book title, charades and much more. There will be many chances for audience participation. Hosted by MCs Estelle Tang and Angela Meyer.

You can’t stop the musing: Disco-lecture & DJ Set (9pm)
Everybody knows disco is fun. But is it good for you? Now that Disco is back (trust us, it is), the time has come to determine, once and for all, whether it’s part of the problem or part of the solution. Triple J’s Craig Schuftan presents the case for and against in You Can’t Stop the Musing – the world’s first Disco-lecture. Expect to hear from The Silver convention, The Chic Organisation and the Frankfurt School, and don’t be surprised if you start doing that which both Theodor Adorno and the adherents of the Disco Sucks movement considered an impossibility – thinking and dancing.

All the action happens at 15 Peel St Adelaide on Sat 13 March.

Fun stuff is happening at Format right now – and Thursday, and Friday, and on Sunday there will be a zine fair! See you there!