In the final session of the festival, we once again pay respects to literary elders very much present.

Jeanine Leane is a Wiradjuri writer, poet, essayist, critic, academic and activist. Her scholarly, creative and critical writing explores sites of personal, national and collective memory. Her latest book, gawimarra gathering, won the 2025 Victorian Premier’s Prize for Poetry. Noongar author and La Trobe University alumni, Claire G Coleman talks to Jeanine about her impactful career.

Robert Dessaix is a writer, translator and broadcaster whose novels, memoirs, travel writing and essays have been adored by Australian and global audiences for decades. His latest book is Chameleon, a meditation on art, love, sex, literature, music and happiness, which reveals Robert’s trademark wit, intellect and idiosyncrasy. La Trobe University historian and BWF Co-curator, Clare Wright will host Robert in this contemplative reflection on his life and writing.