Phases / Futures, the theme of Odyssey Literary Festival for 2024, examines what it means to create and read throughout our lives. It seeks to guide you through life’s phases and inspire you through your futures.  

How does what we read change from childhood to adulthood? How does what we read change us?  

This year, we’ll take you on an epic literary journey through life’s liminal stages – from childhood to adolescence, coming of age to midlife malaise, to the ageing body and the great beyond. Together we’ll reckon with the legacies we leave behind – all through the lens of reading, writing and creativity.

Odyssey Literary Festival

Odyssey Literary Festival is an initiative led by students from the RMIT Professional Writing and Editing (PWE) program. The festival is now a prominent player in the Melbourne literary scene, with our 2024 instalment being completely open to the public.

This will be the first year Odyssey Literary Festival has run since 2019. 

As we revive the festival, we will inspire and challenge our audience to read widely and open-mindedly, as well as build connections across the literary community. 

Odyssey Literary Festival is devoted to supporting the voices of emerging and diverse writers and providing students of PWE with valuable industry skills. Previous festival guests include Alison Goodman, Tony Birch, Sofie Laguna, Jennifer Down, Carly Findlay, Mark Brandi, Fiona Wood, Rajith Savanadasa and Angela Meyer. 

Come with us as we explore what it means to read and create across a lifetime. 

Illustration is a white egg in the centre filled with soil that has a leafy plant sprouting out of it, while the background overlooks a river that leads to a small village in front of a mountain. On the left of the river is a small cliff with water r
30 OTHER BM.jpg
22 OTHER BM.png
graphic 02 BM.png
YA 12 BM.png
06 New Adult SP.jpg
11 OTHER LP.jpg
14 OTHER SP.jpg
13 OTHER SP.jpg
05 Launches EB.jpg
04 Yannick SP.jpg
04 Launches LP.jpg
01 Poetry EB.jpg
04 OTHER EB.jpg
01 Yannick SP.jpg
02 Launches LP.jpg
Image is five writers sitting on a stage on stools, in a panel discussion. They are looking at each other, some holding microphones.
Image is a photo of an audience sitting in a theatre. The view is the back of lots of people's heads as they face toward the stage. On the stage there are three empty chairs, plants, and a lectern, as if a performance is about to start.