The Brisbane Writers' Festival kicks off today in and around the State Library of Queensland and runs until September 21.

Chris Abani gives a speech for the opening night tonight, and over 250 participants are involved in panels, readings, performances, workshops, masterclasses and other events throughout the festival, including a strong Canadian contingent due to a partnership with the Canadian Council for the Arts.

National and international guests from a range of literary works and genres include Tim Flannery, James Frey, Peter Thompson, Robert Gray, Wayne Goss, Philip Jones, Steven Conte, Mahvish Khan, Antony Loewenstein, Monica Dux, Clive Hamilton, Nicholas Rothwell, Li Cunxin, Debra Adelaide, Steven Carroll, Mark Davis, Don Watson, Kate grenville, Matthew Condon, Stefan Laszczuk and many more. Canadian authors Norman Doidge, Gwynne Dyer, Steven Galloway, Lawrence Hill, Yann Martel, Alice Kuipers, Alanna Mitchell, Leilah Naidir, Carol Off and Ronald Wright are also in attendance.

For tickets and information see http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au.

This article from Thorpe Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter and Media Extra is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

Tags: Alanna Mitchell, Alice Kuipers, Antony Loewenstein, Carol Off and Ronald Wright, Clive Hamilton, debra adelaide, don watson, Gwynne Dyer, James Frey, Kate grenville, Lawrence Hill, Leilah Naidir, Li Cunxin, Mahvish Khan, Mark Davis, Matthew Condon, Monica Dux, Nicholas Rothwell, Peter Thompson, philip jones, Robert Gray, Stefan Laszczuk and many more. Canadian authors Norman Doidge, steven carroll, steven conte, Steven Galloway, Tim Flannery, Wayne Goss, Yann Martel