Brooks to join festival line-up

Arts Margaret River has named former journalist and award-winning author Geraldine Brooks to headline this year’s Margaret River Readers and Writers Festival.

Brooks is known for her 2006 Pulitzer Prize-winning book March, and won an Australian Book Industry award for People of the Book.

Before turning to fiction, Brooks worked for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Wall Street Journal, reporting on international affairs in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans.

Festival director Kerrie Yabsley said she was “ecstatic” Brooks would headline the event.

“We truly have an incredibly strong and diverse line-up of writers coming to this year’s festival,” she said.

“The addition of Geraldine Brooks to an already impressive line-up of authors, journalists, literary icons and rising stars means the festival will be bigger and better than ever before.”

The 10th annual festival will also feature WA talents Josephine Wilson and Nicole Sinclair, whose novel Bloodlines was short listed for the 2014 City of Fremantle T.A.G Hungerford Award.

Margaret River-based award winning photojournalist Martine Perret will also feature.

The festival will be held at Voyager Estate winery from June 1-3.

Tickets are available via mrrwfest ival.com or on 9758 7316.