PRESS RELEASE: SWAP THE FATHER’S DAY SOCKS FOR RUDD, BETOOTA AND GREAT AUSTRALIAN STORIES AT EUMUNDI, 4-6 September 2026
The Father’s Day countdown is on: swap the socks for Rudd, Betoota and great Australian stories at Eumundi, 4-6 September 2026
The Eumundi Writers Festival is encouraging families to forget the socks, tools and the last-minute bottle of something and instead, to give their dad something more memorable. Gift him tickets to workshops and panels at the festival and make it a family affair!
From a very moving Father’s Day conversation between two fathers and award winning authors and their sons, to Kevin Rudd in conversation with Clancy Overell of The Betoota Advocate, and Bob Abbott’s untold stories, the Festival week-end covers all options for dads who love history, crime, travel, politics and a great yarn.
Tickets are on sale now, with festival-goers encouraged to book ahead.
Friday workshops include crime writing, working ethically with AI, working with editors, self-publishing tools, a tailored workshop for visual artists, and children’s book writing. The Sunday romance writing workshop with Anna Campbell especially welcomes dads!
A journalism panel at 12pm on Sunday looks at news delivery today, what works and what doesn’t – perfect for armchair philosophers.
Also on Sunday at 1.30pm a Father’s Day panel includes, award winning authors and their sons discussing Travel Writing Through the Lens of Father-Son Memoirs. Simon and Dominic Cleary join Icelandic father and son Kári and Magnús Gíslason. Through travel and memoir, the quartet explore the stories families inherit, their identities and what is passed on, and the joys and discoveries of the human condition through shared journeys and life.
Your Father’s Day celebrations could start a day early with an irresistible Father’s Day proposition for politically engaged dads — a former Prime Minister sitting down with one of the sharpest and most irreverent voices in Australian satire. At 10.30am on Saturday Australia’s 26th Prime Minister and former Ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd AC, takes the stage in conversation with Clancy Overall, co-founder and editor of The Betoota Advocate.
Also on Saturday afternoon, the festival is delighted to announce that Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli will introduce two deeply immersive panels not to be missed. Later at 4.30pm Bob Abbot, Noosa Shire Mayor from 1997 to 2008 and the first Mayor of the Sunshine Coast Council in 2008, turns his attention to memoir, discussing what will be in his memoir — and why he did what he did. For Sunshine Coast families, it’s a chance to hear directly from Bob, the region’s longest serving and best-known civic figure. His legacy will highlight the important and personal stories that changed the face of the place we call home.
Check tickets here: https://eumundiwritersfestival.com.au/downloads/EWF2026-program.pdf
Eumundi Writers Festival
Friday 4 – Sunday 6 September 2026
Eumundi, Sunshine Coast – ENDS
