Explore the 2026 Program

My Writing Soundtrack

Writers on the meaning behind and within music

Ellen van Neerven (Photo credit Anna Jacobson)
Kirli Saunders (Photo credit Children of the Revolution)
Cooee (Mark Chester Harding and Kirli Saunders)
Lay Maloney
Melanie Saward (Photo credit Jill Kerswill)
Music and writing have been closely linked for millennia in song and oral storytelling traditions.

In exploring this connection, these writers share the soundtracks that fuel their creativity. Writer Lay Maloney (Weaving Us Together), poet and fiction writer Ellen van Neerven (Ruby’s Web) and Mark Chester Harding and Kirli Saunders of Cooee discuss how rhythm, melody and silence shape the stories they tell. From finding flow in a favourite song to writing in complete quiet, this conversation delves into the intimate relationship between sound and the creative process.

Hosted by Melanie Saward and featuring a special music performance.
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Carriageworks, Bay 19: The Booktopia Stage
245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh, NSW, 2015