As part of the Brimbank Writers and Readers Festival, Vision Australia’s radio and library teams have collaborated to present an immersive experience of different ways of writing and reading for people who are blind or have low vision.
Read My Way (external link), held at the Sunshine Library (Vic) March 22, will take people on a journey through audio, braille and tactile literacy and learning.
The panel includes library members along with writers with lived experience who will discuss the creation of accessible formats, the challenges of finding alternatives in a print-saturated world, and the impact for people who have a print disability.
There’ll also be a fun immersive experience of games and braille.
Festival partner
The event has further strengthened the radio’s community partnership with the Brimbank Readers and Writers Festival, which began in 2023.
Jason Gipps, Vision Australia Radio’s Community Engagement Coordinator, is thrilled that Vision Australia Radio is a media partner to the festival for the second year running.
“It’s wonderful to be back as a media partner of this informative and entertaining festival. Our deepening involvement will highlight the ways in which the local blind and low vision community can access information in alternative formats with the power of our audio and braille library, radio, and podcast services,” Jason said.
About the event
Read My Way is a free event, but bookings are essential. Book via Eventbrite here (external website).
When: Friday March 22
Time: 2pm-3.30pm
Where: Sunshine Library
More at the festival
First Nation’s author, Tony Birch, one of Australia’s most loved authors, will be in conversation about his recent book Women & Children: novel about the love and courage between two sisters, and a sudden loss of childhood innocence.
Brimbank local Amra Pajalic is running a self-publishing workshop and Dinuka McKenzie will be discussing her third instalment of the Detective Kate Miles series, Tipping Point
Special interest sessions include Exploring Audio Book Production and Narration with Bolinda, and LGBTQIA+ History with local historian Noah Riseman.
Exploring the ups and downs of menopause, Goodbye Aunty Flow, from First Nations ILBIJERRI Theatre, is a hilarious play created by mob for mob.
For young readers and writers there’s Hey Dee Ho’s The Fiction Factory storytelling adventure, and chances to hear from Real Pigeons author Andrew McDonald and illustrator Ben Wood, along with an author talk with the ever popular young-adult fiction author John Marsden. You can try your hand at zine making and head off to the launch of the Bold Source Issue 4, created and published by the young people of Brimbank.
The festival runs from 14 March until 23 March, 2024. All sessions are free, but bookings are essential. Visit the Brimbank Writers and Readers Festival website here.
Keep listening to Vision Australia Radio for updates on the festival, and interviews with event organisers and authors.
