Last year Writers SA offered a bursary to assist one person with their costs to attend the George Town Literary Festival (GTLF) in Penang, Malaysia. The recipient of that opportunity was Tim Tol, who has written an incredible piece about his experience.

Here’s an excerpt:

Writers’ festivals expose us to ideas that challenge our minds and change the way we see the world. They encourage reflection and listening. They encourage connection.

What makes us human is language. Story telling is part of our DNA. Festivals such as George Town and Ubud … provide the space where we can fall in love with words, writing, poetry and our incredible ability to create language.

Reflecting on my experience of attending GTLF and the challenges currently facing the world has me thinking about some wisdom from the Warlpiri people that I refer to in my book. The Warlpiri people are from the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory. For the Warlpiri, the Southern Cross is a paradigm found in nature upon which all Warlpiri law is based, which promotes understanding of how everything in reality is related to everything else. In Warlpiri designs based on the Southern Cross the faint inner star is always positioned perfectly in the centre, representing a perfect balance when all things are moving and working in harmony. However, this utopian state is unattainable, accordingly this star is not positioned in the centre of the constellation and is skewed off centre. For the Warlpiri, this serves as a reminder that nothing in life can be taken for granted and that everything requires constant effort and work and that we must always strive for this balance.

Festivals such as the George Town Literary Festival provide a forum to share the work that helps us all strive for that balance.

We thank Tim for his thoughtful and comprehensive recap of his experience. You can read the full piece on Tim’s blog:

https://www.timothytol.com/2026/01/15/2025-george-town-literary-festival/