Thousand £ Bend
361 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000

1000 £ Bend (Photo via Time Out Melbourne)

Based in an old motorcycle repair garage, Thousand £ Bend is part cafe, part gallery and part cinema. While we loath to use this cliché – this café has a decidedly vintage charm with its mismatched chairs and op-shop artefacts.

The League of Honest Coffee
8 Exploration Lane, Melbourne, VIC, 3000 (entrance on Little Lonsdale Street)

The League of Honest Coffee (Photo credit Shaun Lee via Meld Magazine)

The large square tables at The League make this spot great for groups wishing to partake in some intense discussions (read: festival program meetings). On the other hand, if you’re after a bit of privacy to finish the last few pages of your book, the cosy corner tables are an equally good option. Their coffee, which was included in The Age’s Coffee Army Top 25 Melbourne Cafes, is served in handleless mugs (or more accurately, mini bowls) .

The Moat
176 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000 (The Wheeler Centre basement)

The Moat (Photo via Time Out Melbourne)

Our next-door neighbours, The Moat offers festival staff a little patch of green grass to rest on after a hard day in the office. The Moat also plays host to the odd Wheeler Centre event and literary do. Bookish types are definitely welcome.

The Journal
253 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, VIC , 3000

The Journal (Photo via Time Out Melbourne)

Located in the same building as CAE and the Melbourne City Library, The Journal is good option for students and Flinders Lane lovers. Their hole-in-the-wall canteen makes getting a mid-library session snack easy. As an added bonus, if you have a Melbourne City Library account you can access their free Wi-Fi over lunch.

Manchester Press
8 Rankins Lane, Melbourne, VIC, 3000 (off Little Bourke Street)

Manchester Press (Photo via Time Out Melbourne)

There’s normally a little wait at Manchester Press, the busy café tucked into a laneway off Little Bourke Street. After you’ve had your name written with chalk on the entrance wall’s bricks you’re free to enjoy your book until you’re directed to a free seat – normally at one of the large communal tables. Truth be told, we’re just amused by their latte art which can be anything from pirates to bunnies.

Anna Funder

Join four lauded non-fiction writers who have turned to fiction: Anna Funder (Stasiland) returns to 20th century Germany for All That I Am; Leslie Cannold (What, No Baby?) who further examines feminist questions in The Book of Rachael, Christopher Kremmer (The Carpet Wars) turns to sin and iniquity in The Chase; and journalist Malcolm Knox turns to the surf in The Life. Geordie Williamson asks, how do their fiction and non-fiction approaches differ?

Download or listen to audio here.

Don Grover, Tim White, Kate Eltham and Joel Becker discuss the future of the bookshop.

if:book’s Kate Eltham will introduce her vision of bookselling’s future, and speculate what new technologies might mean for bookshops after the regulatory and formatting dust has settled. Featuring Books for Cooks’ Tim White, Don Grover, CEO of Dymocks Booksellers, and chaired by the ABA’s Joel Becker.

Supported by the Australian Booksellers Association

Download or listen to audio here.

Kate Grenville, Antoni Jach, Tess Gerritsen and Chris Womersly discuss their love of reading.

Authors Kate Grenville, Tess Gerritsen and Chris Womersley discuss the books they read as children and teenagers that gave them a love of reading, in an event about the power of literacy to transform lives. With Antoni Jach.

Proudly supported by The Smith Family

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Malalai Joya

Former Afghan politician Malalai Joya, one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World 2010, respected journalists John Martinkus and Karen Middleton, and Overland editor Jeff Sparrow discuss conflict and occupation in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the consequences of two wars that never seem to end.

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Ian Morris

Multi-award-winning writer and presenter Ian Morris has published several books on history and archaeology. Over lunch he talked about his latest book, Why the West Rules…For Now, explaining how the west came to dominate – and what will happen next.

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George Megalogenis

The world’s population will reach seven billion in late 2011. Is a Big Australia coming? If so, why, how and is growth a good thing? Trend forecaster Bernard Salt (The Big Tilt), Katharine Betts (People and Place) and George Megalogenis (The Australian) talk to Sally Warhaft about generational change, immigration and planning for a soaring population.

Proudly supported by Monash University

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Jay Rosen delivers the New News Keynote Address

Jay Rosen has taught journalism at New York University and written about the media for nearly every major US publication, whether print or online. Here, he discusses the current state of political journalism in the US and in Australia, which he believes shares many of its ills. He argues that its problems tell a wider story: that of an impoverished notion of politics at the very centre of the practice of journalism. Offering solutions for the future, he argues that a better knowledge of and respect for politics could change everything.
This is the keynote address of New News 2011 presented by MWF and the Public Interest Journalism Foundation at Swinburne University of Technology

Download or listen to audio here.

Andrew Fowler

Whether profiling prominent figures or exploring the lives of those swept up by political and cultural change, biography and investigative journalism play an essential role in explaining global events. With a particular eye on the ‘war on terror’, Julianne Schultz chairs a Griffith REVIEW session with Assange biographer Andrew Fowler, Best Australian Profiles editor Matthew Ricketson and essayist Shakira Hussein.
Proudly supported by Griffith REVIEW

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Kerry Greenwood, Lynda La Plante, Sue Green and Jane Clifton plan the perfect crime.

Three doyennes of crime writing share the stage. Join Crime Writing Hall of Fame (UK) member Lynda La Plante (Blood Line), evergreen Kerry Greenwood (Heavenly Pleasures) and the always popular Jane Clifton to talk about the thrill of the genre, their latest books, and their favourite way to dispatch a villain. With Sue Green.

Download or listen to audio here.