Apollo Bay WORDfest 2026

Next date: Friday, 24 July 2026 | 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM

An impressive array of Australian Authors will make their way to Apollo Bay on the last weekend of July for the annual Apollo Bay WORDfest, a celebration of literature in all its many forms.

This year’s theme: What it Means to be Human 

There will be five Warm Winter Words author sessions with ten Australian writers, as well as a Writers Workshop and Book Club Session. Our wonderful community events, Poetry & Pies, The Great De(bay)te and the kids program involving the students of Apollo Bay P-12 College will return.

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Featured authors for 2026: 

Robbie Arnott (Limberlost, The Rain Heron) 
Sofie Laguna (The Eye of the Sheep, The Choke)
Louise Milligan (Shellybanks, Pheasants Nest)
Gina Chick (We are the Stars) 
Mark Mupotsa-Russell (The Hitwoman’s Guide to Reducing Household Debt, The Wolf Who Cried Boy) 
Rhett Davis (Arborescence, Hovering) 
J.P. Pomare (Seventeen Years Later, The Gambler) 
Toni Jordan (Addition, Dinner with the Schnabels) 
Christian White (The Long Night, Wild Place) 
Hannah Kent (Burial Rites, The Good People) 
Andrea Rowe (Castle Crashing, Dogs with Jobs)

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Head to Apollo Bay WORDfest’s website for ticketing information and the full program.

 

 

When

Location

Apollo Bay Mechanics Hall (main venue), 21 Great Ocean Road, Apollo Bay, 3233, View Map