This year's Brisbane Writers' Festival was an ‘unparalleled success', festival director Michael Campbell told WBN.

Initial figures indicate more than 30,000 attended the festival, which is 20% up on last year despite there being 10% fewer events. While he was impressed by the big name international authors such as Yann Martel and James Frey, Campbell said that one of the greatest pleasures as festival director was ‘to introduce writers who might not be known to an Australian audience'. He said this year he was proud to introduce Chris Abani, an ‘astonishing' writer, whose opening address on ethics and narrative was ‘powerful, beautiful, and intensely thought-provoking'. The recording of this speech will soon be available on the festival website.

Campbell has already received some very positive feedback on the festival. One email congratulated him on ‘the best writers' festival this city has ever seen'. He said Yann Martel declared it a great festival while lining up to get his copy of Mister Pip signed by Lloyd Jones, and Chloe Hooper was in agreement.

The surprise hit of the festival was Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself (Scribe), being the most popular session and also the bestselling book in the bookshop. Other popular ticketed events included ‘The Man Who Loved China' with Simon Winchester; ‘Watching Brief: Reflections on Human Rights, Law and Justice' with Julian Burnside; ‘Is America Over?' with Gwynne Dyer, Michael Hastings and Ronald Wright; and sessions with Yann Martel and Li Cunxin. Popular free events included ‘Chocolate and Honey' with Carol Off and Grace Pundyk; ‘Imagining the Worst' with Chris Cleave, Steven Galloway and Sofie Laguna; and sessions with Chris Abani and William McInnes.

Despite the success however, Campbell noted that the festival was facing ‘severe' financial pressure. He said he hoped that this year's success would encourage more partners to come on board--from government, corporate and philanthropic bodies.

Festival Bookshop Bestsellers

    * The Brain That Changes Itself (Norman Doidge, Scribe)
    * Song for Night (Chris Abani, Scribe)
    * Hamlet (John Marsden, Text)
    * Bomb, Book and Compass (Simon Winchester, Viking)
    * Mao's Last Dancer (Li Cunxin, Viking)
    * Mahtab's Story (Libby Gleeson, A&U)
    * The Cellist of Sarajevo (Steven Galloway, Text).

Source: http://www.booksellerandpublisher.com.au/articles/2008/09/09603/

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: chris abani, john marsden, Li Cunxin, libby gleeson, norman doidge, simon winchester, Steven Galloway