30 Jul ASALvets, Launceston 26th-29th October 2026
Northern Tasmania has one of the richest regional literary heritages in Australia. CA Cranston’s Along These Lines: from Trowenna to Tasmania (2000) includes more than 50 excerpts from writing about the region. These range from Louisa Meredith and early settlers through Robert Drewe’s Savage Crows, Mudrooroo’s Doctor Wooreddy’s Prescription for the Enduring the Ending of the World, novels by Richard Flanagan, Carmel Bird, Amanda Lohrey, Julia Leigh, stories by James McQueen, and poetry by James McAuley, Tim Thorne and Barney Roberts, among many others. More recently writers such as Robbie Arnott have drawn attention to the region. Launceston is one of the oldest European settlements in Australia with Georgian and Victorian buildings in the city and countryside around.
We will hold two morning sessions of discussion about writing from the area, and indulge in sightseeing in the local museums and a trip to see nearby places of interest, such as Patterdale, Clarendon House and possibly AD Hope’s childhood home of Kirklands. We welcome expressions of interest for papers, especially about writing in the region, and there will be time for work-in-progress presentations.
The conference will be held at the Grand Chancellor Hotel, Launceston: https://www.grandchancellorhotels.com/hotel-grand-chancellor-launceston/rooms
A registration fee of $250 pp covers the conference sessions, morning tea and lunch for two days, with some sponsorship of the Thursday trip, depending on registration numbers. Please pay this to ASAL Operating Account
Contact Susan Lever: [email protected]