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Melbourne: UNESCO City of Literature Melbourne has become only the second UNESCO City of Literature as part of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network.  2009 Dates Friday, August 21 to Sunday, August 30 2009 2009 Schools' program - Monday, August 24 to Wednesday, August 26 2009 Nam Le claims $140k Dylan Thomas prize 2008 festival guest, writer Nam Le has won the 60,000 pound sterling ($140,000) Dylan Thomas Prize for his debut collection of short stories The Boat. The 29-year-old was raised in Australia and was one of the most popular writers at the 2008 festival. He is the second person to win the award, which was set up in honour of the Welsh poet and is given to the best young writer in the English-speaking world. Peter Florence, chairman of the judges, praised Nam Le as a "phenomenal literary talent" whose work displayed "a rare brilliance that is breathtaking both in the scope of its subject matter and the quality of its writing". The writer, whose short stories take readers from the slums of Colombia to the streets of Tehran, was named the winner at a ceremony in Swansea in south Wales, once Thomas's hometown. Go Pencil! The Melbourne Writers Festival is thrilled that our design partner, Elmwood Design, has been awarded a Silver Medal at the prestigious international DBA Design Effectiveness Awards. The award is for the branding work which Elmwood has provided the festival over the last three years and the medal was presented at a dazzling ceremony on November 4 in London. The Design Business Association, founded in 1986, is the trade association for the UK design industry and The DBA Design Effectiveness Awards recognise, reward and promote the integral role effective design plays in the creation of business growth. The most important way of communicating the value of design is by measuring its true effectiveness. The DBA's annual Design Effectiveness Awards are both prestigious and authoritative, the only award scheme that uses commercial data as a key judging criteria. The awards recognise the excellent value for money and return on investment that a coherent, well-thought-out and professionally executed design strategy can achieve. In a crowded marketplace, there is no place for one hit wonders; good design and good business are a longterm relationship. Our heartfelt congratulations to Joe, Kevin, Megan, Agnes and the rest of the team at Elmwood. Vale Jacob G Rosenberg It is with great sorrow that we let you know that Jacob G. Rosenberg died on Thursday morning, October 30 in Melbourne, after a heart attack on Saturday. He was 86. Jacob had been a much-loved guest at both the 2006 and 2007 Melbourne Writers Festivals. Jacob Rosenberg was born in 1922, in Lodz Poland. After the Germans occupied Poland he was confined, with his parents, his two sisters and their little girls, to the Lodz Ghetto, from which they were eventually transported to Auschwitz. With the exception of one sister (who committed suicide a few days later) all the members of his family were gassed on the day of their arrival. He remained in Auschwitz for about two months, then spent the rest of the war in other concentration camps. In 1948 he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia with his wife Esther. Rosenberg's poetry and prose have been published in both Australia and overseas. Rosenberg's highly acclaimed memoir, East of Time won both the 2007 National Biography Award and the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction and was short-listed for the Australian Gold Medal for Literature, the Qld Premier's Award for Non-Fiction, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction and the SA Arts Award for Innovation in Fiction. The equally moving sequel, Sunrise West, was published last year, and won the 2008 SA Arts Award for Non-Fiction and was short-listed for the NSW Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction and the NSW Premier's Community Award. For a fuller portrait of Jacob please read Jason Steger’s article from The Age or, of course, read his memoirs. MWF FUNDRAISING EVENT - Friday 10 October Sydney Theatre Company Artistic Directors Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton were guests of the Melbourne Writers Festival at our fundraising event on Friday 10 October. Lucky door prizes were given to 6 guests. The main prize was a trip to Sydney including flights courtesy of STA Travel - Carlton branch, tickets to a Sydney Theatre Company performance and night for two at the Sofitel Wentworth. Five other lucky couples won tickets to Shane Warne the Musical! Congratulations to our E-news competition winner - pictured here with our guests of honour on the night. Photo: Andrew Lloyd. Photo is property of Melbourne Writers Festival and is not to be reproduced without permission.  Ashley Webb, Marisol Lopez, Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton at our recent event. Event Sponsors    Oops! Please upgrade to the latest Adobe Flash Player for your browser.
All photos by Singing Bowl MediaVideos and Podcasts of the 2008 festival Visit our video page and podcast page to listen and watch sessions from the 2008 festival. These are being downloaded regularly. |
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