From 3 to 9 September, Melbourne Creative City of Literature, in partnership with Melbourne Writers Festival (MWF) and the Wheeler Centre, hosted a delegation of international literary programmers to the 2019 Festival with the aim of sharing best practices, fostering new international cooperation and increasing the mobility of Australian artists around the world.

During round-table sessions, the literary professionals’ exchanges focused on several Sustainable Development Goals, including 8.3: Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation; 8.9: Devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism; and 11.4: Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage.

MWF showcased the Festival programme, emerging themes in Australian literature, and in light of the International Year of Indigenous languages, highlighted indigenous literature as part of the Blak and Bright Indigenous writers festival.